?Martin Simpson?
Nartker
me of the following?
1. Who is this guy?
2. Does he tour in the US, and is there a schedule available?
3. What other of his work is available and recommended?
Nartker @ AOL.com
Greg DiCenzo
wrote:
I'll start with some limited info; maybe others can provide more. Well,
he's british but lives in the US. He is married to Jessica Radcliffe
Simpson who sings with him. He has been playing blues, Irish, Celtic, rock
n roll and folk since his early teens. He lives in CA - Sant Cruz I think.
He seems to play mostly in California these days.
The Collection is actually older material recorded before he moved to NY in
- what .. maybe 1986 or 1987. He has still older work recorded with June
Tabor. In addition to 2 compilations of his arrangements of Irish (etc)
songs. He has a new CD I don't have yet which is compilation of spirituals;
I haven't got it yet. He has a very nice instructional video from Homespun
Tapes, currently on sale for about $40, I believe and which features really
lucid instruction and admirable performances. He also has put out a book
re alternate tunings (it and the video include all pieces in standard
notation and tablature).
You can read about him in a recent issue of Fingerstyle Guitar magazine.
Back copies are available. I enjoy the "Collection" CD. Of his two
compilations, the "When I was on Horseback" is probably a better-produced
CD, as compared to "Leaves of Life" which was put out earlier. He's a
pretty nice guy.
Greg DiCenzo
Tucson
Ken Levine
>- what .. maybe 1986 or 1987. He has still older work recorded with June
>Tabor. In addition to 2 compilations of his arrangements of Irish (etc)
>songs. He has a new CD I don't have yet which is compilation of spirituals;
>I haven't got it yet. He has a very nice instructional video from Homespun
>Tapes, currently on sale for about $40, I believe and which features really
>lucid instruction and admirable performances. He also has put out a book
>re alternate tunings (it and the video include all pieces in standard
>notation and tablature).
>
>You can read about him in a recent issue of Fingerstyle Guitar magazine.
>Back copies are available. I enjoy the "Collection" CD. Of his two
>compilations, the "When I was on Horseback" is probably a better-produced
>CD, as compared to "Leaves of Life" which was put out earlier. He's a
>pretty nice guy.
>
>Greg DiCenzo
>Tucson
>
played on acoustic guitar with no vocals. He is very expressive and I imagine
would be great live as he appears to be capable of improvisation.
Ken Levine
Ken Levine
Vancouver, BC
Graeme Newell
Hi,
I really enjoy listening to Martin Simpson's more recent CD called
'Leaves of Life' available on the Shanachie label. There are no vocals
- it's all instrumental and very 'folky' or even at times 'new age'
style. As far as I'm concerned there are no 'bummer' tracks, and many
are inspirational. That may be a bit strong, but it does makes you
want to pick a guitar and try and play along - and this is possible
since there's a tab. sheet that comes with the CD.
I highly recommend it.
Graeme Newell
gne...@deakin.edu.au
Michael Robinson
: I've bought Martin Simpson's Collection CD and Love it, can anyone inform
: me of the following?
: 1. Who is this guy?
"I grew up in an industrial town in England with a burning ambition
to be an elderly black man from Mississippi," says Martin Simpson,
fingerpicker extraordinaire, slide guitar monster, and one of the
most lyrical players of British ballads performing today. Simpson's
recordings number in the teens, ranging from the beautiful solo guitar
efforts "Leaves of Life" and "When I Was On Horseback", to the screaming
slide guitar of his solo records and his inventive accompaniment work
with English songstress June Tabor.
--The Acoustic Guitar of Martin Simpson
(An excellent book if you are looking for guitar instruction)
Martin currently lives in Santa Cruz, California. He performs solo,
with his wife Jessica who sings and writes songs, and sometimes
with a group called the Band of Angels. He also collaborates with
other guitar gods such as Bob Brozman from time to time, and often
contributes articles to magazines about guitars and folk music.
He is also an excellent 5-string banjo player.
: 2. Does he tour in the US, and is there a schedule available?
He tours extensively in the U.S. and world-wide. I believe that he
is going to be in Europe for the next couple of months.
: 3. What other of his work is available and recommended?
"Leaves of Life" and "When I Was on Horseback", both on the
Shanachie label, should be fairly easy to find, and are very nice IMO.
Michael Robinson
Mike Neverisky
>Nartker (nar...@aol.com) wrote:
>: I've bought Martin Simpson's Collection CD and Love it, can anyone inform
>: me of the following?
>
>...inventive accompaniment work with English songstress June Tabor.
Others have mentioned the very fine solo recordings - so I'd
like to second this mention of Martin's skill as an
accompanist.
I bought the CD re-release of the Tabor/Simpson
"A Cut Above" after hearing "Heather in the Moor" on the
radio. The combination of Simpson's tasteful and masterfully
played guitar with Tabor's sultry and articulate voice makes
this disc one of my favorites.
-- Mike
--
"Life is a box of chocolates". - Mrs. Gump
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mike Neverisky | neve...@wp.prodigy.com | My employer's views may differ.
