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USA ARTICLES
Circus, 1971
Colorado
Springs
Gazette Telegraph
- NEW
All
Music Guide Review
Billboard Review You
Well Meaning
Billboard Review
Not 'Til Tomorrow
Billboard Review Streets
Kansas
City Art infoZine
The
Boston Herald, 1996
Philadelphia
City Paper, 1996
CDNow Review
Sand in Your Shoes
Music Wire Review
From Clare to Here
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RALPH, ALBERT & SYDNEY
USA ARTICLES
USA ARTICLES
Ralph
McTell – England’s Most Talented Folk Singer?
By Rick Moss
Circus Magazine (USA) 1971
Ralph McTell is a reluctant hero.
He stands on the verge of international recognition, having made three
successful English albums and having sold out the Festival Hall in London twice
within six months. Many
consider him to be England’s most talented folk artist.
Everywhere he has played he has met with enthusiastic audiences, but
lavish praise embarrasses him.
He feels that when his audience applauds they applaud their personal
union with the feeling of the song, for which he is just the messenger.
“I
don’t wish to tell people what to do or how to live.
I’m only just learning myself,” Ralph admits.
He never reads his good reviews, undoubtedly he’ll never read this, but
he collects his bad ones. He
wants to know what people don’t connect with.
Ralph says that if he were to receive only bad reviews he would probably
stop singing publicly, but with reviews like the one in a British paper that
called him a “dazzling new talent” he’ll be singing out for a long time.
“People
need heroes I guess,” he reflects, “but when they make heroes they lose
sight of people.” Ralph
does not want his audience to lose sight of the fact that he
is just a person. He
comes on stage, whether it is the David Frost Show or a folk club, in jeans and
a simple shirt. “I
tried dressing up once,” he explains, “and felt so uncomfortable I had a
hard time performing.”
Ralph
started in England as a “busker”, a street musician who lives on the coins
people toss him. He
sang his way across Europe many times, getting as far as Istanbul, but sickness
always forced him to return to England.
He was worn down by sleeping in doorways or on the floor, and by having
bad food, not enough of it, and no money.
Finally,
after leaving a factory job in England and heading off again to sing in the
streets of Paris, things started to go well for him.
He was able to make enough money to live by singing for the lines outside
of movies, but there were drawbacks.
The police started a drive to clean up Paris.
Ralph spent a few nights in jail: but he was more fortunate than some who
saw their guitars smashed against walls or dropped into the Seine.
Eventually,
Ralph was heard by Antoine, a French commercial version of a folk singer.
Antoine couldn’t play the guitar, yet needed one for his image.
Ralph was given the job of dressing in a tuxedo and playing guitar out of
the light while Antoine faked it.
When Ralph returned to England he began to play in clubs.
Someone sent a tape of his performance to a publisher, and before long
Ralph was able to cut his first album.
Now
Ralph performs alone accompanying himself with his guitar and occasionally
switching to the piano for a number.
He feels that performing by himself eliminates the clatter, clutter, and
hype from a performance, and lets him express something real.
He’ll sit cradling his guitar, and if he’s nervous, he’ll close his
eyes. If not he’ll
stare fixedly out into the audience, but only see them after a song is
completed. He needs
to be within himself when he sings.
He is hypersensitive to his audience: he feels every movement, and if he
senses a lack of interest on their part he’ll become uncomfortable and cut
down his introductions to his songs.
His
album (You Well Meaning Brought Me Here,
Paramount) is very different from his one-man stage performance.
The simple songs are laid over a complicated foundation of harmonium,
moog, strings and brass, but the elaborate instrumentation actually enhances the
music and helps recapture the excitement of his live show.
Ralph
tries to write songs about subjects that are not well covered.
He doesn’t want to sing about his love problems.
Instead he writes about the precarious relationship between an artist and
his audience, the intense loneliness of rag-covered street beggars, an “Old
Brown Dog” that should be put out of its misery, or an incident from Hesse’s
Siddhartha.
