41 f
the tube at Oxford Circus and watch humanity pouring in and out. Every person has a massive story to tell and they’re all getting on with it. It really lifts me.”
As a songwriter he tries to adhere to a five-point plan adapted from John Steinbeck…“given that there’s nothing new under the sun you have to bring some originality to it, make it poetic, give it the best melody you can, the best arrangement and make it as short as you can. I’m still working on the short bit…”
He says he could write an essay about the complexities of the
track Rosalinda. “It’s about the guilt of a mother who has a daugh- ter with mental problems and plays upon the mother’s guilt of let- ting her down when she needed it most. It’s really complicated. You can’t write a song like that and expect people to get it but what you can do is say this is something worth examining in a poetic form with a good tune. I love writing those songs. It’s very consuming. Time gets suspended when I’m writing.”
Another big song is The Break Of The Union, in which he expresses his dismay at the prospect of an independent Scotland. “I’m English but I try to be British first and I love the contribution Scotland has made to Britishness. I don’t deny that if I was a Scot I’d want independence. And if I was Irish I’d want a united Ireland. But I am English and it terrifies me to think that Scotland may drift away and feel so betrayed.”
“All that burning football flags in pubs, it hurts me. Bloody
Mel Gibson… Braveheart and all that bollocks. That’s done more to galvanise young Scottish men to nationalism than anything else. Dreadful film. He did the same thing about the British in America with The Patriot. He’s a dangerous little fucker…”
e talk about From Clare To Here, the song inspired by an Irish labourer yearning for home who Ralph met in London on a building site years ago. He’d never set foot in Ireland when he wrote it, singing it there for the first time at the legendary 1970s Lisdoonvarna Festival when the beer tent col- lapsed just as he walked on stage. Thanks largely to the Fureys, it’s now sung at breakneck speed in every tourist bar in Ireland, most of those singing it assuming it’s an Irish traditional song. “I love Ireland,” says Ralph. “I love their bravado, passion, humour, music…there’s so much about the nation I love that to have one of my songs trickle into their culture is one of the things I’m most proud of in my whole life. I’m so grateful for the Fureys’ version.”
W
I gulp a bit on hearing this. Really? You’re not protective about your songs then?
“No, I take the Woody Guthrie line that anyone found singing this song without my undue consent and permission is a good friend of mine ‘cos that’s why I wrote it.”
As he disappears to make an appearance on the Aled Jones Show, he confirms he’s having a ball.
“There comes a point where, you know, you hit stride at 66 and you might as well enjoy it. I think I’m playing guitar better than ever, I have a great sound man who creates a good environ- ment for me to perform and I love playing. It’s a great job…”
www.ralphmctell.co.uk Ralph in 1964 F
Photo: Brian Shuel
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108