Singing The Spirit Home - Eric Bogle

Advantages: a breath of fresh air in a world of over produced music
Disadvantages: none

...'t take long to walk into a bar and find an Irishman singing, singing about going home. The difference with the Pogues is that if you walked into a bar and heard them singing in the early days, they would have been singing about smashing the place up and picking a fight. The Pogues evolved slowly like mould on a piece of bread from a number of punk bands including the wonderfully named Nipple Erectors and the Millwall Chainsaws around the close of the seventies. Punk had out lived its shelf life in many peoples opinions by then and many musicians were looking to take that punk spirit and use it to push into new directions, New Romanticism and Goth being just two of the scenes that would be created by this exodus of energy. At the time Shane MacGowan was becoming more interested in the Irish folk music and recruited some old acquaintances... Read review

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Advantages: Robert Johnsons music is showcased by great musicians.
Disadvantages: Not all Robert Johnsons songs were covered.

...was poisoned by a jealous husband. Seventeen of these songs are featured on this album and Dvd. The cd consists of:- Sweet Home Chicago Milkcow's Calf Blues Terraplane Blues If I had Possesion Over Judgement Day Stop Breaking Down Blues Little Queen Of Spades Travelling Riveside Blues Me And The Devil Blues From Four Till Late Kind Hearted Woman Blues Ramblin' On My Mind Composer: Robert Johnson The musicians on this album are:- Eric Clapton - Guitar and Vocals including slide Doyle Brammell II - Guitar including slide Nathan East - Bass Guitar Billy Preston - Hammond Organ (Billy Preston has since passed away) Chris Stainton - Piano Steve Gadd - Drums This cd set also has a dvd featuring all of the songs many of the songs being practised, so you get a good idea of how the album is made, there are also some behind the scenes footage... Read review

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Advantages: Good music, haunting songs, thought provoking
Disadvantages: A little dated?

...And in 1915 My country said ‘Son, ‘Your roving days are over there’s a job to be done’. They gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun And sent me away to the war. This song was written by a Scots Australian called Eric Bogle. I have had the good fortune to see him in concert around Gainsborough in Lincolnshire, where I used to live. Even though it deals with one of Australian history’s darkest moments, the ANZAC landings at Gallipoli, it is not sung as a dirge. It is a beautiful song which deals with the horror that a young man encounters. He does his utmost to stay alive while his fellow countrymen are being blown apart around him. He does not escape unscathed, and encounters the revulsion of the people who so happily waved him off. War used to be glamorous. Some people still think it is. The ones who leave and come back damaged in some way don... Read review

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