# Can You Do Me Good?

Professional ratings :
| Review scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | |
| Encyclopedia of Popular Music | |
| PopMatters | (favourable) |
Can You Do Me Good? is the sixth studio album by Del Amitri, released on 8 April 2002 by Mercury / A&M.
The album showcased a radically different sound from which Del Amitri fans had become used to. With five years having elapsed since Some Other Sucker's Parade (1997), Can You Do Me Good? featured a new approach: drum loops, samples and synthesisers were the band's new tools. Though the songs retained their usual melodic characteristics, the overall impression was a very different one.

## Theme

Guitarist and songwriter Iain Harvie admitted in the run-up to the album's release that the band's record company considered Can You Do Me Good? to be Del Amitri's last chance. "It's a pretty straightforward equation. If we don't sell 300,000 copies of the new album, we're out. It's that simple." With this in mind, many of the album's lyrics seem to convey a tone of finality; the feeling that this is a band's last stand. Song titles like "One More Last Hurrah" and "Last Cheap Shot at the Dream" contribute to this, and "Just Getting By" seems almost to lament a career spent as rock's nearly-men:
   Look at me
   I'm the one who got away The one who could've shone I tried to do my best But I guess your best don't last for long
   Look at me Standing with my tattered pride Of toothless little lions We tried to make a difference
   Do something no one else had tried
Even for a lyricist like Justin Currie, whose songs have often dealt with missed opportunities and failure, Can You Do Me Good? is significantly more concerned with these concepts than previous albums.

## Track listing

All songs written by Justin Currie, except as noted.
* "Just Before You Leave" (Currie, Iain Harvie) – 5:14
* "Cash & Prizes" – 4:38
* "Drunk in a Band" – 2:44
* "One More Last Hurrah" (Currie, Harvie) – 4:52
* "Buttons on My Clothes" – 4:05
* "Baby, It's Me" – 3:34
* "Wash Her Away" (Currie, Harvie) – 3:07
* "Last Cheap Shot at the Dream" – 4:12
* "Out Falls The Past" – 3:13
* "She's Passing This Way" – 2:44
* "Jesus Saves" – 3:39
* "Just Getting By" – 4:53
* "Just Getting By" is followed by a hidden track: an instrumental excerpt from "The Septic Jubilee" (a song released as a B-side on the "Just Before You Leave" single) which lasts for roughly 2:20. Including the space between the tracks Track 12 appears as 7:35 in length.

## Personnel

Credits adapted from the album liner notes.

### Del Amitri

* Justin Currie – vocals, bass, acoustic guitar
* Iain Harvie – guitar, acoustic guitar, programming, backing vocals
* Kris Dollimore – guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals
* Andy Alston – piano, organ, synthesiser
* Mark Price – drums, drum loops

### Additional musicians

* Matthew Rubano – bass (2, 11)
* Kevin Bacon (credited as "Big Kev") – bass (5, 6, 8)
* Rudy Bird – percussion (1, 4, 9)
* Jonathan Quarmby (credited as "Jonathan") – "tingly things" (5, 6)
* Joe Tomino – drum loop (4)
* Chris Komer – French horn (9)
* Chris Elliot – cello sample and trombone (12)
* Chris Cameron – string arrangements (1, 12)
* Gavyn Wright – orchestra leader

### Technical

* Gordon "Commissioner Gordon" Williams – producer (tracks 2–4, 7, 9–11), additional producer (tracks 1, 12), mixing (tracks 1, 2, 4–9, 11, 12) (at The Headquarters, Teaneck, New Jersey)
* Pete Smith – producer (tracks 1, 3, 10, 12), mixing (tracks 3, 10) (at Livingston Studios, London)
* Kevin Bacon – producer (tracks 5, 6, 8)
* Jonathan Quarmby – producer (tracks 5, 6, 8)
* Jamie Siegel – engineer (tracks 2–4, 7, 9–11)
* Ben Darlow – mixing (tracks 3, 10) (at Livingston Studios, Wood Green), additional mixing (track 7) (at Westside Studios, London)
* Dave Bascombe – mixing (track 5) (at Whitfield Street Studios, London)
* Stylorouge – design, art direction
* Jeff Cottenden – photography
* Kevin Westenberg – photography (Del Amitri portrait)