DAVID GIBB & ELLY LUCAS - Old Chairs To Mend
Hairpin Records HAIRPIN002
Young Folk Award finalists David Gibb and Elly Lucas follow up their acclaimed EP of a year or so ago with their full length debut Old Chairs To Mend. All songs are either original or reworked, and there are some brave and surprising choices - not least Leapfrog from Oh What A Lovely War - whilst The Blacksmith shows a lightness of vocals and guitar which gives it new life.
Of the original material I particularly enjoyed Three Magpies which must have had the recent financial situation in mind when written, whilst Goodbye To The Plough Horse, written by Linda Woodroffe, a local singer from Derbyshire, deserves to be picked up for a wider audience.
There are a couple of tracks that don’t work for me – Sam Hall is far too fast, and I don’t think Man On The Road gets anywhere close to Gary and Vera’s original version - however it is their willingness to go back to source which promises much. This CD does promise a lot, the next should, I hope, build on this and fulfil that promise.
It is good to hear a young duo sounding so English and seemingly proud of it and trying to promote their roots. Good luck to them, they deserve it.
Dave Beeby
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this CD online from The Listening Post The Listening Post is the CD mailorder service of The Living Tradition magazine. This album was reviewed in Issue 92 of The Living Tradition magazine. |