A pair of songs that bookend the remarkable and prolific career of the great, influential folk guitarist-singer from Leeds, from his debut album of 1969, Rainmaker, to his latest in 2019, True North. Now 78, and still touring extensively and recording with dozens of albums under his belt, is an exquisite sound and technique, and a writer of lyrics of no-nonsense tenderness, and who sticks to a less-is-more philosophy. An influence on artists that include Gaz Coombes from Supergrass to Thurston Moore from Sonic Youth, his acoustic guitar sound, fingerpicking skill is a hallmark, creating beautiful warm, richness of tone, and a talent to evoke other sounds, from trains to cars, or the natural world, sometimes twinned with lap steel and cello. Exemplifying this, 2019’s It’s Loo Late is a tender love song about a lost opportunity from many years before, while Rainmaker, the instrumental title track from his first album, harks back to a key moment three years earlier, when already trying his way through 1960s folk clubs, he was standing outside a pub in Cornwall but could not afford to go in and buy a drink, but managed to persuade the landlord to let him and and play instead of standing out in the rain.
If you’re sat in the corridor of this broken down hotel
The place is full of strangers and some don’t wish me well
And I wake up with a bottle of something strong and cheap
And far too many memories I’m trying not to keep
‘Cause we were kept apart by a cruel twist of fate
I never knew I wanted you until it was too late
‘Cause we were kept apart by a cruel twist of fate
I never knew I wanted you until it was too late
Until it was too late
There’s wreckage on the highway and plenty more in sight
And your dirty laundry with nowhere left to hide
There’s things to keep me going, and keep me wide awake
There’s more to being on this road than many a soul can take
‘Cause we were kept apart by a cruel twist of fate
I never knew I wanted you until it was too late
‘Cause we were kept apart by a cruel twist of fate
I never knew I wanted you until it was too late
Until it was too late.
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