Big Canoe

Big Canoe is the 1986 solo album released by former Split Enz frontman Tim Finn. Finn had won Australasian success with his debut solo album, Escapade in 1983, while still a member of his longtime band Split Enz. Finn left the band permanently in June 1984, to focus on a solo career, and the following year moved to London and began working on Big Canoe. The album utilised a wide variety of instrumentation, including guitars, orchestral backings and traditional Indian instruments - notably on the ambitious single No Thunder, No Fire, No Rain, which was inspired by the Bhopal chemical disaster. Though Big Canoe reached number three on the New Zealand charts, it failed to become the international breakthrough that Finn or record company Virgin had hoped.

Big Canoe
Studio album by Tim Finn
Released	1986
Genre	Pop
Length	52.04 (CD version)
Label	Virgin Records
Producer	Nick Launay
Tim Finn chronology
Escapade (1983) Big Canoe (1986) Tim Finn (1989)
Singles from Big Canoe
"No Thunder No Fire No Rain" Released: April 1986 "Spiritual Hunger" Released: June 1986 "Carve You In Marble" Released: July 1986

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

Finn worked on lyrics for the album with British writer Jeremy Brock. Big Canoe also marked the first time Finn had worked with Split Enz co-founder Phil Judd since Judd left the band in 1978. In interviews Tim said that the idea was that he and Judd intending on writing together again, trying to recapture the magic of early Split Enz. Instead a lot of drinking happened, but Phil was still commissioned to play guitar.

Track listing

LP Listing

All tracks are written by Tim Finn & Jeremy Brock unless noted.

Side1

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Spiritual Hunger"	4:36
2.	"Don't Bury My Heart"	4:25
3.	"Timmy"	3:44
4.	"So Deep"	3:17
5.	"No Thunder, No Fire, No Rain"	5:12

Side 2

No.	Title	Length
6.	"Carve You In Marble" (T.Finn)	5:40
7.	"Water Into Wine"	4:09
8.	"Hyacinth"	4:58
9.	"Big Canoe"	4:39
10.	"Are We One Or Are We Two" (T.Finn)	3:51

CD Listing

The CD included the extra songs "Searching the Streets" and "Hole in My Heart".

All tracks are written by Tim Finn & Jeremy Brock unless noted.

CD

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Spiritual Hunger"	4:36
2.	"Don't Bury My Heart"	4:25
3.	"Timmy"	3:44
4.	"So Deep"	3:17
5.	"No Thunder, No Fire, No Rain"	5:12
6.	"Searching The Streets"	4:11
7.	"Carve You In Marble" (T.Finn)	5:40
8.	"Water Into Wine"	4:09
9.	"Hyacinth"	4:58
10.	"Big Canoe"	4:39
11.	"Hole In My Heart" (T.Finn)	3:12
12.	"Are We One Or Are We Two" (T.Finn)	3:51

The introduction track "Spiritual Hunger" began life as a Split Enz demo called "Mr Catalyst"

Chart Performance

Chart (1986)	Peak position
Australia[2]	#31
New Zealand[3]	#3

Personnel

• Tim Finn - vocals, keyboards & Piano
• Geoff Dugmore - drums, percussion and the occasional scream
• Steve Greetham - Bass
• Jon McLoughlin - Guitars (One Red, One White)
• Phil Judd - Sitar/Guitar on Hyacinth, Extra Rhythm Guitar on Water Into Wine, Intro Composition, Solo & Guitar Synth on Spiritual Hunger, Brass arrangements in So Deep plus contributions to Nick's footwear
• Norma Lewis - Backing vocals
• Wendy Harris - Backing vocals

Additional personnel

• Mark McGann - Backing vocals on Hyacinth
• Paul Wickens - Keyboards
• Danny Schogger - Keyboards
• Anne Dudley - String Arrangements
• Skaila Kanga - Harp on Hyacinth
• Pandit Dinesh - Tabla & Indian Percussion on No Thunder, No Fire, No Rain
• Danny Cummings - Congas on Searching The Streets
• Gary Barnacle - Electric Sax & Solos
• Luke Tunney - Trumpet
• Simon Gardner - Trumpet
• Pete Toms - Trombone
• All songs arranged by Tim & Nick, with help from the band.

References

1. Allmusic review
2. Kent, David. Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, N.S.W. (1993). ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
3. "New Zealand Charts". Retrieved 2010-11-11.