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Elly Roberts reviews
Market Square & BMG/RSK
- Cat.no: MSMCD119
- Rating: 6/10
Retro collection from one of the music businesses real troubadours, Tim Rose.
Like his life, which was colourful to say the least, this album of coversand originals spanning two decades is a hit and miss affair. Mostly hits Ihasten to add. In his early career, Tim performed with the American trio TheBig Three which included Cass Elliot aka Mama Cass of Mamas and Papas fame.
When they split, their individual careers became much polarised. Tim becamethe ‘nearly man’ of rock, though he did have recognition and airplay withhis most famous song Morning Dew. Having got to know Tim quite well in hislatter days, and see him perform on three occasions, Wrexham (our firstmeeting at Central Station) and finally at Alexanders Jazz Bar Chester, Iknew what type of songs he was capable of handling and delivering. We got onso well, he was considering writing a song for my wedding in August 2002.Little did I know he was in a poor state of health – he died a month laterafter an operation for cancer.
On a renaissance in early 2000, he was gigging his adopted homeland from hisLondon base, pulling in new fans, based on the resurgence in the acousticscene sweeping the nation. A brief support for Robert Plant’s Priory ofBrion did much to bring him new found attention. Who better to go and see.Rose had done it all, with many ups and downs in his forty year career.
Ironically, his final studio album, American Son, was his most polishedeffort. Rose also knew what worked for him and what didn’t – he wasself-critical to the end. On American Son he found the balance betweentender and powerful – his songwriting is exceptional. He’ll probably, fromhis final gigs, be remembered for his power-house Blues – shouter repertoirealong with the many showbiz anecdotes.
Apart from opener Like A European, aromping harmonica-laden gem, we get a much gentler Rose than I rememberlive. A big fan of the Gibb brothers ( Bee Gees ), his cover of theirclassic I Started A Joke just about makes it, even though the voice issomewhat hesitant on its 2 mins 24 secs. The Rose, a soundtrack hit forBette Midler, is a much better choice, followed by a less than convincingOver The Rainbow with it’s tragic karaoke feel and production. Buddy Holly’sIt Doesn’t Matter Anymore is equally limp. Things rapidly improve from tracksix, Pavement Princess, a country fuelled ballad written by Pierre Tubbs andStephen Stapely.
If the productions failed Rose, he had a clever knack of getting the lyricsover in a deeply passionate way, which is how I’ll always remember him.
Following tracks It’s All Gone Wrong and There I Go Again are quitebeautiful: perfectly suiting his unique ‘style’. His rendition of Blue Steel44, famously covered by Jimi Hendrix as Hey Joe, gets a more contemporarymix, far more accessible for today’s tastes, and would make a great singlewith its modern R’n’B flavour – please, somebody pick up on this for radioairplay – awesome track – the definitive version surely.
On the finalrun-in, Lady’s Coming Home For Christmas, is a bit too wet. Back on form,Borocay is textbook Rose; the lyrics come shining through with some niftytwanging acoustic guitar helping its lazy meandering.
Closer, The Answer, is more Rose at his best – co-written by Rose and MickeyWynne, a full-on rock-ballad that highlights his confidence from July 1998.Wynne’s ‘Wah Wah’ guitar is stunning.
The nearly man of rock would approve of most of this compilation.
Weblink:Tim Rose.net
The full list of tracks included are :
1. Like A European
2. I Started A Joke
3. The Rose
4. Over The Rainbow
5. I Guess It Doesn’t Matter Anymore
6. Pavement Princess
7. It’s All Gone Wrong
8. There I Go Again
9. Hey Joe
10. Lady’s Coming Home For Christmas
11. Borocay (Yo Tengo Amore Te)
12. The Answer
Elly Roberts passed away in 2011, but he was a man who was so passionate about all types of music and loved meeting his musical heroes, such as Mick Hucknall at a book signing at the Trafford Centre, Manchester in 2007.
A former teacher and also a music journalist, DJ and radio presenter on local community station Calon FM, plus appearances on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio 2, Elly started doing reviews for DVDfever.co.uk in 2004 and he did the majority of the CD and concerts reviews on the website.
I know also that he loved getting away for the summer to Spain and I hope that wherever he is now he is enjoying the hot sunshine and, as one of his friends has said on his Facebook page, that he is interviewing his musical heroes.