Review “Sea Fever” John Roberts
No not THAT John Roberts…THIS John Roberts 
This is a review that appeared in Tykes’ News back in 2007. I just had a re-listen to this CD recently. It’s certainly a collection that is just as enjoyable on the tenth listen as on the first.
The first thing you hear are the tones of an Anglo concertina, conjuring an image of a misty dock and a crusty old sailor biding his time. Then Lisa Preston’s lovely harp enters and floats along to John Roberts’ distinctive voice:
“I must go down to the sea again,
To the lonely sea and sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by”
John Roberts’ first solo recording, “Sea Fever” is underway, and I can’t think of another maritime music CD in the last few years that I have enjoyed more.
There is something for everybody on this recording. From traditional favourites such as an excellent version of the ballad “Sir Patrick Spens” with concertina and harp, the old favourite “Bonny Ship the Diamond” featuring John’s characteristic banjo style, and the jaunty unaccompanied shanghai tale, “Campañero”. At first, one wonders at “Spens” with concertina, but Roberts certainly makes this one his own. There are also some marvelous songs such as “Diego’s Bold Shore”, “The Black Cook” and “Candlelight Fisherman” that you may not hear at your preferred maritime festival. “The Boatman’s Cure”, composed by John’s friend and neighbor George Ward, gives an all-together complete picture of life on an 18th century “bateau”, a boat used on the Mohawk River in north-central New York. When listening to this song, one can almost feel the bite of the black fly, the misery of the ague, or the loneliness of missing “sweet Annie of Schenectady”. Many of us who have heard John perform this song over the last few years are delighted that he included it on “Sea Fever”. Listeners will also be familiar with “The Old Figurehead Carver” but hearing John’s version is like hearing the song for the first time, re-discovering the beauty of Hiram Cody’s poetry and Dick Swain’s tune.
This is a recording that flows smoothly as each song appears to build on it’s predecessor. “Sea Fever” begins with the title track, a poem by John Masefield set to a beautiful tune by Andy Taylor. It reaches a wonderful crescendo with the two chanteys “Bullgine Run” and “Hog Eye Man” combined with the fiddle tune “Sally In the Garden”. “Sea Fever” then brings us to a wistful conclusion with Gina Dunlap’s “What Fortunes Guide a Sailor”, streaming into the capstan shanty “Leave Her Johnny”. John Roberts knows this music intimately and presents it brilliantly. His career spans almost 40 years of performing and is probably best known for his work with long-time musical partner and fellow British ex-pat Tony Barrand as the duo “Roberts and Barrand”. Tykes’ readers may also recall John’s excellent version of “The Plymouth Mail” on the 2004 Free Reed Box Set of “The Transports”.
In addition to Preston, Roberts has enlisted the aid of Mary Lea on violin and viola, and Ray Wall on whistle. “Sea Fever” is one of those rare recordings that gives the impression that John and his talented musicians are in the room with you giving a live concert.
John has said that this recording was a long time in the making, but for those of us who have been listening to John Roberts in all of his various musical incarnations over his long and distinguished career, “Sea Fever” was well worth waiting for.
