Atrax Records: TheSwarbStore: Other Back-Catalogue: Red Clydeside

Dave Swarbrick and Alistair Hulett

'Red Clydeside'

AN AUDIO/VISUAL CD RECORDING

£13.00 (inc. UK p&p)

EUR 23.00 (inc. European p&p) / $21.00 (inc. worldwide p&p)

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Information; Track-Listing; Reviews etc.

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For their third studio collaboration, Alistair Hulett and Dave Swarbrick focus on a workers’ revolt in the city of Glasgow that rocked the government of the day. Red Clydeside broke out in response to the Declaration Of War in 1914. Its leader, John Maclean, was twice sentenced to penal servitude and twice released early due to enormous public protest. Eventually the rulers of Britain sent troops and tanks into Glasgow in January 1919 to prevent a full blown revolution they feared could engulf the entire country.

The disc carries a full lyric file to print out, complete with a Scots language glossary, and a folder of archival images to accompany each song. These photographs have been digitally enhanced for clarity and include Maclean’s prison portrait from 1916 and a photograph from his second trial in 1918.

SIGNED COPIES AVAILABLE ON REQUEST!

Track-Listing:

 Reviews:

Alistair Hulett & Dave Swarbrick, Red Clydeside (Red Rattler RATCD005, 2002)

It's hard to know which aspect to concentrate on first - that this is an album with a theme of both historical and contemporary interest, or how good it is to see Dave Swarbrick taking such an active role in it! Perhaps giving the basic theme of the CD is a good start. It could almost be called a concept album, in that all songs are related to the work of Scottish socialist John Maclean who, around the time of the First World War, made his presence strongly felt with the working and ruling class alike - a hero to the former, a threat to the latter. Such subjects have always been close to the heart of Alistair Hulett, who for this album has written a collection of songs which, in roughly chronological order, tell the story of Maclean's life, imprisonments, mistreatment and death.

Even preceding his days with Sydney-based folk-rock band Roaring Jack in the late 1980s, Hulett has largely written songs from a socialist point of view. Now, he has taken the challenge of focussing on one particular character and era, and come up with a collection of songs that work well individually and collectively, with an obvious care for the music and the subject at hand.

When he moved back to Scotland in the mid-90s, Hulett teamed up with legendary fiddler Dave Swarbrick for two CDs and a number of tours. This, their third recording, has had a few setbacks, not the least being Swarb's well-publicised health problems. He makes up for it here by playing a major role in production and performance. Red Clydeside was recorded at his own home studio (just down the corridor from his bedroom so he doesn't have to go too far to record), and features what may be the first "Produced by Dave Swarbrick" credit. The result is a clear and well-defined sound, despite the fact that the studio is apparently not soundproofed and various good takes had to be abandoned due to knocks on the door, ice-cream vans going past etc!

In addition to the fiddle, Swarb plays viola and baritone violin; sometimes overdubbed on the same track as with the lovely song "The Lassies Of Neilston".  Despite any personal difficulties he may have, his playing is as distinctive as ever - darting and weaving through the music, intuitive and melodic. Hulett provides solid acoustic guitar and impassioned vocals to all songs; the only non-original track being the closing "The Ghosts Of Red Clyde" which uses the tune for the traditional song "The Poor Cotton Weaver".  Despite this, the music has a traditional feel to it, in terms of structure and instrumentation.

Another contributor to the recording is Kevin Dempsey, who has previously worked with Swarbrick in the band Whippersnapper and as a duo in more recent years. His role here is as assistant engineer, as well as providing some sympathetic and tasteful second guitar to one song, "The Granite Cage".

The actual stories behind the songs are explained comprehensively in the CD booklet. They are too detailed to do justice to in a review, but give a whole new appreciation to the historical events being portrayed. For example, John Maclean's anti-war slogan "A bayonet is a weapon with a working man at either end / Don't sign up for war" becomes the chorus of one of the album's highlights ("Don't Sign Up For War"), while the song "Mrs Barbour's Army" chronicles the tale of Mary Barbour who led a strike of mostly housewives against unjustly increased rents at the start of World War 1, which after much struggle ended with an official Rent Restriction Act. Hulett's song itself paints a strong enough picture of the events, but coupled with pictures from the time and the essay provided, it becomes a perfect example of a song about real people facing real events, and triumph over oppression.

The booklet also features pictures of Maclean himself, including a prison mugshot, and the huge crowd which gathered when he was released from prison. Interestingly, there are no pictures of either Hulett or Swarbrick, although a couple are included in the multimedia section of the disc. This also features the lyrics of all songs, along with translations of "difficult" Scottish words and phrases - it is certainly very useful to have definitons of phrases such as "weel an' brawly gouthart" (meaning in a quandary; from the song "Don't Sign Up For War").

The CD-ROM component is well-designed and very simple to navigate, with full-screen display. As well as the lyrics, it has contact details and information on other CDs by the duo, and larger versions of pictures included in the booklet. Another example of the amount of thought that has gone into the overall package.

Although its playing time is fairly short at just over 41 minutes, this is a CD full of humanity and hope, in a political framework. It would be quite possible to enjoy the music for its own sake but I'd suggest that to ignore the lyrics would miss the point of the whole album. This could potentially limit sales of the album to "the converted", but I suspect both Hulett and Swarbrick would be more than content just to let more of the world know about this little-mentioned part of Scottish history. It's fascinating, educational and entertaining all at once, and it's certainly a pleasure to hear music with a purpose played with such style.

Michael Hunter (also of 'Fiddlestix')

Last updated on 26 September 2002