SIGNZ
Ged Eastick - 5 Mar 22
I think Woodie Guthrie is to blame. Musicians with opinions. "This guitar kills fascists" was the inscription on his guitar, sometime in the 1940s. It was a manifesto, and now this is Dave Scott Morgan's manifesto. You might not like it, and then again you might, but I will go down screaming and kicking if you deny my right to an opinion.
My favourite Dave story goes a long way back to the 60s. The Move had recorded two songs, Blackberry Way and Something. Dave had written Something, and if you have never heard it, get it. Think, Whiter Shade of Pale; Something is very much of its time, but fate decided it would go on the "B" side of Blackberry Way - a number one for the band in 1969. Just before it was released, Don Arden, the band's manager and fixer and also incidentally, Sharon Osborne's dad, took Dave aside and asked, "Dave, which song should we go with for the "A" side, "Blackberry Way", or "Something". Dave, for reasons I cannot fathom, chose Blackberry Way over his own song. The rest is history, the crux of it being that Mr Scott-Morgan has been there - from George Harrison's kitchen to Wembley Stadium to amusing encounters with dodgy managers like Don and Tony Secunda, to getting that gold disc and playing alongside some of the best musicians in the business.
So what about this album? Fate decided that Something was consigned to a "B" side. Dave gets his own back here: "Only the Rain". If had been released in 1969 Dave would have retired to California by now and I would be desperately trying to get my calls returned by his people and pleading for a back stage pass.
A few years ago I was privileged to be involved in the re-master/re-issue of Earthrise, and here it is Saturn Has Rings that takes me back to then. Frankly it could have been on Earthrise. (I remember Richard Tandy telling me that Earthrise does not have one unmelodic bit in it, and for my money, that goes for Dave's entire output)
Tin Eye represents a relatively recent departure from the canon in terms of composition. I thought Dave's musical direction should move towards the symphonic and Tin Eye kind of does this. If you look through the back catalogue you can see it coming. The title track does it too. It is an example of someone who is able to conjure up melodies apparently effortlessly and lead the listener along in a series of musical twists and turns.
Waves is maybe one of those that will get you moving and grooving. (Grooving was a Sixties phenomena that ....oh, never mind.) Travellers from Canton is pure Europop and it would not surprise me if it was covered sometime soon by one of those very shiny Scandinavian people. Well Sandra did ok with one of Dave's songs - Hiroshima went gold in Europe.
But picking a favourite is tricky and I will leave that to the listener. Credit must also go to the team who put this together - especially Matt O'Mally, who can clearly hear an idea and put it into practice. The lyrics are what Dave Scott-Morgan is thinking about the world and how it is turning. In the light of recent events, maybe these songs will give us all a moment to think too.