NEWSLETTER #147
Folk Music - American, British Isles, etc.
Fairport Convention
->
The Watersons +
DVD
| IRELAND |
VARIOUS ARTISTS |
RTE 113 |
Come West Along The Road 2 |
$29.98 |
A second collection of live Irish music drawn from the
extensive archives of RTE, the Irish national broadcaster. There are 52
performances featuring older traditional performers as well as the
younger generation. The 52 clips, totalling 2 1/2 hours of music were
recorded between 1961 and 1989 - some in black & white and some in color.
Among the many performers are Mary Brogan, Kevin Burke, Bobby & Peggy
Clancy, Liz King, Maighread Ni Dhomnaill, Reel Union, Ormond Ceilidh Band,
Jospehine Keegan, Andy Irvins, Paul Brady & Donal Lunny, Horslips, Martin
Reidy, The Dubliuners, Planxty, Fred Finn & peter Horan, Arty McGlynn,
Packie Russel & Marcus Walsh, The Kilfenora Ceili Band and many others.
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| ENGLAND |
FAIRPORT CONVENTION |
Island 530 111-1 |
Liege & Lief - Deluxe Edition |
$38.98 |
2 CDs, 17 tracks, 89 mins, highly recommended
This is the
35th anniversary repackaging, i.e. nothing that hasn't been out before,
but the original album and a bunch of bonus tracks all in one attractive
package with extensive & informative notes. On a personal stylistic note,
one of my favorite record label designs of all time was the old Island
labels with the solid pink background and the lower case I in fat
lettering, which to my delight is reproduced in all its glory on both CDs.
Bonus cuts are studio out-takes and BBC sessions from around the same time
with the same classic line up, providing us with quality extra takes on
Tam Lin/ The Ballad of Easy Rider, a couple versions of Sir Patrick
Spens etc. (JM)
FAIRPORT CONVENTION: Come All Ye/ Crazy Man
Michael/ Farewell, Farewell/ Matty Groves/ Medley
(The Lady Is A Tramp-In Other Words (Fly Me To The Moon))( (BBC
Sessi/ Medley(The Lark In The Morning-Rakish Paddy-Foxhunter's Jig-Toss
The Feathe/ Medley: (The Lark In The Morning, etc.)(BBC Session Top Gear
1969)/ Quiet Joys Of Brotherhood (Take 1)/ Quiet Joys Of Brotherhood (Take
4)/ Reynardine/ Reynardine (BBC Session Top Gear 1969)/ Sir Patrick Spens
(BBC Session Top Gear 1969)/ Sir Patrick Spens (Sandy Denny Vocal
Version)/ Tam Lin/ Tam Lin (BBC Session Top Gear 1975)/ The Ballad Of Easy
Rider/ The Deserter
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| ENGLAND |
SUE HARRIS/ TUFTY
SWIFT |
Free Reed 02 |
Hammers, Tongues & A Bakewell Tart |
$15.98 |
Reissue of two fine LPs originally issued on the Free Reed
label in the late 70s. The first features singer and hammer dulcimer
player Sue Harris, former wife of John Kirkpatrick, who appeared on some
early key folk rock albums by The Albion Band, Richard & Linda Thompson
and others. It's a mix of instrumentals and vocals, mostly traditional,
featuring Sue in the company of musiciabs like Alan Harris (banjo, guitar
& double bass), John Kirkpatrick (concertina & melodeon), Martin Brinsford
(harmonica, tambourine and drummers novelty skulls!) and others. Tufty
Swift was a superb singer and hammer dulcimer and melodeon player and is
featured on a varied selection of mostly traditional songs and tunes with
Alan Harris (banjo, double bass and banjo) and Sue Harris (hammer dulcimer
and oboe).
