Romantic love songs for people who cannot always be together
Mr. B. E. Power | Brighton, UK | 08/28/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
""Love Will ... Linger On..." opens with the best rendition I have heard of "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", the song that Ewan MacColl wrote during a transatlantic telephone call to his lover Peggy Seeger, who needed a short fill-in number for a concert she was giving in the States. The production and direction of Ewan and Peggy's son Calum MacColl adds noticeably to the quality of all the tracks on this album. In fact, the involvement of Calum's older brother Neill and Ewan and Peggy's youngest, Kitty MacColl, make this album very much a family production. Their backing vocals blend just as harmoniously as the voices of Peggy Seeger and Irene Scott. Peggy and Irene are beginning to blend as a duo so closely that on some tracks their voices seem indistinguishable when Peggy is singing at a higher pitch. Peggy dedicates the album to her current partner, Irene Scott, for whom all her own love songs in this selection have been written. The honesty and maturity of the lyrics mark them out from 'puppy love songs', yet they retain a vitality that makes "An Autumn Wedding" sound not only like a pleasantly melodious waltz, but also like the passion of a new adventure. This vitality is present in most of the tracks. Irene's version of the "Fiddling Soldier" - a variant of The Nightingale Song (popular in Ireland) introduces the theme of distance in relationships. Lovers who are parted involuntarily (i.e. all those in distance relationships) will identify with many more of the songs included in this collection e.g. "Love Affair" and "Call on Your Name" (which has echoes of Tom Paxton's 'There's a dark and rolling sea between my true love and me' and a superb melody to match). There is also a spring-like quality in many of the songs - an honest connection with nature in "Swallow and Trout" and a celebration of love and new discovery in "Primrose Hill" as well as a knowledge and experience of the essence of love in the title track "Love Will...Linger On...". These are love songs for partners who are completely confident that they are right for one another - "Birds of a feather" who want so celebrate the joys of good companionship or who are longing to be together in the same geographical environment: to put it simply one another's arms. I currently have a distance relationship, which is very important to me. I enjoy playing "Love Will...Linger On", before, after and during."
Seeger on Love
Mr. B. E. Power | 09/23/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"For those who have always enjoyed Seeger's work, this album is a blessing--clever, musically adventurous, and full of the Seeger knack for accompaniment. For new fans, it is the perfect introduction to Seeger's style and songwriting. Seeger, whose music has mainly been political and traditional, makes a bold and wise step with this album of love songs."
Track Listings (13) - Disc #1