Dearg Doom
:: I've bought Martin Simpson's Collection CD and Love it, can anyone
In response to question #3, I highly recommend his recording with June
Tabor called A Cut Above. [It was originally released on Topic in the UK
and I believe it's available on CD in the US on Green Linnet.] You might
also want to pick up Leaves Of Life, available in the US on Shanachie (my
copy is on CD, I expect it available on cassette also).
Charlie Spear
neve...@elephant.dev.prodigy.com (Mike Neverisky) writes:
>
> I bought the CD re-release of the Tabor/Simpson
> "A Cut Above" after hearing "Heather in the Moor" on the
> radio. The combination of Simpson's tasteful and masterfully
> played guitar with Tabor's sultry and articulate voice makes
> this disc one of my favorites.
>
I second that, and I'm glad to hear that it's out on CD. I also like
the cut "Admiral Benbow," and there are some truly haunting ballads.
I've caught Simpson on A Prairie Home Companion, too!
Chris Read
> I bought the CD re-release of the Tabor/Simpson
> "A Cut Above" after hearing "Heather in the Moor" on the
> radio. The combination of Simpson's tasteful and masterfully
> played guitar with Tabor's sultry and articulate voice makes
> this disc one of my favorites.
>
> -- Mike
I agree - 'A cut above' just has to be one of the best folk albums of all
time (I think it came out in 1980).
The way his guitar follows her voice is uncanny. There is another superb
example of them as a duo on a later Tabor record called Abyssinians
- a track called 'the Scarecrow' where his guitar and her voice combine
to perfection.
Other records by him not already noted on this thread are:
'Golden Vanity' (his first, from 1976)
'Grinning in your face' (1983) - contains some of the tunes from
'the Collection' including 'the first cut is the deepest'
'Sad or High-kicking' (1985)
'Nobodys fault but mine' (1986)
I was lucky enough, about ten years ago, to hear him play in our local folk-club
- the usual dingy room above a pub - and he put on one ofthe most mesmering
displays of guitar playing I am ever likely to hear. One particular transition
between Dylan's 'Girl from the North Country' and 'First cut is the deepest'
will always stay with me.
I can't say I'm that fond of Jessica Simpson's voice on his latest CD,
but there again I would queue to hear him tune up! His latest solo
album is called 'A closer walk with thee' and contains absolutely
beautiful settings of American hymn and gospel songs.
I envy the guy who started this thread who has just dicovered him!!
--
Chris Read
Piers Cawley
>...inventive accompaniment work with English songstress June Tabor.
Others have mentioned the very fine solo recordings - so I'd
like to second this mention of Martin's skill as an
accompanist.
I bought the CD re-release of the Tabor/Simpson
"A Cut Above" after hearing "Heather in the Moor" on the
radio. The combination of Simpson's tasteful and masterfully
played guitar with Tabor's sultry and articulate voice makes
this disc one of my favorites.
Hmm... I don't like either June or Martin, for reasons which I won't
go into now, but I make an exception for this album. It really is a
treat to listen too.
--
Piers Cawley: <mailto://pdca...@iest.demon.co.uk> <phoneto://+44 245 263349>
<driveto://2, Widford Park Place, Chelmsford, Essex, CM2 8TB, ENGLAND
When I am sad and lonely / When I think all hope is gone
When I walk along High Holborn / I think of you with nothing on
--
Piers Cawley: <mailto://pdca...@iest.demon.co.uk> <phoneto://+44 245 263349>
<driveto://2, Widford Park Place, Chelmsford, Essex, CM2 8TB, ENGLAND
When I am sad and lonely / When I think all hope is gone
When I walk along High Holborn / I think of you with nothing on
szwa...@dale.ucdavis.edu
He is a wonderful guitarist who has been playing music with many people for
many years. He currently lives in Santa Cruz California and does perform
on occasion.
Bill Wagman
U.C. Davis
wjwa...@ucdavis.edu
Piers Cawley
(Colin Bigam) writes:
I saw Martin Simpson at the Edmonton Folk Fest a few weeks ago. In
a field of such greats as John Renbourn, Snooky Pryor, and just
about anyone else you stuck him on a stage with, his sheer presence
was incredible! If you think albums of him are great, go see him
live! DEFINITELY worth it!
Are we talking about the same person here? The Martin Simpson I've
seen is a very fine guitarist but was patently a charisma donor at an
early age and didn't have any left for himself after the op.
Charles Galt
I was very disappointed to find that the band had not yet appeared on any
of the Simpson recordings... I agree with post that he's a real treat to
see in concert (at least with a group), though I like the songs more than
the straight guitar work...
--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Charles Galt, Professor Tel: 310-985-4808 |
| Department of Biological Sciences Fax: 310-985-2315 |
| California State University Internet: ga...@csulb.edu |
| 1250 Bellflower Boulevard Omnet: c.galt |
| Long Beach, CA 90840-3702, USA Finger: ga...@beach.csulb.edu|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~