Moral Of The Elephant

How is it possible for either of these two to get better? And yet they have. This is a staggeringly brilliant album. And there are actually four people in the room, since Eliza's voice has taken on more of the timbre of her mother Norma Waterson, and her violin technique has some things in common with Martin's late performing partner Dave Swarbrick -- though she has a strong and distinctive personality of her own. I just kept saying wow over and over. Martin's best since his two excellent albums of the 1980s, Rite of Passage and Out of the Cut. Can't say the same as definitively about Eliza since I haven't gone beyond her earliest solo albums, but now I'd like to catch up with the ones I've missed.

Martin Carthy and his daughter Eliza team up here as a duo for the first time, though they were both members of Waterson Carthy. I was intrigued to find no musician credits in the booklet, but this is because nobody else was involved. All the songs were well-rehearsed and recorded as if live, without what is now thought customary mixing and overdubbing.All the songs are traditional folk songs except Happiness (which the recorded after listening to a recording by Molly Drake) and Monkey hair (written by Michael Marra).The title track is based on a poem by John Godfrey Saxe, but the poem itself originated in the Indian subcontinent, only spreading to Europe and America in the 19th century.

By now, after so many brilliant records by mum, dad, daughter, combinations, other family, you would have thought there might be some signs of diminishing by now so us obsessives might save some money...there ain't! This is as great as any of their previous stuff and Eliza's vocals are just wonderful, especially on the track, Waking Dreams. If you like their stuff and you can...buy without hesitation.

Fabulous music from two of the best! Glad to have seen them live performing many of these songs.

great

Spinning this album for the first time your mind wistfully harks back to all those great Waterson-Carthy albums over the past 20 years. The dawning then hits the listener that despite this massive wealth of music "The Moral of the Elephant" actually represents the first time that the doyen of British folk music and his uber talented and wonderfully wayward daughter have released a duo album together. In a recent interview Eliza Carthy spoke in jest that "this is the first time we've got around to kicking mum out". It is understood that Martin determined diplomatically not to comment but broke into a wry chuckle.Whilst the presence of folk giant Norma Waterson has been a central plank of all the previous albums the "The Moral of the Elephant" stands in its own right as an masterful LP by two of the genre's prime exponents playing alone, live in the studio and in barebones acoustics. This simplicity brings out the best in the both of them on an excellent set of mostly traditional songs. Carthy Senior kicks the ball onto the pitch with a great version of "Her Servant Man" with a wonderfully steadfast vocal and stirring fiddle from Eliza. She in turn follows with a sumptuous version of Molly Drake's "Happiness" showing that Drake's own son Nick was not the only talent in the family. As for the emotive vocal of Eliza you would be a foolish soul not to track this one down. Both Carthy voices sing in unison for the first time on the album on the joyful "Blackwell Merry Night", whilst that old warhorse a "Grand Conversation on Napoleon" is given another outing on which the two artists show how folk music in classic stanzaic form should be done. The revisiting of Queen of Hearts" which was on Martin Carthy's debut nearly 50 years ago demonstrates how he remains a supreme master of the folk art. When it comes to "Bonny Moorhen" the Carthy's have not recorded the slightly better known Jacobite lament, but the rousing story of the men of Weardale's 19th Century revolt on land rights against the Bishop of Durham. It is stirring stuff and effortless in their hands, although the glorious "Died for Love" is its story telling match and warmly dedicated to Martin's late brother-in-law the remarkable Mike Waterson.Another non traditional song alongside Molly Drake is Eliza's cover of the late Bard of Dundee, Michael Marra's "Monkey Hair". It tells the tale of the "wife of a Scottish minister who decides to cut him off from having any more children because he keeps sending their children away to war...to be killed." Throughout Eliza's voice is beautifully controlled and this version is an album standout, packed with drama and humanity. In one sense the "The Moral of the Elephant" is a relative companion piece to 2010's "The Gift" but with the father and daughter combination eschewing high profile guests and steering the ship in whatever direction they choose. The album is a heady mix and your reviewer can now thankfully post these thoughts and quickly return for yet another serving of this brilliant authentic music.

Father and daughter from the royal family of the English folk revival offer us a set of songs, mostly not often performed in traditional music circles: an interesting selection. Martin's voice is no longer as strong as when I first heard him - but that was 50 years ago, so it's hardly surprising. Eliza's strong voice sounds more and more like her mother's at its peak. The absence of Martin's wife/Eliza's mother Norma Waterson from this recording is presumably due to Norma's recent health problems, and it's a pity because the Waterson-Carthy series of records with all three of them sharing the singing were remarkably fine, but this new album is very good indeed. If you like serious and committed folksong that respects the tradition, this is for you.

Grows on you... I have virtually all the Watersons, Carthy, Eliza's CDs and records from the 60s to the present. Great to see the way the family has evolved. Folk royalty.

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The beauty of each of these songs shines through. Gorgeous interpretation of 'Died for Love'.