Peggy Seeger – First Farewell
Red Grape Records – Out Now
After a career spanning seven decades, the legendary Peggy Seeger offers a (possibly) final artistic statement with First Farewell. It’s as vibrant and challenging as you would expect, with an assurance of a performer who, at 85, has nothing to lose, but still a lot to say…
Frailer fingers mean that Peggy sticks mostly to playing the piano and singing (plus a concertina cameo), rather than banjo and guitar (except for the whimsical closing track). Although a choice made out of necessity, the piano-led arrangements add stately elegance to her songs, letting her vocals shine through which is a great asset as this is definitely a lyric-led collection, where every word should be heard.
First Farewell also a family album, out of the three other players and singers, two are her sons with Ewan MacColl: Neil and Calum; the other is her daughter-in-law Kate St John. The two ‘boys’ both provide vocal and guitar backing (Calum also on organ, ebow and production) and Kate, an accomplished musical arranger, add considerable colour with cor anglais, accordion and oboe. All three are co-credited with songs, two apiece for Kate and Calum and one with Neil. Keeping it all in the family, Ewan and Peggy’s daughter Kitty designed the album sleeve.
These all feel like personal songs, some of them directly experienced or autobiographical, while others expressing Peggy’s political and environmental concerns (if, indeed, those two can be separated). How I Long For Peace is the most overtly “didactic” song – I put that word in inverted commas because it has little of the preachy/protest song connotations that the word conjures up. Rather it’s a wise and hymn-like plea for care and compassion in increasingly violent times, where human lives and the wider living world continue to be plundered for profit and power. Its simple piano accompaniment, along with Peggy’s heartfelt vocals, commands your attention and stops you in your tracks.
The subject of old age and ageing, understandably, plays a substantial role in the album’s subject matter and preoccupations. The Invisible Woman addresses how, as youth fades into middle then old-age, you become more and more overlooked to the point of being unnoticed. Guitar-led by Calum and Neil, it is Kate’s mournful accordion that fully captures the plaintive subject matter. Meanwhile, All In The Mind explores how people lose their identity once their working life is over.
The most gorgeous melodies come from the two collaborations with Kate St John. Lullabies For Strangers concerns the plight of migrant workers who move away from home (and often their country) to look after other people’s children – forced to leave their own children as a result. Peggy sings with empathy, as dignified and compassionate a response as you would expect. The subject matter of One Of Those Beautiful Boys is more enigmatic with Kate’s oboe weaving through and considerably enhancing this mysterious tale.
The most personal song is Tree Of Love, which is rooted in the traditional songs, Seeds of Love and Wild Mountain Thyme. It’s a love song for Peggy’s partner of 30 years, Irene Pyper-Scott. Lasting just a minute-and-a-half, it’s brief but beautiful.
So is the whole collection, which clocks in at just over thirty minutes. But the material is so rich and vigorous, it makes for a satisfying whole. In her sleeve notes, Peggy gives a hint that there may be more to come. With the delight that is this First Farewell, we can only hope her family persuades her to produce many more.
Purchase First Farewell: https://ffm.to/firstfarewell
LIVE
27 May LONDON Cecil Sharp House https://www.efdss.org/whats-on
Photo Credit: Vicki Sharp Photography