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| AMERICAN |
JIM KWESKIN |
Collectables 7668 |
Garden Of Joy/ Jim Kweskin's America |
$14.98 |
2 CDs, 22 tracks, 84 mins, recommended These are re-issues
of Jim Kweskin and his Jug Band's LPs on Reprise records, "Garden of Joy"
from 1967 and "America" from 1971. While "Garden Of Joy" is field-Hippy
freak out jug music, ragtime throwbacks and folksy fun, "America" is a
much more expansive concept, bringing in a wide variety of instruments,
including some fierce Tuba playing and saluting the American Country music
songbook. On "Garden" you get Leadbelly, Johnny Mercer and Duke Ellington
covers mixed in with tunes like The Circus Song and The Sheik Of
Araby. America brings you standards such as Back In The Saddle/
Okie From Muskogee/ Old Rugged Cross, and my favorite track, Merle
Travis' Dark As A Dungeon. Standard collectables re-issue with
above-average sound and minimal notes. (JM)
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| SCOTLAND |
EWAN MACCOLL |
Reactive Masters 514 |
The Legend Of Ewan MacColl |
$10.98 |
18 tracks, highly recommended
Fine collection of songs
recorded for Cooking Vinyl in the 80s by one of the most important (and
often controversial) artists in the development of the British folk
revival and help give it it's political edge. It includes original
compositions - many which were originally written and sung in the 60s and
have become folk standards plus some newly written songs along with a few
traditional pieces. Arrangements are varied - acapella, guitar or banjo
accompaniment by his wife Peggy Seeger or a small group including their childeren Calum,, Neill, Kirsty and Hamish MacColl. Includes Dirty Old
Town/ The Foggy Dew/ Ballad of Accounting/ The Press Gang/ The Maid Gaed
Tae The Mill/ Nobody Knew She was There/ Econic Miracle/ Rogues Gallery/
The Shoales Of herring, etc. An invaluable and inexpensive
introduction to this fine and important artist. (FS)
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| EUROPE |
MOZAIK |
Compass 4468 |
Changing Trains |
$15.98 |
10 tracks, highly recommended
Terrific new album by this
outstanding multi-national folk group featuring legendary Irish musicians
Andy Irvine and Donal Lunny, American guitarist & fiddler Bruce Molsky,
Dutch guitarist Ren van der Zalm and Hungarian multi instrumentalist
Nikola Parov. The blend of nations provides a richly textured and original
sound and though I'm not always fond of multi cultural collaborations
these folks get it right with effortless and always appropriate
transitions between musical styles. There are five vocals by Andy whose
voice seems to have lost none of the power, beauty and expressiveness that
it had 35 years ago when his career was first starting, two by Bruce and
Molsky and one by Donal. I don't think Donal has taken lead vocal very
often but his performance of the Gaelic song Siun Ni Dhuibhir is a
real gem. (FS)
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| IRELAND |
DELIA MURPHY |
EMI (Ireland) 1055 |
The Legendary Delia Murphy - The Spinning
Wheel |
$19.98 |
14 tracks, highly recommended
Delia Murphy from Co. Mayo
was from a wealthy family and had a university education but she had a
real love and affinity for traditional Irish songs and recorded quite
extensively in the 30s and was immensely popular and introduced many fine
and obscure songs to her audience. I'm not sure when these tracks were
recorded - sound quality indicates that they are later recordings but
whenever they are from they are very fine and features some of her most
popular songs like Three Lovely Lassies/ The Spinning Wheel and
If I Were A Blackbirds. Accompaniments range from solo accordion or
piano to a small ceilidh band. Other songs include I Was Told By My
Aunt/ Roving Journeyman/ Thank You Ma'am Says Dan/ Down By The Glenside/
Courtin' In The Kitchen/ Goodbye Mike And Goodbye Pat and others.
Truly delightful music. (FS)
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| IRELAND |
PATRICK STREET |
Loftus 002 |
On The Fly |
$14.98 |
Lovely new album from this long lived Irish group which
has undergone personnell changes but still includes founder members Andy
Irvine and Kevin Burke along with Ged Foley (the non Irishman here) on
guitar & vocal and John Carty on fiddle, flute and banjo. Former Patrick
Street member Jackie Daly guests on accordion on two tracks. A fine
collection of traditional songs and tunes.
