Sarah Makem
Album: The Heart Is True
Label: Topic
Tracks: 17
Website: http://www.topicrecords.co.uk

Many were introduced to this iconic Irish traditional singer either through recordings made by Peter Kennedy in 1952 which were broadcast on the 1950s BBC radio programme As I Roved Out or through exposure to the seminal late-60s Topic LP Mrs. Sarah Makem, Ulster Ballad Singer.

Fast-forward, then, to just a few short years ago, when the plan was hatched for Rod Stradling of Musical Traditions to compile an equivalent, expended selection of Sarah's recordings for Topic. During this process, five extra tracks emanating from the aforementioned LP's sessions were offered, as were some previously unheard "family recordings", while it was also discovered that Sarah had been recorded by other collectors including Diane Hamilton. It became clear that a 17-track selection for Topic would be but the tip of an iceberg, and in effect it was decided that this release would be a keystone of the inaugural tranche of releases forming the next stage of the mighty Voice Of The People series, the 20 volumes of which had, since appearance back in 1998, played such a crucial role in the re-evaluation of classic archive source recordings of traditional singers and musicians. And at the same time, Musical Traditions would release, ostensibly (though not exclusively) for the hardcore devotees, a set of CDs assembling virtually all of the remainder of Sarah's recorded repertoire "left over from the new Topic selection". Additionally, a significant number of recordings had only just been discovered (those made by Diane Hamilton in the mid-50s) or made available (some "family recordings" to which Sarah's great-granddaughter Stephanie had recently granted access).

In the event, the Musical Traditions set (usefully entitled As I Roved Out) appeared first; it eventually ran to three discs, containing 66 songs, or fragments of songs, sung by Sarah herself and five sung by her cousin Annie Jane Kelly, and, with no duplication of actual recordings involved, has proved entirely complementary to the Topic issue reviewed here, which certainly fits the bill in qualifying as a "best of Sarah Makem" disc.

The 17-track Topic package gives us a generous 69 minutes of music and a booklet containing a fine biography by Reg Hall and Rod Stradling's own informative song notes and full texts. The recordings all sound very good indeed, and although inevitably the earliest of them (Peter Kennedy's, from 1952) may betray their age just a little, the sense of presence is tangible. The disc's other recordings date from 1955,1956 and 1967, and have been commendably clearly transferred. If you're coming new to Sarah's singing, then her matchless, genuinely emotional renditions of traditional songs - together with a handful of American ones too - are sure to haunt you.

Picking out just a few of the highlights of this selection: sample first It Was In The Month Of January, The Factory Girl, The Butcher Boy, Barbara Allen and - for me possibly the most satisfying - The Banks Of Red Roses. Interestingly, the latter song is the only one not to have appeared in any form on the Musical Traditions issue, since this 1967 performance seems to have been the only occasion on which she was captured on tape singing the song.

This Topic disc is likely to be regarded as every bit as invaluable, important and influential as its earlier (1968) counterpart, and it is surely ideally titled, for sincerity oozes from every fibre of Sarah's being, whatever she's choosing to sing; the heart is true indeed.

David Kidman