Customer Reviews

Richard Dyer-Bennet 1

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Would I be redundant to say I first heard him on the Midnight Special on WFMT while an undergraduate? But hearing him in concert was quite another reality. You should recall that in the 'sixties we had a social purpose behind "folk music," but never seemed to know from which folk the music came. So onto the stage walked this tall, lean fellow, in white tie and tails, his guitar fastened to him by a burgundy sash --- so that I knew I had an evening of art ahead of me. But how high that art I could not have guessed. This album is a reissue of the original vinyl which I possessed, a treasure to my soul, containing many of the songs I heard that night. As his agent Sol Hurok proclaimed him, he was indeed "The 20th Century Troubador." And as for those self-loving lads of the social cause, after this album, you'll never go back to them if it's real folk music you're after.

Imagine my ecstasy when I moved to a small town in Massachusetts and found I could once again listen to WFMT on my cable, with The Midnight Special and Richard Dyer-Bennet's closing song of The Lonesome Valley. Imagine my dispair when cable dropped radio super stations. Fortunately the Smithsonian has released this absolute gem. All the tracks are superb. The guitar work is intricate and clear. His voice carries you. Listen to it alone with no distractions. When are the rest of the albums being released. Can't wait for #3 and #4.

I can only echo the plaudits of the prior reviewers. These performances by Richard Dyer-Bennet are a treasure. The singing is beautiful and technically refined and the performances are studied in the best sense, without losing their emotional impact.

Bennet was always a great interpreter of a text, and displays a meticulous yet un-contrived diction that allows the listener to unreservedly appreciate it- rare for an essential "classical' singer in this genre.

My oldest recollections of hearing him are from the Midnight Special program in Chicago when I was a child and my father was a young Opera singer. My dad, who had relatively catholic musical tastes, was a great admirer of both Richard Dyer-Bennet's musicality and vocal refinement. I regret that I never had the opportunity to hear him in live performance. I am thrilled that these beautifully recorded performances are finally available on CD and eagerly await the other discs in the series. Anyone who appreciates fine singing owes it to themselves to buy this CD.

Richard Dyer-Bennet was one of the world's most eclectic folksingers. A consummate vocal artist accomanying himself on classical-style guitar, he had performed and recorded extensively in the 40's and early '50's, but had never been satisfied with the quality of the recordings he'd made. In the late 50's, he began a series of self-published albums covering much of his vast repertoire. He had a recording studio set up in his New York apartment, where he created 13 LP's that were renowned for their superlative audio quality and performance artistry.

Dyer-Bennet's voice is unsuual - he was a counter-tenor through most of his career, only deepening his voice to a tenor during the mid-70's. This might take a bit of getting used to. But his collection of songs is fascinating, and his presentation exciting and enlightening. I believe Dyer-Bennet #1 is largely English and Irish songs.

Smithsonian recently acquired the rights to all 13 Dyer-Bennet albums, and they form an awesome library of folk music pre-dating the "folk craze" of the 1960's. I am eagerly awaiting the release of the other 12 albums.

I was influenced by the one review that was posted when I bought the CD last month, so I want to add my enthusiastic recommendation. The first band alone is worth the price of admission. Beautiful musical taste, perfectly executed. I can't wait to get the other 12 CDs issued by Smithsonian.

Let me say immediately that I don't own any of these CD's -- yet. I've only just found out that they exist, and I've ordered all of them.

But I don't need to hear the CD to review the album. I grew up with Dyer-Bennett's records, starting even before he formed his own label (an artistically brilliant, but perhaps commercially dubious decision). My older sister was an aspiring folk singer during those years, and we played all of his albums over and over until there wasn't any vinyl left on the disc. I know every one of these songs by heart.

Still, it's wonderful to hear them again, even just the excerpts available here. For those who think folk music has to be sung in a scratchy, weather-beaten voice to be authentic, this is something quite different.

Dyer-Bennett was a full generation older than the artists who rose to fame in the 60's -- he was actually already performing in the 30's. And his performance style was somewhere on the cusp between folk and art music; although he always accompanied himself (superbly) on the guitar, he performed in white tie and tails, like a proper classical musician. His elegant diction might be offputting at first for those not used to it, but I hope it will grow on you.

I'd almost forgotten what a beautiful voice he had! A very high, pure Irish tenor. I'm sure he was influenced by John McCormack, although his voice is a little gruffer than McCormack's highly polished operatic instrument.

Anyway -- all of the albums available here are excellent; #1 would make a good starting place. It includes wonderful songs from Ireland, Scotland, England, the US, and France (in translation). Molly Branigan has hilariously self-pitying lyrics, Oft in the Stilly Night was quoted by James Joyce in (I believe) Finnegans Wake, and both Down By the Sally Gardens and So We'll Go No More A-Roving are Dyer-Bennett's own settings of famous poems. The Bonny Earl of Morey is best-known today for giving birth to the term mondegreen (as in "they have slain the Earl of Morey and Lady Mondegreen"). The Vicar of Bray is a well-known English satirical ballad of the 18th century. There are also familiar American songs in unique performances -- Lonesome Valley is especially haunting.

Well -- you get the idea. All gems, and just about perfectly sung. Dare we hope for a Dyer-Bennett revival someday soon?

Richard Dyer-Bennet 1 is his masterpiece. No one could lend the appropriate emotion to a song the way Dyer-Bennet could. All of his albums are excellent, but the first he recorded for his own label is the best. A biography of the singer (Richard Dyer-Bennet: The Last Minstrel) was recently published and is a good way to learn more about his fascinating life.