GALLEY BEGGAR
Which band is the quintessentially English act? It is, quite probably, a pointless question. I am no particular great nationalist. To be bluntly honest, my only interest in celebrating St George’s day would be the prospect of an extra bank holiday.
But maybe on some kind of anthropological/sociological level, it’s still a question worth asking.
You might be tempted to point the finger somewhere in the direction of The Jam, Blur, Madness or their progenitors The Kinks. Less imaginative respondents might assume The Beatles deserve the accolade – along with all the rest they have.
Such acts have (or had) a penchant for describing the minutiae of English life: “tea and toasted, buttered currant buns”, “Sunday, Sunday, here we go a walk in the park” and “a hundred lonely housewives clutch[ing] empty milk bottles to their hearts”.
But that would be to ignore whole swathes of heritage and musical influences. There is something more fundamental to Englishness than Britpop nostalgia. Long before Ray Davies waxed lyrical about sunsets in Waterloo, English culture was buzzing with songs and stories that continue to permeate our culture.
In America, the heritage of pop and rock music can be traced back through jazz, the blues and spirituals. This is a rich history in itself. But the English can boast an even richer heritage – if only because we’ve been around for a bit longer.
English music can be charted through centuries and centuries of folk music. This is what composers like Vaughan Williams and Cecil Sharp found so appealing about their native country – and what compelled them to create vast libraries of folk songs and use them to inspire their own music.
So it can be of little surprise that English pop and rock musicians have been inspired by their nation’s cultural heritage as well. You’ll find this form of Englishness coming through in folk inspired acts of the 60s and 70s: Steeleye Span, Fairport Convention, Pentangle, Jethro Tull, Nick Drake, Sandy Denny.
Galley Beggar bring a multi-textured approach to folk music. They hail from Kent and London. As with much folk music, there is a tendency in their songs to look back wistfully to a time of fair maidens and drunken sailors.
The mythical bygone era of yore is an integral part of Galley Beggar’s music – and it may be the only part that the casual listener will notice. However, a closer listen will reveal myriad references to more recent musical history: the Steeleye Spans, the Fairport Conventions and the Pentangles.
Their album, Reformation House, feature a mixture of traditional and original material from back then and more recent recordings.
The result is a consolidation of the band’s sound: a complex tapestry of musical ideas and influences that require repeated listens before the effect can be fully appreciated.
Galley Beggar do not simply interpret traditional folk through a post-Pentangle lens. Despite the apparent orthodoxy of the act (there is no Bellowhead-ish jazz/funk instrumentals here) you’ll find inspiration from far beyond these shores here. It’s an approach that reflects how English culture has absorbed influences from other countries throughout its history.
“False Love”, a song alternatively known as “The Water is Wide” or “Waly Waly”, gets given an Eastern make-over on this record. The new arrangement recalls The Beatles’ “Within You Without You”.
Meanwhile, “The Outlandish Knight” and “Sir Richard” lunge into barnstorming hoe sowns. Elsewhere, the introduction to “Rowan” recalls the Prog Rockery of Dutch rockers Focus’ “House of the King” (as featured on the opening credits of Saxondale).
To dismiss Galley Beggar as just another folk band would be a sad mistake. Reformation House is a magical blend of musical ideas covering hundred of years and thousands of miles.
Few bands or artists are able to cover such a broad range of styles and ideas. Not only can Galley Beggar do this, they do so in such a seamless fashion you’ll hardly notice.
This article was first published on BBC Kent Introducing’s Myspace pages
13/04/2011 • Reformation House Album Review
By Stephen Morris • Photos by
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