Link to Living Tradition Homepage

REVIEW FROM www.livingtradition.co.uk

 


 

 

 
ROBB JOHNSON (WITH ROY BAILEY, BARB JUNGR, JUDE ABBOTT, JENNY CARR & JOHN FORRESTER) - Gentle Men

ROBB JOHNSON (WITH ROY BAILEY, BARB JUNGR, JUDE ABBOTT, JENNY CARR & JOHN FORRESTER) - Gentle Men
Irregular Records IRR088

Robb Johnson has revisited his seminal 1997 work based on the WW1 experiences of his two grandfathers, who both incidentally survived the conflict. Roy Bailey returns to inject his own individual style and authority to the subject matter. Some new material is offered, some of the original songs stripped out and the entire concept re-imagined throughout. Now, the two CDs have the minimum of instrumentation, which adds to the atmosphere and seems most appropriate to the material.

CD1 covers the period up to the end of the Great War, while CD2 deals with the lives of the two combatants and their families post war. Both sets of songs have an intimate, even ‘parlour’ feel to them, with two main styles evident – folk storytelling and music hall. Belgian songstress Vera Coomans, who was crucial to the 1997 version, does not appear here, but the bulk of her earlier contribution is more than ably revisited by Barb Jungr, who is able to contribute a stunning performance of the German verse closing An English Heaven.

During the intervening years between the two incarnations of this work, modern day conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have prompted Robb Johnson to revisit the earlier work, in the knowledge that some of the sentiments previously voiced can be seen through more up to date eyes and given new poignancy. He also felt that the subject matter needed to be revisited and the net result is a triumph. Roy Bailey teases industrial quantities of emotion out of the lyrics of Sweet Dreams and the collective entourage’s delivery of Making The Gardens Grow could become a modern day folk anthem. Throughout, Robb Johnson’s sensitive songwriting has triumphed in this collection of songs. A brilliant project to soundtrack the looming centenary of the start of the Great War.

www.gentle-men2014.co.uk

Grem Devlin

Secure On-line mailorder service
Buy this CD online from The Listening Post
The Listening Post is the CD mailorder service of The Living Tradition magazine.
This album was reviewed in Issue 100 of The Living Tradition magazine.