June Tabor album
Jon Berger
>I was listening to the radio the other day when I heard a song by June
>Tabor, one of my favorite singers. The DJ said it had come from a 1978 album
>of hers called _Ashes and Diamonds_. I have never seen this one; I didn't
>even know it existed. Does anyone out there in netland know anything
>about it? What label is it on? What songs? General review of the
>album? Is it really tough to find? I spend a lot of time in used
>record stores, and I've never seen it. None of my Tabor-fan friends
>have ever mentioned it to me. Are they holding out on me?
I'm surprised that Tabor fans would have omitted mentioning this one.
It's one of my favorites, although choosing among June Tabor albums, to
me, is a bit like having to choose between chocolate and coffee. "Ashes
and Diamonds" came out in 1977, Topic 12TS360. If the copyright date
didn't come right out and say "mid-70s", the platform shoes Tabor wears in
the cover photograph would be a sufficient tip-off, but that's close to
being my only complaint about the album. Come to think of it, I can't
think of a single June Tabor album with a cover photo that does her jus-
tice, IMHO.
Many of Tabor's albums focus on a single accompanist: Martin Simpson on "A
Cut Above", for instance, and lately Huw Warren on everything. They are
always excellent musicians, but I really enjoy the albums, such as this
one, which feature a wide variety of backup instrumentalists, and a
corresponding diversity of style. As usual, the lineup includes some of
the biggest names in British folk: Nic Jones on guitar and fiddle, Tony
Hall on squeezebox, the Steeleye Span rhythm section of Rick Kemp on bass
and Nigel Pegrum on drums, and Jon Gillaspie on keyboards. Actually, I've
never heard of Gillaspie outside of his work with Tabor, but he's really
good.
The songs:
A Side B Side
------------------------------------------------------
Reynard the Fox The Earl of Aboyne
The Devil and Bailiff Lisbon
McGlynn The Easter Tree
Streets of Forbes Cold and Raw
Lord Maxwell's last No Man's Land /
Goodnight Flowers of the Forest
Now I'm Easy
Clerk Saunders
The arrangements cover the full range of Tabor's early style, where by
"early" I guess I mean prior to the dark "Abyssinians" period. "The Devil
and Bailiff McGlynn" is an a capella number that features Tabor's trade-
mark rhythmic oddity at its most fascinating (and frustrating, at least to
anyone foolish enough to try duplicating it). "Clerk Saunders" is an a
capella murder ballad, delivered with wonderful conviction. "Lord
Maxwell" and "The Earl of Aboyne" are more traditionally arranged ballads,
both featuring Nic Jones's driving guitar, in a style similar to "Geordie"
on the "Silly Sisters" album. And "Now I'm Easy" and "No Man's Land" are
two more tear-jerkers from the redoubtable Eric Bogle; it would be hard to
sound bad doing a Bogle song, but in Tabor's hands they become so dramatic
that they're almost hard to listen to. I suppose that in certain moods
they might strike one as a bit overdone -- the drama of the lyrics is suf-
ficient without the rippling piano chords and gut-wrenching delivery,
really -- but somehow they never come across that way, to me. I will ad-
mit to slight qualms about female singers doing songs that are written in
the first person about an obviously male narrator, but that's just me;
this is so common that it isn't really a complaint, just a personal quirk.
Bottom line: I really love "Ashes and Diamonds". I don't really know much
about the availability; I've heard rumors that a lot of her early albums
are going to be re-released on CD. (I hope so, because I've just about
worn out my copies of most of them!) Tabor is currently touring with the
Oyster Band -- the schedule was posted here a couple of days ago -- and
the concerts might be good places to find her recordings on sale.
--
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jon Berger jo...@ingres.com {mtxinu,sun,amdahl,pyramid}!ingres!jonb
"Gentlemen, I regret to inform you that we're all drawings." -- B. Kliban
DoN Nichols
[ ... text deleted ... ]
>I'm surprised that Tabor fans would have omitted mentioning this one.
