Graham Hazelwood
Freelance Music Journalist

Communication is the essence of good writing, so I adapt my style to suit the publication. The samples below are fairly typical, however. I wrote the short album review for Acoustic magazine, the long album review for The Independent and the mini-biography for Gordon Giltrap’s website.

Al Stewart

A Beach Full Of Shells (EMI)

Al Stewart wrote his finest songs towards the end of his folk guitar period, before the international success of Year Of The Cat lured him into commercial keyboard pop. This long-awaited homecoming album recaptures the spirit of that early period. Now back on comfortable musical territory, Stewart has restored his reputation as a formidable singer/songwriter/guitarist, once again setting intelligent lyrics about unusual subjects to beautifully intricate melodies. Although his songs were always poignant and potent, Stewart has become more reflective in his middle age, and has matured gracefully into a wise uncle. Entirely self-penned and lovingly crafted, A Beach Full Of Shells draws on a variety of styles and influences, and contains all the elements of a definitive Al Stewart album. ‘Somewhere In England 1915’ is a classic historical epic, ‘Royal Courtship’ is a witty social satire, and the riddle of ‘My Egyptian Couch’ taunts the listener like a cryptic crossword. There are songs about biplanes, Edward Lear and the 60’s pop scene, and you’re still only halfway through this marvellously eclectic work. Intimately played, delicately sung and cleanly arranged, this is vintage Chateau Stewart. Savour every playful nuance at your leisure.

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Bert Jansch

The Black Swan (Sanctuary)

Bert Jansch arrived on London’s vanguard folk scene in the early 1960s, and his innovative guitar playing and bohemian lifestyle soon earned him iconic status. His career since has been more crazy paving than path, and this album neatly juxtaposes his roots and influences. It’s intimate, refreshingly underproduced and mercifully free from gratuitous studio effects, like having Bert and his friends performing in your front room. The electric guitars that punctuated his recent output have been reduced to a barely-audible minimum, and now he’s back on comfortable musical territory, he plays with humanity, confidence and purpose.

He may be a folk hero and a virtuoso musician, but he’s not a poet. His somewhat opaque lyrics leave much to the imagination, but the obvious themes here are the passing of time and the inevitable regrets that accompany the failure to seize opportunities. Jansch struggles to control his emotions, and his inner turmoil conveniently provides the perfect stage for his faltering and sometimes indistinct singing voice.

The 12 tracks are easily-digestible chunks of transatlantic folk and blues, and the sum of the parts is a sweet cohesive whole. The title track is almost an epic and is - like many good songs - a metaphor for whatever you want it to be. ‘High Days’ mourns the death of a friend, a suitably solo declaration of apology, nostalgia and a reluctance to let go. Dig a little deeper into seemingly throwaway lines and you’ll find pathos just below the surface. “It didn’t matter then,” he croaks, “and I guess it doesn’t matter now”. Beth Orton sings on three tracks, leading the sultry ‘When The Sun Comes Up’ and the classic ‘Katie Cruel’, and sharing vocal privileges on ‘Watch The Stars’, a traditional campfire lullaby. It’s a jolly performance, but Orton’s sandy voice combines uncomfortably with Jansch’s undisciplined gravel tones.

Jansch’s blues influences emerge in ‘My Pocket’s Empty’ - a slow reworking of The Incredible String Band’s ‘Empty Pocket Blues’ - and ‘A Woman Like You’, a deep, dark love song with some moody slide guitar. The fourth and final cover is ‘The Old Triangle’ from Brendan Behan’s 1954 play The Quare Fellow, with Jansch’s deliberately weak vocals and a little echo conveying the loneliness and despair of a Dublin prison cell.

Jansch still sings the occasional protest song, and there are two on this album. ‘Bring Your Religion’ is a bluesy appeal to forgo your political agenda for the sake of the environment, and ‘Texas Cowboy Blues’ is a love urchin of Bob Dylan and Dire Straits. Unfortunately, the intrusive percussion distracts from his message. The only instrumental here is the slow jig ‘Magdalina’s Dance’, a novelty showcase of duelling banjos and flute but an anticlimax to ‘Hey Pretty Girl’, a subdued solo ballad in an elaborate fingerpicking style reminiscent of his earliest material.

