Archie Fisher - Windward Away
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CD Details
Artist: Archie FisherBrand: FISHER,ARCHIE
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown)
CD Release Date: 2008-07-22
Music Label: Red House
Soundtracks:
- Borderlands
- Ontario Dust
- Bonnie Border Lass
- Windward Away
- Surge of the Sea
- River and the Road
- Shepherd On the Hill
- Every Man's Heart
- Ride Through the Rainbow
- Speak Your Name
- Before Eternity
- Final Trawl
- The Winter It is Past
- Silver Coin
- Star of the Belle Isle
- Ashfields and Brine
- Eire Lingers
- Cuillins of Home
- Joy of My Heart
Music reviews of Windward Away
Music Review: Mesmerizing collection of tunes old and new by Fisher
Rating: 5 Stars
I've been a fan of Archie Fisher for decades. This new album compiles some old songs that never got to vinyl as planned and some new recordings of both his own compositions and those of others. Fisher makes every song his own. He has the ability to write contemporary lyrics and meld them with melodies that feel very traditional, especially when sung in his distinctive Scottish brogue. His voice is still rich and melodic. I continue to be amazed at how unfamiliar Americans are with his music. As with Canada's Ian Tyson (of the old Ian and Sylvia duo) too many American music lovers have never been introduced to two of the finest balladeers around today. Both are in their seventies now, but their music remains alive, fresh and derived from their life experience.
The only issue I have with this album is that the arrangements on two of the songs I found to be off-putting. Final Trawl, his own composition, is a gorgeous fisherman's song, but I had a hard time holding onto the mood of the song as the symphonic harmonies were distracting. Listen to Bok, Muir and Trickett for a more accessible interpretation several decades ago on Folkways. The same was true for Ashfields and Brine, also his own composition. You will find a much more satisfying arrangement on Fisher's album "Sunsets I've Galloped Into". I am surprised that Fisher chose such distracting accompaniment for these two stunningly beautiful songs, especially given that he has tended in the past to rely upon relatively simple, straight forward accompaniment that enriches delivery of his lovely songs.
That said, I highly recommend this album. And if you like it try some of his others: "Archie Fisher", "Man with a Rhyme", "Sunsets I've Galloped Into", "Will Ye Gang Love". and "Off the Map" are all delightful.
1
Description of Windward Away
Windward Away is the long-awaited new release from acclaimed Scottish Folk patriarch Archie Fisher, his first new studio recording in 20 years that not only presents his up-to-date material, but also includes 8 bonus tracks intended for a 1980 release that never was issued.A haunting collection of introspective ballads invoking the wild and rough beauty of the Scottish Border country, with songs of sea and land, love and loneliness, Windward Away is Fisher's masterwork from a career stretching back to the early 1960s.
The story of the album starts in the mid-1990s, when Archie toured the U.S. The late founder of Red House Records, Bob Feldman, was an immense fan - their meeting resulted in the label's 1995 release of Sunsets I've Galloped Into, Fisher's 1988 recording never distributed in America. Feldman also signed Fisher to Red House for a new recording.
Archie went into the studio soon after, but writing and production was slow, seemingly unfinished to Fisher's liking.
The protracted birth of Windward Away took a piece of musical archeology to complete the picture. While moving his Edinburgh studio, engineer Neil Ross came across a safety copy of an album Archie recorded for Tommy Makem and Liam Clancy's Blackbird label in the 1970s. Blackbird folded before the 1980 release date and the album subsequently never left storage. Fast forward to 2008 when a package arrives in Fisher's mailbox: a recording and note from Ross asking, "is this the missing master?" Thus the fitting notation of the final 8 tunes as "The Missing Master." Many of these "bonus tracks" were later rerecorded and issued (some only as live performances), yet these original versions take on a wonderfully fresh air being backed by orchestra and string section. To many Archie Fisher fans, they will prove the definitive versions.
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