>It's one of my favorites, although choosing among June Tabor albums, to
[ ... more text deleted ... ]
>The arrangements cover the full range of Tabor's early style, where by
>"early" I guess I mean prior to the dark "Abyssinians" period. "The Devil
>and Bailiff McGlynn" is an a capella number that features Tabor's trade-
>mark rhythmic oddity at its most fascinating (and frustrating, at least to
>anyone foolish enough to try duplicating it). "Clerk Saunders" is an a
>capella murder ballad, delivered with wonderful conviction. "Lord
>Maxwell" and "The Earl of Aboyne" are more traditionally arranged ballads,
^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^
>both featuring Nic Jones's driving guitar, in a style similar to "Geordie"
>on the "Silly Sisters" album. And "Now I'm Easy" and "No Man's Land" are
I have to comment on the above lines. Since, for most of their
existance, these ballads were performed acapella, the first two mentioned
are really "more traditionally arranged". What we are accustomed to is
*NOT* the truly 'traditional' performance style. The meaning of 'folk' has
been bent out of any hope of recognition in the past thirty-five years or
so, let's attempt to maintain some consistancy of meaning in 'traditional',
at least.
To my mind, these ballads are MORE powerful when sung acapella by a
good singer. (Not necessarily performer - just singer). An example of what
I mean there is Norman Kennedy, who may be in front of an audience of
thousands, and will not do anything different than when in a circle of
friends in a living room. He just SINGS. (Sigh - not often enough
anymore. Since he moved away from Williamsburg to the north, (CT I think),
we seldom see and hear him here in the Washington DC area.
[ ... and still more text deleted ... ]
Sorry, I don't mean this as a personal flame, I just had enough
trouble making the change from saying I liked 'folk' music, to having to
make a distinction between 'folk' and 'traditional' (with an explanation,
usually), and would rather not see what the next word we would have to adopt
to make the distinction would be.
DoN.
--
Donald Nichols (DoN.) | Voice (Days): (703) 664-1585
D&D Data | Voice (Eves): (703) 938-4564
Disclaimer: from here - None | Email: <dnic...@ceilidh.beartrack.com>
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---
Howie Kaye
I recently picked this up on CD (i already had the record). Topic has
recently released it on CD. I've also seen "A Cut above", and all of
her newer albums on CD. I am waiting to see Abyssinians!
------------------------------------------------------------
Howie Kaye ho...@columbia.edu
Columbia University hl...@cuvma.bitnet
UNIX Systems Group ...!rutgers!columbia!howie
Howie Kaye
Incidently, June Tabor is touring with the Oyster Band. They'll be
playing the Bottom Line, NYC Sunday.
Mark D. Hessman
|> Incidently, June Tabor is touring with the Oyster Band. They'll be
|> playing the Bottom Line, NYC Sunday.
|>
Any other tour dates available? (If possible, something in
New England....) *Freedom and Rain* was one of the better
albums of last year, and from what I've heard the Oyster Band
are very good live; this looks to be a great show!
-- Mark
Scott Galuska
Yep- they're in New England tonight/tomorrow night.....
2/22 (tonite)- Worcester, MA (Clark University)
2/23 - Northampton, MA (Iron Horse)
2/24 - Bottom Line, NYC
2/25 - Montreal (Terminal)
2/26 - Toronto (Opera House)
2/28 - Detroit (Alvin's)
3/1 - Chicago (Schuba's)
3/2 Minneapolis (1st Avenue)
3/3 - Vancouver (86th Street Music Hall)
3/4 - Seattle (Backstage)
3/5 - San Francisco (Slims Nightclub)
3/8 - Santa Monica, CA (McCabe's)
--
Scott Galuska
Dept. of Computer & Info. Science
Univ of Delaware
gal...@dewey.udel.edu
Mary Tabasko
Many thanks to all who responded to my query, in both posts and
email. I will definitely be making a trip to the record stores,
*after* payday! The net comes through again!
-- Mary
**********************************************************************
* This curious world which we inhabit is more wonderful than it *
* is convenient; more beautiful than it is useful; it is more to *
* be admired and enjoyed than used. -- H.D. Thoreau *
**********************************************************************
--
Mary Tabasko (no relation to the hot-sauce folks)
Snail Mail: 371 S. Negley Ave., Apt. 5 MaBellNet: 412/362-0544
Pittsburgh, PA 15232-1110
E-Mail: mc...@unix.cis.pittsburgh.edu /or/ tab...@idis.lis.pittsburgh.edu
Joan Frankel
In article <45...@nigel.ee.udel.edu> gal...@udel.edu (Scott Galuska) writes:
>>|> Incidently, June Tabor is touring with the Oyster Band. They'll be
>>|> playing the Bottom Line, NYC Sunday.