Purists will be horrified. Hardcore fans will probably love it, and mainstream listeners will find their spirits lifted by some exquisite guitar playing. Whoever you are, it’s stirring stuff.

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Gordon Giltrap

Over the past forty years, Gordon Giltrap has graced the music business with his dedication to his craft and his affection for his audience. As one of the UK’s most respected guitarists, he has consistently proved the adage that respect cannot be bought. It must be earned.

Gordon was born on 6 April 1948, at the British Home for Mothers and Babies in Brenchley, Kent. The son of a labourer, he grew up in an austere but protective community of terraced houses in Deptford, south-east London. His obsession with stringed instruments began nine years later, when a friend turned up at the house with an out-of-tune Spanish guitar. Keen to encourage his new hobby, his parents bought him a plastic ukulele with a picture of Elvis on the headstock, then a Martin Coletti archtop jazz guitar with a sunburst finish and a brown canvas case. Without a teacher to guide him, Gordon unwittingly taught himself a hybrid technique of plectrum and little finger, but in doing so, created the individual sound that is still his trademark.

Gordon joined his first band when barely in his teens, and relished the opportunity to play songs by his idols - Cliff Richard, The Shadows and The Everly Brothers. He set his sights on Art College, but bowed to his father’s insistence that he learn “a trade”, and unenthusiastically grafted his way through a series of unrewarding jobs. He continued to play the guitar in his spare time, and in November 1966, his individuality and passion earned him a recording contract with Transatlantic. Gordon served his apprenticeship as a singer/songwriter on the London folk club circuit, and his self-titled debut album was released in 1968. Each subsequent album broke new ground, and he developed an extraordinary repertoire while establishing a reputation for thrilling live performances.

In the late Seventies, Gordon enjoyed a brief spell as a pop star, with a hit album (Perilous Journey) and two hit singles (‘Heartsong’ and ‘Fear Of The Dark’). ‘Heartsong’ was nominated for an Ivor Novello award, and is fondly remembered as the theme tune to the BBC’s Holiday programme. ‘Fear Of The Dark’ was the first 12-inch colour picture disc to be released in the UK, and featured a heavily-made-up and unflattering image of what was then being marketed as The Gordon Giltrap Band. All the musical trends at the time were moving away from acoustic music, and Gordon retreated gracefully from the pop spotlight.

Over the years, Gordon has worked with an amazingly broad range of artists, from rock musicians such as Brian May, Rick Wakeman and Midge Ure to the jazz virtuoso Martin Taylor, the classical guitarist Raymond Burley and the London Symphony Orchestra. In 1996, Gordon realised a dream of playing guitar alongside Cliff Richard, on stage in Cliff’s West End musical Heathcliff. As well as performing in the role of The Troubadour, Gordon arranged the overture and wrote two pieces of music.

Gordon has been a keen supporter of arthritis and leukaemia charities. His contribution was recognised in 2000, when he was inducted into the oldest showbusiness charity in history, The Grand Order of Water Rats. His first performance DVD - Live At Huntingdon Hall - was released in 2003, and reveals the ample skill and charm of one of this country’s national treasures. In 2005, Gordon staged a special concert at Birmingham Symphony Hall, performing his own compositions as a solo artist, with guest musicians from contrasting disciplines, and with the Sheffield Philharmonic Orchestra.

Gordon’s music continues to evade categorisation, influenced as it is by the rock guitar of Hank Marvin and Pete Townshend, the folk guitar of Bert Jansch and John Renbourn, and the classical guitar of Julian Bream and John Williams. He has released 25 original studio albums, plus numerous live albums and compilations. There is currently no sign of Gordon hanging up his guitars, and he still performs dozens of concerts a year around the country, earning the respect of fans and fellow musicians alike.

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