Here´s some emblematic 70´s English folk music for you. I discovered this band quite a few years ago on the internet, and found this disc on ebay shortly after. It´s quite an interesting album really; live mainland European audiences captured on record along with Amazing Blondel´s wry humor and classic folk sound...
This disc wasn´t compiled and released until 1996, but it contains some of their best songs from various albums. I especially enjoy Willowood...
The Amazing Blondel - A Foreign Field That Is Forever England (Live Abroad 1972-73)
HTD, 1996Musicians:
John Gladwin - lead vocals, guitar, lute
Terence Alan Wincott - crumhorn, vocals, recorders, flute
Edward Baird - lute, guitar, cittern, vocals
Recorded live during the european tour 1972-73
Thanks to the Amazing Blondel website for info and the following review by Michael Billington:
"This album is a selection of ten songs crossing all four of the original trio's albums recorded live during the period 1972/73 just before their premature split. A review of 'England' in Melody Maker back in 1972 likened the band's music as having "the freshness of new mown grass" and there is undoubtedly a freshness and beauty about Gladwin's poetic lyrics and delicate vocal style that has stood the test of time which is accompanied by the clear lute and guitar accompaniment of himself and Eddie Baird. Terry Wincott's gutsy vocal and recorder technique add an effective foil and the whole effect has a quintessentially Englishness that is a sheer delight to listen to. As Gladwin once said in an interview in the magazine "Zigzag" some 20+ years ago. "We wanted to bring back the romanticism of the troubadour walking round strumming his lute."
This album 'A Foreign Field That Is Forever England' is a beautiful selection from recordings made on this final tour and what is remarkable is the clarity and quality of the recordings which of course are over twenty years old and the songs are played to the same high standards as in the studio recordings. (Not always the case on live albums!) The introductions are however somewhat basic bearing in mind the foreign audience which is understandable but nonetheless their wit and humour is evident in no uncertain terms and the jokes are well appreciated.
To pick out a few tracks, it is a delight to hear their magnum opus 'Fantasia Lindum', a stunning pastoral piece inspired by the band's native Lincolnshire countryside performed in it's entirety. Their "fun number" 'Shepherd's Song' complete with bleating is also here, one they used to arouse audience participation and here performed with great zest and gusto.
Three songs from their final album as a trio 'England' are present 'Seascape' 'Landscape' and 'Dolor Dulcis' and old favourites, 'Pavan’ and 'Willowood' from the album 'Evensong’. I was surprised though at the omission of 'Toye' a popular song with fans and an ever present on live gigs and the duplication of 'Celestial Light' which appears on it's own and also as part of the Fantasia Lindum suite."
A Brief History By Terry Wincott (taken from Amazingblondel.com) :
| The Island Years....AMAZING BLONDEL was formed by John Gladwin and myself after the break-up of too-loud rock band Methusala. We were soon joined by a talented guitarist Eddie Baird and after a disastrous "showbiz" record signing, Amazing Blondel were recommended by the members of the band Free to Island boss Chris Blackwell. After signing to Island Records and Artists, Amazing Blondel quickly produced three albums (Evensong,Fantasia Lindum,England)with the above line-up and undertook a series of intensive international and national tours to promote them. Amazing Blondel always seemed slightly eccentric, sweet and a little out of place: pseudo-Elizabethan/Classical acoustic music sung with "British" accents to the contemporary music audience of the day. From this unlikely combination Amazing Blondel carved a substantial niche in the market with people who appreciated the music and were prepared to purchase records and attend concerts. Amazing Blondel adored recording. At that time Islands Basing Street Studios were in the forefront of producing the most innovative and successful independent music in Britain and it gave us the exciting opportunity to work with such notables as Phil Brown and Adrian Hopkins. To hear the orchestrations for the first time was exhilarating and to hear the final product, although never perfect, was delightful and professionally satisfying. Sample almost any live concert and you would notice the audience unusually quiet, attentive and polite, the repertoire performed as technically correct as possible, the dexterity of the instrumentation (40 in all) and the music interspersed with crude and bawdy humour. The live performance, however, was sometimes overshadowed by the drudge of touring. There were the personal and group obsessions and amusements, tunings (hours spent), countryside pursuits, martial arts and fitness, dogs and hotel swimming pools, the daily view through the windscreen, food, flying, music in general, personal relationships, road managers, any ‘in joke’ repeated endlessly over and over until no longer funny but spitefully annoying. The demise of Amazing Blondel line-up as featured on these albums was like a balloon deflating. Amazing Blondel imploded with only a whisper of air. When I first wrote this in 1995 & we were compiling the first CD, I finished the script by saying..... Strangely, if that balloon had continued to float, that niche in the market would probably still exist today.... & it's nice to know after seven years that the audience is still out there.. Terry Wincott Feb 2003 |
FILL YOUR EARS
0 comments:
Post a Comment