>2/23 - Northampton, MA (Iron Horse)
>2/24 - Bottom Line, NYC
>2/25 - Montreal (Terminal)
>2/26 - Toronto (Opera House)
>2/28 - Detroit (Alvin's)
>
>3/1 - Chicago (Schuba's)
>3/2 Minneapolis (1st Avenue)
>3/3 - Vancouver (86th Street Music Hall)
>3/4 - Seattle (Backstage)
>3/5 - San Francisco (Slims Nightclub)
>3/8 - Santa Monica, CA (McCabe's)
If you haven't already bought a ticket for these dates you may not get one
now, if Boston was any indication.
Great concert, & a lot of fun too...
The opening band (here, anyway) was a retro-psychedelic/new-wave bunch
of cute kids from Tennessee called the "Judy Bats".
Think of seventeen different versions of stuff that sounds like Jefferson
Airplane B-cuts (like "She Drives Funny Cars", or whatever that one was
called) cranked up to the "instant deafness" level. I always like stuff
with a beat or a tune or SOMETHING to hook onto better than this type of
creative noise, but I did enjoy them.
(I not enjoy the volume, but I
was loathe to give up my bar-stool & go stand against the wall in self-defense;
now I hope & pray I didn't give up part of the hearing in my right ear; its been
18 hours or so & it's not back to normal yet.
I swore off rock concerts in general about 15 years ago when I came out of
"hearing" Bruce Springsteen at the Boston Garden (an acoustic nightmare of
a basketball court) to the sounds of the crowd around seeming as if they
were coming from underwater. I did recuperate from that, & never
INTENTIONALLY attended a loud concert thereafter.)
Someone who apparently bought their tickets on vague recommendation was heard
upon exiting to say to a friend "Y'know, I liked the 2nd group better than the
1st". Nice to know June & Co win the unsolicited war of the bands...
I became a June Tabor fan hearing those 70s albums with Nic Drake's
driving guitar, sparkly harmonies with Maddy Prior, June's neat rythmic attack
(sort of Celto-syncopation) on various lyrics...
I also love the dark & depressing stuff she's been doing for her past 3 albums
or so; I didn't love it so well when my first opportunity to hear her, ever,
was a concert a couple years ago at the Somerville Theater during which she did
exactly one non-suicidal song, dedicated to her dog, & smiled all the while.
I don't like it when an audience gets jerked around mood-wise with
country-performer-style "now let's do a fast one; now lets do a ballad"
insincere concert pacing; I found I also didn't much like it when someone whose
approach is largely minimalist-dour lumps distanced-commentary songs in with
what should be gut-wrenching ballads, sung in the same distanced style,
for an endless journey into night; after a while the mood leveled off &
the total effect was more irony than depression.
In a show last year in Johnny D's, a much smaller venue, she did almost
the same set-list of "songs people get killed in/by" with the same measured,
observant narrative style, but she seemed a little looser & her delivery
sounded much more sincere & somewhat less restrained.
I've only heard a few cuts off the new album, so can't say if what they
did last night had any real surprises for album owners,
but they sure surprised & delighted me.
I don't want to spoil OR encite your expectations, so
suffice to say that apparently June harbors the same love of 60s
folk-rock classics (the icier ones, of course) that we normal mortals do.
About the only disappointment I can dredge up, & this is after 18 hours
retrospection, is that they didn't do more 16th century
death-laden ballads with the inimitable Oyster ceillidh/punk send-up.
Surely Steeleye Span, whose approach is more straightforward,
hasn't exhausted the entire supply. (I once was convinced Joan Baez had
exhausted the entire supply.)
I think teaming-up with the Oysters is just what June needed to
kick herself out of the corner she's painted herself into. Ice-goddesses
always sound so much better with screaming violins & guitars & accordians
around them, especially ice-goddesses with great low voices & an essential
core of warmth seeping through.
One question I had answered for me was "yes, those English ladies with
bell-clear voices really do sound like that at all decibel levels, it is
not just the result of total control". If June ever had a vibrato, it
would have showed up on some of those numbers...
Ian G Batten
> New England....) *Freedom and Rain* was one of the better
> albums of last year, and from what I've heard the Oyster Band
> are very good live; this looks to be a great show!
