|
Amazon.co.uk allows you to pay for your items in your local currency. Restrictions apply. Learn More. |
Special Offers and Product Promotions
- Purchase a product from the Music Store sold by Amazon.co.uk and receive £1 to use on an album download in our MP3 Store. Here's how (terms and conditions apply)
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
Listen to Samples and Buy MP3s
Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or
view the MP3 Album.
|
Product Description
Review
Charlie Winston recently featured on Radio 4’s Today programme: “Pop singer bloke from Suffolk is huge in France, but can’t get arrested here”. As is so often the case with a subject other than politics or economics, they didn’t quite get hold of the story.
This album has spent many weeks in the French top ten and has gone platinum. Its first single, Like a Hobo, made number one over there in April. Understandably, it has a strong Euro flavour, though mercifully falling short of a strong Eurovision flavour.
It is odd, the way an artist can capture the imagination of one country but not his own. Murray Head, back in the 70s, wrote Say It Ain’t So, Joe – a wonderful song, piped in every bistro, but virtually ignored here. So why the French but not us? The two singers both have a lightness and agility of the voice, but that’s where the similarity ends: Head was really an actor who dabbled in song, while Winston is clearly a full-blooded musician.
Hobo’s production is organic and fun, Winston’s vocal refreshingly untreated. There’s a light agility about his songs too, ranging from the straightforward chick songs – I Love Your Smile stirs thoughts of Randy Newman collaborating with a bunch of New Orleans’ finest, and Soundtrack to Falling in Love – to silliness on My Life as a Duck and Kick the Bucket, songs which might prove just a little too twee for domestic consumption. In fact that could be it – maybe that tweeness, combined with the cheeky chappie image (stubble, frayed fedora hat), might be a bit too much for our Anglo-Saxon scepticism.
The outstanding track, and the most UK friendly, is Calling Me. Here, Winston has avoided over-arranging, sticking just with a guitar, some fabulous harmonica playing from Benjamin Edwards and a flutter of keyboards. Where occasionally style has triumphed over substance on this album, here quality shines through.
It would be a loss for us if Winston were to be consigned to the list of artists who only cracked it abroad, though he shouldn’t really complain: euros buy yachts just as easily as pounds. --Nick Barraclough
Find more music at the BBC This link will take you off Amazon in a new window
CD Description
Charlie Winston heads back home with his debut UK album 'Hobo', originally released in France in January 2009 where the album went on to huge success attaining platinum sales status. The album is a collection of songs with soul inspired by the great 'soul men' - Ray Charles, Randy Newman, Richie Havens, Tom Waits. Thoughtful and captivating and musically witty the stories are at times serious, at others ironic but always profoundly human.
The single 'Like A Hobo' shot to number one in the digital charts within forty eight hours; the album followed suit within a week (outselling the likes of U2). 'Like A Hobo' was number one on all download charts for four weeks, a feat only ever achieved by four other artists in France. After being certified platinum, the album CD has now been in the top ten of the physical charts since its launch in January and the single also topped the French CD charts on its release.
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best in my 62 years.....,
By
This review is from: Hobo (Audio CD)
Never heard of this guy before this morning when I saw him (shame on me) on GMTV singing In Your Hands. I'm 62 and have never, NEVER seen anything that staggered me so much. The man is brilliant. Been seeking him out on You Tube etc since and can't wait to get Hobo cd. He's v big in France and he'll be the same here when we wake up. Toured with Peter Gabriel and is brother of Tom Baxter. Give him a listen.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I know everything about you - your father was a duck.,
By A. Sweeney "I don't care what you call me" (London, England) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Hobo (Audio CD)
I was first tempted to buy this album, not when I heard that Charlie Winston was the brother of the supremely talented Tom Baxter, but because of hearing the huge noises from his French admirers, as this album has been available France since January 2009. It was only after I purchased the CD did I learn of his sibling connections and the fact that Peter Gabriel had personally given Charlie a recording contract with his Real World record label. In fact, it was only after I'd listened to the album a couple of times and was so blown away by the music, did I ask the question, "Who IS this guy?" and found out a little more about him. So, basically, what I'm saying is forget the family connection, Charlie has got where he is today because of his immense talent. The music speaks for itself - and, believe me, the music is something special!
There is a nice fusion of different styles throughout the album. A bit of pop, more than a splash of jazz, a touch of soul and a hint of folk/rock. There are times when Winston reminds me of Randy Newman in his youth, but his voice is a little more melodic. Every eclectic track is engaging for different reasons. The dark, rhythmic opener, "In Your Hands" is a superb introduction to the album and builds up to a blistering climax. The Latin rhythms of "Like A Hobo" drive the track forward and also make your feet tap involuntarily. "I Love Your Smile" is my very favourite track, it's just so wonderfully uplifting and very heart-warming. "My Life As A Duck" is simultaneously beautiful, bizarre and hilarious - it has refused to leave my head ever since I first heard it, causing unexpected smiles from time to time. A delicate piano riff and tasteful strings provide the heavenly backing to Charlie's emotive vocals on the outstanding "Boxes". "Calling Me" and "Every Step" are achingly yearning slices of gentle folk. "Tongue Tied" is a fantastic soul track and I just love the way Charlie's voice comes back in after a short silence towards the end of the song, just brilliant. "Soundtrack To Falling In Love" is every bit as glorious as the title suggests, with a thrilling ending. "My Name", the final track, is just magnificent. In fact, nearly everything on this release is superb. The only track I'm not overly keen on is "Kick The Bucket", a song about the inevitability of death which features beatboxing. It's catchy enough, but is, for me, the weakest song on this thoroughly pleasing album. Charlie Winston is a true talent and this, his second album, has impressed me highly. Don't miss out on one of the most outstanding and remarkable albums of 2009.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Album of the year/decade,
By
This review is from: Hobo (Audio CD)
Saw them as Winston years ago. Bought cd from them. Loved it, googled them since, found nothing. Was on holiday in France, shazam'd song on radio, was Charlie Winston. Went to hypermarche and bought the album. Have not fallen for an album so much in many many years. Each song is different, melodies are beautiful and lead you a merry dance- totally unpredictable but utterly beguiling, as are the beautiful and sometimes extrovert, but wonderfully heartfelt lyrics. Production is pristine and understated, until it needs to be full blown, where it sweeps you off your feet and takes you away to a world where classic albums should take you. His voice makes you hang on every word, and a song like Boxes only come along very very rarely.I guess I liked it.Buy it.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews |
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Music > Pop
- Music > R&B & Soul
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
