June Tabor – Airs And Graces
Topic Records – 26 April 2019
Folk singer-songwriter Eric Bogle emigrated from his native Scotland in 1969 arriving in Adelaide, South Australia. Although initially working as an accountant in Australia, the then 25-year-old had been involved in music back in Scotland, even forming his own skiffle influenced rock band called Eric & The Informers. Later, an interest in Ewan MacColl alongside historical subject matter had pushed Eric’s performing style more towards folk music and his first compositions were very much in that mode. In 1971, while his career as a folk singer was still essentially a sideline to his day job, his absorption in minutiae of the Gallipoli campaign during the First World War supplied the inspiration for a song named ‘And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda’. The heart-wrenching lyric is the voice of a serviceman who had once, in pre-war days, walked across the Australian backwoods. To the backdrop of the 1895 song ‘Waltzing Matilda’, war casualties pile up in battle as the protagonist’s cruel fate is the loss of both legs while the lyric devastatingly reflects “no more waltzing Matilda for me”. It’s as clinical an anti-war song that has ever been written, especially in the way it notes the apathy of ensuing generations who ask what the war remembrance parades are marching for. Think of Bob Dylan’s ‘John Brown’ or Phil Ochs ‘I Ain’t Marching Anymore’ for songs of equal stature on the same subject. Eric Bogle’s piece pushed the listener over the edge at the conclusion by incorporating a section from the Banjo Paterson song at the heart of the composition.
Writing a timeless classic is one thing, but for Eric Bogle, it was no guarantee his tune would reach an audience, large or otherwise. In 1971 he was not a recording artist and so the first time he received any feedback of note was at a Brisbane songwriting competition in 1974. Even though ‘Matilda’ only made third place the decision caused a bit of an uproar and gained some local attention, including that of Jane Herival who would bring the song over to the English folk circuit, a thriving scene in England of the mid-seventies. June Tabor was making waves in that environment too at the time. A young singer who had only ever performed unaccompanied drawing massive inspiration from Anne Briggs and Belle Stewart. Like Bogle in Australia, June was pursuing her love of folk music whilst holding down a day job, hers being in the Haringey library. Originally captured on record for a private pressing album recorded by a Shackleford folk club she played at, Tabor found herself on the radar of Topic Records who offered to record an album for them. Her problem was, she couldn’t settle on the right combination of material. This was around the same time that she heard Jane Herivel sing ‘The Band Played Waltzing Matilda’ in a folk club and, being knocked out by the songs overwhelming content, requested that its writer allow her to record it. So, Jane went back to Eric and, in a moment of perfect fortuitous equilibrium, history has shown that his song found its definitive interpreter at the first time of asking.
Anyone listening to June Tabor’s 1976 solo debut album ‘Airs And Graces’ for the first time will find that track number five leaves the same impression on them that it did the singer herself on initial exposure. It really is the albums crowning glory and brought the singer valuable critical acclaim as well as airings from influential tastemakers such as John Peel (a huge folk fan lest we forget). Her interpretation is a thing of wonder. Clearly enunciated with such an agile approach to the melody; how she managed to put so much detail into the performance without once resorting to showy vocal-gymnastics displays a gift that can’t be imitated. At the song’s conclusion, the hushed near-whisper of the singing holds the attention in a tight grip. It fully validates the long months June made people wait for the arrival of her first solo work, for when it did finally hit the shelves it was of a piece of such high quality that a lifetime’s career in music was all but guaranteed. She made sure she got it right.
However, don’t let my focus on that one song lead you to believe that the rest of the album was inferior by comparison. Far from it, this is a superior collection of mainly traditional folk music (of the original LPs ten tracks the Eric Bogle piece was one of only two contemporary songs). Topic Records may have had to wait more than two years for the record to be fully realised, but in that time June Tabor had made significant strides forward from the bookish girl discovered on stage in the folk clubs who had no interest in stagecraft or audience interaction. She had struck up a friendship with Maddy Prior who actually conspired to beat Topic to first releasing a June Tabor long player with their duo effort from earlier in 1976, ‘Silly Sisters’. That recording experience opened June up to the potential of working with accompanying musicians, the most eye-catching of which today is Nic Jones, who would go on to play on a selection of ‘Airs And Graces’ tracks. His guitar playing on ‘Bonny May’ is delightfully exuberant and on ‘The Merchant’s Son’ the listener is reminded that he was also a fiddle player of not inconsiderable ability too.
And so, June Tabor launched her solo career with ‘Airs And Graces’, a record that remains one of the most essential folk music records of the 1970s and beyond. Now in 2019 Topic Records are re-releasing it as a Deluxe CD as part of the Topic Treasures series. For collectors like myself, this is fantastic news. I remain a big advocate of packages that are put together with as much attention to detail as this one. The extensive sleeve notes within the 36-page booklet include an expertly researched essay alongside period press cuttings and best of all, June Tabor herself has written personal reflections alongside full track lyrics and information. There are four bonus tracks added on too, including a beautiful solo rendition of ‘The Week Before Easter’ that dates back as far as 1971. There is also ‘The Fair Maid Of Wallington’ which was only previously available on the ultra-rare 1974 private pressing album on Folksound Records ‘The First Folk Review Record’. For all the romantic chat you hear about vinyl records today, for me, the thoughtfully compiled re-issued CD deluxe editions such as this, with their perfect sound and abundance of treasures found within the package, remain the most desirable. For the scholars out there, this edition of June Tabor’s essential ‘Airs And Graces’ is the one that you will need sitting on your shelves.
Airs and Graces is released 26 April. Pre-Order here: