Martyn Wyndham-Read & No Man’s Band – Away to Tintinara
Wynding Road Music – Out Now
Martyn’s one of the most popular and highly regarded veterans of the UK folk scene, the possessor of one of its smoothest, most mellifluous voices and a canny knack for discovering great new material and performing it in his own inimitable styling. I’ve lost count of the number of albums Martyn’s made over his long and illustrious career (mainly because several of his early releases came out on obscure labels etc), but this must be at least his 20th solo release, and like its immediate predecessors appears on his own Wynding Road label.
By now you should know what to expect, then. Martyn’s own completely assured, melodious singing and undemonstrative but effective guitar accompaniment; a measured, unhurried delivery, with not a note or nuance wasted; sympathetic and sensitive instrumental accompaniment from his musical friends in No Man’s Band (Iris Bishop, Thomas Holder, Joy Lewis and Jon Wigg); an unerringly enterprising choice of material ranging across source folk and contemporary folk traditions of both the UK and Australia (invariably including some fresh and delightful discoveries); a state-of-the-art recording from Jim Ward at the Country Branch stable; and a supremely attractive presentation with distinctive design and artwork. All of these elements are present and correct on this latest collection, of course, but that’s not to say it’s a predictable album, just entirely and admirably consistent with Martyn’s previous gold-standard output in all the expected ways.
For much of its heavenly 72-minute length, Away To Tintinara harks back to Martyn’s early days in Australia. That is, after dispatching its opening pair of songs – the convivial singalong Perry Merry Winkle (a traditional song from Sussex) and an excellent account of Ewan MacColl’s ruminative Lag Song. The disc’s first half then concentrates on songs with an Australian connection, embracing the trusty bush-ranger ballad The Old Keg Of Rum, a setting of Henry Lawson’s poem Possum Land (expanded with extra verses penned by Martyn himself), and the jaunty Ryebuck Shearer.
But the real jewels of the disc are lovingly set in the disc’s centre. The album’s title track is a wonderful, typically lyrical composition by Mike O’Connor which attempts to capture Martyn’s memories of the life-forming experience when as a lad of 18 he left home and paid his passage to Australia; getting off the train at Tintinara, a small settlement on the Melbourne to Adelaide road in South Australia (the name Tintinara almost glistens as it resounds – it’s Aboriginal for the stars in Orion’s belt). Martyn worked as a jackaroo on the remote sheep station of Emu Springs, and developed a deep love of open spaces and the traditional songs of the old station hands. Mike’s song is a true disc highlight and forms its natural emotional and musical centrepiece.
But that doesn’t mean there’s a shortage of memorable material elsewhere – far from it… Martyn’s brilliantly controlled and heartfelt a cappella rendition of the classic ballad Barbara Allen (using a version collected in Australia in the 1960s) is unquestionably a standout rendition, and its melody, in particular, is a welcome change from the one we’re accustomed to hearing. Another not-often-heard selection is the Orkney traditional song Standing Stones, which Martyn has revived from the singing of Dave and Toni Arthur (Dave was interviewed here on Folk Radio UK); here his singing is effectively complemented by the ideally restrained harp and concertina. The traditional Fare Thee Well My Dearest Dear receives a peerless reading from Martyn, simply and impeccably backed by Iris’s concertina, and Martyn’s voice is joined by that of Marilyn Bennett on The Bluebell of Scotland, a traditional Scottish song fondly remembered from his youth. Another Scottish song with fond early associations for Martyn is Lassie With The Golden Hair, here adapted by Martyn from the version on an old (early-’60s) LP by American singer Lori Holland.
A further triumph is A.W., a song by Tony Bayliss which was written in memory of fell-walker, writer, artist and guidebook creator Alfred Wainwright, affectionately celebrating the very essence both of the man and of the unique Lake District landscape he loved and championed. (This track is a different recording from that which appeared on the recent Fellside compilation Destination, by the way – more fulsomely-accompanied, yet every bit as enchanting).
The Australian connection is more sparingly scattered through the disc’s second half, with a new treatment of Duke Tritton’s lusty Shearing In A Bar (first heard on Martyn’s 1981 Emu Plains LP), an Australian Waltz Set (a delectable instrumental interlude) and the disc’s finale, Brisbane Ladies (a wistful Spanish Ladies variant with an extra verse composed by Martyn in memory of the sad passing of his good mate Danny Spooner).
The booklet provides friendly and informative notes and credits, and full lyrics can be found at www.dandadesign.co.uk. Away To Tintinara looks every bit a work of art in the literal sense, and audio-wise too this is one of those exemplary releases that is destined to give much lasting pleasure.
Order it here http://dandadesign.co.uk/product/away-to-tintinara-new-cd/
Upcoming Dates
October 21st Everyman Folk Club, Saxmundham, Great Glemham Road, Saxmundham, IP17 1LJ
November 6th Spalding Folk Club, South Holland Centre, Market Place, Spalding, PE11 1SS
November 26th Devizes Folk Club
December 2nd Readifolk, Community Hall at Watlington House, 44 Watlington Street, RG1 4RJ
December 18-19 ‘Maypoles to Mistletoe’ The Studio, The Hawth Theatre, Crawley, Sussex, RH10 6YZ