ALISTAIR HULETT

Riches and Rags       

by Mick Tems

April 2006      

Red Rattler RATCD006 (53m)

I FIRST came across stunning songwriter and singer Alistair Hulett at Auckland Festival in New Zealand , when he brought a solo concert to a roaring finish. Alistair was living in Australia at that time, but he has now been back in Glasgow for several years. He went on the road with Dave Swarbrick and recorded the critically acclaimed Red Clydeside, until Dave's illness put a stop to that.

I have always been strangely fascinated by Glasgow and its people. I love its Celtic intensity, ruggedness, militancy and fire. Alistair concentrates these ideals to a startling degree and fuels the flames by adding Nancy Kerr, James Fagan and Gavin Livingstone, all friends and musicians who spice the album nicely. Riches and Rags has him mining his own history from the 1960s to the present day, from Fair Flower of Northumberland to the heartstoppingly beautiful First Girl I Loved, both learned from Scots singers, Enoch Kent and Robin Williamson. He peppers the stew exquisitely with four of his own compositions, the campaigning song Criminal Justice, Shot Down in Flames, Militant Red and the title track. Whoever called him "a genuinely imaginative lyricist" knew what he was talking about. This is a quality CD and one of which the international folk scene should be truly proud .