Let's hope they've sorted the sound out. We saw them twice last year
--- the one-off with Tabor at the Cambridge Folk Festival and then early
in the tour at Wolverhampton. Both gigs suffered from trying to get
Tabor's voice to be audible without causing other problems in the sound.
Great music, poor sound. I'd be interested to hear reports...
ian
Joan Frankel
>
>I became a June Tabor fan hearing those 70s albums with Nic Drake's
>driving guitar, sparkly harmonies with Maddy Prior, June's neat rythmic attack
>(sort of Celto-syncopation) on various lyrics...
I MEANT Nic Jones; at least, I think I did, if Nic Jones is the great guitar
player who was injured several years ago in a way that left him unable to play
anymore, & if Nic Drake is the guy who wrote "Who knows the wind" & various
equally good moody pieces, then killed himself 15 or so years ago...
Joan Frankel
>Let's hope they've sorted the sound out. We saw them twice last year
>--- the one-off with Tabor at the Cambridge Folk Festival and then early
>in the tour at Wolverhampton. Both gigs suffered from trying to get
>Tabor's voice to be audible without causing other problems in the sound.
>Great music, poor sound. I'd be interested to hear reports...
>
>ian
I saw them in in a small club in Cambridge Mass with what sounded like a
state-of-the-art sound system, capable of squeaky clean sound at
intolerable decibel levels. It was cranked DOWN for Tabor & Oysters as
compared to the opening band.
One wierd comment:
I have to preface this by admitting that I tape everything I go to.
Its an old obsession, please no flames at the moment.
I don't crank out bootlegs or even replay them for myself more than
once or twice. Only recently have I acquired equipment that produces tapes
of even listenable quality.
My on-the-scene take on the concert was that June was singing noticeably
higher than usual in order to be heard above the band.
Perhaps louder, but definitely higher.
But:
My recorder died mid-set, so I listened to parts of the tape immediately
after the concert to determine what songs it had died during, yell "Oh no!",
& find out where the new batteries kicked in. I haven't listened to the whole
thing yet, but my immediate impression is that, on tape, she is NOT singing
higher. She sounds normal, & the songs don't seem slower or the
instrumentation screwed-up, so I believe I have a valid picture of what
the recorder "heard", & it's not exactly what I heard. Usually you do lose
SOME high-end stuff on a tape, but I can't believe that most of the high-end
stuff got extracted from June's voice but left in, say, on the violin parts.
There is an acoustic effect whereby certain low sounds, though present, don't
carry well, presumably because they are the right wavelength to be absorbed
or scattered by features of the room in which the sounds occur.
This affects low female voices particularly; I can barely hear myself talk
at a party, for instance.
I would bet June was singing in her normal singing voice but that my tape
recorder with a directional mike picked up low tones that my ears, with
less tight a focus, lost.
Ken Josenhans
By the time we arrived the opening band The Judybats was long gone, and
the Oysters started playing at 9:45. Rough going early on, until the sound
system was beaten into shape. I wish they'd have played at the folk club
The Ark, where they would have had a rapt audience, rather than the trendy
club Alvin's where 30% of the audience wanted to converse over the music.
Domestic copies of the "Little Rock to Leipzig" odds'n'ends compilation were
available from Ryko. Previously this was only available from Cooking Vinyl
in Britain.
Set list follows. Skip to next article if you want to be pleasantly surprised.
Sorry I couldn't identify most of the dance tunes.
Polish Plain
Gamblers
This Year, Next Year
dance tunes
Mississippi Summer (June Tabor entered here)
All Tomorrow's Parties
Finisterre
Bonnie Susie Clelland
Valentine's Day Is Over
Dark-Eyed Sailor
The Hills of Shiloh (June Tabor acapella; she exits)
Love Vigilantes
Tincans
Too Late Now
Red Barn Stomp
New York Girls
(first encore)
White Rabbit
"Wheels on Fire, Going Down the Road" (60's cover?)
dance tunes
I Fought the Law
(second encore)
The Generals Are Born Again (acapella)
All Along The Watchtower
The Wind that Shakes the Barley (dance instrumental)
About two hours playing time total.
--
--Ken Josenhans
BITNET: 13020KRJ@MSU Internet: 1302...@msu.edu