'Murder Ska' and 'Redemption Song' are both unreleased tracks featuring Spider Stacy on lead vocals. The Hell's Ditch demos (commonly known as the Falconer demos, after the studio in which they were tracked) were recorded prior to this album. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. John Sheahan – mixing on 'Whiskey in the Jar' Ĭharts Chart performance for Hell's Ditch Chart (1990–1991).Eamonn Campbell – mixing on 'Whiskey in the Jar'.Chris Dickie – engineer on 'Jack's Heroes', 'Whiskey in the Jar' and 'A Rainy Night in Soho'.Steve Lillywhite – producer, mixing on 'A Rainy Night in Soho'.Terry Woods – producer on 'Jack's Heroes' and 'Whiskey in the Jar'.Dave Jordan – producer on 'Jack's Heroes' and 'Whiskey in the Jar'.Spider Stacy, Terry Woods, Darryl Hunt, Andrew Ranken, John Sheahan, Eamonn Campbell, Paul Verner, Jim Hand, Frank Murray – chorus on 'Jack's Heroes'.Fiachra Trench – string arrangement on 'A Rainy Night in Soho'.Siobhan Sheahan – harp on 'Summer in Siam'.The Pogues – percussion on 'Hell's Ditch', 'Maidrin Rua' and 'Six to Go'.Andrew Ranken – drums, tambourine, backing vocals.Darryl Hunt – bass guitar, bells, congas, backing vocals.Philip Chevron – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, accordion, backing vocals.Terry Woods – mandolin, cittern, concertina, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, accordion, auto harp, lead vocals on 'Rainbow Man', 'Maidrin Rua' and 'Six to Go'.

James Fearnley – accordion, piano, banjo, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, violin, electric sitar, kalimba.Spider Stacy – tin whistle, harmonica, lead vocals on 'The Wake of the Medusa'.Jem Finer – banjo, mandola, hurdy-gurdy, saxophone, acoustic guitar, lap steel guitar, shaker.' A Rainy Night in Soho' (1991 version) (MacGowan) (A-side single) – 4:48Ĭredits are adapted from the album liner notes, except where noted.'Jack's Heroes' (Woods, Spider Stacy) ( A-side single) – 3:06 (with the Dubliners).'Squid Out of Water' (MacGowan) (B-side to 'A Rainy Night in Soho') – 3:47.'The Curse of Love' (Finer) (B-side to 'Sayonara') – 2:43.'Infinity' (MacGowan) (B-side to 'Sayonara' 12') – 2:48.'The Bastard Landlord' (Finer) (B-side to 'Summer in Siam') – 3:09.' Whiskey in the Jar' (Traditional) ( B-side to 'Jack's Heroes') – 2:41 (with the Dubliners).

'5 Green Queens & Jean' (MacGowan, Finer) – 2:35.

'The Wake of the Medusa' (Finer) – 3:04.

'Hell's Ditch' (MacGowan, Finer) – 3:03.

'The Ghost of a Smile' (MacGowan) – 2:58.

' Sunny Side of the Street' ( Shane MacGowan, Jem Finer) – 2:44.

The cover art for the album was designed by Joshua Cheuse, who also designed the cover for the Clash on Broadway box set as well as album covers for Strummer and Big Audio Dynamite. The album was produced by the Clash's Joe Strummer, who later served as a temporary replacement for MacGowan when the band went on tour. The title track is based largely on the life and writings of French author and playwright Jean Genet, in particular The Miracle of the Rose and Our Lady of the Flowers, with its description of squalid prison life. 'The Wake of the Medusa' is a first-person narrative inspired by Théodore Géricault's painting ' The Raft of the Medusa', which had appeared on the cover of the band's second album, Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash. It tells of the poet's murder by Francisco Franco's Nationalist supporters in the Spanish Civil War, and how his body, never having been recovered, was said to have walked away. The song 'Lorca's Novena' draws on MacGowan's affinity for Spain (particularly Almería, which he had discovered years earlier when filming Straight to Hell), and the Spanish poet Federico García Lorca. Several of the songs on the album have Asian themes, in sound or in content, including 'Summer in Siam', 'The House of Gods' and 'Sayonara'.

MacGowan parted with the band after the release of the album, owing to the decline of his reliability as a performer, which was caused by his abuse of alcohol and drugs. Hell's Ditch continued the group's slow departure from Irish music, giving more emphasis to rock and straight folk rock, and forsaking their earlier staples of traditional compositions almost entirely. Hell's Ditch is the fifth studio album by The Pogues, released in November 1990, and the last to feature frontman Shane MacGowan as a member.

Hells itch