Search - Nic Jones :: Penguin Eggs

STUNNINGLY POWERFUL -- AND ALL-ACOUSTIC

Larry L. Looney | Austin, Texas USA | 10/09/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This cd sounds as fresh and energetic today as on its original lp release in 1980 -- the music is played with enthusiasm and great ability, recorded cleanly, with no unnecessary embellishments.Nic Jones' talents as an interpreter of traditional English folk songs, as well as his dexterity on guitar, are at their height on this, his last recording before the tragic accident that left him unable to perform. From the breathtaking guitar figure that carries the opener, 'Canadee-i-o' along like a ship on the ocean, through the entire program, the playing is first-rate, the arrangements as perfect as they can be -- tasteful, uncluttered and unpretentious. Accompanied simply by his guitar and fiddle, Jones is joined here by Tony Hall on melodeon, Bridget Danby on recorders and vocals, and Dave Burland on vocals. Jones has a classic voice for this genre -- it gives these songs credibility, soul and power. In the hands of some practitioners, they might acquire scholarly airs -- in Jones' hands they are as vital as when they were born. Even a song as 'politically incorrect' today as 'The humpback whale' is seen in the light of another day, before the animals were hunted to near extinction -- and the listener is able to focus on the hardships endured by the sailors, their joys and sorrows and hopes and fears.Every album Jones recorded is of extremely high quality, in both selection of material and performance -- he never succumbed to the temptation to allow a producer to 'polish' his sound for a wider appeal, much to his credit and honor. Hopefully, Topic will eventually release all of his recordings in the digital format -- they're all good enough to warrant preservation and continued listening."

Penguin What??

benshlomo | Los Angeles, CA USA | 11/19/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'm going to have to spend this entire review trying to figure out why this record is called "Penguin Eggs". I'm sorry, but there's just nothing else to be done. The music is wonderful - what's with the title?



First of all, of course, it comes from one of the songs. In "The Little Pot-Stove" there's a line about what people eat while caretaking a whaling fleet in its winter dock - "There's salt fish and whale-meat sausage / And fresh penguin eggs, a treat / Then we struggle off to work each day / Through the icy winds and sleet". As is so often the case, it's the specificity of the details that makes the work - not just sausage, for instance, but whale-meat sausage. (Some folk-music purists might get offended at the idea of eating whales, but we'll get to Jones's attitude toward folk-music purists in a minute.) You probably also notice the hint of sadness in what follows, which is even more evident in the melody and the way Jones sings it - not just having to go to work, but having to go to work in the cold. "Penguin Eggs" is full of details like that, in all aspects of the performance; it's not only Nic Jones's guitar that moves with power and subtlety, his vocals do the same.



Somehow he plays the same guitar, and sometimes the same licks, in a funny, sprightly song like "Barrack Street" and a dark, solemn song like "Courting Is a Pleasure," and the music sounds completely different. The same is true of his vocal sound; in the first he's an embarrassed young sailor describing his humiliation at the hands of a clever prostitute, in the second he's a devastated young man contemplating his love's future at the hands of a high-born lad with no intention of doing the right thing by her. So in the first he sounds like he's about to crack up from the first note to the last, in the second he's about to cry. Listen to how he sings "Americay lies far away" and you'll hear what I mean.



I can't help thinking, too, that the title "Penguin Eggs" fits Jones's personality, on this record and elsewhere. We're told that in his playing days, he had little patience with the folk-music audience and its insistence on purity, which meant its rejection of any original work. Jones claims that he often played originals on stage as if they were authentic age-old folk tunes, and no one could tell the difference. (Which makes me wonder about the credits on these songs - they mostly say "Traditional", but are they?) In any case, the attitude (as expressed by the singer's mischievous twinkle on the album cover) strikes me as refreshingly goofy. One of those titles like "Original Folk Blues," assigned to collections by academicians who wouldn't know a joke if it came up and poked them in the nose, would make no sense at all for an approach like Jones's - "Penguin Eggs" works as well as anything else.



Then there's the curious fact that a great many of these songs have to do with the ocean. Lots of old folk songs do, of course, especially the ones from the British Islands, but there are plenty that don't, and I wonder what made Jones choose so many maritime tunes. Aside from "Barrack Street" - as I said, about a sailor - a couple of them involve young men (and one young woman) getting ready to sail for foreign shores, and a couple deal with whaling. Even the songs that have nothing to do with the sea include rivers for drowning - and by the way, one of those songs is surprisingly chipper, considering. In any case, for such a waterlogged set list, the title has to have some association with fluids. Which makes "Penguin Eggs" a bit of a stretch, but it works, more or less.



So I have no way of knowing if Nic Jones intended his title in this way, but you could say it's a fair description of the song list. Nic Jones had some characteristics in common with a penguin - kind of clownish in some ways, but a lot tougher than he seemed - and these tunes being the product of his creativity, they're his eggs, sort of. (And don't tell me that's a ridiculous metaphor - I know that, but this is my review.) At the very least, the title, like the album, is a lot more interesting than most of the stuff that passes for folk music today, and that by itself is enough to satisfy. Now all you have to do is listen to the record. Like the lyric says, "Penguin Eggs" is a treat.



Benshlomo says, You miss out on a lot if you take things too seriously."