His
voice flows sweetly and strongly, but Ralph is not completely satisfied with it.
“When I sang really loudly as a busker I always hoped my voice would
come to sound rough like Rod Stewart’s but it usually just quit and came back
sounding the same the next day.”
Ralph’s voice has a pleasant reassuring quality to it, almost as if he
were singing for people he has always known, and that really is how he feels
about the people who come to hear him.
At the Festival Hall he looked up to see a full house and was moved by
it, saying, “I never knew I had so many friends.”
Well it would seem that Ralph McTell ought to have a lot more friends
very shortly.
And I never meant to come this far
And I never thought I’d lose my way
For now I know who they are
But I still get hurt by the things they say
“You Well Meaning Brought Me Here”
And
our well meaning will hopefully bring him back to the States again
someday.
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USA
ARTICLES
McTell’s
success measured by hard work
Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph
Friday 4 January 1980
By Elena Jarvis, GT Staff Writer
As has been the case many times during the past 12 years, Ralph McTell,
pop-folk musician and man of the people, was at a roadside diner when he
called.
Talking from a telephone booth “somewhere” in the East, it was
hardly a scenario from a rock’n’roll daydream of fame and fortune.
But McTell, best known for his 1975 British Hit, “Streets of
London”, isn’t just whistling in the wind when he speaks of shopping
bag ladies and being down and out. After
all, McTell paid some heavy dues playing on street corners in his native
England and across the European continent.
“You know, I grew up in the working class,” he once told critic
Maryanne Vollers. “I’m
not working class now. I’m
never hard up for a drink or cigarettes – I’m successful really.
But you never forget where you came from. You never forget what it was like.”
At 34, the musician is on his second U.S. tour along with folkies John
Renbourn and Stefan Grossman. Recently,
the trio brought down the house at the Rainbow Music Theatre in Denver.
McTell, who has been associated with Renbourn for 15 years and Grossman
for 12 years, will be included in their collaborative LP soon to be
released on the Kicking Mule label.
While Renbourn, a former member of Pentangle, is known for his Baroque,
medieval-like tunes and Grossman made his name through mentor Rev. Gary
Davis and the blues, McTell sticks to folk and ragtime melodies.
“I’m folk blues and that’s about it.
They’re into the beyond stuff,” McTell said of his musical
partners. “I started off
playing rags and blues and began writing my own songs later. Last night was the first gig of this tour and it worked
really well.”
In the two hour show the musicians cover everything from Mingus to
Mississippi John Hurt. Which
isn’t to say the music is incompatible.
“I think the songs sit very well together,” McTell said.
“This country caters to so many tastes that it’s been really
good for us.”
Though “certainly not Peter, Paul and Mary” McTell does consider the
trio a folk group in both concept and performance. The common link between the three is a six-string acoustic
guitar and a love of traditional, as well as contemporary, tunes.
McTell, who fronted for Dave Bromberg last February, has yet to capture
American commercial appeal. Still,
during a Bromberg appearance at Carnegie Hall, the musician brought down
the house with his relatively simple music.
Accessible as his songs are, McTell isn’t quite sure how to break into
the U.S. music market.
“I wish I knew, then I’d do it,” he said. “I guess timing. I
first played here in 1971 and I think it has to do with what is in fashion
and what people want. All I
want is to achieve an area where I can come and work because I like
playing here.”
Not that McTell has escaped the attention of admiring critics.
Last year, in fact, he was “bowled over” by an article in the
Rolling Stone. Let’s hope
McTell is destined for even greater things.
“That was a nice thing. They
(Rolling Stone) reviewed one of my records back in 1970.
It was a critical review, but it was good criticism.
Not like the British press who does a hatchet job,” he said.
A veteran of 10 albums, four of them American releases, the guitarist
now records on Kicking Mule. After
years of bouncing from label to label, McTell says he prefers to work with
Grossman’s independent company.
“This country’s so rich in talent,” said McTell, “I don’t mind
being unknown.”
