Album Reviews
RALPH,
ALBERT & SYDNEY
Album Reviews
If you would like to share your thoughts on any of Ralph's recordings, Email them to me and I will add them to this page.
Bridge of Sighs Review
by Mike Cohen
Bridge of Sighs - Ralph McTell - Leola Music TPGCD27
As I listen to Jerry Donahue’s silky smooth Knopfler-like guitar riffs in “Throw Out a Line and Dream” my mind wanders to where I was and what I was doing 21 years ago in 1986. I was living in Brighton with my then girlfriend, later to be my wife, and working as a GP Trainee. We looked after an elderly population and there were many home visits. It wasn’t too bad as I listened endlessly to my cassette recording of the vinyl copy of Bridge of Sighs as I went about them. I think it was interspersed with a recording of Ralph on the then excellent Jim Lloyd’s Folk on 2. I wonder where that cassette is now and remind myself to check whether it is in the loft. I shall have to dig it out again.
So it was with much delight that last night I bought a copy of the last of Ralph’s vinyl backlog, now finally on CD, at his concert in Bristol. Incidentally, Ralph played a belter of a gig to a full and appreciative house at the beautiful St George’s at Brandon Hill.
This phase in my life heralded a return to some sort of stability as in the preceding years I had spent relatively short periods working in various hospitals. I had lost touch for a while with Ralph’s music and his live work. It also coincided with a period in Ralph’s professional life when he was emerging from his career on children’s television and returning to writing and performing for a more mature audience. Well, we were sort of adults I guess!
I love this album. It contains some of his strongest work. Songs such as Mr. Connaughton, The Girl From The Hiring Fair, and The Setting have stood the test of time and still regularly appear as part of Ralph’s live set. I remember the early evenings as I ran through the Old Steine in Brighton just as you approach the Palace Pier. Hundreds of starlings used to roost in the trees... just like apples.
Musically Ralph is accompanied by his old best mates from Fairport Convention as well as long time associates such as Graham Preskett, Alun Davies, Jerry Donahue, Maartin Allcock, Richard Thompson and Danny Thompson. Backing vocals are performed by Benny Gallagher and, as with all of Ralph’s albums, there are some lovely strong harmonies. Ralph is responsible for the overall production.
There is an insightful critique of the songs written by Paul O.Jenkins who is somewhat of an authority regarding Ralph’s work. He explains that “the songs serve to highlight McTell’s keen understanding of the human condition and his ability to translate it into song”. Peter Thaine again is responsible for the lovely cover illustration and overall design which is as tasteful as ever.
A few years ago I remember Ralph in his usual self deprecating way tell a story about this album when it was out of production and the fact that some of his older albums were appearing at car boot sales for only a few quid. He quipped about someone asking if the album was still available and it being requested as “Bridget’s Thighs”!
Last night at the concert’s conclusion I gazed at the merchandise desk and pondered at the man’s artistic output laid out in front of me. I was speechless and quite moved. The sheer quality of his work is astonishing. And though the years have flown, the years have gone we are indeed blessed to still have him around writing and performing as strongly as ever.
So why not buy yourself a copy of this timeless album and turn back the clock?
Mike Cohen __________________________________________________________ Ralph McTell: 4-CD Compilation - Leola Music TPGCD30 'Affairs of the Heart' is a wonderful compilation of 56 of Ralph's love songs, covering the full range of romantic experience from 'When they were young' to 'Bicker and rue'.
The presentation is carefully designed on a number of levels - the four CDs and booklet are housed in a facsimile cigar box redolent of a more romantic era; the 'billet doux' CD envelopes are franked with 'Mitcham' and 'Croydon' postmarks (following 'The Journey' theme?); and the booklet has helpful 'discography' links that make it a representative sampler of Ralph's current CD catalogue. In fact it makes an ideal McTell 'starter pack' - a splendid gift for Valentine's or any other day - and at a bargain price from Ralph's website shop.
Rory McGrath - a big Ralph fan - has written comprehensive notes on the tracks, which include all 23 songs from the 1989 'Collection of His Love Songs' (though not all are the same recording). The additional material is mostly more recent, including six from 'The Boy With a Note'. For the track listing see Trackin' Back.
The price from the McTell Shop is £22.45 including postage to UK addresses.
