Reviewed by Tony Cummings

Del Newman is well known in the UK music biz as a classically trained journeyman who contributed string arrangements for a vast array of talents including Rod Stewart, Elton John, Charles Aznavour, Leo Sayer, Art Garfunkel and dozens more. Del also produced quite a few albums in his own right. Each chapter begins with a phrase like "Meeting Cat Stevens was an unexpected occasion" or "One of my most satisfying associations was working with Randy VanWarmer" and, after awhile, the reminiscences of studio or live concert encounters becomes rather stilted and lacking in any particular insight. The structure is not helped by what was probably an editor proofing in some rather irrelevant factual information into each short pen picture of a celebrity. Another problem is that there are very few years given and one is left with a series of reminiscences in no particular chronological order. There are a few fascinating pieces - George Harrison throwing a tantrum in a studio or one or two industry people cheating Del out of the appropriate royalties - but on the whole this is a strangely fragmented work which could have been vastly improved by a coherent structure (and for that matter, an index). The reference to God in the title is rather misleading too. Del isn't a Christian and the piece near the end when he writes for a few pages about working with Christian acts in Sweden and Nashville is ruined by his failure to identify who the actual bands are!

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