The musician has said that music for him is both political and
sentimental. Songs, such as
“Nanna’s Song” written for his Norwegian wife, would seem to verify
the latter, but what about the political strife in the United Kingdom?
“It saddens me, after so many years and all the bloody battles, that
people want to go their own way. I’m
not talking about Ireland, but Scotland and Wales. That’s just the way things are right now,” he said.
“I think people know what’s right and wrong, but I don’t want
to tell them.”
As a husband and father, through the street corner gigs and the hardest
of times, McTell somehow has managed to raise his family with music.
Something, he said, “that’s a rare and wonderful thing.”
Following his American tour, after a day off, McTell will head back to
London for some British dates and some theatre shows in Dublin and
Belfast.
Even with such a hectic schedule and despite the grind of the road,
McTell feels grateful, and above all, lucky for his success.
“I have very few complaints,” he said with a laugh.
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USA
ARTICLES
From
Clare to Here: The Songs of Ralph McTell
Ralph McTell
All Music Guide Review
Folk fans owe a debt of gratitude to Minnesota independent label Red House for
putting a thorough Ralph McTell compilation into print in the U.S. This
collection, copyright 1991, contains 16 tracks at a running time of nearly 71
minutes. One song is new and three others are re-recordings, but none of that
matters very much. New listeners are liable to be reminded of McTell's
contemporary Al Stewart, who has a similarly becalmed British delivery and
musical arrangements keyed to his delicate fingerpicking. (Various members of
Fairport Convention, past and present, frequently accompany McTell, with lead
guitarists Jerry Donahue's and Richard Thompson's playing sometimes suggesting
Mark Knopfler, although since McTell preceded Dire Straits by a decade, maybe it
should be the other way around.) Other soundalikes would include James Taylor
and Chris DeBurgh, though McTell has none of the pop sensibility of the former
or the melodramatic tone of the latter. Rather, he delivers his songs in an
unhurried manner that corresponds to the wistfulness and regret of his lyrics,
which are reflections on working-class life, full of aspirations and
disappointments. His story songs have a fable-like quality, not so much in the
sense of being grandiose as in the sense of being distanced -- the emotion has
been distilled by time so that they always seem to be works of memory. Even
"Streets of London" (presented here in its third, "hit"
recording), which has a point to make, does so in such a prosaic way that
there's no sting. It may be that the reason it has been McTell's only hit is
that he's essentially a formalist, less interested in the opportunities folk
music presents for expressiveness than in the ties it maintains to
tradition.
William Ruhlmann
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USA ARTICLES
Ralph McTell
You Well-Meaning Brought Me Here
Paramount PAS 6015
Billboard Magazine : 10/9/71
The direct communication of McTell's voice and writing and the brilliant
work of producer Gus Dudgeon make this one of the most overpowering albums to
come out of England this year. Listen to "Genesis," "First and
Last Man," "Lay Your Money Down," the classic "Streets of
London," or any of the other cuts.
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USA ARTICLES
Ralph McTell
Not Till Tomorrow
Reprise MS 2121
Billboard Magazine: 2/3/73
With this, his first LP for Reprise, McTell may well be shedding his cloak
of obscurity. An impressive lone figure on the London scene, his wandering
one-man band image has won him many followers. The whole album is presented in
an atmosphere of becalming mellowness, yet his largely autobiographical lyrics
exude an odd level of tenseness. Make special note to "Sylvia,"
"Gypsy" and "Zimmerman Blues."
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USA ARTICLES
Ralph McTell
Streets
20th Century T-486
Billboard Magazine : 8/2/75
McTell has been a major force on the British folk scene for some years now,
and with the lead cut of this LP, a commercial yet sensitive look at some of the
forgotten souls of a large city, he broke pop in England. Set is filled with
acoustic ballads quietly backed by strings and low key choruses, as well as
several peppy Latin flavored cuts. Fine, distinctive singing and musicianship
throughout, and one of the few balladeers with a commercial chance. Best cuts:
"Streets Of London," "Heron Song," "Pity The Boy."
