The Woodbine and Ivy Band are a group of Manchester musicians who came together to arrange and perform the traditional songs that made up the disc – they’re a great band, but the stars of the disc are the singers who join them to provide vocals on each song, they include Fay Hield, Jackie Oates, Elle Osborne, Jim Causley, Nancy Wallace, James Raynard and more.
Traditional singers they may be, but the band take a different approach – and it easy to pick out obvious shades of 70s classic country rock, as well as the full band sound of the more progressive end of the English Folk Revival.
Where it really comes together is that the varied arrangements and instrumentation capture the atmosphere and personalities that inhabit the stories and songs. It’s a refreshing and successful approach, and it’s as though the whole group are less concerned with reflecting the tradition that has gone by, and more with putting the traditional lyrics to new appropriate arrangements.
It start on a high with Fay Hield and a version of Spencer the Rover that moves from a gentle start to a huge wall of sound, and this adventure in the approach to arrangements is repeated across the album, with other standout tracks being Jackie Oates’ ‘Derry Gaol’ and Jenny McCormick’s ‘Gently Johnny’.
An exciting and innovative project – the endeavour of the group, artists and producers’ deserves to be acknowledged regardless of the quality of the music, but the facts are that this is a fantastic and exciting set of songs. Not to be missed!
Track listing
1 Spencer the Rover (Fay Hield)
2 Alison Gross (Rapunzel & Sedayne)
3 Twa Corbies (Pinkie Maclure)
4 Gently Johnny (Jenny McCormick)
5 Poor Murdered Woman (Olivia Chaney)
6 Under the Leaves (Elle Osborne)
7 Out With My Gun in the Morning (Jim Causley)
8 Derry Gaol (Jackie Oates)
9 The Green Wedding (Nancy Wallace)
10 The Roaming Journeyman (James Raynard)
review 08 Dec 2011
