Aktion	Zweigstelle	Standorte	Status	Frist	Vorbestellungen
Vorbestellen	Zweigstelle: 17., Hormayrg. 2	Standorte: CD.09 Fay / 70er	Status: Verfügbar	Frist:	Vorbestellungen: 0

The first of Bill Fays' two albums was originally issued in 1970 on Deram Nova and this self titled effort is certainly the more accessible of the two.

The album is completely self written by Fay and fits into the singer-songwriter mode, although the songs seem to be hinged somewhere between darkness and light. This is perhaps where the Nick Drake comparison comes from, but in truth he has more in common with Bob Dylan in the vocal department. Fay is not a great singer and a lot of the songs have a very small range, but the delivery is impeccable. He puts a ton of emotion and feeling into very simple melodies which makes the songs very effective and affecting.

The album is also heavily orchestrated and features lush string, brass and woodwind arrangements by musical director Michael Gibbs. These arrangements are very nice and cover a number of styles. For example the arrangements on 'We Want You to Stay' and 'The Room' sound almost like they are from Broadway. Elsewhere the string arrangements are more understated as on 'Gentle Willie' and 'Be Not So Fearful'. Other tracks are a lot more sparsely produced, such as 'Sing Us One Of Your Songs May' which, after a militant drum roll intro, is just Fays' semi spoken vocal at his Piano soaked in reverb; or the closing track of the original LP 'Down to the Bridge' which has a pleasant accordion backing.

The lyrics concern themselves with a spiritual quest through such themes as time, nature and understanding human behaviour. They almost seem to plead for an understanding of life's mysterious journey. Fays' weary vocals really suit this setting, and are akin to a wise old man telling a tale. Amazon-Kunde