John Beresford, February 2010
__________________________________________________________ ‘Affairs of The Heart' Review Ralph McTell - 4CD Box Set – released 14 February 2010.
On the face of it, what one person said about this new album seems correct:
‘… this release cannot be aimed at the regular fans - we already have all the tracks several times over. It can only be intended for NEW fans who want a representative sample of Ralph's catalogue’.
There's a danger this could also be widely felt amongst Ralph’s other regular fans; and I feel they’d be seriously missing out. Having listened to the set, I honestly believe there's much more to it. I don't know who this new box set was originally ‘...aimed at’, but the rationale and exercise of grouping those 56 songs together was well worth the effort.
'Regulars' will be missing out hugely if they dismiss it as something they already have, albeit scattered across their collections of Ralph’s previous albums. Apart from new re-recordings of some earlier tracks, I was also pleasantly surprised to find 'When They Were Young' included. (I've got used to hearing it live recently, and, although it appears on the ‘As Far as I Can Tell’ talking book, it still seems so new to me I had expected it to be released on the forthcoming studio CD - for which recording sessions are in progress as I write.)
However, I've been really enjoying the new boxed set, ‘Affairs of the Heart’, listening WITHOUT initially looking at the track listing. NOT knowing what's coming up next is nice, much like being at a live concert.
It's great to hear such an inspired song set grouping and I'd encourage any regular to try averting their eyes from the listing before playing. Just DON'T look! The experience is further enhanced by hearing the immediate comparison of Ralph's voice changes over the long time span; all personally very moving on a number of levels for me.
The benefits of 'shuffling' the sequence order of an album are familiar; the songs often seem different when they don't follow or precede the one expected from many listenings in the original order. However, the songs contained in ‘Affairs of The Heart’ are far from having been randomly ‘shuffled’. Most regulars will already know Ralph strives to achieve continuity in his concert sets, with a usually seamless transition through the wide variety of song themes and instrumentals. This partly explains why audiences remain enthralled throughout the entire performance.
During the 2009 Autumn tour I was fortunate to see, and would like to share, some of the preparation and effort Ralph puts into the set list for each concert, blending in requests received before (and sometimes even during) the show.
However, what did surprise me was that in the quiet period that follows sound check Ralph uses the reverse side of the now empty string pack liner on which to construct his set list. Pictured left is the one from Norden Farm at Maidenhead
It was one of the nicest little revelations of the tour for me; practical poetry and environmentally responsible too! A simple example which may indicate that little or nothing is wasted by this gentle man, conscious of his carbon footprint.
Ralph also looks for, and can usually find, poetry in everyday events many of us would likely miss; until they appear in a song.
It deserves to be a success.
Keith Littlechild, April 2010
With thanks to Ralph and Leola Music Ltd for permission to use pictures of Ralph's concert set lists.
__________________________________________________________
Bristol, Thursday, April 19, 2007
Mike with Ralph - Swindon 2005
Release Date: February 14th, 2010.
by Keith Littlechild
Many of you will be aware, guitar players in particular, from his interesting article ‘The Love of a Freshly Strung Guitar’, that Ralph treats Miss Gibson to a new set of ‘Newtone’ strings before each and every live performance. This task is carried out following sound check and it didn’t surprise me that Ralph does the job himself. And yes, he really can do it in about 5 minutes! New strings ensure optimum sound quality but I think the process also helps Ralph focus and prepare mentally for his performance.
Anyone who has been to more than one concert during a tour knows that the set list changes, sometimes considerably, although clearly there usually has to remain a central core of songs.
Significant though constructing a concert set list is, I suspect a great deal more thought, time and effort went into to selecting and sequencing the tracks on the 4 discs which comprise ‘Affairs of The Heart’. It can’t have been easy to make the theme work artistically, enable it meet all the technical requirements, disc space etc and constraints of the very neat presentation package as well.
I sincerely hope this boxed set album will reach a lot of the ‘First Timers’ who came to Ralph’s concerts during the Autumn Tour. Perhaps surprisingly, exactly a third of those surveyed were in this category.
But, equally importantly, I hope that regulars will seriously consider it too, because it is so MUCH MORE than merely a re-issue of a collection of older material, as may at first appear.