David Francey – Maps – Double LP
This is the Scottish-born Canadian artist David Francey’s collection of original songs. Written over a 50-year career, it’s a map that helped him navigate through the good & bad times in his life. The set provides 36 remastered songs & one bonus track on the double LP Maps (Dropped July 22/Watson Entertainment).
The award-winning folk singer on this double set includes fan favorites & David’s personal favorites. For the unfamiliar, Francey’s songbook has gone beyond Canadian borders. Artists who have covered his songs include The Rankin Family, Tracy Grammer & the Del McCoury Band. His songs have many themes that cover the working class, the quiet beauty of the world, the human spirit & life spent watching & listening.
David’s (lead & bass vocals/bgv/harmony vocals) multiple-artist accompaniment on these selections is stellar. The opening song “Red-Winged Blackbird” is quite traditionally Scottish vocally, but ah — so sweet sounding. A close listen to these will reveal the imagination of an artist with such a pedigree. Especially, if the tunes are traditionally rooted, the songs aren’t afraid to sculpt a story perhaps not personally lived. David Francey writes & creates from the heart, the mind & spirit. Whereas today’s artists seem to need to experience it, or they’re not inspired, or motivated to write. Francey is a short story writer who happens to put music to his tales – true stories, or not.
Some pieces are relatable. I was in New Jersey in the early ‘60s & I was a “Paper Boy.” I know what David’s talking about. And a little boy in Australia probably knows too. David has that distinctive voice similar to the accented & accentuated enthusiasm of Larry Kirwan (Black 47), Christy Moore (“No Time For Love”), Paul Hyde (“Hastings Street” & “I Miss My Mind The Most”), & Jerry Giddens (The Walking Wounded). David’s voice, though, possesses a softer glow. No aggression, anger, or politics. It’s simply one beautiful melody after another.
The most impressive thing is the diversification in the themes & choice of words. “Broken Glass” is a well-defined lyrical set with fingerstyle guitar picking. Exceptional. No cliches. These are not saloon songs, though they’re good sing-alongs here. Many have a haunting melodic turn similar to The Strawbs’ classic “Grace Darling.” A true story.
For an artist who got his career going a little late, David certainly caught up admirably. His melodies are salient throughout. Some sound traditionally tapered from another era, but these are all modern-day quintessential numbers. Many have a high memorable quotient.
“Border Line” is good but has a little tint of The Beatles’ “Paperback Writer” melody (not much) sugared in. “Ashtabula” is sung with a nice deep vocal reminiscent of Australia’s late troubadour Gary Shearston (“I Get a Kick Out of You,” “Dingo”). David’s tune has a superb accordion break flanked by acoustics that frame it in a musical translucence. Lovely.
“Highway 95,” with its fiery fiddle & banging acoustic guitars added to David’s rustic, engaged vocal, is fun. This would’ve been a great cover for The Band. With “Empty Train,” the sound is basically close to Asian, the way the mandolin picks away & then joins other instruments with wonderful interplay. This sounds like a good potential jam song.
“Only Love” has a nice Gordon Lightfoot feel with fiddles sawing away with charm & mandolin & acoustic guitars running naked between the notes. If Leon Redbone covered a Francey tune, “Tonight In My Dreams” would be the one. It has the vaudeville charm, 1920s sweetness & well, it could’ve been rendered as a novelty song, but it wasn’t – because it’s just cool.
Some tunes may be too traditional for American ears. But give it a chance. Even Adam Mitchell’s “French Waltz” became a classic in America, covered by Nicollet Larson & Art Garfunkel. It was that good. Start with “All Lights Burning Bright” — a stripped-down unifying tune with muscle. In the hands of Dave Cousins & Strawbs (“Part of the Union”), or Mike Scott & The Waterboys, this could be a big production masterful sing-along.
Then there’s “Lucky Man,” with its Paul Hyde/Paul Brady type stick in the mind melody & vocal. This is one of the best songs on this comprehensive album. David Francey is a great storyteller with a wealth of melodies & gratifying lyrics. Enjoyable stuff. A lot more diamonds than coal.
Highlights – “Red-Winged Blackbird,” “Paper Boy,” “The Waking Hour,” “Blue Water,” “Broken Glass,” “Ballad of Bowser MacRae,” “Satellite,” “Hard Steel Mill,” “Annie’s House,” “Ashtabula,” “Highway 95,” “Fool,” “Empty Train,” “Only Love,” “Walking To Jerusalem,” “Tonight In My Dreams,” “All Lights Burning Bright,” “Lucky Man,” & “Corpus Christi.”
Musicians – Dave Clarke, Mark Westberg (guitars/bgv/percussion/shaker/brushes/harmony vocals), Geoff Somers (guitar/mandolin/fiddle/bgv), Kevin Welch (guitar/cell phone), Kieran Kane (guitar/bouzouki/harmony vocals), Craig Werth (guitar/bouzouki/dulcimer/bgv), Chris Coole (guitar/banjo), Darren McMullen (baritone guitar/mandolin/bouzouki/cittern/upright bass/bgv), David Woodhead (slide guitar), Fats Kaplin (mandolin/dobro), Gaston Bernard (fiddle/mandoline), John Showman & James McKie (fiddles), Simon Lepage (bass), Colin Francey & Lucas Kane (drums), Shane Simpson (percussion/bgv), Mike Ford & David Matheson (harmony vocals), Evey Miller, Todd Garr & Colin Francey (backing vocals).
CD cover image courtesy of Beth Girdler. CD @ Bandcamp & Apple + https://www.davidfrancey.com/