Robert Wyatt, one of the most beloved figures in progressive music, released his acclaimed and highly original solo album Rock Bottom in 1974. Wyatt was paralysed from the waist down just a short time before the release of his masterpiece. Partly for this reason (Wyatt’s fear of performing is also a factor), Wyatt has performed very, very rarely since 1974. And since Wyatt announced in 2014 that he was taking a well-deserved retirement, the chances of hearing his music live have diminished even further.
Partial relief from this problem was provided by the North Sea Radio Orchestra, which played a few shows in 2019 featuring Wyatt’s music. Folly Bololey – Songs From Robert Wyatt’s Rock Bottom is a recording from the first of those shows. Folly Boloney features Rock Bottom in its entirety and four other Wyatt songs.
Led by classically trained composer/multi-instrumentalist Craig Fortnam, the ”chamber rock” band North Sea Radio Orchestra has previously released four studio albums. Together with ex-Henry Cow bassist John Greaves and Italian singer Annie Barbazza (b.1993), Folly Bololey – Songs From Robert Wyatt’s Rock Bottom is the band’s first live release.
Folly Bololey is a cover album. And cover albums are of course a questionable concept for a band of any genre, but especially for a progressive band it’s easy to wonder why bother, why not make your own songs. But in the end, of course, it’s a question of whether you do it well or not.
So what makes a cover song good, or worth doing at all? This is a difficult question to answer unequivocally. A faithful interpretation of the original may be a valid solution, especially in concert, but when it comes to recording, I, for one, expect more. Much more. I think it’s important to take a version of a song into completely new territory, and this is of course easiest when the band doing the cover is working in a different genre than the artist being covered.
When it comes to the North Sea Radio Orchestra’s interpretation of Robert Wyatt’s music, it’s not quite so clear-cut because, at least in broad terms, both Wyatt and NSRO are both progressive rock artists/bands. However, the music of neither of them can by no means be called typical prog. Robert Wyatt’s music is an eclectic mix of jazz, psychedelia, Dadaist humour, political messages and who knows what else, while NSRO is more of an art-music-based, almost chamber-music-like expression, usually quite restrained.
Fortnam’s arrangements remain relatively faithful to Wyatt’s original versions, but Folly Boloney’s very different chamber music-like instrumentation makes enough of a difference to the original. The sharing of vocals between Barbazzo, Greaves and William D. Drake contributes to this. Barbazzo’s trained voice seems strange for a while in Wyatt’s somewhat scruffy world, but in the end it fits the songs very well. Especially since Greaves’ slightly raspy and warm baritone voice works perfectly as a counterpoint to Barbazzo’s. And while we’re on the subject of Greaves, it has to be said that he’s still going strong as a bass player. Greaves’ lush, intricate bass patterns are particularly impressive on ”Little Red Riding Hood Hit The Road”. Greaves plays bass guitar parts throughout the album.
NSRO is featured on the album with a seven-piece line-up. In addition to drums, organ and guitar, the instrumentation includes bassoon, violin, cello and clarinet. The sound is not only semi-acoustic, but also very diverse and rich. Stylistically, the music sounds like a seamless combination of chamber music, folk music and rock. The sound is warm, cosy and attractive, just perfect for a Canterbury-inspired prog album.
Mostly the band plays quietly, but they also get into more boisterous outbursts like on ”Alifie” where drummer Cheb Nettles (who also plays on Gong) and Greaves are let loose. The duo make a great rhythm section, even if they haven’t played many hours together.
The stunning Rock Bottom is followed by four more songs from Wyatt’s career. ”The British Road” and ”Maryan” are Wyatt compositions, while ”Shipbuilding” was originally composed by Clive Langer and Elvis Costello and performed by Wyatt. This song even achieved minor success on the singles charts in 1982. The quartet is completed by the song ”O Caroline” by Wyatt’s old band Matching Mole.
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Few cover versions can be said to be better than the original, but Fortnam’s version of ”The British Road” on Folly Boloney is so stunning that I’d say it beats Wyatt’s original. The song is from the 1985 Old Rottenhat album. In my opinion its rather synthetic lo-fi instrumentation/sounds didn’t really do justice to the full potential of the composition. NSRO’s interpretation is arrangement-wise richer, organically airy, but still punchy. NSRO already released a version of ”The British Road” on their 2016 studio album Dronne. Folly Bololey’s version is relatively faithful to that arrangement, but in my opinion even more successful in all its liveliness.
Greaves’ charismatic singing of ”O Caroline” also works really well and is a much fuller version than Matching Mole’s somewhat thin-sounding original.
Are Folly Bololey’s interpretations better than Rock Bottom’s original versions then? Well, of course not. Nothing can beat the magic of the original Rock Bottom, but Folly Bololey offers a very respectable alternative take on Wyatt’s great songs. Folly Boloney is not only an excellent cover album, but also a great concert recording. Wyatt himself seems to agree with me as he said this about the original concert: ”This concert is a beautiful event for me. These musicians seem to have really grasped what my songs are about; but at the same time, created an entirely fresh way of putting the music together.”
Best songs: ”Little Red Riding Hood Hit The Road”, ”Alifie”, Little Red Robin Hood Hit The Road”, ”The British Road”, ”O Caroline”
Rating: ****½
Author: JANNE YLIRUUSI
Tracks:
Producer: Graig Fortnam
Label: Dark Companion
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