I recently reviewed a reissue of an album by The Folk Devils and as a consequence I now have the pleasure of retrospectively reviewing two albums by that same band's singer/songwriter, the sadly late Ian Lowery. Essentially both albums consist of solo work by Ian recorded in the last decade of his career. I would urge anyone with even a passing interest in that band to delve a little deeper into Ian's musical history. He was a rock raconteur par excellence.
The first point to make is that a number of these tracks have been restored and remastered having been previously 'lost'. This essentially means they are not always of pristine quality but for me this only adds to their meaning in the sense that they are genuine artefacts and that gritty quality only adds to the depth and poetry of the material (FingerKnot).
Other people may take a different view of this. I kept thinking this guy's voice reminds me of someone and I couldn't put my finger on it? Surprisingly Ian's vocal cadence and delivery is quite similar to "Jim Bob" Morrison of Carter USM. Again this might put some people off but I disagree as it does add a more conversational tone to the songs. It is singing but also talking as well. I believe there is therefore, a more direct line between artist and listener. Ian had that personal touch, of that there can be no doubt.
'Get out the sun' is quite a heavy track and a great way to open proceedings: "you practice, they preach, you learn, they teach". It has a Godfathers circa 'Birth, School, Work, Death' feel to it. 'Born to Swing' is rock 'n roll and just one of 14 examples on this album of what Ian did best. Proper lyrics, proper stories. "I lost a leg and gained a stump" being just one line of note amongst many.
This leads me to one minor criticism of the album which is that Ian's lyrics are reproduced in original notebook form within the CD booklet but they are too small for me to read even with my glasses on. This seems such a shame as I really want to pore over them whilst listening to the songs, you know, like you're supposed to? It would definitely help me to understand better what the songs are about and what other meanings I might be able to extract from them.
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Anyway, 'Bent & Rusted Crown' is a joyous romp; 'Beauty Lies' tells it like it is and 'Deluge' moves into epic chord mode. It is kind of a gospel track to my ears and has female backing vocals on it. 'Still I Look Up' and 'Straight Man' are of particular interest to me as they are acoustic numbers and it could be argued that these are actually the best showcase of Ian's talents as a singer songwriter. I would love to hear a completely acoustic album of his songs. It might even be more rock 'n roll that way.
'Distant Trains' makes me think about leaving town with no particular destination in mind but it could be about anything, depending on the listener. 'Sucker Punch' is a sleazefest, complete with dirty guitar solo. 'Water's Edge' takes us immediately down to that place where we dip our toe into something we can't fathom. 'If I could Sleep Forever' shows the heart of the man. "There would be no bad dreams to disturb my rest, no tears on the pillow just your head on my chest". I think Ian was thinking about a perfect day a la Lou Reed and I think he got it spot on. "No spikes to burst our bubble, no pain to kill our love". If Ian Lowery is somehow underrated and under-appreciated then what we really mean is criminally ignored. Well he won't be by me anymore.
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