Search - Robin Williamson :: Skirting the River Road

Very Good New Robin Williamson Material. NOT ISB!

B. Marold | Bethlehem, PA United States | 06/12/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"`Skirting The River Road' and `The seed-at-zero' are two CDs by Robin Williamson which come as close, in 2002 and 2000 respectively, to plumbing the sources of Williamson's inspirations for many of his Incredible String Band songs. And, both demonstrate that in spite of Williamson's polymath abilities with many old instruments, his most distinctive instrument is his voice, it's Scottish accent, and the poetic intelligence behind his interpretation of both his own and others' lyrics. I am constantly amazed at how Williamson can turn the enunciation of a broad `a' into two syllables.



As much as The Incredible String Band's songs seemed to be for and about children, the works on these two albums are not only for adults, many seem to be reflections of older men (Women readers please excuse the male noun, as all authors and artists are male!).



While outward appearance and common publisher (German company ECM) and common producer (Steve Lake) suggest a common set of material, the two albums have a few important differences.



`The seed-at-zero' is a true solo performance with Williamson doing all vocals and performing all instrumental accompaniments. It is also devoted primarily to musical interpretations of poems by Dylan Thomas plus similar song poems by Williamson himself.



`Skirting the River Road' is poems by Walt Whitman, William Blake, and Henry Vaughan set to music and sung by Williamson. Unlike the earlier work, Williamson is joined by four sidemen, primarily to provide jazz settings for some of Whitman's poems of urban scenes.



The single familiar work on either album is `The Bells of Rhymeny' based on a poem by Idris Davies with music by Pete Seeger and made famous by a performance by The Byrds.



Williamson has done some pleasant storytelling albums and live duets with both Mike Heron and John Renbourn since his Incredible String Band days. And, he has done some albums that I feel are pretty forgettable. None of them are really bad. It's just that the standard set by the best Incredible String Band albums is so high that Williamson has to really reach to approach our memory of these great little entertainments.



While these albums are not terribly original, they offer a new view of Williamson's talent instead of the recycled stuff on other post ISB albums.



If you really like The Incredible String Band, especially Williamson's songs and performances with that group, I recommend both of these recordings.



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