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Andy Roberts produced a string of highly regarded and critically acclaimed solo albums during the 1970's in addition to his involvement with Plainsong, Grimms, The Liverpool Scene, and collaborations with Everyone and Yellow Dog. Several 'Best Of' compilations were released in the 1980's and the Mooncrest CD in 1994, culminating in the 'Just For The Record - the solo anthology', put together with Andy's full co-operation in 2006. |
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SOLO CAREER
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Review - Urban Cowboy - Net Rhythms Timely reissued to coincide with Plainsong’s farewell tour and album, this was Roberts’ first recording for Elektra and, for many, his finest hour. Recorded either side of making the first Plainsong album and released in 1973, it opens with his arrangement of the trad folk tune Charlie, a song he played both solo and with Plainsong and which was originally intended for the band’s never released second album. A little self-indulgently, ranging from bluesy folk rock to handclapping hoedown stomp to simple acoustic guitar folk, five of the songs, Big City Tension, The New Karenski, Baby Baby, Poison Apple Lady, and, best of the bunch, the title track with BJ Cole on pedal steel, were all inspired by/about his unconsummated infatuation with married air stewardess. His hoped-for romance may never have materialised, but he did get some great music out of it. Elsewhere the album features a cover of Jim Hall’s bitter love is pain Elaine featuring the distinctive guitar work of Richard Thompson, the trad influenced folk rock Home At Last, recorded after Plainsong’s demise with Neil Innes on guitar and Mike Kellie on drums, Richmond’s acoustic blues reminiscence of a teenage years girlfrfiend and seeing Jeff Beck play live, and, perhaps my favourite of them all, the stately, echoey vocals All Around My Grandmother’s Floor, an arrangement of a poem by Mike Evans from The Liverpool Scene (who recorded it for a 69 Peel session) and another track recorded for Plainsong’s second ill-fated album. Not all of it has stood the passage of time, but it remains both highly listenable and much more than a foot note in the history of English folk rock, its reissue featuring a booklet containing Roberts’ extensive introductory notes and full track by track breakdown with musician and recording details and his commentary on each song’s origin. Mike Davies September 2012 |