It’s somewhat a consensus that the magic of late guitar genius Robbie Basho’s music was best felt in concert. Unfortunately, the vast majority of us will not have experienced this virtuosic musician’s art first-hand due to him being still relatively unpopular up until he died back in 1986, but Snow Beneath the Belly of a White Swan: The Lost Live Recordings, a five-disc bumper live package and companion piece to 2020’s Song of the Avatars, is a hell of an alternative.
Like Avatars, the guiding hand behind this set of CDs is Liam Barker, the archivist also responsible for the excellent Voice of the Eagle documentary. Also, like the other box set, this is a mighty generous amount of music, with the five discs hitting an average run time of around forty-eight minutes each, meaning there is an awful lot to listen to.
And what a selection it is; it would take a review of thesis length to look at each individual track here, so instead, I will give you a few reasons why this is such a profound, dense and enlightening encyclopedia of music. As soon as Chung Mei – The Chinese Orchid begins, the dusty and echoey nature of this particular recording had me hooked. The playing throughout is mesmerising, and the song’s pace ebbs and flows subtly, with imperfections here and there adding to the overall feel of this being something quite special. It all makes the smattering of applause at the end a little bit heartbreaking and so typical of this underrated musician.
Elsewhere on this disc, Basho plays a version of his far more popular friend John Fahey’s Sligo River Blues. A lovely repetitive tune full of life, with whispers of melancholy, it is played beautifully by Basho, who simply says at the end (in a voice reminiscent of Fahey’s drawl), ‘I don’t want to play my stuff all the time’.
Moving on, disc two treats us to an extended version of The Falconer’s Arm, the title track of his fourth studio album. This quite busy and intense twelve-string piece from his most well-regarded recording translates wonderfully in a live format, with treble notes highlighting Basho’s interest in the Far East and a wavering recording that gives the music a spooky quality.
This slightly varying quality of sound across the discs (the recordings were made in many venues across the years) brings its own character to the music and actually enriches the listening experience (check out the slightly shaky beginning of ‘warm-up piece’ Song of God on disc three), reminding us that we are hearing music from a bygone age and a bygone artist.
Although this is a predominantly instrumental set, there are vocal-led songs to be found, and they stand up remarkably well. Disc five contains most of these, beginning with Eagle Sails the Blue Diamond Waters from 1969’s Venus in Cancer (is that a Scottish accent introducing the song?). Again, the sound is slightly gritty in places, but the performance is amazing, with both voice and guitar skills hitting highs. Orphan’s Lament from the mighty Visions of the Country is even better. It is a simply beautiful song played to perfection with real depth and emotion. It will break your heart.
Wow, what a release this is; if you are a music lover and want a serious treat this festive period and beyond, Snow Beneath the Belly of a White Swan should be high on the list. The liner notes are extensive and contain some wonderful photographs, plus an essay by Robbie Dawson. The material to be discovered across all five discs totals several hours of music from a true original, an underrated giant of the guitar. Magic.
ROBBIE BASHO – Snow Beneath the Belly of a White Swan : The Lost Live Recordings (TSQ4111) Ltd Ed of 1000
A 5CD Box Set – All Live – Out December 6th
Pre-orders for the new box set via various online retail sites, including bandcamp.
