|
| RICK KEMP |
Fellside FECD 114 |
Escape |
● CD $16.98 |
12 original songs from man best known as bass player with
Steeleye Span - with various guest musicians and vocalists including
Michael Chapman/guitar, Andrew "Spud" Sinclair/guitar, Ian
keller/ keyboards, Maddy prior/ vocals, Charlie Carruthers/ drums, John
Kirkpatrick/ accordion and others. Some of it is vey pop oriented.
|
| KEITH KENDRICK |
Fellside FECD 118 |
Home Ground |
● CD $16.98 |
17 tracks, 61 mins, recommended Keith Kendrick is an
excellent performer from Derbyshire who has been active on the British
folk scene for 30 years working with groups like The Druids, Muckram Wakes
and others. This is, I think, his first solo album and it's a winner.
Keith is a strong and expressive singer and a very effective concertina
player. This is a collection of mostly traditional songs from different
parts of England along with some excellent hymns, instrumental dance tunes
and comedy monologues. The songs are well chosen and avoids most of the
familiar war horses - I particularly like the beautiful Some Tyrant Has
Stolen My True Love Away, the humorous The Lion's Den, the hymn
The Last Time which will be familiar to you Rolling Stones fans and
the splendid The Life Of A Man sung to the tune of Banks Of The
Bann. A number of tracks feature occasional added instrumentation and
a number of tracks feature harmony vocals. Nothing earth shattering here
but a most enjoyable collection. (FS)
|
| SANDRA & NANCY KERR |
Fellside FECD 107 |
Neat And Complete |
● CD $16.98 |
Mother and duaghter duo performing mostly traditional songs
and tunes with fiddle, viola, concertina, guitar and Appalachian dulcimer
- Tha Lads Of Alnwick/ The Wee Weaver/ The Shoemaker/ The Welcome Home/
Saucy Nancy/ The Great Silkie/ Jackie Munroe, etc
|
| BENJI KIRKPATRICK |
Wild Goose 291 |
Dance In The Shadow |
● CD $14.98 |
A promising debut album from talented vocalist, bouzouki,
guitar and mandolin player Benji Kirkpatrick who is the son of John
Kirkpatrick and Sue Harris. He performs a collection of traditional and
original songs and tunes with occasional accompaniments from Bod on
bodhran and Paul Sartin on oboe.
|
| JOHN KIRKPATRICK |
Fledg'ling 3018 |
Three In A Row - The English Melodeon |
● CD $14.98 |
10 tracks, 45 mins, highly recommended Originally issued as
an LP on John's own label in 1984 this is a most welcome CD reissue. It
explores the music of the melodeon or diatonic button accordion and
features John playing three different variations on the instrument - the
one row melodeon, the two row melodeon and the three row button accordion.
Most of the material is original compositions by John and show his talent
as a composer as well as performer. The performances are all exciting and
imaginative and show John's unparalled skill on these instruments. There
are two songs here - a moving original Sing A Full Song and a
breezy version of A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square. Wonderful
stuff! (FS)
|
| THE JOHN KIRKPATRICK
BAND |
Fledg'ling 3011 |
Welcome To Hell |
● CD $14.98 |
Brilliant new album from this outstanding singer and
accordion player with his excellent band which includes two giants of the
British folk-rock scene - Graeme Taylor/ guitar and Michael Gregory/ drums
plus others. A mixture of traditional and original songs and tunes and a
version of Sting's Fields Of Gold.
|
| THE JOHN KIRKPATRICK
BAND |
Omnium 2015 |
Force Of Habit |
● CD $15.98 |
15 tracks, 69 mins, recommended Now available domestically.
This album reminds one of the halcyon days of the Albion Band featuring
the wizard of the squeezebox John Kirkpatrick with a top notch group of
musicians including familiar names like Graeme Taylor (guitar, mandolin
& banjo), Michael Gregory (drums & percussion) plus Paul Burgess
on fiddle, recorder and keyboards and Dave Berry on bass & tuba. The
material (recorded live in 1995) is a mixture of traditional and
Kirkpatrick originals - the transition fromn one to the other is almost
seamless - perhaps John is really a few hundred years old! A good deal of
the material he has recorded before - some solo and some in a band context
but they are given a different twist here. Occasionally the band is a
little too laid back but, for the most part, it's an exciting and
entertaining collection. (FS)
|
| SAM LARNER |
Topic TSCD 511 |
Now Is The Time For Fishing |
● CD $15.98 |
Reissue of 1960 album of one of the most influential of all
source singers. Although not recorded until he was 79 years old and had
lost of some of his vocal skills his unflagging spirit and good humor
comes through clearly. These recordings were made by Ewan MacColl and
Peggy Seeger in 1958, '59 and '60, It not only presents Larner singing his
songs but includes segments with him talking, offering rare insights into
the man - delightful - Ghost Ship/ Wild Rover/ Up Jumped The Herring/
Dogger Bank/ Henry Martin/ Blow Away The Morning Dew , etc.
