Electric Digger Dandy

Electric Digger Dandy is the third solo studio album by Australian singer/songwriter James Reyne released in June 1991. The album was released in the United States as Any Day Above Ground. The album peaked at number 3 on the ARIA Charts and remains Reyne's highest-charting album.^[2]

Electric Digger Dandy
Australian album cover
Studio album by James Reyne
Released	June 1991
Recorded	1990–1991
Genre	Rock
Length	47:00
Label	Free City Music/ Virgin (Australia) Charisma (US)
Producer	Simon Hussey
James Reyne chronology
Hard Reyne (1989) Electric Digger Dandy (1991) The Best (1992)
Singles from Electric Digger Dandy
"Slave" Released: May 1991 "Any Day Above Ground" Released: July 1991 "Some People" Released: November 1991
Alternative cover
US album cover

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]

The album saw Reyne's return to a more electric sound. It features the singles "Slave", "Any Day Above Ground" and "Some People", as well as a new, acoustic rendition of the Australian Crawl song "Reckless".

Reception

Tomas Mureika of AllMusic wrote that on "Electric Digger Dandy Reyne expanded his musical boundaries with collaborations with Jim Vallance and Tony Joe White. The result is an invigorated Reyne, who seems to be having a great time winding his voice around gorgeous melodies and intense rants alike. Despite its nutty had-to-be-changed-for-America title, Digger Dandy finds a more introspective experimental Reyne, one content to play the music at a lower level and let his words and stiletto voice speak for itself."^[3]

Track listing

1. "Some People" (J. Reyne, J. Vallance) – 4:13
2. "Slave" (J. Reyne, J. Vallance) – 4:13
3. "Reckless" (J. Reyne) – 5:19
4. "Any Day Above Ground" (J. Reyne) – 3:38
5. "Take a Giant Step" (J. Reyne, S. Hussey) – 5:10
6. "Company of Strangers" (J. Reyne, S. Hussey) – 4:05
7. "Black and Blue World" (J. Reyne, B. Goldsmith) – 4:06
8. "Stood Up" (J. Hiatt) – 4:52
9. "Outback Woman" (J. Reyne, T. J. White) – 3:38
10. "Water, Water" (J. Reyne) – 5:40
11. "Lay Your Weary Head Down" (J. Reyne) – 2:34

Personnel

• James Reyne – vocals, guitar
• Jef Scott – guitars, bass, vocals
• Simon Hussey – keyboards, producer
• John Watson – drums

Guests

• Mick O'Connor – Hammond organ
• Renee Geyer – backing vocals
• Gene Black – guitar
• C. J. Vanston – keyboards
• Scott Griffiths – piano, Hammond organ, keyboards
• Steve Housden – guitar solo on "Slave"
• Richard Pleasance – mandolin
• Brett Kingman – electric guitar
• Mark Goldenberg – guitars, keyboards
• Kenny Aronoff – drums, percussion
• Jimmie Wood – harmonica
• Eric Lowen – backing vocals, acoustic guitar
• Dan Navarro – backing vocals, acoustic guitar
• Tony Joe White – electric guitar, harmonica, bass, drums
• John Pierce – bass
• Byron Berline – fiddle
• Jim McMains – backing vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1991)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[2]	3

Year-end charts

Chart (1991)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[4]	83

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[5]	Gold	35,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. ""Electric Digger Dandy" by James Reyne". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
2. "Australiancharts.com – James Reyne – Electric Digger Dandy". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
3. "Any Day About Ground by James Reyne review". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
4. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 233.
5. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1991 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association.