Jubilee Offer: Patriot Classics for £2.50 |
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Ewan MacColl's reputation as the godfather of the British folk revival grows with each passing year, but he was even more than that. This was a man of radical genius, who not only exalted the folk tradition as the authentic voice of the economically displaced and disenchanted but also composed songs of unique distinction that ought to be required listening for all who are interested n the craft. Items such as 'Dirty Old Town' and 'The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face' simply have to be included among any consideration of the greatest written in Britain during the last half of the twentieth century. His was a long career marked by a dogged, sometimes truculent, refusal to make even the hint of a concession to commercial interest. For many, he became a remote background figure as folk music was adopted and made popular by a younger generation during the 1960s and that's where he appeared to prefer to remain until his death in 1989. He was still making music of course, rather a lot of it in fact, but the records he made with his wife Peggy Seeger were largely unheard outside of a dwindling die-hard folk fraternity. And thus did Britain's version Of Woody Guthrie pass from this world, rightly lauded in obituary notices for his landmark musical documentaries for the BBC in the late 1950s and early 1960s & for having written the two aforementioned songs. But MacColl's parting shot had yet to heard. He died shortly after finishing this astonishing collection of 'topical' songs with Peggy, which add up to a searing indictment of life in contemporary Britain under the Prime Ministership of Margaret Thatcher- for the economically disadvantaged (e.g the jobless) and disenchanted (e.g. the nuclear refuseniks), that is. The man went down with all guns blazing, leaving us with an album of protest songs as provocative and eloquent as any ever written. Here are songs that ridicule the times with deceptive light-heartedness mixed with others of staggering directness & it would be a mistake to think of them as fixed fast to a bygone age or as mere period pieces. MacColl understood better than most that the folk tradition embodies values that transcend the vagaries of political change and after a lifetime of absorbing those values he delivered a masterpiece that is as relevant today (perhaps even more so) as when recorded. And oh yes, names are named: both heroes and villains, with Mrs. Thatcher herself the most prominent of the latter- a fact that inspires a tinge of regret that the man did not live quite long enough to witness her being infamously dumped by her own party whilst still in office.
If you admire or respect the likes Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan then you ought to listen to this album. It's that important. Indeed, it's a record which confirms that the name of Ewan MacColl deserves to be placed alongside the former three. If you really care, you'll care about this.
If you admire or respect the likes Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan then you ought to listen to this album. It's that important. Indeed, it's a record which confirms that the name of Ewan MacColl deserves to be placed alongside the former three. If you really care, you'll care about this.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
If you were of voting-age and over in the early 1980's, you should buy this album - even if you don't normally like folk music.
A mixture of poignant and comical songs celebrating (NOT!) Britain under Mrs.T.. Both humorous and direct, the lyrics will have you laughing one moment and reflecting the next.
Natural music, fantastic vocals, and memorable lyrics put this one in my top ten albums.
BUY IT - you won't regret it.
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
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
