Eddi Reader - Sings The Songs Of Robert Burns

  by Adrian Huggins

published: 25 / 1 / 2009

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Review

As the title of this album suggests this is a collection of songs by Scottish poet Robert Burns, beautifully performed by Scottish folk artist Eddi Reader. Reader has been on the folk scene for around 25 years and this album, originally released in 2003 and now reissued in an expanded version, came about after she played a series of special Burns performances, including some with the Scottish National Orchestra, and then decided to turn them into a full album. The songs are gorgeous and soulful and all are made into Reader's own songs, rather than just interpretations of songs that are engrained into the Scottish culture. It is this personal stamp that makes the album so special. I wasn’t sure how this album would sound, but found it musically sounding similar to Damien Rice, especially on songs like ‘Jamie Come Try Me’ and ‘Ye Jacobites’. The fiddles that appear occasionally throughout the album give it a real Celtic feel and work well beside Reader's unmistakably Scottish twang, ‘Wild Mountains’ is stunning and soars with its full string backing. In a very brave aand admirable move, ‘Auld Lang Syne’, probably the most well known of the songs, sounds very different from the New Year's style rendition most of are used to. Another song worth listening to is ‘Charlie is My Darling’ which is reworked with echoes of the Levellers. This is a great collection of songs that will have you itching to head North and take in the country that this beautiful music and poetry was inspired by.

Track Listing:-

1 Jamie Come Try Me
2 My Love Is Like A Red Red Rose
3 Willie Stewart/Molly Rankin
4 Ae Fond Kiss
5 Brose And Butter
6 Ye Jacobites
7 Wild Mountainside
8 Charlie Is My Darling
9 John Anderson My Jo
10 Winter It Is Past
11 Auld Lang Syne
12 Green Grows The Rashes O
13 Comin' Through The Rye / Dram Behind The Curtain
14 Ye Banks And Braes O'Bonnie Doon
15 Aye Waukin-O
16 Dainty Davie
17 Leezie Lindsay
18 Of A'The Airts

Band Links:-

http://www.eddireader.co.uk/
https://www.youtube.com/user/rosstyuk
https://plus.google.com/10628946761922
https://www.facebook.com/eddireader
https://twitter.com/eddireader

Label Links:-

https://twitter.com/RoughTradeRecs
http://roughtraderecords.com/
https://www.facebook.com/roughtraderec