TONY BURT - People Watching
Mirror Blue Records MBCD010
Let me tell you what I liked most about these self-penned songs, where Tony comes under the watchful gaze of multi-instrumentalist, backing vocalist and above all producer of this album, Boo Hewerdine. It is Tony’s powers of observation. The content of the songs run the gamut, but very little seems to escape our Tony’s keen eye.
The songs get stronger as the album progresses, reaching their acme with Monica Is Taller Than Me, which was by some distance the best song on the CD. It is a song that most men can relate to: after all, there are few of us who have not at some stage of our lives secretly felt attracted to a much younger waitress as we sat in a restaurant, as he does here. I was also attracted by his song JJ’s Bar, and wanted to visit, until the last verse told me it was in Egypt and could be gotten to on the back of a camel...!! Ah well, that’s not for me. But if it was only in Skegness, Tony couldn’t keep me away.
Tony Burt’s voice never falters, and his accompaniment is pukka. Push me to be a bit brutal and I’d say that the melodies seem a little formulaic. If Tony can capture the gift of composing really original melodies, then the sky’s still the limit, despite his mature years.
And finally, let me castigate him for just 33 minutes running time, and congratulate him on his ingenious rhyme of juicy/retroussé.
www.tonyburt.co.uk
Dai Woosnam
This review appeared in Issue 130 of The Living Tradition magazine