by danny (cianfulli)

Brian Peters ::: Fools of fortune
> 192 kbps VBR





















Brian Peters: guitars, Angio-concertina, melodeon, second fiddle, cello, vocal
with
Jamie Knowles: fiddle, mandolin
Mike Nacey: fretless bass
Margaret Peters: vocal
Dave Shaw: Northumbrian pipes
The Mossley dukes
Bonz: guitar, harmonica
John Harrison: string bass, electric bass
Dave Pope: mandolin, guitar
•
01 The lost fourteen hundred
02 Schottis frän Norrbotten
03 The Oldham white hare
04 A Swedish dance/Sherwood forest/La belle Halimande
05 John Barbour
06 The Northern lass
07 Dallas rag
08 The last God of England
09 Shelter from the storm
10 Doed a ddel/Ap siencyn/Mopsi don
11 Sir Patrick Spens
12 The unquiet grave
•
1989 • Harbour Town HAR 005
•
Harbour Town aren’t exactly putting out rubbish, are they? They're developing a very healthy line in powerful (basically) solo artists and stylish monochrome sleeves.
This is a varied and excellent set. The tunes (from various lands) are full of the miracle ingredient Life, showcasing Peters' skilled, unflashy squeezeboxing. The songs have quite a lot of death (threatened or actual) in them.
The opener is a sombre recounting of HMS Hood's demise at the hands of the Bismarck. This is mirrored on side two by a taut, drama-charged Sir Patrick Spens. By way of contrast, in John Borbour (yet another good version of the Willie O'Winsbury story) someone actually makes it back from a sea voyage roughly according to plan.
There's a stormalong version of Last God Of England, courtesy of Peters' alternative outlet, The Mossley Dukes. This is one of my favourite songs of the last couple of years, so I have no complaints but I wonder if the label's standard contract stipulates the inclusion of a Pete Morton song? Janet Russell's LP is the only exception so far. Unquiet Grave is given an excellent treatment, helped especially by Margaret Peters' mixed-down, but crucially effective, second vocal.
Final and special mention goes to Peters' Shelter From The Storm, a blazing try on behalf of the homeless. Anyone whose mental and physical horizons extend more than 400 yards beyond the Palate of Westminster will know there's a problem. This is a song shot through with anger and sympathy worthy of the subject. Recommended for your attention, as is the whole record.
Nick Beale • fROOTS #74, August 1989

DL (fixed)
pass: highqualitymp3

Very nice! Thank you!