Barber & Taylor ::template

Residing in Brighton and home to some sweetly played instrumentals which adds further credibility to the name of British country music, this twelve track and self penned album bar one is the fifth from Kevin Barber and Mark Taylor that keeps true to the roots of country music by singing their hearts out about topics they obviously believe so passionately in which is refreshing to say the least.

With a beautiful beginning, the harmonies used in The Climber sound like the greats of harmony and duet singing; picture Townes Van Zandt and Emmylou Harris or even Johnny Cash and June Carter and you have a fair idea of how these guys sound. Although it is not their own track, Waterloo Sunset sure is one fine cover. With a folk beat about it which has the audacity to try and upstage Ray Davies and co, their attempts of releasing their own interpretation is by no means a negative aspect as they give it their all and come out on tops as a result. Telling of a gentleman’s attempts to ask a girl to dance, the story of this in Someone To Dance With certainly has a lazy Austin feel about it which again highlights this duets talent when it comes to writing a fantastic tune. A track perfect for a Sunday morning or even if you need to feel instantly relaxed.

What talents we have right here in the UK which goes to show that you do not have to travel across the pond to see some great bands. Why would you ever do that when you have such bands as Barber and Taylor right here on your very doorstep? RH. Four stars

“Highly recommended.” Sussex Folk Diary

“……..a well recorded set of songs with, expected, high standard of musicianship, vocals and harmonies throughout.” Nick Westcott of The Lamb Folk Club, Eastbourne.

Folkwords review (www.folkwords.com)

The new album 'Five Points of Contact' from Kevin Barber and Mark Taylor is another collection of finely written, beautifully delivered and memorable songs from two accomplished composers and musicians. For those that know their music this is yet one more experience of the understanding that must exist between these two. Because unless that exists they could not write the way they do. If you’re new to their musical and vocal talents, sit back, listen and enjoy.

Their music always takes you on a series of journeys. It reflects their refusal to be categorised as it ranges far and wide as the fancy takes them. On ‘Five Points of Contact’ Barber & Taylor deliver an eclectic mix of styles from bluesy-country through Americana to folksy-bluegrass to fashion a blend of electric and acoustic excellence. They combine slide guitar, mandolin, banjo, lap resonator guitar, bass guitar and electric guitar to weave their musical magic. Listen and you’ll enjoy the fabric.

‘Railway Town’ opens and it’s a ‘working song’ telling the story of railwaymen, the hard price paid working on the railway and their eventual decline. Its poignant lyric and soaring melody takes you right there - and the guitar breaks are inspired. ‘Someone to Dance With’ is one of those songs that conjure an immediate image as it takes you into the longing, wishful world of a lonely man finding a shy dancing partner. There’s more here than the five points of contact needed for the closed-hold waltzing – an enchanting song. ‘Cried Too Long’ features some exceptional guitar work – this is a slice of Americana at its toe-tapping best. ‘Lovely Daisy’ is yet another direction - a brooding piece of English folk that hovers on the edge of haunting. There are 11 Barber & Taylor masterpieces to enjoy on ‘Five Points of Contact’ plus their sensitive version of ‘Waterloo Sunset’ by Ray Davies. Just one more example of their stunning harmonies – and if I were Mr Davies I’d be highly flattered by such a great cover.

There’s a lot to listen to here, so take the time to make a musical trip with Barber & Taylor. Tim Carroll

Fatea review ( www.fatea-records.co.uk)

Barber & Taylor delivered one of our tracks of the year in 2008 so when the new album arrived in hit the cd player with expectations high and delivered. Featuring eleven songs from within the band and a cover of "Waterloo Sunset", "Five Points Of Contact" is a real testament to the songwriters art. There are many ways of recording personal and social history, song can be amongst the most effective, particularly when the narrative is so strong, people, times and places. Sometimes it can be uncomfortable, but no less true for that. By any other name a storybook set to music.

LYRICS:

Railway Town (Barber & Taylor)

Mark was inspired to write this lyric after hearing an interview with an ex-pat living in Spain; asked whether he would ever consider returning to Britain he replied:"No, there's too many foreigners there".

Times were hard and the jobs were few,

They sailed away to join a navvy crew,

Bid their native home adieux,

Went working on the railway,

Digging holes in a mountain side,

Skin turned harder than a leather hide,

They seldom tarried and seldom cried,

A’ working on the railway,

The iron men built the railway town,

Gave blood, sweat and years to make the wheels go round,

At night a foaming glass they’d down,

In a railway town

Nineteen hundred and fifty nine,

The streets were paved with coaly grime,

The five eighteen still runs on time,

Rolling on the railway,

The iron men in their demob gear,

“No blacks or Irish allowed in here”,

A price was paid and it cost you dear,

For working on the railway,

The iron men in the railway town,

Helped put the metal in England’s crown,

Now in that foaming glass they drown,

In a railway town

Years have passed and the town still stands,

The railway fell into private hands,

Now the canny fly away to other lands,

So they can make their getaways,

But there’s dirty work and it must be done,

So the rich can have their day in the sun,

And the papers crow that we’re overrun,

By immigrants and stowaways,

So here’s a song for the railway town

For the heavy work, for the levelled ground,

Take a plate and pass it round,

In a railway town

The Price (Taylor)

This is a song about the time Mark met The Devil in Essex. I didn't know he lived there and I was born in Essex!

