JACK WITH A FEATHER

As you gather from the track-listing,this is a more traditional album than what was to come. Mainly consisting of acoustic material taken from their live shows,Jack With a Feather was produced by Steeleye Span's Tim Hart who also contributed one track to the album.Mandy Morton's vocals are similar to Steeleye's Maddy Prior and former Steeleye vocalist,Gay Woods.A no frills production gives the album a live-in the-studio feel. If you like Fairports/Steeleye Spans more 'rustic and rural' material you will no doubt like this.

This is a folk album for sure, but it isn’t progressive by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, these are all traditional folk tunes of some variation of British origin (mostly English I think). Some were also on Spriguns first album (“Let No Man Steal Your Thyme” and “Keys Of Canterbury”), although from what I understand that record is nearly impossible to find..

The band would drop “of Tolgus” from their name after this release, and guitarists/mandoliners Rick Thomas and Chris Russon would disappear before the next release. Somewhere along the line Mandy and Mike Morton split up as well, and Spriguns became something of a B-list band with a revolving lineup of journeyman players backing Ms. Morton’s own compositions in the studio and on spotty local tours.

The one track that is mildly interesting from a trivia standpoint is the opening track “Lambton Worm”, a very old English folk legend that is referenced and heavily interpreted in the eighties cult film ‘Lair of the White Worm’. Beyond that “Curragh of Kildare” is a great snapshot of Ms. Morton’s vocals, and “Twa Magicians” sounds like just the sort of slightly psych folk that would have gone over great in the latter part of the sixties. But really that’s about it.

I’ve never quite understood what prompted the Mortons to undertake fielding a decidedly traditional British folk band in the mid- seventies. Long gone were the days when a mildly Dennyesque female wielding a fiddle and singing tales about days of yore could attract much of a following beyond the aging crowd that plopped themselves on itchy wool blankets and munched cheese and bread on the park green to enjoy an afternoon free concert. Bands really just couldn’t much make a living at this sort of music at that time, a fact that Ms. Morton came to realize as the band petered out later in the decade.

Technically these are well-executed tunes, and I suppose one who has an appreciation for British folk stories and traditional music more suited to a decade of so earlier would find these somewhat nostalgic and appealing. But I can’t imagine the teens and 20- somethings who were actually shelling out cash for records at the time were finding much to attract them with Spriguns. The last two albums by the band featured original compositions, mostly by Ms. Morton, and at least the one of these I have (‘Time Will Pass’) is more interesting than this is. But if I really want to get down and dirty on some traditional folk I’m thinking I’d invest in a Davey Graham or Bert Jansch record instead.

I can’t say this is bad music because I don’t have that background to appreciate any cultural context it might have. But I can say that there’s not much here to appeal to fans of progressive music, and in that regard this can really only be considered a collectors piece for fans of English folk or ardent fans of Spiguns. And that means it rates two stars.

peace