The Keith Hancock Band
Album: Live
Label: Epona
Tracks: 15
Website: http://www.eponarecords.com

In February 1991, shortly after the release of his second album Madhouse, Keith undertook what was then the biggest tour in which he'd ever been involved, both an unforgettable experience and one of the highest points of his career. The catalyst for this tour was the Keith Hancock Band project, which itself grew out of a phone call from Keith to Martin Carthy. The story goes that Keith, having heard that Martin liked his songs, asked him to consider playing in a one-off touring band with him; martin suggested roping in Dave Swarbrick, and Keith completed the band by bringing in bassist Ruari McFarlane (then working with Richard Thompson's band). The Keith Hancock Band toured in 1991 and 1992, latterly with Lee Collinson as support act (Lee was later to tour in a duo with Keith); Keith had the foresight to record the shows, and he'd always intended to release a live album from them, but somehow it never happened, and so the plan lay dormant until Keith received a chance enquiry from Epona's Mike Billington as to whether the tapes still existed. Happily the answer was yes, and further investigation - and a playthrough when Keith returned for a British tour this spring - convinced them both of the merit of releasing some of the recordings.

Hence this marvellous live album, positively sparking with energy, simpatico and brio. 75 glorious minutes' worth, taken from performances recorded at Southport and Kendal in late February 1991. The internal chemistry and fun seem to leap out of the speakers, the dynamic Carthy-Swarb partnership trading off Keith's trusty box; every single track contains prime examples of the sheer energy that clearly characterised the shows. As for the material played, just under half of this is drawn from the Madhouse album, with its plethora of politically-charged commentaries; three further tracks are advance-tasters for the then-forthcoming Compassion album (including an intense, spectacularly passionate Panacea). These are topped up with a small handful of items that didn't feature on Keith's three solo records, including the elsewhere-unrecorded songs Portland Down and Boomtown and a very fine cover of Richard Thompson's Waltzing's For Dreamers. The entirely fitting but inevitable final encore is Absent Friends, here attaining all of its customary emotional resonance (which is followed by three minutes of post-gig venue ambience!). Hancock aficionados will note that a live recording of Porton Down (from the Bolton date slightly later on the same tour) appeared on the mid-90s Born Blue compilation, as does the very same performance of the instrumental romp Second Wednesday/Coventry Caper (albeit with the medley's tune titles now transposed into correct order!). But this happenstance minor duplication is no bad thing, and anyone with a long enough memory of the KHB tours will be placing an automatic order for this well-mastered and -edited (and honestly presented) release.

David Kidman