June Tabor & Oysterband - Ragged Kingdom
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June Tabor & Oysterband - Ragged Kingdom
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June Tabor & Oysterband In 1990, June Tabor and the Oysterband collaborated on the masterpiece Freedom and Rain. They have played together occasionally; June joined the Oysterband during their 25th Anniversary Concert, and also sang with them on a recording for The Big Session (2004). But a full-fledged reunion disc only recently came to pass, and it has been well worth the twenty-one year wait. Ragged Kingdom does what the joining of the Tabor with the Oysterband does best: a balance of traditional song arrayed against daring contemporary choices. The album comes in on a country-ish, thundering "Bonny Bunch of Roses." John Jones and June Tabor trade verses on "Son David," one of the many versions of this song where a murder is slowly revealed (and the protagonist either poisoned, or, as here, exiled). Another standout is the insanely creepy carol "Judas (Was A Red-Headed Man)," which positively rocks and finds the band in heavy groove mode. And hearing the group launch into "Fountains Flowing," with Tabor's dark voice declaring "Our captain cried all hands, we sail tomorrow…” is like coming home. As for modern songsmiths, in the past, they've re-done Dylan, Billy Bragg, and Richard Thompson. On Ragged Kingdom, we get a ripping version of P.J. Harvey's "That Was My Veil," Dylan's rollicking "Seven Curses," and the classic "The Dark End of The Street." Post-modernists are likely to thrill to the cover of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart" (a live version is on The Big Session), which truly draws out the heartbreak and longing of the original. June Tabor excels at bringing slow ballads to life, and so we are treated to Shel Silverstein's Civil War song "The Hills of Shiloh." (On the Freedom and Rain American tour, I saw Tabor perform this song solo in Somerville, MA; her performance was so intense, that she ran from the stage and did not reappear until several songs later in the program. The song is still powerful, and the version here has Alan Prosser accompanying Tabor on guitar.) In short, Tabor and the Oysterband transition seamlessly from the tradition to new standards. There's little question of Ragged Kingdom's triumph, reminding us that there are still giants roaming the English folk world; this is easily one of the year's finest recordings. - Lee Blackstone
Hear tracks from the recording on the Oysters' web site: CDs available by special order from cdRoots
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