In the 1960s, many musicians on both sides of the Atlantic picked up acoustic guitars and sought to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Woody Guthrie. Some went on to have chart success, fewer have maintained successful recording careers to this day, and hardly any have managed to evolve with the times, taking on the best innovations of others while continuing, themselves, to be innovative.
In the USA there's Bob Dylan, and in the UK there's Ralph McTell. In the 1980s and 1990s it was not always easy for such troubadours to find a place in the contemporary music scene; too poetic and relevant for "middle of the road" or AOR, but not quite comfortable in the folk scene.
But in 2010, the troubadour is once again king; following No Direction Home or The Seeger Sessions, kids are taking up acoustic guitars and harmonicas and wanting to follow those footsteps. And the iTunes generation is less concerned with image, age and genre than the MTV generation, enjoying the most eclectic of playlists. Into this rich mix, Ralph McTell has released a new classic.
Voice and Guitar, the Sound of Ralph McTell
For those who flock to Ralph McTell's sell-out theatre shows, his performance is (for the most part) about one man and his guitar. On record, sumptuous production and orchestration has often sent McTell's acoustic guitar into the background. On Somewhere Down the Road it is right back where it belongs: at the heart of the performances and the songs. Although on most of these 14 tracks other musicians join McTell, it is generally in an understated and supportive role.
As usual with a McTell album, we are taken for a trip around his influences and a variety of musical genres, the constant being the warm, rich poetry and the deep baritone voice. Here though, engineer John Cornfield has given the album an additional "oneness" through the production: guitar up front in the mix, an edge to the vocals. The Break of the Union is one song that feels very different, with its sweeping orchestral arrangement and no guitar part, and McTell revealed in his recording blog that it was nearly left off. That would have been a real shame as Maartin Allcock's orchestral arrangement is stunning.
Ralph McTell Plays Blues Tributes
Ralph McTell has previously written songs about the blues guitarists who have influenced him (Hands of Joseph, Blind Arthur Blake) and two new ones feature on Somewhere Down the Road. Reverent Thunder (Blind Faith) is a beautifully-performed blues about the gun-toting, blind bluesman, Rev. Gary Davies.
The Ghost of Robert Johnson is a dark, supernatural song, with more of a full-band arrangement than the four songs that precede it. Though in no way derivative, it puts me in mind of Dylan's Blind Willie McTell.
Ralph McTell: Folk Singer?
McTell has a strong following in the folk scene and has written many songs that have become folk club standards over the years. There are at least two more here: The London Apprentice and Around the Wild Cape Horn will no doubt be played in folk clubs up and down the UK for decades to come. It is unlikely many folk-club performers will be able to capture the delightful interplay between McTell's guitar part and Chris Parkinson's accordian in this performance, however.
Around the Wild Cape Horn is quite a good illustration of the different production approach on this album: it would have been tempting to throw the kitchen sink at it and get McTell's mates from Fairport Convention in to blast it out as a real folk rocker.
This arrangement, organically growing around McTell's live performance, is the right treatment for this album. And McTell revealed in a concert in Harrogate in July that Fairport Convention will be doing their own version of the song, so we can enjoy the folk-rock version then!
Walk Into the Morning
There are a number of stand-out tracks on this album: Around the Wild Cape Horn, the beautifully constructed family-history song, Lantern Slides (complete with children singing a hymn in the middle), the title track with it's Notting Hillbillies feel, The Ghost of Robert Johnson and A Kiss in the Rain, a magical song about Anne Briggs and Bert Jansch working together on Blackwaterside.
However, it is Walk Into the Morning, a beautiful song and a beautiful recording, that should (if there's any justice) be all over the radio playlists. This song perfectly captures the idealism of the young troubadour following the path of Woody Guthrie; the harmonica part is a delight and the lyrics superb.
The evening sky is fading
To the colour of my jeans
I'm writing with my finger
In the dust that falls from dreams
I would love to mention more: the feel-good fun of Moon, June and a Cajun Tune, the juxtaposition of dark words and lively tune on the Dylanesque Rosalinda and the wonderful string quartet on The Girl From the Jersey Ferry (which makes it a recording that could sit easily on McTell's early albums like Eight Frames a Second or Spiral Staircase.)
But perhaps you should just buy the album and listen for yourself! Repeated listens will no doubt draw out new highlights: although his music is often accessible, nobody should ever mistake McTell's songs for easy listening: amongst the instant folk-club hits, there are opaque words and unusual melodies, full of promise that they shall make a late dash and overtake the easier ones in the listener's favour.
Somewhere Down the Road is released on Leola Music in 2010.
Duncan Hall - Duncan Hall is a semi-professional acoustic musician and lecturer in Government & Politics
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