VARIoUS ARTISTS When The day Is done: The orchestrations of Robert kirby
8/10 Early-’70s British pastoralism, exquisitely orchestrated by Nick Drake’s closest collaborator
THE string section has a bad rep among rock and jazz purists – an indicator of unearned sentiment, a byword for the maudlin and the schmaltzy. It’s difficult to aim those accusations at Robert Kirby (1948-2009), whose orchestrations and productions seem to trace a particular strain of pastoral, folk-inspired British music of the early ’70s. This was a period when folk music was moving out from the suffocating fidelity of revivalism and reaching out to jazz, world music and the avant-garde.
Kirby’s career as an arranger got an auspicious start when his Cambridge University pal Nick Drake requested that he write the string charts for most of his debut album, Five Leaves Left. Nothing on that album is included on this overview of Kirby’s impressive oeuvre, compiled by crate-digger Bob Stanley, but many of the 20 tracks here might be familiar to Uncut readers: in particular the autumnal orchestrations that introduce Nick Drake’s Bryter Later, the woozy Bollywood strings on Richard & Linda Thompson’s “First Light”, the quartet of recorders that accompany Vashti Bunyan’s delightfully dippy “Rainbow River”, or the dramatic Hollywood strings of John Cale’s “I Keep A Close Watch”. These aren’t the usual ‘sweeteners’ that characterise most string arrangements on pop tracks; these are elaborate countermelodies that seem to comment on the narrative of each song; emotive soundtracks that have their roots in the bucolic English meditations of Elgar and Vaughan Williams.
Other choices on this album are more obscure, but will probably have you seeking out the original albums. Check out the heart-tugging oboe on Shelagh McDonald’s “Ophelia’s Song”; the antique orchestrations that complement the story of ageing on Tim Hart and Maddy Pryor’s “Dancing At Whitsun”; the stark contrast between the rudimentary guitarplucking and the shimmering strings on Steve Ashley’s “Follow On”.
Kirby wasn’t just the strings guy, however; as producer and arranger, his sonic textures could completely transform a song. Sandy Denny’s version of the old country standard “Silver Threads And Golden Needles” – made famous by the likes of Wanda Jackson, Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt – becomes a thoroughly English waltz thanks to Kirby’s colliery brass band arrangement, while his production on “Love Is A Funny Thing” by Canterbury scenesters Spirogyra (fronted by a pure-voiced Barbara Gaskin) features an intriguing baroque flute arrangement. Best of all is the backing on “Friend To Me” by Aussie singer-songwriter Gary Shearston, a delightful riot of tumbling autoharps, zithers and slack-key guitars.
While his heyday was the 1970–78 period documented here, Kirby continued to work until his death in 2009, contributing to albums by the likes of Elvis Costello, Paul Weller, Teddy Thompson and The Magic Numbers. There is still much more to explore in his 1970s canon, however – from Elton John to the Strawbs – that should keep new converts to his work very busy.