"I've dreamt in my life dreams that have stayed with me ever after, and changed my ideas; they've gone through and through me, like wine through water, and altered the colour of my mind."
Completed after Lal Waterson's Death, "A Bed Of Roses" is a almost as good as "Once In A Blue Moon" (which I consider a true masterpiece), and I think we could never ever thank her own son Oliver for completing this beautiful output, this worth work. Lal's songs are haunting me sweetly these days, I find myself humming them wherever I go, specially (from this LP) Memories and Foolish One. Actually what really happens is this: I take my guitar, strum some chord and I try to sing some Lal-Waterson like melody, but with no success at all. This woman and her voice has been an inspiration to me for quite some time now, I hope it will be to you too. If so, go and find (and wishfully buy) more.
Some time ago I luckily bumped into an used book, some old italian guide to UK folk spanning from the folk revival of the 60's till the late 90's and I slowly started digging and looking for some of this old (but new for me) stuff. I obviously was aware (and in fact was a great fan) of some of the most known names: the whole Fairport Convention family. and the Watersons.. But now I also know the lots and lots of remarkable artists whose career is worth much more than some mp3's in my hard disk. Some names: John Martyn, Nic Jones...at least there are those I'm starting to know. So, I'm not pretending to know a whole lot about Dick Gaughan, but I do know this one, "Handful Of Earth" is supposed to be his best album (and up until now I have no reason whatsoever to doubt this notion) and it contains some songs that I just can't get out of my head (first of all the trad The snows they melt the soonest). So what can I tell you:I love the nasal sound of his voice, his simple (as simple as a talented top class folk guitarist can be) guitar playing. I'm thinking of uploading some more stuff like the already mentioned John Martyn and Nic Jones (though I know Time has told me had some troubling after having uploaded Jones)..., so let me know what you think of this one and then I'll consider the others. (Or maybe Lal Waterson's "A Bed Of Roses"...)
Here's a diy Youtube video with Gaughan's Song for Ireland:
Completed after Lal Waterson's Death, "A Bed Of Roses" is a almost as good as "Once In A Blue Moon" (which I consider a true masterpiece), and I think we could never ever thank her own son Oliver for completing this beautiful output, this worth work.