|
| LINDISFARNE |
Mooncrest CRESTCD 20 |
The Other Side Of .. |
● CD $16.98 |
11 tracks, 45 mins., fans only Okay, so this northern
English band had a short string of hits in the late 60s and early 70s with
a broad and brash folk-rock sound that appealed to the Fairport and Tull
crowd. This sort-of-retrospective album may tweak some pleasant memories
from those halcyon days, but will do nothing to make this band more than a
folk-rock footnote. We get the first UK hits, which sadly sound rather
dated now. Fog on the Tyne remains a hard-shuffling, beer-soaked
crowd pleaser, but that's not enough to build an album on. The last 7
tracks are embarrassing covers of American oldie hits like Ritchie Valens'
Oh Donna and La Bamaba and even Little Darlin. If
they'd played up their Geordie accents on these they might have recast
these songs. But it all just sounds lame. (DC)
|
| A.L. LLOYD |
Topic TSCD 496 |
English Drinking Songs |
● CD $15.98 |
14 tracks, 36 mins, highly recommended Absolutely delightful
collection of traditional drinking songs originally issued on Riverside in
1961. The distinctive voice of Lloyd is joined by long time playing
partner Alf Edwards on concertina, Al Jeffrey on banjo and harmonica and
an unidentified chorus on some songs. Lots of great songs like the
Derby Ram/ Maggie May/ The Butcher & The Chambermaid/ The Parson &
The Maid/ All For Me Grog/ Rosin The Beau/ John Barleycorn and others.
Lloyd sings with such spirit and good humor that you feel like you're in
The Eels Foot pub on a Saturday night joining in on the choruses. (FS)
|
| A.L. LLOYD |
Topic TSCD 497 |
Leviathan! |
● CD $15.98 |
Reissue of 1967 LP featuring 15 ballads and songs about the
whaling trade with Dave Swarbrick/fiddle, Martin Carthy/ mandolin, Alf
Edwards/concertina and vocal chorus from Trevor Lucas and Martin
Wyndham-Read.
|
| JEZ LOWE |
Fellside FECD 89 |
Back Shift |
● CD $16.98 |
17 tracks, 72 min., recommended. First time on CD, here are
wonderful tracks from Jez's first 5 albums (1980-86) plus a couple
previously unreleased tracks. This is really wonderful. Jez has a crystal
clear voice and tremendous songwriting talent. These are songs of life and
love in the northeast of England, as appealing as Andy Irvine, often with
similar instrumentation: Jez on cittern, guitar & banjo, Jake Walton
on hurdy-gurdy, and support from the Bad Pennies. The songs share great
singability with a twinkling love for the tradition. Looking for new songs
to sing or a triple-threat performance by a consummate poet, fret-man, and
singer? Here's the best of all the above. (DC)
|
| JEZ LOWE &
THE BAD PENNIES |
Fellside FECD 079 |
Briefly On The Street |
● CD $16.98 |
New album by this talented North of England singer,
songwriter and multi-instrumentalist with accompaniments by Bev Sanders/
vocal, percussion & whistle; Rob Kay/ vocals, keyboards, melodeon ,
recorder and percussion and Chris Leslie/ fiddle.
|
| JEZ LOWE &
THE BAD PENNIES |
Green Linnet GLCD 1161 |
Tenterhooks |
● CD $14.98 |
12 tracks, 53 mins., recommended. Why is this man not a
star? I can't stop playing this CD. Not only have Jez's strong songwriting
chops matured here to a new level, but the production and the full band
sound are nothing short of breathtaking. The first track, Sons of the
Century, could readily become an anthem and deserves heavy radio play
with its inexorable rhythm bed and stunning hook of a chorus. Jez has the
rare gift (shared by the likes of Si Kahn) of taking uniquely personal
emotions and universalizing them without preaching. Here he maintains a
focus on his love for north England and speaks of the crushing inequities
in the world in songs like Workhouse and The Guilts. The
band is tight and the vocals are fine, especially on the four-part a
cappella The Crake in the Morning. This is an intensely singable
album, filled with joy and confidence. He's been impressive in the past,
but this is probably Jez's best work. (DC)
|
| JEZ LOWE &
THE BAD PENNIES |
Green Linnet 1192 |
The Parish Notices |
● CD $14.98 |
Excellent new album of all original songs from this talented
English singer and songwriter accompanied by his group
|
| LUCKY BAGS |
Fellside FECD 112 |
Food For Thought |
● CD $16.98 |
Traditional, contemporary and original songs and tunes from
all woman quartet with harp, Appalachian dulcimner, guitar, concertina,
etc.
|
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