16.
Peter Skellern - Astaire (1979)
If you`re going to listen to 1001 albums before you die, you may want to sample a little bit of many different styles, and in that spirit I`d like to recommend an album that showcases some of music`s less spectacular charms. Instead of breaking new ground with original compositions (which several of the albums posted so far do) Skellern is concerned with looking backwards and covering someone else`s material, but I still feel he deserves a place here because this is such an exemplar of the art of covering songs. On
Astaire he strips away the period dross and lets the quality of the original compositions shine through by adopting a modest, sincere approach which imo surpasses the slick crooning of earlier versions.
In many ways, this is a two-for-one album:-
- you get a taste of 1930's songwriting, plus a taste of 1970`s confessional singer/songwriter style
- you get some unashamedly romantic songs plus you get brass band workouts tagged on
- you get a compendium of essential old time classics...
...but you get them in simple arrangements without all that old-fashioned orchestral schmooze.
The cover suggests the intention of the album; conjuring up a ghost from a era of lost elegance, and that`s how Skellern seems to tackle the project; so as not to scare the ghost away he plays quiet, calm, almost tentative versions of the songs that Fred Astaire danced to. His soft voice and piano accompaniment makes this an intimate and romantic listening experience, although a couple of times he has fun with the past style and lets the Grimethorpe Colliery Brass Band blast out a crescendo.
So, for some beautiful lyrics and tunes, for an example of one era looking back at another, for a demonstration of how covers can surpass originals - or just for a rest after
Trout Mask Replica - this is a good album to try before you die.