Rainbow Man is the brand new solo album from Eddy Morton of The Bushburys. They say ‘don’t judge a book by looking at the cover’…and ok this is a CD…but it’s ok to judge this by its cover because the cover in its own right is excellent and it compliments the music perfectly.
It’s a very personal collection of songs (nothing new in Eddy’s case if you’ve got his past releases in your collection) and very much a ‘sit down, shut up and listen’ piece of work…so I did.
Eddy is a stalwart of the UKs Folk Rock scene as a solo artist and a founder member of the brilliant Bushburys and has travelled far and wide on his musical journey, UK tours, European tours and US visits in his time from the mid 1980s onwards. This new album sits 100% in the Folk Rock genre and that isn’t a criticism, it’s a shout out!
The opening track and album title Rainbow Man is dedicated to the memory of an old friend. The Battle for Stourbridge (Eddy’s home base for some 15 years now) regales the tale of the old canal based waterways rights of passage regulations and fight that the canal boat communities took on in 1962 that got the inland waterways regulations changed.
Eddy delivers commentaries on the stark realities of modern life in Britain 2015. In London Town describes the opposing stories of ‘immigration’ into the capital. One to reap the rewards of their wealth in a country that celebrates it…the other to reap the desperate fall out from it. This Is War In Any Other Name is a lament on the power and greed of an extreme capitalist hierarchy that has seen the elite stamp their feet in a Jack Boot. Lord You Ain’t No Friend O’ Mine is a knockout stripped down haunting bluesy arrangement.
Emily a song of deceit and philosophical retribution. There’s a collection of excellent ballad types When The Circus Comes To Town is a must for any Ronnie Lane’s Slim Chance fans, it’s very much in the mould of the type of delights delivered by this band. Angels Never Cry is a beautiful song, but…When I’m Gone is one of the best songs he’s ever written and he’s written some belters in his time. The vocal and piano performance on this track are ‘hairs standing up on the back of your neck’ standard!
On The Journey From The Schoolhouse is a soft finger picker mid tempo style storyboard. The final track Ghostland see’s Eddy remind us of the fate that is upon us and question what we’re going to do about the monster that is Neo Con Global Corporate Gluttony …’politics and money, the monster must be fed…on and on and on and on, a Ghostland we’ve become.’
Eddy takes aim, fires and hits the bullseye spot on with this album, not with a loud bang, he takes us out with a silencer on!
Rainbow Man – out now, GO GET YOURSELF A COPY!
http://www.newmountainmusic.com/music/4582546167