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| AMERICAN |
PAUL ROBESON |
Rev-Ola 208 |
The Man They Couldn't Silence |
$15.98 |
28 tracks, 80 min., recommended
Robeson, the son of an
escaped slave, became an outspoken advocate of civil rights long before
most Americans had ever heard Martin Luther King. For his trouble and his
other unpopular political views (especially concerning the former Soviet
Union) his government set about destroying his music and acting career. In
1950 be was officially banned from television, the first American to
receive such treatment. Long before that the U.S. government had taken
away his passport. Although the source of these recordings is nowhere to
be found, they seem (at least many of them) to be from the 1926-39 period,
and include Summertime, Deep River, Mood Indigo,
Lazy Bones, Joshua Fit The Battle Of Jericho, Rockin' Chair,
Killing Song, Short'nin' Bread and many others, all featuring
the richest bass-baritone imaginable. This release offers a nice selection
of material and a long running time, allowing for a fuller appreciation of
Robeson's considerable talent, even if the booklet notes fall well short
of fascinating. (JC)
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| ENGLAND |
STEELEYE SPAN |
Park 91 |
Bloody Men |
$19.98 |
2 CDs, 15 tracks, 63 min., recommended
The traditional
songs are as often as not given a musically modern twist, as the power
chords on Bonny Black Hare demonstrate. And for a traditional song,
the lyric is short on subtlety ("I pulled out my ramrod") and the puns
(hare/hair) remind one of 16th century middle schoolers. And then the
original Ken Nicol/ Maddy Prior song The Dreamer & The Widow (also
about the sexual exploits of wandering young men and the women who love
them), sounds 400 years old. The second disc is a five-track, 16-minute
true fictional history of the Luddite movement in 19th century England.
That old warhorse. Still, anything with Maddy Prior is worth hearing, and
this release is full of gorgeous moments. Whummil Bore houses
several, as does Lord Gregory. But Peter Knight's song about his
wrist watch winds up as too precious. (JC)
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| IRELAND |
VARIOUS ARTISTS |
Old Time Records 101 |
Old Time REcords, Vol. 1 - U.S. Recordings |
$23.98 |
21 tracks, 66 mins, highly recommended
Delightful
collection of Irish-American music recorded between 1920 and 1939. Most of
these tracks have never been reissued before on LP or CD and it includes
performances by Louis E. Quinn & His Shamrock Minstrels, The Flanagan
Brothers, Martin Beirne & His Orchestra, James Darcy & John Mulvihill,
James Morrison, Paddy Killoran, Hugh Gillespie, Frank Quinn, O'Leary's
Irish Minstrels and others. Sound quality is superb and 12 page booklet
has notes and discographical details for all the performances. (FS)
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| CELTIC |
VARIOUS ARTISTS |
Wagram 3131032 |
Celtic Music |
$28.98 |
Two CD set with 36 tracks. A varied collection of Celtic
music - about 2/3 of it from Bittany and the rest from Ireland and
Scotland. Most of the recordings are from the last five years along with a
few older titles. Traditional and contemporary songs and tunes from Alan
Stivell, Arvest, La Lugh, Deanta, Yann Raoul, The Dubliners, Denez Prigent,
Sinead O'Connor, Meav, Dan Ar Braz, Patrick Street, Gayane, Les Nouveaux
Heros, etc.
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| ENGLAND |
THE WATERSONS |
Topic TSCD 564 |
Sound, Sound Your Instruments Of Joy |
$14.98 |
14 tracks, essential
Newly repackaged reissue of one of
THE great albums of the British folk revival. The Watersons were England's
greatest acapella group and this is one of their very finest albums (not
that anything they recorded was less than superb). Mike, Norma and Lal
Waterson together with Norma's husband Martin Carthy perform a selection
of 14 religious oriented songs drawing on rare English and American songs
- wassail songs, vernacular carols, meeting house hymns, Sacred Harp and
more. Perfomances are stunning with glorious harmonies as well as
interplay between the individual voices. Songs include God Bless The
Master/ Windham/ Christian's Hope/ Emmanuel/ Sound, Sound Your Instruments
Of Joy/ Green Fields/ Morning Trumpet and others. Disc is packaged in
digipack with 16 page booklet with endlessly informative notes by A.L.
Lloyd and full lyric transcripts. Whatever your religious persuasion you
can't help but be moved by these magnificent performances. (FS)
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