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USA ARTICLES
Ralph McTell
Sand in Your Shoes
The Kansas City Art InfoZine
On this side of the Atlantic, we don't get to hear nearly enough of Ralph
McTell. In England and across the world he has remained as popular as ever and
just celebrated thirty years in the business with major tours and events. In the
US, his releases have been hard to find, and fans collect them like gold.
Fortunately, Red House Records has been lucky enough to make a few of McTell's
most recent discs available here. The first, the collection, From Clare to Here,
introduced a new audience to his classic songs and helped his fans catch up on
new material. It reminded all of us how great a songwriter he is.
Sand in Your Shoes brings us up-todate on the McTell catalogue. Previously
released in Britain, the album shows that in the decades since he wrote his most
famous song, "Streets of London," his songs and voice have only grown
richer. McTell's accomplishments as a musician are astounding. Before he had any
major hits, he had enough fans to sell out the Royal Albert Hall in London—the
first British solo act to do so in over a decade. Shortly thereafter, he had a
chart-topping hit with "Streets of London," a compelling song about
homelessness and despair that has remained remarkably cogent for three decades.
With over two hundred versions, "Streets of London" has become one of
the most recorded songs in the English language, and it's a part of the
repertoire of artists as diverse as Bruce Springsteen, Sinead O'Cornor, Aretha
Franklin, Harry Belafonte, Glen Campbell, and the punk band Anti-Nowhere League.
At one point, four different versions of the song were on the charts in Germany.
McTell's song "From Clare to Here" (recorded by Nanci Griffith for her
Grammy- winning album, other Voices other Rooms) has become such a standard that
many people mistakenly believe it is a traditional Irish tune.
The songs on Sand in Your Shoes stand up to McTell's best work. His engaging
stories and character studies are always deeply moving, and there is a rare and
unguarded humanity to his work. He writes of families, communities, and
individuals caught at moments of truth. With songs like "Jesus Wept"
and "The Case of Otto Schwartzkopf," you'll want to listen to the
lyrics over and over to get at the heart of the story, and "Peppers and
Tomatoes," inspired by conflicts in Yugoslavia, is one of the greatest
songs ever written about communities ripped apart. The poetry of McTell's guitar
playing is equal to that of his songwriting. He's got an indelible, individual
style—playing melody, counter-melody, bass lines, tiffs and fill-ins all at
the same time. It's a style the London Daily Express called "an orchestra
in six strings." To top it off, McTell has a rich, expressive voice—a
distinctive baritone that, once heard, is never forgotten. Sand in Your Shoes is
yet another provocative collection from one of Britain's greatest songwriters.
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USA ARTICLES
Once 'Defeated' McTell To Give
Hub Another Try
From The Boston Herald
Sunday, September 15, 1996
By Daniel Gewertz
For more than 20 years, Ralph McTell has been a near legend in Britain and a
virtual secret in the United States.
In America, he's known as the guy who wrote " Streets of London, " a
1970s top-10 hit in several countries that was recorded by 200 artists. It never
made the U.S. charts.
The plight of a famous troubadour trying to break into the American market as an
unknown was not easy for McTell. Eventually, a 1980 U.S. tour left him
"feeling defeated."
Now, after a satisfying American minitour last year and with a new compilation
LP, "From Clare to Here: The Songs of Ralph McTell," released on Red
House Records, the melodious McTell is finally ready to try America once more.
His gig at Johnny D's Wednesday is his first Boston-area show in 16 years.
"I was very shy when I first came here, feeling humble and not putting
myself across very well," said McTell, 51, in a telephone interview last
week from London. "I was totally in awe of American music. It was my first
love: All my guitar heroes were American, and mostly black, mostly dead and
mostly blind."
Born Ralph May, the singer's stage name pays tribute to an old bluesman: Blind
Willie McTell. Yet, unlike his many British cohorts, McTell's musical identity
was not engulfed by the blues. He just used the creativity of great blues to
find his own path.
