Andy Roberts
Album: Urban Cowboy
Label: Fledg'ling
Tracks: 10
Website: http://www.andyrobertsmusic.com

With Plainsong having fairly recently completed their 40th anniversary farewell tour, this is a timely reissue for ace guitarist Andy's fine solo album from 1973, which was first released on Elektra and recorded before the formation of, during and just after the dissolution of the original Plainsong band - i.e. either side of their debut LP In Search Of Amelia Earhart.

It's a very characteristic early-70s album in that it boasts willingly-conscripted guest appearances from a number of music's legends, who doubtless are repaying the debt from Andy's championship of, and help with, their own music - although of course Andy was even then a veteran of numerous illustrious ensembles and a much-in-demand accompanist and sessioner to boot. Having said that, Andy's own distinctive musical personality is a striking element of the album sessions, and his expertise on guitars and Appalachian dulcimer is abundantly precisely registered and transmitted, sounding clearer than ever in this brand new digital remaster, taken from the original master tapes.

Due to the timeline of the album sessions, it's no surprise that two of the numbers were actually recorded as Plainsong tracks (destined for the band's never-to-be-released second album) - one of these being All Around My Grandmother's Floor, a co-composition with Mike Evans (from Liverpool Scene days), the other a treatment of the traditional song Andy had first encountered on a Howie Mitchell LP lent to him by Iain Matthews. The remainder of Urban Cowboy consists of suitably solid acoustic-folk-rock with occasional bluesy, country or traditional folk overtones; the last track to be recorded, Home At Last, features The Grimms Band (including Neil Innes), while Martin Carthy contributes banjo to Baby, Baby and B.J. Cole pedal steel to the title song. All tracks were self-penned, aside from a cover of Jim Hall's bitter ode to Elaine (to which RT contributes a signature playout electric guitar solo), with over half of the material taking its cue from what can best be described as Andy's unconsummated romantic inclination of the time.

It's all good stuff, and worth having in the collection - and comes with a typically useful Fledg'ling booklet that sports within its dozen well-stocked pages full recording details and credits and a revealing reminiscence-cum-essay by Andy himself.

David Kidman