Silly Wizard – Silly Wizard
Talking Elephant – 8 March 2019
Just when I thought I had the story of 70s British folk tied up, along comes a release to help re-write my musical history book.
The incredibly influential Scottish folk band Silly Wizard was formed in Edinburgh 1970 around a nucleus of Gordon Jones (interviewed here by Folk Radio) and Bob Thomas who were both at university and a little later by Johnny Cunningham who was still at school which must have made touring a challenge. Gordon recalls the band picking up Johnny at the school gate “to be driven to Sutherland for a gig and be decanted from the van at the school gates next morning!” They kept themselves busy as the band also ran the Triangle Folk Club in Edinburgh on Saturday nights. Their first tour abroad was in 1972 and maybe not so well known is that they also toured around Britain along with a female singer for a while – Maddy Prior. It was around this time that they were approached by Transatlantic Records and recorded an album in two days which has never been seen or heard since.
Members came and went (including Dougie MacLean) until it solidified into the lineup that recorded their debut self-titled album in 1976 featuring Gordon, Bob and Johnny alongside Alistair Donaldson, Freeland Barbour (later replaced by Johnny’s brother, the well-known Phil Cunningham) and Andy M. Stewart.
While I am well versed in the various Fairports, Steeleyes, Albion Bands and their offspring, plus the Incredible String Band, Lindisfarne, Mr Fox et al., I confess I haven’t heard much Silly Wizard. Which is a sore omission but it does mean I can come to the band anew, and I have quite a few albums to catch up on.
For me, the band have much in common with early Steeleye Span, particularly the Please to See the King/Ten Man Mop or Mr Reservoir Butler Rides Again period. But before you toss a caber at this wee sassenach, I’m fully aware that the critical difference is their Scottishness.
But they still share the same burgeoning spirit of playing traditional songs and tunes with youthful vigour. And delight in both bringing the material up-to-date while simultaneously dragging their listeners through the dim muddy past.
The album is authentically analogue, and the harmonies remain harsh and heady in a way that digital recordings never quite catch. There is an authentic sterling virtuosity on display here, and also the boldness of a band six years into formation making their first recorded statement.
It starts slow and foreboding with Pibroch creeping up on the listener before their Caledonian credentials are on full display with Jenny Gray’s Whiskey. The tune is reminiscent of the English Morris dance, The Cuckoo’s Nest but transported to the Highlands. And the lyrics plough a similarly bawdy path. Delightfully dark and dirty.
Things liven up with a set of reels: Wind That Shakes The Barley/ The Ale Is Dear. And you can see where Silly Wizard’s reputation for breakneck instrumentals originates. It’s Scottish Trad but for hippies and dropouts, without taking the psychedelic high road of fellow Edinburgh travellers The Incredible String Band.
Another highlight is My Love’s in Germany, a setting of the 18th-century poem by Hector Macneill to an older Scottish tune by Colonel Thomas Traill. The song has been adopted by rising folk stars The Trials of Cato both live and on their debut album, Hide and Hair. Although many versions exist, the Cato boys attribute Silly Wizard as the source of their version. The Wizards are still making ripples after 40 years.
These 11 tracks are a thrilling introduction to a band that continued to do great (maybe greater?) things. I’ll have a lot of fun finding out. This is a very welcome re-release from Talking Elephant of a hitherto hard-to-find album. It’s only been on CD once before in 1997, a long-deleted release, re-titled The Early Years. So catch this wonderful piece of wizardry, and don’t be deceived, there’s very little here that could be classed as silly. Classy, yes. Magical, aye. Silly, nae danger.
Order Silly Wizard via Talking Elephant