OLIVER BOOTLE "Oliver Bootle" P.D.C.S. PDCSCD 003
I sang at Tenterden Folk Day last October and there heard Oliver working with fellow Young Tradition Award finalist, Ben Dauncey. Very impressive.
Both young men could handle their instruments (Bootle, fiddle and Dauncey, melodeon) but Bootle's singing marked him out. He has a strong, resonant voice and isn't scared to use it. The edgy tone, at times, reminds me of Barry Dransfield, an early mentor, while the forthright, throw-it-all-out delivery has echoes of Bob Davenport.
But, he's not an imitator; his individuality shines all through an uncompromisingly traditional set, mostly self-accompanied, fiddle on the chest style, some with Dauncey, others with Pauline Scott (piano) and Charlie Gask (bodhran). Ben Dauncey's didgeridoo makes a suitably eerie backing to the spooky tale of the Two Sisters.
At Tenterden, I felt I was listening to a potential major talent. This cracker of a debut album convinces me I was right.
(Roy Harris, Taplas, No. 81, April/May '97)
Having thoroughly enjoyed Oliver at Bromyard, I welcomed this CD with some pleasure. He is a singer accompanying himself on fiddle who has recently emerged from the Young Tradition Awards. He is joined here by normal partner Ben Dauncey (melodeon) and various other musaians. The songs read like a typical play list for a 60s traditional album: The Golden Vanity; The Bonny Light Horseman; The Card Song; Son Come Tell It Unto Me; Robin Hood & the Peddlar; Greenland Whale Fisheries; Drink Old Enghmd Dry; Two Sisters; Willow Day; Two Ravens; Bushes and Briars; Old Leather Bottle. There's one tune track to give the fiddle a fling: Packie Bryne's March/ The Hunter's House Reel. Oliver has the authentic 'stand up and sing it' style of the source singers and I've always favoured the fiddle for voice accompaniment. With the revival passing into the hands of performers of this calibre, we can be sure it is safe. This is a must for lovers of English folk song.
(Folkwrite, No. 63, April/May/June '97)
OLIVER BOOTLE was a l995 Young Tradition finalist and practically everything on his debut, self-titled solo album suggests that the UK's folk tradition is in safe hands. Performing almost exclusively English folk songs and accompanying himself on fiddle he excels within the traditional medium, and although his voice lacks the subtle nuances of the masters of traditional song, he attacks everything with no little passion and vigour. An opening salvo that should easily affirm his position as one of the young folk tradition's rising stars.
(Rock 'n' Reel, No. 28, Spring '97)
A 1995 Young Tradition Award finalist, Bootle is a singer and fiddler who gets off to a blazing start on Golden Vanity (featuring Britain's customary treatment of its war heroes). The fast-paced stuff is great throughout the record, driving fiddle and rough vocal edges intact, finishing in good form with a rousing Old Leathern Bottle. The (entirely beneficial) Dransfield influence is both credited and clear. I found him less appealing on such as Bonnie Light Horseman, Bushes And Briars and a Lord Randall variant because he falls on the wrong side of the divide between 'slow but gripping' and just plain 'slow'. Willow Day is a about halfway out of the metaphorical treacle while Two Sisters, although not quick, succeeds admirably on the back of some tense riffing.
(Nick Beale, Folk Roots, July '97)
The third offering from Paul Dengate's label is Oliver's debut. It sees him gradually emerging from the shadow of his teacher, Barry Dransfield, and developing his own way of singing traditional English songs to his own fiddle accompaniment. He brings a young performer's freshness to the likes of "The Golden Vanity", "Greenland Whale Fisheries" and "Bushes And Briars".
We are lucky to have Oliver living and performing in Sussex and he and his beautifully recorded and produced album deserve every success.
(Vic Smith - The Folk Diary, No. 164, April/May '97)
The recording, titled 'Oliver Bootle' is the third release on Paul Dengate's rapidly emerging PDCS label. Oliver's style of singing and playing is clearly influenced by local fiddle guru Barry Dransfield, who helped and inspired him, but contains enough of his own style to avoid accusations of imitation. Nearly all the material is traditional with Oliver dusting off seldom heard gems like 'The Golden Vanity', 'Bushes and Briars' and 'Old Leathern Bottle'. The rousing 'Drink Old England Dry' tells of an anticipated invasion by the French - the reason Martello towers were built along our coast. Arrangements are lacking in frills and deliberately understated, allowing the fiddle playing and vocals to speak for themselves. Slowing down 'The Bonnie Light Horseman' - a woman's lament for a Napoleonic soldier - imbues it with an almost spine-tingling quality. Oliver's old partner in crime Ben Dauncy adds fine melodeon playing to three tracks and plays didgeridoo on 'Two Sisters'. The whole package is given greater depth and intensity by the high quality of the sound recording, engineered by Paul Dengate, who previously did a fine job on Barry Dransfield's CD. This is a back-to-basics backlash against over-wrought folk-rock and Celtic fusion projects and is essentially flawless in every department. It also bears testament to the enduring quality of some of our traditional songs, that have been sung by generations of singers - an often overlooked part of our national heritage.
(Andy Hemsley - Hastings & St Leonards Observer, 14th Feb '97)