Customer Reviews

Magic Shoemaker

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

1970 concept album is a glorious fairytale acid trip on a coach journey composed and narrated by David Lambert (pre-STRAWBS). The album contains the fantastic opening cut "Children of the Imagination" and the R&B tinged "I Can See The Sky" along with the acid experimental passages that crop up through the album.

Fire's av-ant-grade masterpiece is a rock and roll fairytale about a Magic Shoemaker. Dave Lambert ,later of the Strawbs , is the songwriter of this story. The Magic Shoemaker is a must have for fans of late 60's psychedelic rock concept Alums. The only weak point to this wonderful reissues is a few of the bonus tracks that could of been lost forever.

When this sole album from the UK psychedelic band, Fire was originally released in 1969, it apparently didn't sell that well. However, these days it's said to be sought out by record collectors who consider this vinyl to be an 'underground classic'. This is a much-welcome CD reissue - you get the lp' cuts + four added bonus tracks that include Fire's hard-to-find 7" singles. Tunes here that sure to fully captivate it's listener(s) are "Tell You A Story", "Magic Shoes", the awesome "Flies like A Bird", "Shoemaker" and I think I might even like the bonus material better - like the Who-inspired "Happy Man Am I", probably their best known song "Father's Name Is Dad", "Treacle Toffee World" and "Round The Gum Tree" (reminds me of the 1910 Fruitgum Company). As a 'huge' of a live album nut that I am, I really enjoyed hearing this disc every bit as much as I did their reunion 'The Magic Shoemaker Live' {see my review}. 100% essential.

Most folks are aware of Fire because of their psychedelic pop classic "My Father's Name Was Dad". This is the only true LP they were able to complete before Dave Lambert joined Strawbs. The material here shows a link between the post-psychedelic rock of its time and the folk/progressive stance of Lambert's future band. The material is strong but lacks a distinctive voice. One other distraction is the narrative, which sounds like an uncle telling a fairy tale in a pub. On the plus side, the pretension meter registers on the low side. I would recommend this LP for fans of Thunderclap Newman, Fairport Convention and, of course, Strawbs.