Down by the river in the dead of night
down where the drunkards roll
bumped into the devil by old Thames side
he said "how much for your soul, brother? How much for your soul?"

Now the devil, he's a clever lad
and he goes by a different name
wearing a Crombie or a Three-piece suit
but his tricks are much the same, brother
his tricks are much the same

He said "I've got a place on the Isle of Dogs
one near Muswell Hill
and I'm looking to replace some smart boat-race
got his hands caught in the till, brother
hands caught in the till".

Now I was nursing a broken dream
I'd been bartered and betrayed
A voice in the back of my head said "run"
but like a fool I stayed, brother
like a fool I stayed

Well I was naive and I chose to believe
I could up and walk away
But now I'm part of the plan for his devilish clan
and here in hell I'll stay, brother,
here in hell I'll stay

The devil finds work for grasping hands
and I swear that it's no lie
when the man with the money and the spiel says "jump"
we all say "how high, brother?" We all say "how high?"

Down by the river in the dead of night
down where the drunkards roll
bumped into the devil by old Thames side
he said "how much for your soul, brother? How much for your soul?"

Someone To Dance With (Barber & Taylor)

I slick back my hair, polish my shoes, knock back a soda and lime

I still believe that a man’s not a man, if he can’t waltz a woman in time

But for all my finesse, my sharp sense of dress, I was too scared to ask her to dance

The same old refrain that returns time again

While the chiffon and lace whirl away in a tide of romance

So play us a few of those Al Bowley songs

We’ve pennies from heaven to spend

And I’ll take the lead just for once in my life

And all of my life is just what I’m wanting to give

For someone to dance with

INST

So play us a few of those Al Bowley songs

We’ve pennies from heaven to spend

And I’ll take the lead just for once in my life

And all of my life is just what I’m willing to give

For someone to dance with

Now I don’t care a damn, for that grubby old sham that people call modern desire

I still believe in the old fashioned way that love is a kindling fire

And your beauty it seems is the stuff of my dreams so it’s now or never no more

I ask you to dance and you just shyly smile

And with five points of contact we boldly step out to the floor

So play us a few of those Al Bowley songs

We’ve pennies from heaven to spend

And I’ll take the lead just for once in my life

And all of my life is just what I’m ready to give

For someone to dance with

The Dangerous Game (Barber & Taylor)

This is a duet written by Mark and I concerning two brothers who find themselves on opposing sides in a civil war. We wrote this with The English Civil War in mind but people have spoken to us about being put in mind of The American Civil War or TheWar of Independence. One young Irish woman said she had pictured it set in Ireland. One of the great things about music is that it sometimes speaks to us in a very personal way.

Down the rocky road runs the rebel

This agent of the devil

This mockery of a man

I am sent by king and crown to follow

The traitor base and hollow

And kill him if I can

And I have left my darlings

And the one I call my dear

I have learned his methods and his name

The rules of our engagement not for gentlemen I fear

A ribbon for the players of the dangerous game

You say I keep the company of liars

Of those who do conspire

The ruin of this land

But I have taken orders issued higher

Its God’s will and desire

I enact with bloody hand

And I have left my darlings

And the one I call my dear

To rid this land of tyranny of shame

The rules of our engagement not for gentlemen I fear

A ribbon for the players of the dangerous game

In our childhood we would play together

My brother vexed me never

Fraternity prevailed

What hand of fate has cast us now asunder

As mortal foes who hunger

For hate to fill our sails

And you who follow orders

To kill for some idea

For politics or God it’s much the same

The rules of this arrangement not for gentlemen I fear

A rosary for the players of the dangerous game

Cried Too Long (Barber)

My baby, well, she looked at me one morning

She told me that I was the only one

She asked me if I had to live without her

Would I cry and baby for how long

I told her that she’d done some things to hurt me

And some of them had made me cry before

But if she ever left me for another

Baby I would cry a whole lot more

The next day, well, my baby packed her suitcase

She said that she was leaving me that day

She told me she was sorry that she hurt me

And nothing I could do would make her stay

I asked her if she’d found another lover

And swore that I would never treat her wrong

But all she did was walk right out that door and

Baby I was crying all night long

The next day I was walking and I saw her

She came down the road and spoke to me

Another man was walking there beside her

Standing in the place I ought to be

She asked me if I’d learned to live without her

And did I sit and cry the whole night long

I said Baby it’s been three days since you left me

And already I’ve been crying too long

Dearest Jane (Taylor)

