"Weeping Willow Blues" by Greg Brice
Review
Good news for all you Greg Brice fans. Very much a live performer, I long waited for him to record tracks so that I could feature him on ‘Hot Music Live Presents' . Eventually, two years ago, that came to pass with the release of his album and hence "Together But Long Distance" appears on ‘HMLP 9'.
Now Greg has six more songs to share, each of which will appear as a single over the months to come: a blend of new originals & popular covers from his set. In time, these will be compiled into a physical EP for your pleasure.
First out of the gate (tomorrow in fact) is his take on Blind Boy Fuller's 1939 "Weeping Willow Blues" which he learned from hearing Steve Tilston play it on the radio: so captivated was her that he stayed up until 3 am to nail it. (He is also influenced by Bert Jansch's version).
In his set now for the best part of a decade as the sentiments of the song also resonate with him, the track has been recorded at Juniper Recording Studio by Jason Page and mixed by Andie Thompson at Gighouse in Leamington.
I'm long used to the fascination with blues songs about trees that David John of Stone Bear demonstrates: it's interesting to find out that Greg shares this to some extent. As I appreciate the qualities of both trees & blues songs, I can understand the attraction.
To be honest, you can understand why even a player as accomplished as Greg took a while to master it (though for some of us the period to do so would be closer to "never" than "a few hours"). It's by no means one of the simpler rawer blues tunes where presumably the notes can be figured out relatively swiftly & then work begun on feel & tone.
It's a beautiful melody but a complex one as is the rhythm. You can see why it was in the repertoire of Bert Jansch and it's one of those exquisite pre-war blues where the boundary with jazz is fairly meaningless: the musicians of that era would probably not have considered any distinction of much value.
Tricky as it may be, Greg is such a great player & has spent so long playing it that his version trips along as lightly as the willow branches swaying in a summer breeze. That too hints at another aspect worth considering. Some players spend a long time honing instrumental technique & then seem to feel that their compensation for their efforts should take the form of demonstrating their skills in order to solicit admiration. Greg is not only more personally modest but he covers songs to honour them & their composers: he does not insert his ego into the affair. Which of course would be disastrous in the case of a song like this which demands delicacy & not bombast.
While you are listening to the fine playing, cast your eyes please over the artwork: Greg has commissioned Warwick based artist Alix Almond to create original linoprints for each single in this series and he professes himself as pleased with the outcome as he is of the music: "I'm sure you'll agree she's absolutely smashed the first one, she's amazing"
