Rise up like the sun

Before I get started on the real content of this entry, I just want to note that I spent about 30 minutes writing a blog entry, saved it and then ... poof! It's gone. Blogger prides itself on automatically saving entries so that if something happens during the writing process, the entry is still saved. So much for that. Anyway, as I always say to someone at work after they delete something that they've been working on for the past hour, it's always easier the second time round.

I am also going to type this in Internet Explorer. I don't like IE very much and try to avoid it. At work I use Firefox, but for some reason I was unable to install it at home, so I tried Opera. This is more like FF than IE, but has its differences. It also caused formatting problems whilst writing the blog (the previous entry shows a few lines extending too far right), and it was these problems which caused me to "save" today's entry, in the hope that saving the entry and starting anew would cause these problems to disappear. Some hope. So anyway, here we go again....

I try to vary the music to which I listen at home, instead of grinding the same few discs into dust. For example, today I was listening to June Tabor's 1996 "Anthology" compilation, which is a low-key but pleasant collection featuring a few gems (such as "Verdi cries" and "The band played waltzing Matilda"). I haven't listened to this disc in years, so it was a pleasant surprise.

Anyway, a few weeks ago in preparation for my trip up north, I loaded into my mobile mp3 player the Albion Band's quintessential 1978 album, "Rise up like the sun". I bought this shortly after its release and considered this to be second only to "Liege and Lief" in the folk-rock pantheon (an opinion which I still hold). The cd release includes four bonus tracks, only one of which - the world premiere of Richard Thompson's "Rainbow over the hill" sung by then-wife Linda - is equal to the original tracks.

At the time, I was aware of some of the metrical sophistication displayed in songs like "Lay me low", which basically is in 3/4 time. Its chorus (three repeats of the line "Lay me low") is, however, in 5/4 time, which is obtained by taking two bars of 3/4 and chopping a beat off the end. It sounds quite natural although slightly odd. It's difficult to imagine unaccompanied singing in 5/4, although Fairport play "Sir William Gower" in this time signature, as does Eliza Carthy with "Adieu, adieu" on her 1998 "Red" album.

This time around, my ear caught some games being played in the opening calling-on song, "Ragged heroes"; specifically, the bar prior to the chorus is often truncated to 2/4, whereas the song itself is in 4/4 time. Anyone looking for a precedent for this can look at John Lennon's "Bungalow Bill" which displays the same trick, although I doubt that this was the inspiration for the Albion Band.

But the real ear-opener is what was the closing track on the vinyl album, the epic "Gresford Disaster". John Tams set the words of the broadside ballad to a hymn tune, and the result, in lugubrious 4/4, is definitely reverent in memory of the 266 men who died. After several verses, a few ringing guitar notes are heard, and the song enters its contentious instrumental section. Taking the prosodic approach, this section represents the miners' families wailing at their loss, although I take a more musical approach. I write "contentious", as many people find this section exceeding long and unlistenable, primarily because of Ric Sanders' cosmic violin noodling (I can take it or leave it). Let me note the excellent drumming by Dave Mattacks, who is instantly recognisable due to his fills. When viewed as a whole, this section displays fine dynamics, starting with virtually nothing and finishing in a fine climax.

What caught my ear especially was the rhythm of this instrumental section. Two bars of 4/4 were easily identifiable, but after that came ... what? At first I was counting it as five beats (which would make each cycle in 13/4), but I wasn't sure of myself. I decided to contact Ric Sanders who is listed as the composer of this part (in one of the few composing credits on the album, an omission I find strange); at the time (about ten days ago), he was touring North America with the three piece acoustic Fairport Convention, and so communication was a bit difficult. Gracious as always, this is what Ric had to write -

I'm writing this in JFK so don't have the recording to hand, and it's a long time ago!! But I can tell you that The Gresford was put together by all of us arranging different bits - especially John Tams, Graeme Taylor, and myself. The middle (blowing) section is in fact a composition that I had written completely separately, called "Singing, Ringing", which just happily fitted. Its rhythmic cycle is 2 bars of 4/4 followed by 1 of 9/8.

Now I know what it's supposed to be, it makes it much easier to count the rhythm. What threw me was that in the 9/8 bar, the beats were played faster - obviously as they are quavers and not crotchets. This section mutates into a 3/4 portion led by Graeme Taylor's guitar, and of course it is easier to move smoothly from 9/8 to 3/4 (they're essentially the same) as opposed from 5/4 to 3/4. This section is terminated by John Tams singing two verses (starting with the one about the Lord Mayor of London collecting money) over that same 3/4 rhythm, before closing down and reverting to the initial 4/4 time.

However one wants to look at this song, it is a rhythmic tour de force.

After having deciphered all that, I thought that I would look again at "Liege and Lief" to see whether it contained any metrical sophistication. The first four songs are all in 4/4, so the first side is extremely conventional. "The deserter" is in 3/4, which brings a pleasant change. The instrumental medley starts in 12/8, moves to 3/4 and then finishes in 4/4, so that is definitely more interesting for drummers. I'm not too sure how to count this, but "Tam Lin" varies between 3/4 and 7/4; this is caused by verses having 4/4 bars inserted in the middle, whereas the instrumental sections are all in 3/4. "Crazy Man Michael" closes things down in 3/4. So yes, "Liege and Lief" is also fairly sophisticated in this respect.

"Now be thankful" is basically in 4/4, although its verse has a few 2/4 bars and the bar leading up to the chorus has been shortened, creating a 3/4 bar. A few songs on "Angel Delight" also contained some odd signatures, and of course Maartin Allcock had some great lopsided instrumentals during his tenure with Fairport - check out "The noise club" on "Red and Gold", which is basically in 5/4 with a middle section in 6/4. On the final verse, it sounds to me as if Maart is continuing to play in 5/4 whilst DM plays in 6/4. Who knew that such polyrhythms lay at the heart of such music.

Latter day Fairport is unfortunately very four square in this respect, which is one subliminal reason why I find their current output uninteresting.

OK - enough for today. Must take the dog for a walk.

Shabbat Shalom.