JIM ELDON & THE SHARPSHOOTERS - Rocking With The Band
One Row Records ORRCD511
This is a timely reissue on limited-edition CD and digital download, courtesy of the enterprising Mossy Christian’s One Row Records label, of a treasurable little one-off cassette made by the inimitable Brid fiddler Jim Eldon in tandem with his two-man string band, The Sharpshooters (Terry Fox on fiddle and Croz Crosbie on cello) back in 1987.
It contains just six tracks. Half of these are instrumental tune-sets that romp along in a jolly, jaunty, attractively rough-hewn string-bandy-old-timey fashion, with perhaps a hint of the original Mr. Fox. The convivial, rumbustious sawing and scraping rises above any potential charge of scrawniness, as the thoroughly infectious, intensely repeatable finale, Soldier’s Joy, demonstrates. This wonderfully infectious instrumental soundscape forms the engine-room and driven backbone for Jim’s three original songs. One Door Closes is one of those wryly defiant, perfectly expressed off-the-cuff political commentaries that’s both of its time and utterly applicable to today. The Custom Car Kid is a right-on way-post-punk rant about the wealthy and the posers who are “about as much use as a sugar umbrella” (one of many priceless lines scattered throughout this collection!). And finally, the gawky, wordy, fun jive, Rocking With The Band, just rocks.
A delicious one-off and a totally cherishable gem. Snap it up – in whatever format you can!
www.onerowrecords.co.uk
David Kidman
This review appeared in Issue 140 of The Living Tradition magazine