Now here's a good deal: over an hour's worth of good music for the price of a stamp, and an opportunity to do a good deed into the bargain. Yes, the CD A Taste of the Marrowbones is yours for the asking. If you like it, and you will, then any sum you pay is donated to the British Heart Foundation.
Peter Massey and Gordon Morris live in the city of Chester, in England, and have been playing traditional folk songs for over thirty years. Although they began their musical careers as Merseybeat wannabees in clubs and dance halls around Liverpool with a rock outfit called the Legends, an encounter with The Spinners in 1962 hooked them irrevocably on to folk music, and the Legends transformed themselves (and their repertoire) overnight into the Marrowbones. Although today they essentially work as a duo in local clubs and festivals, Peter's wife Sandra joins them when schedules permit.
A Taste of the Marrowbones comprises seventeen tracks, all recorded live in concert, and collated from their five albums. Accompaniment is as in performance: two voices with guitar, and mandolin or bouzouki. Peter describes it as their personal policy to do it this way, hating to hear people say after a gig, "Oh, they were okay, but not as good as the CD." In this case the corollary applies: the CD is as good as the gig.
The songs are mainly composed pieces, with several Cecily Fox-Smith poems and one by Robert Service, set to tunes by Gordon Morris, three composed by the singers, and the odd offering from James Keelaghan and Richard Thompson. The only traditional song is the Lancashire favourite "Man Like Thee." In the case of this song, the third verse was actually composed by Gordon Morris in the seventies, and it is to his credit that the folk process has so done its work on it already, that most singers assume that all the verses came from the original source.
There is an engaging quality to all the songs, and an honesty and humour in the style of presentation that reminds me a little of Harvey Andrews. The tunes fit well with the poems they accompany and make it easy to join in. Living near Liverpool, Peter and Gordon met a lot of merchant sailors ashore. Realizing that after a few drinks, none of them wanted to hear or sing maudlin or sad songs about the sea, Gordon deliberately composed what he calls "easy listening tunes." The spare accompaniment works very well, never overwhelming the words, but not leaving them hanging out to dry either.
To date, A Taste of the Marrowbones (made possible by an anonymous benefactor) has been only available off the stage at performances. Some have been sent to fans in Australia, Portugal, Spain, Canada and the USA when they've asked for one. Now with its current success, it is being made more widely available. You can order your copy here. More information on the Marrowbones is available at their Web site.
At any price, I'd recommend this recording; at this price however, with a chance to help a worthwhile cause, and a limited pressing into the bargain, I'd say get moving!
