The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #135224   Message #3083838
Posted By: Allan Conn
28-Jan-11 - 02:52 AM
Thread Name: Lyr Req:Jock Hawk's Adventures in Glasgow (MacColl
Subject: RE: McColl or Harry Lauder-Jock Hawk's Adventures
"I am just an American and no expert on things Scottish, of course"

I think you've pretty much hit the nail on the head there! We will probably go nowhere much with this thread. What sounds like a perfectly good Scots accent to someone born and brought up in let's say Norwich or Ipswich doesn't necessarily sound all that great to someone actually born and brought up in Scotland. That is the same world over if you're going to get an accent done really well then surly it is the locals who need to be convinced? To me the accent isn't great in the short clip posted and the pronounication of the word 'toun' in particular sounds very strange and artificial. I'm not saying that all Scots would think that but it seems from this thread that st least some do!

But I agree with Lighter in that the accent isn't the be and end all here with this song. Forgetting the accent he does seem to put on a strange tone as well. It is a matter of personal taste if one likes that or not. I think it sounds weird and very pantomime like. I know it is a comic song but the mixture of the iffy accent and weird tone just sounds kind of ridiculous. At least to me.

That isn't a swipe at all his work though. Just the piece that is posted. Listen to the second verse of "Moving On Song" where he sings in his what I imagine is his own normal tone etc and sings Scots pronounciation without trying too hard and going over the top and it sounds great and natural!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKhnr4wHHIQ