Ralph McTell
Streets...

Ralph May, who renamed himself McTell out of love for blues, is a true poet of song, capable of enriching beautiful melodies with lyrics of rare sensitivity, such as those of "Nanna's Song," "Clown," "Girl On A Bicycle," and of course "Streets Of London," one of his masterpieces, certainly not the only one but undoubtedly his flagship piece although to limit his career to that one song would be like identifying Ritchie Blackmore with just the riff of "Smoke On The Water." After composing his masterpiece in 1971 with "You Well-Meaning Brought Me Here," the career of the English folksinger continued with "Not Till Tomorrow" (1972), which alternates great exploits with merely filler episodes, and "Easy" (1974), fun and smooth although a bit light. The following year is finally the time for another great album that succeeds in every way, "Streets...," an album that perfectly captures the essence of this highly underrated artist: his understated charm, great empathy, and ability to create poignant melodies without ever descending into pathos or sentimentality.

"Streets..." marks, compared to the three previous albums, a return to more acoustic and essential sounds, somewhat like his early days in the late '60s, but with much more maturity and cohesion; for many aspects, it’s an autumnal album composed of soberly arranged folk ballads, which, however, never becomes monotonous or repetitive, unfolding masterfully in a harmonious succession of moods. The album opens with a reworking of "Streets Of London" to which a harmonica riff and velvety female choruses are added, further amplifying its atmosphere and magic, and it is the ideal introduction for an album that spans from the seductive and refined blueasy atmospheres of "You Make Me Feel Good", very stylistically close to mid-'70s Gordon Lightfoot, to the sparser and more intimate ones of a wonderful "Red Apple Juice". Gentle and melancholic ballads like the waltz of "Grande Affair", a marvelous blend of delicacy and emotional strength, the dreamy sweetness of the concluding "Lunar Lullabye" and the romanticism of "Seeds Of Heaven", one of the few tracks featuring a significant electric framework, which could almost be defined as a power ballad with gospel influences, are not missing, nor are livelier episodes like the uptempo folk "Jenny Taylor Je N'etais La", the carefree and ironic "Interest On The Loan", the brilliant Caribbean atmospheres of "El Progresso", inspired by Harry Belafonte's calypso, and an epic "Another Star Ascending (The Boxer)", dedicated to Muhammad Ali and enriched by a compelling gospel counterpoint, which is the most vivid and immediate song of "Streets...," the one that hits you right away.

A great added value is undoubtedly Ralph McTell's warm, clear, and serene voice, which further ennobles a mature and complete album, rich in sensations and human warmth, a great final result also achieved through some minor but never filler episodes, and which must be counted among the highest peaks of the production of this never too underrated artist along with "You Well-Meaning Brought Me Here" and the more recent "Sand In Your Shoes," compared to which it is perhaps less "showy" in stylistic terms but not in songwriting and depth, which are the most crucial and important characteristics for an artist like Ralph McTell.