Search - :: Spiral Staircase: Classic Songs

It's great to hear McTell at the beginning of his career.

05/08/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is a recent compilation of songs from McTell's first three albums, released from 1967 through 1969. I first learned about McTell with his 1971 release, You Well-Meaning Brought Me Here, so the existence of these earlier albums was a surprise to me. But it's great to hear McTell in this early stage of development. This CD contains the original recording of Streets of London. With McTell picking away for all he's worth, this version is much starker than the later "hit" version most listeners are familiar with. Many of the other tracks --Terminus, Nanna's Song, Willoughby's Farm, Factory Girl and Kew Gardens to name just a few -- are stunningly beautiful. McTell's early dedication to acoustic (and even jug band) blues is apparant in several of the tracks. It's fun to try to listen to this CD with late '60's ears, and at least one song (Granny Takes a Trip) is incomprehensible any other way. The liner notes are informative and show the care with which the tracks were selected. The notes are helpful to anyone trying to fill gaps in their McTell collections. Just two caveats: First, there's a lot of duplication between this CD and the Best of Ralph McTell/ Streets of London CD which was originally released in 1968 or 1969 (of the two, I prefer this one). Second, although this is where Ralph began, I would not recommend this as the starting point for new McTell listeners."