"If it weren't for Big Bill Broonzy or Arthur (Blind) Blake, I would never
have played guitar or written a song. But I don't try to sound like them,"
he explained.
"The South London delta is not the same as the Mississippi delta. One can
acknowledge the genius of the blues without trying to sound black. The power,
poise, poetry and dignity of blues: I can't copy that! I try to touch people in
my own different way."
McTell is traversing almost alone in one respect: He is one of the few
middle-aged songwriters who tell how it feels to be 50. While many troubadours
hold fast to songs of loving and leaving, hard traveling and easy wanderlust,
McTell refuses to be the eternal adolescent in song.
"I've tried to address some parts of my life that need to be resolved. As a
songwriter whose life is half over, it was incumbent of me to write about kids
leaving home or about the tragedy of Yugoslavia from a family man's point of
view."
McTell hasn't composed as many love songs as his peers, but being married for 30
years made for a creative test.
"It's terribly hard to write about mature, long-lasting love. It's much
different and more intimate than the short-term love of most songs. I've risen
to the challenge a few times."
McTell casts an oddly rare image as the troubadour as responsible adult.
"I'm irritated by songs that expound the philosophy of me, me, me. I prefer
us songs. I sometimes write my innermost thoughts. But I'd rather have someone
say: 'I felt that! That's what I wanted to say."'
On this tour, America is inspiring confidence.
"When I sing, I'm saying: 'How much time have you got? Because I've got 30
years of music I can play to bring you into my world. I'm no longer hoping to be
the next Gordon Lightfoot. I'm a man with a past and hopefully some of my future
will be in America."'
Ralph McTell at Johnny D's, Somerville, Wed.at 8:30 p.m., $10. Call
(617)-776-2004; at Cape
Codder Hotel, Hyannis, Thurs. Call (508)-771-3000.
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USA ARTICLES
Philadelphia
City Paper
September 26–October 3, 1996
critic pick|Roots
Ralph McTell
Although Ralph McTell is English, it's American music and culture that has
shaped his art.
As an English schoolboy, he was transfixed by Woody Guthrie's songs. "I
used to write to Woody when he was doing very poorly in the hospital," says
McTell. "I treasured the odd little note I'd get back from Marjorie
[Guthrie] she wrote to give me encouragement."
From Guthrie, he went on to discover the recordings of blues players like
Reverend Gary Davis, Blind Boy Fuller and Blind Willie McTell, whose last name
Ralph borrows for the stage up to this day.
In 1972, a visit to Philadelphia changed his life.
"I was very much the new boy," he remembers. A weeklong engagement at
the Main Point featured McTell opening for Randy Newman. He took a seat in the
back of the house for every set, soaking up Newman's approach to songwriting.
After a week of watching Newman, he'd earned a long-term friendship and an
advanced diploma in songwriting.
That was years before his song "Streets of London" became so
internationally known that over 400 artists have taken a turn recording it.
"When it comes to songwriting, I try not to write about me all of the time.
I prefer 'us' songs to 'me' songs. I'm looking for a resonance in other people
to what I'm offering," he explains. Subtlety is the key.
"'Mr Connors' is a song about a man who lived upstairs. But it's really
about wanting a dad, 'cause I didn't have one," says McTell. Rather than
write a song that says "I want a dad," McTell looked for another way
in. "I've learned not to depend on an immediate reaction to a song —
hopefully it sinks in after repetition," he explains.
The song that is most likely to join "Streets of London" in McTell's
most-loved list is one about war-torn Bosnia, "Peppers and Tomatoes."
One of the things McTell terms a puzzlement: how can neighbors live together for
years, then suddenly become divided?
"In our case it's Northern Ireland — a place I love and work a lot,"
says McTell. "It's mystery to me how someone can burn out a neighbor."
Ralph McTell with Broadside Electric, Fri., Sept. 27, 8 & 10:30p.m., Tin
Angel, 20 S. Second St., 928-0978.
