Terry Conway & Liz Law with Julie-Ann Morrison
Album: Songs From The North Of England
Label: Stone House
Tracks: 17
Website: http://www.stonehousemusic.co.uk

Tynedale's Terry Conway tragically died of mesothelioma in early June last year; with his passing the folk world has lost one of the most respected and multi-talented of its north-east-based singer/song interpreter/songwriter figures, a true gentleman and an irreplaceable treasure. This 73-minute CD presents a recording of most of the very last full concert that Terry performed, which took place at the Literary & Philosophical Society, Newcastle upon Tyne in November 2012. On stage with Terry were his long-time musical partner and wife Liz Law and friend Julie-Ann Morrison, whose prowess on Appalachian dulcimer and Celtic harp respectively provided a distinctive foil for Terry's own unmistakable voice and his softly understated but intricate guitar playing.

The rationale of the concert, a fund-raiser for the "Lit & Phil", was to provide an entertaining and informative programme of songs from the north-east which it was hoped would attract a good local audience. The pieces were arranged in roughly chronological order, starting with the earliest, Hobie Noble (Child Ballad 189, and the only item from the north-west on the programme, all else being of north-eastern origin); this receives an abundantly masterful performance from Terry, both ideally poised and unobtrusive in its artistry. Terry then steps aside for Julie-Ann and Liz's rendition of the Border Widow's Lament, but he remains in the forefront for the remainder of the concert, which then proceeds to showcase a healthy variety of items drawn from tradition, taking in the poignant dialect song Sair Fyeld Hinny (a good demonstration of Terry's stunning vocal range), well-loved pieces such as Do-li-a and Byker Hill, the tragedy of Lucy Gray and comic ditties Cappy The Dog and Robin Spraggon's Auld Grey Mare recounted with enormous relish. Sandwiched in amongst these, at an appropriate temporal juncture, we encounter the first of his own compositions, a brilliantly-researched and animated account of the Hexham Riot of 1761.

The concert continues with a pair of songs by the 19th century Pitmen's Poet Tommy Armstrong - the hilarious patter "recreational song" Wor Nannie's A Mazer and the miners' union fund-raiser South Medomsley Strike - followed by an unashamedly emotional rendition of George Chatt's paean to Bonny Tyneside (which Terry had learned from his own mother's singing), and a Geordie Ridley classic, Bobby The Cure, dispatched with Terry's trademark combination of affection and fun. Finally, the concert races to the finishing post with a sequence of three of Terry's own compositions, beginning with the stirring tale of Little Duck then ending with two of his most celebrated creations, Hawkhope Hill (his canny eye-witness account of events surrounding the flooding of the valley behind Kielder Dam) and the supremely rousing anthem Fareweel Regality.

These proud yet unassuming performances provide conclusive evidence that, however fine Terry's interpretations of indigenous north-eastern material (he had a hell of a way with any song, whether of anonymous deep tradition or known authorship), his own compositions took that inborn empathy onto a higher plane of invention and insight, and over the past four decades he had produced some seriously unforgettable songs on a vast range of topics both social and historical and embracing a wide gamut of emotional states: songs that once heard are immediately recalled. They invariably possess a distinctively modal flavour, and are immediately identifiable as Terry Conway songs due to their tell-tale lilting quality and memorably shaped twists and turns of melody line, while his lyrics, literate and erudite (and often significantly wordy!), nevertheless strike right to the heart of the message while imparting an incredible amount of fascinating detail. Which brings me right back to where I started - the aim of the concert being to entertain and inform, which as you will hear it does in spades. For any time spent in the presence of Terry and Liz has always proved a very special, intimate and inclusive experience (several of the most memorable folk club gigs I've attended have been those where Liz and Terry were the booked guests). This wonderful disc is a very important release, not least in its role as a fitting memorial to a genuinely unique man, one of whom we will truly never see the like again.

The CD is available for £10 (£2 of which from each sale will go to Macmillan Cancer Care), from various outlets including the Lit & Phil, Gojo's Music Store and Core Music in Hexham; or by post from Liz herself (contact walzil.dulcimer@gmail.com) for £12 incl. P&P.

David Kidman