Mick Ryan & Pete Harris, The Long Road (Wild Goose Studio, 2001)
I don't know why, but I have never seen a live performance of Mick Ryan & Pete Harris. They really are a superb duo, and they epitomise what I call real folk music. They fit nicely into my pigeonhole for what you might expect to hear from a session at any folk club in the U.K. This is exactly what they sound like on this album, and performing a nice, well-balanced repertoire. The only thing missing is the sound of the audience joining in on the chorus, just to complete the atmosphere. I think most of the star performers who still travel the folk club circuit will agree that the festivals may pay the rent for a week or two. But there is a different sort of satisfaction from having a good gig at a small club that does not need any amplification.
This is the fifth album from the duo, and in some respects is very
similar to their other albums. Mick Ryan is a brilliant singer. He
never sounds strained and takes most of lead vocal's. Pete Harris
provides harmony vocal and accompaniment on guitar. He also adds
Mandolin, Mandola, Bass, Banjo and whistles on some tracks. Add to
these guest musicians Steven Faux on fiddle and Paul Sartin on oboe
and you begin to get an idea of what The Long Road sounds
like. There are 14 tracks on the album and Mick and Pete write most
of them, and although they are contemporary songs, they are written
and performed in the traditional style.
The album begins with the powerful song 'The Road to Dorchester' taken from the folk-musical The Tolpuddle Man. In the musical, circa 1834, six Dorset farm labourers were arrested, tried, convicted and transported to Australia only for the crime of trying to form a trade union. Known as the Tolpuddle Martyrs they became the heroes of the English trade union movement. The song was originally written by Mick Ryan and Graham Moore for the musical, and takes its title from the fact that they were made to walk the long road -- 8 miles from Tolpuddle to Dorchester for the trial.
Running tandem with the theme of the first song, at track 3 & 4 are the songs 'Poppies' and 'The Journey'. 'Poppies' is taken from a commission on a topic about the navvies. Mostly Irish, thousands of them worked and died building England's canals, roads and railways, along side which poppies often appear. Strangely they came up alongside the road from the disturbed earth after building the Tolpuddle bypass. This phenomenon often happens in England and Europe, usually on an ancient battle site, where blood has been spilt. No body seems to really know why! The 'Journey' tells a similar tale about an Irish immigrant trying to make a go of it in England working on the roads. The album derives it's title from these songs.
Although he leaves most of the lead vocal's to Mick, Pete Harris demonstrates he can hold his own when he sings one of the nicest version's I have heard of 'The Bonny Irish Maid' . Rather than stick to a sombre theme all the way through the album, Mick and Pete have a nice music hall song called 'Holmes and Watson'-- a satire that is eliminatory, you might say! But it adds some variety to the album and keeps the listener entertained. The pearl of the album comes up after 'Song for John'and is another song written by Mick with instrumental arrangement by Pete. It's called 'Voices from the Past' would not be out of place in the repertoire of Steeleye Span or Fairport Convention.
After a comical song called 'Desperate Dan' written by Mick, which I could swear I had heard before, but apparently had not, the album comes to a fitting end with another song from the musical, A Tolpuddle Man, called 'The Wrong Side Of The World'. Here the Tolpuddle Martyrs have arrived in Tasmania to serve their 7 year sentence. Sometimes it is hard to believe how cruel, hard, and downright stupid the British legal system sometimes was.
To sum up: this is what I call a brilliant English folk album. The tunes are good, the lyrics well crafted, and each song tells a story with a sense of purpose. File under Real Folk music and enjoy.
For more details on gig and Mick and Pete (with singer and keyboard player Sarah Mallinson), visit their web site.
