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46 of 46 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Memorable Collection, 4 Dec 2002
Another success for the Amazon computer! When I first started buying from Amazon, one of the artists I looked for was David McWilliams. I wasn't surprised to find there was none of his work on CD since he'd only had a brief period of minor success in the late 60's. I would never have looked again if this album hadn't suddenly turned up in my recommendations.It says a lot for the strength of McWilliams' songwriting that as soon as I saw the track list I could remember the words to at least two of the songs that I probably haven't heard for 20 years. McWilliams, from Belfast, was performing his blend of folky protest and love songs in pubs when he was discovered by a promoter and brought to England as one of the first acts on Radio Caroline's Major Minor label. Seen as possibly competition to Donovan and Tim Buckley he was proclaimed as the next big act, but they decided his simple vocal and guitar style needed more of an edge. Teaming him with arranger and producer Mike Leander gave him that new sound. Complex arrangements of strings and woodwind were added to the folk songs. Without taking any emphasis away from the words, they provided an instrumental hook to hold them in the memory. This collection gives 22 tracks taken from all 3 of his 60's albums. One track, I Love Susie In The Summer, may be from a different source as it seems new to me. They are not in any chronological order but all 3 albums were recorded over a very short period and feature a mix of protest and love songs so there is no progression to demonstrate. Possibly it is dated protests that have been omitted. Certainly God and My Country, despite being mentioned in the notes, is missing, but Redundancy Blues and Hiroshima are here. It's hard to pick stand out tracks from a collection that brings back so many memories. Possibly the only McWilliams song that most people will have heard is Days of Pearly Spencer, rereleased several times and recorded by other artists. As I sit here looking at the track list, having not finished my first play yet, even the tracks I haven't played come flooding back to me. This, and his later work that came up when I placed this order, are going to get a lot of plays.
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25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another bard, and a good memory, too ..., 20 Aug 2003
How very right reviewer Valkan is. My first reminiscences of McW go back to the same (pearly) radio days of '67 and the portable on the kitchen table. In Flanders, medium wave broadcast quality was just barely doable in early evening time, and I have distinct memories of the plugging of 'this new singer' on Caroline's Major-Minor label; some of his music I must still have lying around gathering dust on an Ampex tape.
Looking and listening back, the only thing I miss on David's Music is the doubtful quality of the radio waves blurring in and out on the radio (to make the memories complete); the rest is all there: the wistful romance, the sincerity also, of simple, thoughtful lyrics that speak for themselves.
'There ain't no lock upon my door," is what I hear the singer saying: this is true, of good memories and ground-breaking sixties music to begin with. Listening to this pick of David McWilliams's back catalogue, one may wonder why the career of such an innovator was so short-lived.
One of the LP blurbs states that the (then) 22-year-old 'has as yet to find the girl who can hold his wandering attention'. For David we hope that some nice folk-and-hippie girl caught the bard's invitations to the Josephine's, Marlena's or Harlem Lady Helens along the way...
Great stuff this, ranking with the likes of Clifford T. Ward, Peter Sarstedt, Richard Harris, Nick Drake and Gordon Lightfoot.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
nostalgia, 20 April 2009
searched for this album for years, now it's here, taking me back to my youth. My original vinyl version, long gone, cost an eighth of the price, but hey, this is worth it!
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