Album: Penguin Eggs
Artist: Nic Jones
Born: Orpington, Kent
Released: June 1980
Genre: Folk
Influenced: Bob Dylan, Marianne Faithfull, Kate Rusby, Seth Lakeman, White Stripes
This record is for true lovers of the acoustic guitar. Nic Jones was part of Britain's thriving folk circuit and an active session musician for the likes of Richard Thompson when he released his fifth and final studio album, Penguin Eggs, in summer 1980. By this time, folk was no longer in tune with wider public taste, the genre's brief moment in the sun a distant memory in post-punk Britain, making the album a real anomaly in music history. Though both Melody Maker and fRoots magazines voted it the best folk album of 1980, Penguin Eggs only received the wider acclaim it deserved much later. The terrible car accident that cut short Nic Jones' recording career in 1982 meant that he was unable to build on the album's critical success, though in recent years a BBC4 documentary (see trailer below) and other media plaudits have ensured the album's continued rise in stature. Watching that film, the Enigma of Nic Jones, was a real eye-opener for me and a moving account of one of Britain's least celebrated musicians. He was a unique talent and, like the best folk guitarists, Jones drew on influences from other musical genres (he was from a generation inspired by Hank Marvin) that helped him expand the boundaries of traditional folk. According to Jones, his next album (had the crash not happened) would have been the first to fuse folk and reggae. His talent was curtailed just as it was about to take flight.
Many of those discovering Penguin Eggs for the first time don’t even consider it a folk album, likely because of Jones' virtuoso singing and playing style, which brings the music closer to rock than the more academic wing of traditional folk. However, the themes definitely explore familiar folk territory of sea and adventure, with reference to maritime history, whaling and the New World. Album opener Canadee-I-O is an undisputed highlight, the guitar sound so languid and the singing so expressive, as Jones recounts an old English old folk tale of a young girl that falls in love with a sailor and stows away to Canada. Jones' version of this traditional ballad has resonated with Bob Dylan (who covered it on his 28th album, 1992's Good As I Been To You, only his second solo acoustic album since Another Side of Bob Dylan) and the White Stripes. Drowned Lovers is Jones' version of Clyde Water, a Scots ballad about children following their parent's counsel, while The Humpback Whale is a mesmerisingly brilliant whaling song. The Little Pot Stove is another cover of a Harry Robertson arrangement, full of the warmth of humanity, especially its rousing chorus, as the story details what life was like on a whaling station in the southern Atlantic. Courting Is A Pleasure (also known as Handsome Molly) is a lovely Irish ballad, while Barrack Street is a brilliant English sea shanty. After the stunning playing on instrumental Planxty Davis, Jones closes the albums with two folk gems; the evocative Flandyke Shore, a truncated version of a mysterious English ballad, and Farewell To The Gold, a heartbreaking tale of tragedy that evokes one of the most beautiful landscapes on Earth (west coast of New Zealand's south island). “I wanted to make a good record so Topic would let me make another one,” Jones said at the time. “I tried to find good songs that fitted the LP. I didn’t want to sing another version of Barbara Allen, so I went out to look for songs that were unknown and more interesting.”
This record is for true lovers of the acoustic guitar. Nic Jones was part of Britain's thriving folk circuit and an active session musician for the likes of Richard Thompson when he released his fifth and final studio album, Penguin Eggs, in summer 1980. By this time, folk was no longer in tune with wider public taste, the genre's brief moment in the sun a distant memory in post-punk Britain, making the album a real anomaly in music history. Though both Melody Maker and fRoots magazines voted it the best folk album of 1980, Penguin Eggs only received the wider acclaim it deserved much later. The terrible car accident that cut short Nic Jones' recording career in 1982 meant that he was unable to build on the album's critical success, though in recent years a BBC4 documentary (see trailer below) and other media plaudits have ensured the album's continued rise in stature. Watching that film, the Enigma of Nic Jones, was a real eye-opener for me and a moving account of one of Britain's least celebrated musicians. He was a unique talent and, like the best folk guitarists, Jones drew on influences from other musical genres (he was from a generation inspired by Hank Marvin) that helped him expand the boundaries of traditional folk. According to Jones, his next album (had the crash not happened) would have been the first to fuse folk and reggae. His talent was curtailed just as it was about to take flight.
Many of those discovering Penguin Eggs for the first time don’t even consider it a folk album, likely because of Jones' virtuoso singing and playing style, which brings the music closer to rock than the more academic wing of traditional folk. However, the themes definitely explore familiar folk territory of sea and adventure, with reference to maritime history, whaling and the New World. Album opener Canadee-I-O is an undisputed highlight, the guitar sound so languid and the singing so expressive, as Jones recounts an old English old folk tale of a young girl that falls in love with a sailor and stows away to Canada. Jones' version of this traditional ballad has resonated with Bob Dylan (who covered it on his 28th album, 1992's Good As I Been To You, only his second solo acoustic album since Another Side of Bob Dylan) and the White Stripes. Drowned Lovers is Jones' version of Clyde Water, a Scots ballad about children following their parent's counsel, while The Humpback Whale is a mesmerisingly brilliant whaling song. The Little Pot Stove is another cover of a Harry Robertson arrangement, full of the warmth of humanity, especially its rousing chorus, as the story details what life was like on a whaling station in the southern Atlantic. Courting Is A Pleasure (also known as Handsome Molly) is a lovely Irish ballad, while Barrack Street is a brilliant English sea shanty. After the stunning playing on instrumental Planxty Davis, Jones closes the albums with two folk gems; the evocative Flandyke Shore, a truncated version of a mysterious English ballad, and Farewell To The Gold, a heartbreaking tale of tragedy that evokes one of the most beautiful landscapes on Earth (west coast of New Zealand's south island). “I wanted to make a good record so Topic would let me make another one,” Jones said at the time. “I tried to find good songs that fitted the LP. I didn’t want to sing another version of Barbara Allen, so I went out to look for songs that were unknown and more interesting.”
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