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Rating: The debut album of what can be described as the greatest singer-songwriter of all time was released in 1971. That year, the band that made her famous, Fairport Convention, was struggling with Angel Delight, only to partly recover with the concept album Babbacombe Lee. The decline of Fairport during those years was not coincidental; it was marked first by the departure of Denny herself and then by Richard Thompson, who, after the splendid Full House, went on to embellish this The North Star Grassman and the Ravens with his guitar intricacies.
The album mainly consists of ethereal and very introspective ballads written by Denny; departing from this framework are the beautiful reinterpretation of Bob Dylan's “Down in the Flood,” the martial “John the Gun,” and the light and deliberately shabby “Let's Jump the Broomstick.” But it is the splendid ballads that dominate the album: Late November is without a doubt one of the most beautiful songs ever written by Denny, full of a sublime pathos only partially dampened by the arrangements; to fully appreciate its beauty, I recommend listening to the acoustic versions recorded for the BBC. “Blackwaterside” is a well-rearranged traditional piece, a song of great charm perhaps superior to the already splendid version by Bert Jansch, which was later plagiarized by Led Zeppelin in their debut with “Black Mountain Side.” The melancholy title track “The North Star Grassman and the Ravens” is also very beautiful in its measured progression, as are “The Sea Captain,” delicate and introspective, “Next Time Around,” suggestive and spectral, and “Wretched Wilbur,” enriched by beautiful string arrangements. The album closes with the beautiful “Crazy Lady Blues,” the true quality of which can once again be appreciated in the sparse and magnificent versions from the BBC. If a critique must be made of the album, it should be noted that some tracks appear slightly over-arranged (a fact reiterated by the bonus tracks of the remastered 2005 edition, apart from the splendid “Next Time Around” devoid of strings), and, in some cases, there is the feeling that the musical accompaniment pales in comparison to Denny's majestic vocal interpretations.
Although it is not at the level of the subsequent album (Sandy), nor that of the first three Fairport albums recorded with her, in light of the excellent quality of the vocal performances, as well as the compositional level of the material, this must be considered a refined album that is indispensable for those who love great music.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Late November (04:28)
The wine it was drunk, the ship it was sunk,
The shot it was dead, all the sorrows were drowned.
The birds they were clouds, the brides and the shrouds
And as we drew south the mist it came down.
The wooded ravine to the wandering stream,
The serpent he moved, but no-one would say.
The depths of the waters, the bridge which distraught us
And brought to me thoughts of the ill-fated day.
The temples were filled with the strangest of creatures
One played it by ear on the banks of the sea.
That one was found but the others they went under.
Oh the tears which are shed, they won't come from me.
The methods of madness, the pathos and the sadness,
God help you all, the insane and wise.
The black and the white, the darkness of the night,
I see only smoke from the chimneys arise.
The pilot he flew all across the sky and woke me.
He flew solo on the mercury sea.
The dream it came back, all about the tall brown people,
The sacred young herd on the phosphorus sand.
02 Blackwaterside (04:12)
One evening fair I took the air
Down by Blackwaterside
'Twas gazing all around me
When the Irish lad I spied
All through the first part of that night
We did lie in sport and play,
When this young man arose and he gathered his clothes,
Saying, ``Fare thee well today''.
That's not the promise that you gave to me
When the first you lay on my breast,
You could make me believe with your lying tongue
That the sun rose in the west.
Go home, go home, to your father's garden
Go home and weep your fill,
And think upon your own misfortune
Which you bought with your wanton will.
There's not one girl in this whole town
As easily led as I,
And when the sky does fall and the seas will run dry,
Why, it's then you'll marry I.
05 John the Gun (04:37)
''My shadow follows me
Wherever I should chance to go'',
John The Gun did say.
''If you should chance to meet me
As I wander to and fro,
Sad would be your day.
My life is mine and the light did shine
Till the guns they did go through me,
So now I shall never fall.
Ideals of peace are gold which fools have found
Upon the plains of war.
I shall destroy them all.''
Chorus
Put away your guns of steel,
Death comes too soon for all.
Your Master He may need you soon,
And you must heed His call.
''I am the master of the games
That you will hardly ever play,
So I will teach your sons.
And if they should die
Before the evening of their span of days,
Why, then they will die young.''
(Chorus)
''Condemn me not,
For always will I play the game of war,
In moonshine or in sun.
And if any cross the path I choose to tread,
Their chances they are poor.
My name is John The Gun.''
(Chorus)
10 The North Star Grassman and the Ravens (03:27)
They stood upon the deck
As the ship went out to sea.
The wind it took the sails
And left the land a memory.
All upon the shore for
To wonder why the sailor goes.
All to close their eyes
And wonder what the sailor knows.
That is you to them,
That is how they think you are.
Never on the land,
But sailing by the North Star.
To the tower and to the ravens
And the tale that hopes they'll never leave.
What if they should go?
We always dread to think of them.
I wonder if they flew one day
And no-one ever knew they'd gone
To circle over ships at sea,
Claiming yet another son.
That is you to me,
That is where I think you are.
Never on the land,
But gone to find the North Star.
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