Dearest Jane, your hair flame red

Please find this note upon the unmade bed

It tells a tale of fierce desires

Of what can happen when you stray close to the fires

Oh the fires, that I know will always burn

The very stuff within you, until I return

Oh dearest Jane, I’ll be coming back again

Harvest moon, deals go down

Meeting Jane on the dark edge of town

My heart beats hard, I stroke her thigh

She says she’ll love me until the day I die

And when I die, they’ll stop the clocks and trains

My soul like Houdini will slip off its chains

Oh dearest Jane, I’ll be coming back again

How could I know, how could I guess

I thought that I was the one you loved the best

After hours, plans were made

With some pretender who carries a blade

And that blade, cold tarnished steel,

I met it like Cesar, my fate it did seal

But oh dearest Jane, I’ll be coming back again

In this room you make your love

You could swear someone was watching from above

Hold your breath, still his hand

You’ve built your towers upon shifting sand

Shifting sand, and he will never guess

If it’s a sigh or a scream that you’re trying to suppress

Coz oh, dearest Jane, I’m coming back again

Dearest Jane, your hair flame red

Please find this letter upon the unmade bed

Broken Flower (Barber & Taylor)

My father sent me home a broken flower

He said he found it on some distant road

He put it in a letter and he told us

Keep that flower safe till I come home

We kept that flower pressed between some pages

And put it safe inside my mother’s drawer

The colour in the petals started fading

We waited for my father to return

A noche yo canto mis versos en el silencio

Al alba la esperanza se hace en una flor

Then one day the waiting it was over

My father standing safe inside our door

We asked him why he sent that broken flower

I’d never seen my father cry before

He told us of a country full of flowers

That spread across the fields in red and gold

But when he left it wasn’t just the flowers

That lay with broken stems upon the road

A noche yo canto mis versos en el silencio

Al alba la esperanza se hace en una flor

Now in his dreams my father calls to people

Who work in fields where flowers grow no more

He tells them that he saved a broken flower

He keeps it safe inside my mother’s drawer

A noche yo canto mis versos en el silencio

Al alba la esperanza se hace en una flor

Lovely Daisy (Taylor & Bennett)

Nobles, princes, ride at dawn
paupers, skivvies, John Barleycorn
say they will not tire nor tarry
till they bring you home to marry

But the woods are haunted, the path is steep
their strength grows shallow, in the water deep
hearts that falter, hearts that fail
cursed like Jonah in his whale

Oh, lovely Daisy
Oh, lovely Daisy
I'm borne on the wings of desire
lovely Daisy I'm on fire

Naves and harlots, sell their wares
trappers, poachers, set their snares
souls that cringe and souls that cower
feet that trample on your flower

Oh, lovely Daisy
Oh, lovely Daisy
I'm torn by the passions in me
lovely Daisy set me free

Now the huntsmen, blow their horns
the bramble brier, and the bloody thorn
knights of England test their mettle
danger stalks for stem and petal

Oh, lovely Daisy
Oh, lovely Daisy
I'm drawn to the end of the line
lovely Daisy will be mine

The Climber (Barber & Taylor)

High above the rooftops, the cars and the people

High as the falcons that clamour around

I am a climber, a jack of all steeples

Give me your hand, try not to look down

And if I’m being honest, there’s not much that’s better

A fingertip from falling, the sky not as far as it seems

When I was a schoolboy, the teacher said sonny

Climbing’s for monkeys, now don’t you forget

And I think of that sometimes when I’m near to the summit

Closer to heaven than most people get

And if I’m being honest, there’s not much that’s better

A fingertip from falling, the sky not as far as it seems

High above the rooftops, the cars and the people

High as the falcons that clamour around

I am a climber, a jack of all steeples

If we fall, we fall together, try not to look down

Victim of Desire (Barber)

Everyone could see, by the way she looked at me

That her love was all I’d ever need

Always by my side, through the good times and the bad

She gave everything to me

But sometimes things they have a way of turning

And stop the fires burning

Before you both can tell

But don’t blame me

For I can’t bear the burden

It was written, it was certain

That I would be a victim of desire

Faces in the crowd, well they turned my head around

You know beauty has a way to cut you down

No mercy was I shown by the one who stole the throne

She made me a slave before I knew

And by the time I wanted her to free me

Everyone could see me

The fool I had become

But don’t judge me now

Until you’ve heard my story

I cannot be guilty

For I was just a victim of desire

Time can make us fools, when we try to break the rules

All we leave is a trail of broken dreams

And I know I’m not alone, when all regrets are known

In wanting to go back and try again

But it’s too late when no-one’s there to listen

We can’t be forgiven

If all the rooms are bare

To be the one who’s standing all alone now

When others should be shown how

I was made a victim of desire

Lay Me Down (Barber)

There will come a time when I will journey

Far away from all the things I know

All my friends and loved ones they will wonder

Why I had to go

When that time it comes will I be ready

And will my journey lead me to a place

Where all my troubles they’ll be gone forever

And I will be at peace

Will they lay me down beside a river

Or lift me up above the mountains high

Or leave me laying down there in the valley

On the day I die

INST

Some people they believe that they will journey

To a place with no more suffering and pain

And the loved ones who have travelled there before them

Will meet them at the end

Will they lay me down beside a river

Or lift me up above the mountains high

Or leave me laying down there in the valley

On the day I die

But you can lay me down beside a river

That’s the only place I want to be

Or leave me laying down there in the valley

That’s good enough for me

Yes leave me laying in that peaceful valley

That’s where I want to be

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