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well presented and neatly packaged with timely notes and photos galore. Ironically for a band whose later line-ups were plagued with instability, when the first Fairport take to the stage, they’re the most complete; the aforementioned guitar god rips up Time Will Show The Wiser and gets all coiled, viperous and sonic in a solo through Reno Nevada. Equally, Iain Matthews has a vocal which has lost none of its power down all the days. Else- where, tributes to Sandy Denny and Trevor Lucas have Sally Barker and PJ Wright deli- ciously delivering Rising For The Moon and Ned Kelly respectively. Hexamshire Lass is exhumed with glory thanks to Dave Mat- tacks’ thumping percussion lines.
The real meat, though, comes with Full
House recreations; the four stalwarts, Thomp- son, Mattacks, Nicol and Pegg mesh just as efficiently as they did back in 1970 – add in Chris Leslie and whoa!!! Poor Will & The Jolly Hangman, Sloth, Now Be Thankful are the stuff that makes the hairs on the back of your neck curl. All of them telepathically playing around and off each other, it doesn’t get bet- ter than what’s on display, and the run of tracks leaves the listener breathless. Else- where there’s a mass tilt at Dirty Linen, which sounds far funkier and earthy than it has in years. Thumbs up too for Liege & Lief extracts, Tam Lin/The Deserter being the pick, with Chris While’s vocal just dandy and Ashley Hutchings’ precise bass again melting into DM’s familiar percussion to recreate the ini- tial flowering of electric folk. Timeless stuff.
fairportconvention.com Simon Jones
LUCY WARD Pretty Warnings Betty Beetroot BETTY003
Lucy’s fourth studio album not only possesses a title aptly signposting its subject matter, but also further proves her special ability to totally inhabit any song, whether self-penned or tra- ditional. It also evidences her distinctive song- writing style, whose perceptive maturity gives a fresh spin to traditional forms and tales.
Over the course of her past three
albums, Lucy’s reined in any former (albeit occasional) eager over-characterisation, so that on Pretty Warnings her singing gains its dramatic impact entirely by more subtle, exquisitely shaded nuances. Opener Silver Morning, set to a bare, plaintive piano, is a masterpiece of pure and gentle melancholy, tellingly depicting the longing of the eternal rover. The wistful aura then rapidly turns urgent and scary with the introduction of darker string tones, electric guitar and per- cussion washes for the brooding, sensual night-visiting song Cold Caller, which builds into sinister, almost psych-prog territory.
Sunshine Child, however, is an idyllic interlude depicting unconditional love, form- ing a counterpart to Lazy Day’s languorous live-for-the-sunny-moment vibe. Beauty also figures large on closing lullaby-cum-love- song The Sweetest Flowers. Sandwiched between these self-penned triumphs we find Lucy’s intense, intelligent (and contrasting) reimaginings of traditional songs – murder ballads Bill Norrie and Maria Martin and an eerily admonitory Fair And Tender Ladies – and the Cruel Mother-inspired Mari Fach. Lucy and her excellent accompanists (who include Helga Ragnarsdottir, Anna Esslemont, Claire Bostock and producer Stu Hanna) exer- cise admirable restraint in helping bring to life these perilous narratives.
Pretty Warnings is a magnificent album: spellbinding, emotionally compelling and acutely understanding.
lucywardsings.co.uk David Kidman
The Turbans
THE TURBANS Six Degrees 65703612802
DON KIPPER Seven Sisters Riverboat TUGCD11114
Music from the exotic East of London. The Turbans cook up a winning blend of East Med, East Euro and Middle Eastern sounds delivered with ferociously rocking energy. With members originally from Iran, France, Bulgaria, Belarus, Greece, Germany and the UK, this 12-piece band have honed their skills travelling, performing and busking across the globe. They now call Hackney their home, a fact they celebrate on the laugh-out-loud closing track. Excellent musicianship through- out, some strong songcraft and guest appear- ances from UK gnawa master Simo Lagnawi and The London Bulgarian Choir. What more could you ask for from a debut album?
theturbans.co.uk
The name Don Kipper suggests a Jewish comedy act. And while this seven-piece band do bring humour (and Jewishness) to the party, there’s a hell of a lot more to them than that. On this, their third album, they mix similar musical ingredients to The Tur- bans, stirring in some Yiddish flavours and sounding completely different. Again, the playing is of the highest order, with accordeonist Josh Middleton, violinist Andrew Gorman and Daniel Gouly on clar- inet all putting in sterling work and Serbo- Greek vocalist Dunja Botic providing stately powerhouse vocals on some tracks. The material is split down the middle between originals and reinterpretations, mostly of tra- ditional tunes, plus an excellent Esma Redzepova cover. There’s jaunty klezmer, heart-wrenching ballads, wild Bulgarian sounds and lots more besides. When it comes to Kippers, I definitely prefer Don to U.
donkipper.com Jamie Renton EDDIE BOYD
The Singles Collection 1947–62 Acrobat ADDCD3250
Blues fans around in the ’60s might have first come across pianist/vocalist Eddie Boyd via two albums he recorded in England, both produced by Mike Vernon – or seen him when he gigged in the UK with both Fleet- wood Mac and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers.
Born in Mississippi in 1914, Boyd migrat- ed North in the early ‘40s to work in Chicago factories but found work as a session musi- cian for Bluebird records, backing such great bluesmen as Jazz Gillum, Sonny Boy Williamson, Tampa Red and Muddy Waters before getting to record under his own name in 1947. Opening this great compilation of Boyd’s American recordings are his first two recordings I Had to Let Her Go and Kilroy Won’t Be Back, both absolute belters. The third track Unfair Lovers, also recorded in 1947, is fascinating as Boyd’s recognisable vocal and piano phrases and style are already intact at this early date.
His huge hit Five long Years, recorded for J.O.B. in 1952, topped the Billboard R&B chart for seven weeks, and he scored again the fol- lowing year with his Chess releases 24 Hours and Third Degree, both of which reached no. 3 on the chart. All these tracks feature among the twenty-four selected for the first of the set’s two CDs.
The second CD has a further twenty-six cuts that showcase Eddie Boyd’s skills as singer, songwriter, pianist and band leader, all recorded before he emigrated to Belgium in the ’60s, eventually settling and marrying in Finland, finding a new audience in Europe and Scandinavia for his blues and R&B, far away from the racism he had encountered while living in the ‘land of the free’.
acrobatmusic.net Dave Peabody ROWAN PIGGOTT &
VARIOUS ARTISTS Songhive – Beelore and Folksong In The British Isles Songhive
“Hark to your bees!”
A slightly odd but delightful album. It’s a project got together by Rowan Piggott, all about bees and their folklore. There are vari- ous tune sets included, contributed by the Rheingans sisters, Ray Chandler and Keryda, but the songs are the main interest – all origi- nals by the performers apart from Peter Bel- lamy’s setting of Kipling’s The Bee-Boy’s Song. There’s a great We Must Away from Rosie Hodgson and a lovely Dark Honey from Nancy Kerr. And outstanding is Queen’s Dream of Lost Fields by Nick Burbridge – a complex and beautiful song. The CD is rather short on info, and even the website only real- ly adds the lyrics; musicians’ first names are not quoted, but there’s only one M. Simpson
Photo: Danny North Fanatic
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