Auf Wiedersehen, Me Duck, is the new album from Anglo-German duo Paul Walker & Karen Pfeiffer. With this new album, they wanted to capture some of the chemistry of their live performance by using subtle arrangements. The album was recorded at Sylvafield Studios, Dorset, with producer Ed Bersey, and throughout they maintain a warmth to the recordings that will strike a familiar chord with those who have seen them live.
Included on the album is their cover of Joan Baez‘s Diamonds and Rust. Written by Baez in 1974 and released in ’75, it’s a song about memory which Baez apparently wrote about her relationship with Bob Dylan.
They shared the following:
Throughout the two years of lockdown, we performed weekly online concerts called ‘Afternoon Tea with Paul & Karen’. A feature of each show was that we would include a ‘song challenge’, learning and performing a song that had been requested by a viewer the previous week. We were familiar with the Joan Baez song ‘Diamonds and Rust’ but had never really considered singing it. On listening closely, the first reaction was, how do you follow that performance by Joan? Also, the lyrics are so personal to her, allegedly, being a reaction to a phone call from one-time lover Bob Dylan. However, as soon as Karen sang it, there was no mistaking that the song seemed tailormade for her. She very quickly made it her own and our first live stream performance generated a more than enthusiastic reaction. It was an automatic choice for an official music video, and we were delighted that the superbly gifted Ciaran Algar agreed to enhance Karen’s performance further by his magical fiddle playing. Not to forget, of course, and essential to the production, Paul’s hypnotic guitar and vocal harmonies.
Since being back on the road, the song, despite it being a cover sitting alongside our own compositions, has become a highlight of our live set, drawing fantastic responses each night. The song is likely to remain in the set-list for the foreseeable future and what a perfectly written song it is, too, great to perform, stunning concept and lyrics and we are very proud to accompany Blackmore’s Knight and Judas Priest as those to have covered this masterpiece in song writing.
Their new album can be ordered here or via Bandcamp.