Mary Armstrong
© Copyright 1995–2002 Philadelphia City Paper. All rights reserved. Privacy
policy
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USA ARTICLES
Sand in Your Shoes
Ralph McTell
CD Now Review
Copyright © 1994-1999 CDNOW
Though the oldest of the post-punk crowd know McTell only from the
ANTI-NOWHERE LEAGUE's enduring cover of his 1974 U.K. #2 hit and perennial
favorite "Streets of London," while Adult Alternative types know
McTell's "From Clare to Here" from NANCI GRIFFITH's more reverent
cover, the veteran remains a favorite of any who followed the fertile late
60's/early 70's Brit-folk, acoustic axis. But does the 53-year-old, still living
McTell still have it? 1995's import Sand in Your Shoes, just released here now,
says "Yeah." The production veers too much in the direction of soft
rock and easy-listening- you can all but hear some dickhead D.J. telling you
you're listening to "Light 105"-- but for those who can brave the
gloss, McTell's still-syrup-thick voice, his firm, resolute presence, his grasp
of stylistic variety-- encompassing the 60's pop of "Tous Les Animaux Sont
Tristes," the jaunty, honky-tonk bop of "Care in the Community,"
the fiddle bluegrass of "I Don't Think About You," and traditional
Irish folk of "Peppers and Tomatoes"-- and his command try to bust
through. Moreover, this longtime fan of Steinbeck and Dylan remains a fine
lyricist, preserving the most difficult-to-retain aspect of his venerable folk
tradition. Tired of narcissistic whining, and rehash of no-talents who think
three chords and attitude is all music is? Old fashioned, accomplished,
involving, elegiac, lush folk melancholy is an antidote. An old master refuses
to embarrass himself, and Sand In Your Shoes thus has its merits.
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USA ARTICLES
From Clare to Here: The Songs of
Ralph McTell
Author: Stephen Ide
Publication: Music Wire
Date: July 1996
Ralph McTell is perhaps best known for his classic song of homelessness,
"Streets of London," which has been covered by more than 200 artists
and is a coffeehouse standard. But the venerable English songwriter and acoustic
guitarist, who's been performing for some 30 years, has amassed an impressive
collection of songs, each as soul-baring and touching as the next, from the
political to the personal. This 71-minute compilation, released just in Great
Britain in 1992, includes performances with Phil Collins , members of Jethro
Tull , Fairport Convention , Richard Thompson and Fotheringay . This version
adds three new recordings and one previously unreleased track.
McTell is a master at revealing the human condition, and he does so without
becoming maudlin or morose. "Song For Martin," written about a
musician friend's addiction to heroin, is passionate McTell, as his growling,
warm baritone expresses emotion and attachment to his friend. The oft-requested
"Michael in the Garden" describes an institutionalized man, probably
autistic, who is misunderstood by the outside world, yet lives in his own world
of splendor. The rolling cadence in this new recording, which recalls the
airiness of early Moody Blues , brings to mind a person deep in constant
thought. Included is the hit version of "Streets of London," written
in 1967-68, still as vibrant as ever, with McTell adding harmonica.
Other songs deal with two sides of the Irish emigration to America. The title
track, written in 1963, explores the familiar themes of the Irishman longing for
home. "The Setting," a traditional-sounding number with Tom Keane
playing uilleann pipes, takes the view of loved ones left behind.
McTell's honesty extends to themes about other aspects of life as well. The
relaxing ballad "Summer Girls," in this previously unreleased version,
describes how men try on characteristics to impress women. "Barges"
and "Tequila Sunset" are songs about summer holidays and singles bars,
respectively, while "Mr. Connaughton" cradles the fond memories of a
man who spent time with McTell, whose real father deserted home when he was two.
The rollicking "Hands of Joseph," newly recorded for this album, shows
off McTell's guitar playing, which was inspired by the playing of Bahamanian
Joseph Spence .
McTell has released dozens of albums, and this collection cannot hope to sum
up his stellar career. But it is a fine sampling, and the songs will send many a
young songwriter back to the drawing board to try again.
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