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Martin Carthy's SIGNS OF LIFE was released on Topic Records in 1999. It is one of his best recordings.
His versions of the traditional ballads "Sir Patrick Spens" and "The Unquiet Grave" marvelously show off the distinctive pulse
and syncopation which is so characteristic of Carthy's playing and which few besides him have mastered. Also, "The Wife of
Ushers Well" exemplifies Carthy's broad melodic reach for it rides upon a Breton French tune. His recreation of "The Bonny
Hind" is also masterful. No melody was known for this song of unwitting incest copied from the lips of a milkmaid in 1771.
Carthy sets it to the jaunty martial melody to which "Lord Marlbourough" is usually sung. However, he resets it in a minor
key, thus magnificently laming the previously major melody. The anonymous milkmaid is thus given a haunted authority which
moves me deeply. Also on SIGNS OF LIFE is the Australian Transportation Song, "Botany Bay." Carthy believes that the last
verse with its threat of vengeance was altered at some point from the original. The word 'floggers' in the line "I'll shoot
the floggers down," was originally 'f—kers,' he believes. Though Carthy sings 'floggers,' he sings it with a pronged
'f' and with the rage that the word 'f—kers' ordains. His guitar accompaniment is quite simple in contrast to other
pieces I laud and magnify here.
"Georgie" and "The Deserter" are English gypsy versions of otherwise familiar ballads. They are peculiarly brilliant and in
places surreal. It's as if, Carthy frequently explains, the words were written down, cut into pieces and then thrown into
the air. Whatever comes down, including bits of other songs (in whatever order it comes down), is how the song is sung.
SIGNS OF LIFE again showcases his version of the ballad "Prince Heathen," a song which I do not feel says what Martin thinks
it says. [More on this will be found in my essay in preparation, "Prince Heathen, Propriety, and Bob Burleson."] Nevertheless
it is considered one of his two signature pieces, the other being the more successful "Famous Flower of Serving Men." (Not
on SIGNS OF LIFE)
He does a fine acoustic blues rendition of "Heartbreak Hotel," which he points out is very much a woman's song. It was co-written
by Mae Boren Axton, Hoyt's mother; however, as we found at the Freight and Salvage in Berkeley, in performance, it veers too
close to parody because of its association with Elvis Presley and his impersonators.
There is more American cross-polination: His cover of Hoagy Carmichale's "Hong Kong Blues," though of interest as a curiosity,
is entirely eclipsed by Carmichael's famous performance of it in the Bogart/Bacall film, TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT.
His choice to cover the Bee Gees' "New York Mining Disaster" is based on his opinion that the song is a very good song. I
do not share this opinion though the song, in Carthy's hands, is finely rendered. Martin's famous fiddle-playing daughter,
Eliza, plays simply and elegantly here and on several other pieces on the CD. The contemporary song "John Parfit" by James
Flynn, a tale of over-zealous justice, is a dark gem.
That which, to my mind, fails on SIGNS OF LIFE, is still very interesting. What succeeds is unique and deeply stirring. However,
when appreciating genius attained in a casual and organic fashion, such as was Martin's, it is best not to take distinctions
such as success and failure too seriously.
The songs:
New York Mining Disaster, 1941
Georgie
Sir Patrick Spens
The Deserter
Heartbreak Hotel
Bonny Hind
The Wife of Usher's Well
John Parfit
Barbary Ellen
Hong Kong Blues
Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
Prince Heathen
Jim Jones in Botany Bay
click to go to Waterson:Carthy, website for Martin and family
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