Prodigal Son by Martin Simpson.

I haven’t written anything for a week, sorry about that. I thought today I would tell you about an album which I have been enjoying recently called Prodigal Son by Martin Simpson. In Britain we have had some fabulous acoustic guitar players on the folk music scene, and I rate Martin Simpson up there with the best of them. He is a great banjo player, singer, and songwriter as well. I first heard of him in the early 90s when I heard a song called Handsome Molly on a compilation CD called Folk Heritage 2. Then many years later a song called Never Any Good on an album called That’s Proper Folk. Finally, I got around to actually buying a Martin Simpson album. I chose this one because it received rave reviews on release and won the album of the year award at the BBC Folk Awards in 2008. 

I see on the sleeve that it was engineered by Joe Rusby who is the brother of Kate Rusby and was recorded at their Pure Records studio in South Yorkshire. Kate sings some backing vocals on the album. Other names that you might know here include Jackson Browne, Danny Thompson, Andy Cutting, and Kellie While. Martin’s exquisite guitar playing sets the tone for the album on the opening song Batchelors Hall which was written by Dick Cornette and based on a traditional song called Pretty Saro. Then Martin displays his banjo picking skills on Pretty Crowing Chicken. One of my favourite songs here is Lakes Of Champlain which is an American version of an Irish song called Lakes Of Coolfin. I have heard the song previously on a Nic Jones album where it was called Lakes Of Shillin. 

The next track She Slips Away is a touching instrumental guitar piece composed by Martin in tribute to his mother who passed away shortly before this album was recorded. The Granemoor Hare is another traditional song which Martin discovered via Dick Gaughan. Mother Love is a wonderful instrumental written by Martin and inspired by his wife Kit and daughter Molly. Over the years I have heard many versions of Little Musgrave by the likes of Nic Jones, Christy Moore, Paul Brady and Fairport Convention who called it Matty Groves. Martin’s version is as good as any of them. A Love Letter is exactly what it says. Written by Martin with splendid lyrics and I love the cello playing of Barry Philips on this track and others. Duncan & Brady is an American song that was first recorded by Leadbelly. It displays the skilful bluesy side to Martin’s playing. As I mentioned, Never Any Good is one of the songs that introduced me to Martin Simpson. The song is about his father who was never any good with money and couldn’t hold down a job. He was happiest singing or going fishing. The album is dedicated to both his parents. Kate Rusby adds some nice background vocals.

 Martin lived in America for many years and there are several American songs here, including Good Morning Mr Railroad Man which he first heard sung by Ry Cooder. It is a song about the hobos who travelled on freight trains during the great depression. Louisiana 1927 is a Randy Newman song about the great flood in New Orleans in 1927. It is included on this album because of its relevance to Hurricane Katrina and the poor response to that disaster. (I have shared a video of Martin singing this song below if you want to hear it). La Rivolte is a lively instrumental based on an Irish tune, but you might detect a French flavour to it as well. Andrew Lammie is a long traditional Scottish ballad, sometimes called Mill O Tifty’s Annie and based on a true event, the death of Agnes Smith in 1673. It features the accordion playing of Andy Cutting. 

The final track is Kit’s Tune/ When A Knight Won His Spurs. Martin wrote Kit’s Tune while waiting for the kettle to boil, and When A Knight Won His Spurs is a hymn that he first learned in junior school. It brings this excellent album to a close. I rate this album as among the best English Folk albums I have ever heard, so I am very pleased to have finally acquired an album by the great Martin Simpson. If I ever hear that he is playing a gig in my neck of the woods then I would definitely go and see him.