VT115CD reviews

Reviews of VT115CD 'As I went down to Horsham'

This CD is a real gem, a wonderful selection of songs from Mabs Hall (a truly extraordinary woman by all accounts, the informative and entertaining sleeve notes documenting, amongst her plaudits, saving hundreds of workers from an explosion in a munitions factory … now you have to buy it to find out more!) and her son Gordon, who had sung these songs all his life but became particularly interested in them at the age of 48, spending his retirement ‘learning more about his mother’s songs, writing them down and spending hours in the local library researching them’.

You get a great sense of character, passion, fun and modesty from the voices of Mabs and Gordon Hall. Amongst the ballads, broadsides, singing games and street cries, interesting and unusual versions of ‘the canon’ feature; ‘The Outlandish Knight’, ‘Come Write Me Down’ and ‘Cecilia’ (‘The Female Highway Man’) to name but a few, as well as less well known songs.

The velvety-voiced Gordon sings a haunting version of the historical ballad ‘The Royal George’ and ‘Salonika’, depicting a woman’s view of the Greek port used as a base by the British Army, with a satirical, jaunty tone. ‘My Old Wife’s a Good Old Creature’ also features, in which it’s nice to hear a song about a wife who is not portrayed as a nagging, scolding, devilish creature! And ‘The Horsham Ram’, more usually known as ‘The Derby Ram’, featuring the chorus proclaiming ‘It’s a lie, a lie, a lie sir…’ As a Derbyshire girl I find this shocking, of course it’s true, is it not?

Mabs sings the wonderful ‘Studying Economy’, informing listeners how to live a rather lavish lifestyle on not very much money, and a beautiful version of the broadside ‘Banks of Inverness’, the infamous story of William and Mary. Her interpretation of the children’s singing games ‘Ginny Jones’ and the wonderfully comedic ‘Sweet Mother Dear’ is full of fun and cheeky spirit. This is a must!

English Dance & Song

It must have been some time in the late eighties early nineties I attended a concert in Sussex hosted by Shirley Collins and featuring Bob Copper, Will Duke, Ron Spicer, Bob Lewis and Gordon and Mabs Hall. Although I was to have the enjoyment of hearing and seeing the other artists perform on many occasions, it was the only time I was to see and hear Mabs Hall and have the pleasure of experiencing the obvious delight she took in performing with son Gordon. Veteran's CD includes two hitherto unreleased duets between the two 'Come Write Me Down' and 'A Sailor from Dover' which not only highlight their enjoyment in singing together, but also their completely different singing styles. Of the 28 tracks some 12 are previously unreleased, and of these, nine are recordings of Mabs. Although some are brief, they are still very much of interest, especially her versions of the Victorian singing games 'Sweet Mother Dear' and 'We Won't Go Home Until Morning /Push The Business On'. From Gordon we get one unreleased six and a half minute version of 'The Outlandish Knight' but of the remaining previously released tracks five I think are from the Veteran tape by Gordon 'In Horsham Town' which is no longer available, and includes 'The Royal George, 'Sweet Lavender' and his characteristically enlarged version of 'The Molecatcher'. Although his rather idiosyncratic style and charismatic delivery make Gordon possibly less accessible than his mother and other traditional singers from his locality, I suggest rising to the challenge is well worth the effort. As with previous releases, the packaging and informative booklet continue to maintain the high standards we. have come to expect from the Veteran label.

Folk London

"As I Went Down To Horsham" Mabs & Gordon Hall. VT115, 28 tracks, 64 minutes.

Gordon and his mum have appeared on several Veteran recordings, and here we have a round-up with others previously unavailable. This is a delightful collection of originals. Words on website.

Folk Kernow

This new release from Veteran has over an hour of songs from Mabs and Gordon Hall - mother and son from a West Sussex singing family. Thirteen of the twenty eight tracks have never been previously released. They range from mighty ballads from Gordon Hall to Victorian children's singing games from Mabs. The recordings were made by Mike Yates and John Howson. There are extensive sleeve notes and photographs which give an in-depth biography of both singers and their family. The notes on the songs are, as one would expect from Veteran, exhaustively comprehensive. You get Roud numbers. comparative versions mentioned and other sources of variants on record with catalogue numbers. Wonderful help for serious students of traditional song.

It is a great shame that Mabs (1899 - 1992) was not recorded in her youth as her sweet and gentle voice shows signs of considerable age in these recordings. She must have been a very compelling singer when she was younger. I would have liked to know more about when the recordings were actually done. We are told that Mike Yates heard her sing when he arranged to record Gordon and subsequently arranged a gig for them at Islington Folk Club in 1985, so one must surmise that the recordings were made that year when she was 86. Her ability to impart a song and get under the skin of it is masterly. Just listen to Cecilia (a version of Sovay). She has a very straightforward delivery - no frills and trills - which is delightful to listen to. She had a comprehensive repertoire of broadsides, ballads, music hall songs, humorous ditties and singing games, many of which have never been recorded elsewhere. She got them from friends, family and, having worked behind a bar in her youth no doubt got some from hearing them in the pub. She was blessed with a remarkable memory - an enviable asset in a singer. There is an excellent sample of her singing repertoire on this CD, though I am not sure why Cruel Frederick, a spoken excerpt from Struwwelpeter, has been included. Surely we all remember that from our own early schooldays and it is hardly original, or even English in origin.

Gordon Hall (1932 - 2000) is difficult to categorise as a singer. He learnt some songs from his years as a youth living in London and many from the family, so he has impeccable source singer credentials. But, he spent his retirement years researching songs in libraries so he could add to traditional versions of songs he had from literary sources which is a characteristic of the revival singer. His style owes something to travellers' voice production and seems to resemble his mother's hardly at all although when they sing alternate verses as they do in Come Write Me Down they go together surprisingly well. Many commentators remark that his singing was extremely idiosyncratic. He puts extra syllables indiscriminately into any word that is slurred. He also adds the syllable - ha to the end of every line, although reportedly those who heard him sing live never complained of this. But in a recording it can get very annoying. He was noted for having the longest versions of ballads which he would tailor to his live audiences by omitting or adding verses as the fancy took him. Examples of his ballad compilations on this CD are: The Outlandish Knight which runs to 61/2 minutes, The Horsham Ram (a version of The Derby Ram) at nearly 6 minutes and the last track is nearly nine minutes of The Molecatcher. Quite a feat of memory and stamina. By the end of the record he either grows on you or you have switched off entirely. The juxtaposition of Gordon and Mabs helps reduce the likelihood of listener "turn-off' by giving a variety to the delivery and overall feel to the CD.

Congratulations to Veteran for putting out this superbly-produced CD of historic material. I am particularly impressed by the booklet which is lull of information that adds to the enjoyment of the songs. Whilst I am willing to bet that it will not get into the charts of best-sellers, for those of us who long to hear more of how singing was done in the past it will occupy a prominent place in my CD collection.

Mardles

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