This review is written by Dai Woosnam, daigress@hotmail.com, 3/06
There are few solo folk voices that can carry a 14 track CD,
with every track just unadorned solo “a cappella”. Graham Metcalf’s
voice however is one such.
But wisely, whilst he eschews musical instrumentation for
accompaniment, he does have the nous to call upon the voices of Moira
Craig and Ian Giles on approximately half the tracks. And what a
glorious sound the trio produce.
But that’s not to say that Metcalfe NEEDED them. He doesn’t. He has a
magnificent instrument for a voice: by the sound of it, a voice that
can easily encompass a two and a half octave range. A voice that is
like a chocolate bar with alternate milk and dark chocolate squares.
What a divine timbre it has! And a particularly convincing lower
register.
But he wisely brought his two “backing singers” along for the ride,
knowing as he surely does, that there are folkies lacking the
concentration to listen to the best part of 40 minutes of a solo
unaccompanied voice. Not only do they lack the concentration, they
subconsciously seem to think such a singer is a “Billy No Mates” who
other artistes have deserted like the plague. (So why should THEY have
to listen, they figure!)
When his two colleagues come in on track 4, “The Immigrant”, they
immediately add an aura of sublime symmetry to Metcalfe’s own earthy
gravitas. And on “Allendale” the trio reach their artistic zenith. It
is a truly beautiful sound that they produce.
The songs are mainly A-list ones from the Tradition. None of them miss
the mark, but if I am to be HYPER critical, then I have to say that I
would have preferred Graham trying to rein-in his obvious admiration
for the late Fred Jordan! He manages to sing “Sweet Primroses” not just
as a phrase-for-phrase copy of his idol, but he even succeeds in
developing a Shropshire accent! He manages to resist this mimicry when
singing from the work of Lincolnshire man Joseph Taylor. And he also
retains his Yorkshire accent rather than the Dorset burr of
Charlie Wills when delivering “Home Made Remedies”.
Incidentally, the WildGoose liner notes show Charlie Wills as a
Somerset singer, but I have always associated him with Dorset. And not
even the border area between the two counties, but as far away from
Somerset as it is possible to go: Chideock, just outside Bridport.
But hey, that is a minor thing. It is a quality album from a quality label.
I wish it well.
Dai Woosnam
Grimsby, England
daigress@hotmail.com
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