JOHN BOOTH
Cast A Long Shadow
Nailing his colours to the mast from the outset and offering what is described as a bonus track, albeit one that starts the album rather than finishes it, John celebrates both the power of together and the role of essential workers as the backbone of our society in ‘When There’s A Song To Be Sung’. All very positive, but as an added extra, it is delivered in a folk-rock style reminiscent of local heroes Merry Hell – complete with a massed voice contribution. Ultimately this is no surprise, as through his links to Northwich Folk Club, he was one of the first to put them before a Folk Club audience, forging a friendship that still burns bright! (John will also be heard on the new Merry Hell album as part of their 1,000 Voice Choir).
Returning to a more traditional folk feel for the ambiguously titled ‘Lovely Day’, listeners may be lulled into a false sense of what is to come, based on his previous album ‘English Blood’. However, that would be lazy thinking, as the remaining songs explore avenues and corners of John’s musical interests that range far and wide from the path of traditional fare, aided and abetted by a cast of supportive characters. Indeed, the liner notes sees John admit to using the album as an opportunity to explore both the rocky and quirky aspects of his musical personality. But fear not folk purists, there is still enough in here to satisfy.
So, we have the rock god track, where the Pink Floyd references extend to a Gilmouresque guitar sound, the quirky (aa promised) ‘A Cat and a Fox’, that has an almost Disney feel to it, allowing his grandkids to participate, and continuing the filmic theme, ‘Nothing Lasts Forever’ was composed for a project that did not survive lockdown, though there are hopes that it will be reborn.
As the music meanders through avenues of interest from rock through jazz and back to folk, there is always something of interest and the instrumental contributions deserve praise along the way.
Lyrically, the tracks also cover a range, from the wistful to the thought provoking, musing and commenting on the vagaries and challenges of life, relationships and the future, with social commentary never too far away – taking an unexpectedly sideways look at the futility and contradictions of warfare by focussing on the thoughts of a WWII German pilot as he heads for London, perhaps made more poignant and telling for us being familiar with the effects of such a mission. As a means of looking at a universal truth through an individual, it is an effective if surprising choice.
Several plays in the folkmobile yield new discoveries, despite his assertion that there is ‘No More Rock and Roll’ – John has not run out of road as the song proclaims but shown that a range of ideas and styles can be brought together in an interesting whole. In order to walk the walk, as well as singing the talk, he is currently part of a classic Rock n Roll band alongside his folkier outings!
