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Dave Swarbrick

'Live at Jacksons Lane'

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Live solo and acoustic. Recorded at Jacksons Lane Community Centre, London, on Swarb's 1991 solo tour, this in an inspired set of songs and tunes from throughout Swarb's career (and even includes some previously unreleased material). Never has just a solo violin and a lone voice provided such a full sound.

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Published in 'The Ledge' Magazine

DAVE SWARBRICK - LIVE AT JACKSONS LANE - MUSIKFOLK MFCD514

Reviewed before in these pages, firstly as a cassette only release, shortly after the recording in 1991, then later as an American import CD this is at last available on CD in this country. Mainly instrumentals, “The Bonny Black Hare” and “Lovely Nancy” being the exceptions, it is Swarb keeping faith with his roots, playing traditional music with enthusiasm and creating enjoyment.

On the two songs he was in good voice on the night, and throughout never put a bowstring out of place. The tunes are a variety of slow laments, fast dance tunes, and obviously several in between. Even if you don’t recognise the titles most of the tunes you will know as they have appeared through the years on various recordings, solo, with Simon Nicol or Whippersnapper. Totally alone on stage Swarb obviously enjoyed himself on the night, as you will listening to this album.

Ian Burgess of Friends of Fairport

DAVE SWARBRICK - LIVE AT JACKSONS LANE - GADFLY 503

This reviewer would not lightly claim that anyone is "a legend in his own lifetime." In Dave Swarbrick's case, however, it is justified: just one year ago, a zealous staffer on the London "Daily Telegraph" got a little carried away by news of Dave's urgent hospitalization with respiratory problems and arranged for his obituary to be printed on April 20. When the news reached him, Dave, whose demise was alleged to have occurred in his current hometown of Coventry, remarked with characteristic good humor that it was not the first time that he had died in Coventry. He remains frail after this illness but has played occasional gigs in the last nine months to great acclaim.

Even if Swarbrick had not so dramatically returned from the grave, he could still be considered almost legendary. Followers of the English folk music scene will be familiar with a career that goes back to the early 1960s. Swarbrick achieved prominence on the thriving folk revival scene of the time through his work with the Ian Campbell Folk Group and his association with some of the Charles Parker/Ewan MacColl "Radio Ballads" (recently released on CD).

But it was probably through his collaboration with the singer and guitarist Martin Carthy in a series of recordings, in which Swarbrick's violin brilliantly complemented Carthy's singing and playing of traditional songs that Swarbrick both attained greater prominence as a musician. As a result of this increased visibility, Swarbrick was invited to guest with the up-and-coming London-based rock group, Fairport Convention on their 1969 album Unhalfbricking. When the group was obliged to reorganize following a tragic road accident during this same period, Swarbrick was invited to become a full member. As the band moved away from the influences of contemporary American West Coast sounds and turned instead to electrified -- and electrifying -- performances of traditional songs from Britain, Swarbrick's folk experience was put to great advantage. The character of this group's approach effectively obliged Swarbrick to become a pioneer of the electric violin, not an established instrument at that time but now, of course, commonplace. (By an amusing irony, Swarbrick's old partner, Martin Carthy, was in turn sucked into the other major British folk rock band of the 1970s, Steeleye Span.)

It was during some 15 years with Fairport that Swarbrick developed new talents as both a singer and a songwriter and also suffered severe hearing damage that eventually obliged him to stop playing electric music for a living, although he can still be found guesting with Fairport Convention at periodic reunions of alumni. However, he never lost his links with the more mainstream traditional music. The present CD is a live recording of a solo concert by Swarbrick in London in 1991 and shows his talents as a performer of traditional songs and tunes as well as of tunes composed in the traditional style. There is only one Swarbrick original on this CD, a slip jig called "The Pepperpot"; and I would not have known this was an original if the record cover did not say so (and indeed Swarbrick admits it in his recorded introduction).

The first piece on the CD is a song that Swarbrick must often have performed with Fairport, "The Bonny Black Hare," one of those folk songs full of double meanings that pretends to be about something else but is really about sex. He does not have a remarkable voice. Even in his hey-day with Fairport Convention, he was never an outstanding vocalist, and his breathing problems and indulgence in tobacco certainly have not helped. But he is capable of singing in tune and of enunciating words clearly while playing a melodic accompaniment on the violin, all of which makes listening to his performance of the three songs on the CD quite agreeable.

This opening song is followed by two sets of tunes, the first taken at an increasingly fast pace, while the second set consists of slow pieces. The juxtaposition of these two tracks provides a good opportunity to measure Swarbrick's skill in different tempos. He can scatter notes frantically, when required, but he's also a master of the lyrical, drawn out bowstroke.

These tunes are followed by the traditional song "Lovely Nancy," during the introduction of which Swarbrick explains that he has accompanied everyone else singing it and "the words must just have rubbed off." Again, the vocal quality is outmatched by the violin accompaniment, but the song comes across well enough. The song with which Swarbrick concludes the concert is a daring choice, no less than "The Two Magicians" (Child Ballad #44). He might have done this in order to invite comparisons with the well known recording made by Steeleye Span, but his is a variant version and sounds so different in a voice-and violin-performance that thoughts of rivalry are irrelevant. It is particularly interesting to hear how Swarbrick's violin provides a very full backing to his singing: he varies the form of the obbligato playing under successive verses, which are interspersed with vigorous solos.

Before this final song, there are four further tune-sets representing a veritable tour of the British Isles as well as of different forms and rhythms. I would make particular mention of a moving interpretation of O'Carolan's "Sheebeg and Sheemore," a staple of the repertoire of many Irish bands. Swarbrick demonstrates in an inventively embellished interpretation that a violinist raised in a mainly English tradition can use his immense talent to compete successfully with the Irish fiddling tradition. Another piece that particularly pleased me was "Sailing Into Walpole's Marsh," which I had long enjoyed as one of the instrumentals on the extraordinarily brilliant album that by Paul Brady and Andy Irvine made in 1976 and which simply bears their two names as a title.

Musikfolk has done fans of Dave Swarbrick a great service in issuing this CD. It showcases his effortless mastery of the folk violin in an extremely diverse collection of pieces and is highly recommended to lovers of this genre. He acquits himself well on the three songs too, and if you think that three songs don't give you enough of the Swarb voice, be reassured. The instrumentals are punctuated by frequent grunts and interjections that make Glen Gould and even Steffi Graf sound like mutes by comparison.

Richard Condon

DAVE SWARBRICK - LIVE AT JACKSONS LANE - GADFLY 503

AMG EXPERT REVIEW

This is an entirely solo 1991 performance by Dave Swarbrick, just a man and his fiddle. Thankfully this is a predominantly instrumental set as Swarbrick's voice is a bit shaky on the opening selection "Bonny Black Hare." His voice seemed to solidify only slightly on the next vocal piece "Lovely Nancy." Singing, however, was never Swarbrick's selling point; rather, it's his precise yet soulful playing that has influenced many through the years. "Sleepy Maggie," "Lady Mary Hayes Scotch Measure," and "Bunker Hill" are reflective of his unique and perhaps unmatched style but they are marred by his uncontrollable grunts and snortles ( la Ian Anderson). On the other hand, some listeners might find such outbursts endearing or simply the embodiment of his total absorption into his craft. Always a fine interpreter of legendary Irish bard Turlough O'Carolan Swarbrick offers another soulful rendition of the lamentable "Sheebeg and Shemore," which he first recorded on 1977's Swarbrick 2.

Dave Sleger, All Music Guide

Last updated on 30 January 2003