Ha'porth ! Only clocked this using the 'Red' Button.
Fishm's Friends....South Austr'ya....poor....how many blokes singing the same parts ?,lead 'cutting' notes so short and a bit 'off'(pub stuff !)
Barb Dickson (always been a great respector of BD's voice from years back)...she can still sing,of course...but 'Donald' was slow (as are other clips on her website of other songs) and 'over-produced'.Sell-by dates springs to mind !
Kate Rusby - **cking bird - nuff said.Kate is FAR better than this !
Chris Wood - not heard 'Hollow Point' before - only clocked ('cos in trad style) when he mentioned Brixton (there's me thinking Devon !) and Stockwell.Not in a position to know how accurate his 'version' of the events to/actual shooting are ! Huge debate on this,I suspect.In terms of song construction,well...OK...but hardly rivetting and weak lyrics really,given such a sensitive subject.Music/voice....good floor spot ! But no more.
Donovan.........jeez.....far better in the 60's...give it up mate ! Take the royalties ! (And who said Donovan was before Dylan ??? Check your facts - it's vice-versa....no,ain't holding any light for Dylan...his voice has always been crap )
Laura Melting - good voice,song did nothing for me !
Bellowhead - strong musically but I still think the vocals are a let-down.
Any acts that I've forgotten to mention - you've now got an idea of how big an impression you made !
Like the Xmas 'special',I thought that,once again,BBC has portrayed folk music in a poor light.....was it budget,was it poor sound engineering,was it purely poor performers ?? Quite honestly,I reckon the Beeb should stick to the Weather.....give 'folk' a miss if they are only going to give the genre lip-service....
Maybe we all have to accept that the folk genre is not TV sympo....that TV is NOT the same as the 'live thing'....that the Beeb is certainly not able to 'catch' and 'portray' the live atmosphere.Ask yourselves....would anyone 'first time' watching ANY of the artists actually spend money to go and watch one of their gigs ??? Apart from Jasper Carrot and Billy Connelly ('cos of their humour not their folk performing talents),who else in folk has ever really made it 'big' on TV ? I'm not sure whether or not Vin Garbutt has deliberately shied away from TV.......but he's probably made the right decision !
What I've seen from Folk 2 + Xmas special.....I'm just embarrassed ! Neither has worked,in my own opinion (for my own satisfaction or,I suggest,for the wide wide world beyond !) Let's just stick to the clubs,sessioms and festivals.