Subject: RE: Review: Alan Moorhouse: Travelers Tales
From:
Peace
Date: 09 Oct 05 - 06:22 PM
Darned good thing I didn't say which Saturday. (Seems like only yesterday . . . .)
Alan was kind enough to grant me permission to do a review and gracious enough to tell me in an e-mail that I should feel free to include the bad with the good. Well, there is no bad news. This is one damned good CD in all respects. His writing is mature and solid. No 'amateur' songs, and his vocals are what each of the songs needs for its self expression. Ya don't encounter too many recordings that have no throw-away material. This one doesn't have any. Twelve songs that speak with the authority of a jury whose verdict would be that Moorhouse is one helluva songwriter. The backup musicians are Markus Apitius, Thomas Karner, Gerd Lewandowski and Heike Lewald--they are adept, tasteful and accomplished musicians who all seem to understand and respect that the function of music is to bring the writer's creations to life. Along with Moorhouse they do just that. Incidentally, I am amazed at the influences that appear on this CD: everyting from early Dylan to bluegrass; country and western to the sounds one would expect from a cloistered monastery. The self-effacing Moorhouse says on the liner notes that his ". . . own contribution to this album is relatively small". Take that remark with lotsa salt.
The CD kicks off with "Travellers' Tales" from which it takes its title. I was really taken by this cut because it reminded me of a 'folkie gone rock' with good humour and good taste. It's seldom that a rock presentation of a traditionally-written ballad works as well as this one does, (with a deep bow to Steeleye Span). It is my favourite song amongst many 'favourites' on the CD. Alan has respect for the lives of others, and he speaks eloquently to that in this song.
"East Looe Boys" reminds me of so many vets I have met over the years. It's funny that a peace-loving man could capture the thoughts of those men so well in a song. It must be a universal thing, and Moorhouse captures the pride and sorrow with a deftness that is both admirable and enviable.
"We go back there just now and then--Jim and Hans and me,
The crosses of so many men it breaks your heart to see;
We've blinked back tears these many years--we are old and grey and thin,
But wherever we are there'll be pints on the bar
When the East Looe boys come in."
A beautiful song with a mystical feel to it: "Where did the good man go?" is a co-authored song that Moorhouse wrote with Stephen Lee Rich (yes, that Stephen Lee Rich). I close my eyes when I listen to this song because it has a gentle music to it and very profound philosophical statements about the human condition. The harmonies are excellent, and the 'riding a horse in the western desert feel' works so well with the wording. It's an impressive song.
"Black Crow Hill" is a ballad that speaks to towns closing, families being uprooted, lives being overtaken by events. It is the finest of protest songs--a statement of truth that speaks loudly with soft words and gentle voice.
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sj
