Bill Fay?!?

Woebot

Well-known member
I've been on the trail of this guy ever since i clocked that piece Rob Young wrote in The Wire on him. He's a British singer-songwriter who put out two very moody LPs in the early seventies which apparently interfaced with the improvisation of that era. I like the suggestion that improv has some bearing on his sound (even only if it means some of his musicians are hired hands from the improv scene), it seems as though it would lend proceedings some grit.

And isnt there a bit of a buzz around about him at the time anyway. That group Wilco have done a cover of one of his tracks etc. Anyway hype hype brr. So I had to laugh when i came across this on allmusic.com:

Obscure British singer/songwriter Bill Fay made a couple of albums in the early '70s that matched oblique sub-Dylanesque songwriting with unusual arrangements, though it didn't add up to anything notable. Fay had actually done his first single, "Some Good Advice"/"Screams in the Ears," for Deram back in 1967, produced by early Donovan co-manager Peter Eden. The single introduced his characteristic downbeat melodies and scrambled impressionistic lyrics, though with somewhat more pop-oriented production and melodies than those heard on his albums.

It wouldn't be until 1970 that his self-titled debut appeared. Bill Fay is an odd and not particularly good record, in large part because his songwriting has the obvious ambition of song-poets like Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen, but not nearly as much talent. His hoarse, thin singing is also obviously Dylan-influenced, but like fellow Dylan acolyte David Blue, he had the tendency to go distressingly off-key. There was a bit of the British lilting storytelling style to his songwriting, in the path of Al Stewart, Donovan, and Nick Drake, but these traits were far subordinate to the inchoate Dylanisms. Twee orchestral arrangements figure strongly on the record, as if to cover up for some of the artist's vocal deficiencies. His second LP, Time of the Last Persecution (from 1971), was similar in its songwriting, but far more straightforward and rock-oriented in its production, and more conventionally accomplished in its vocal delivery. Though still not noteworthy, it was definitely better than its predecessor, and sometimes enlivened by unexpectedly gnarly rock guitar.

So is he really any good?
 

francesco

Minerva Estassi
.... and yes again again, expecially, for my depressing taste, the bitter "Time of last persecution", which of the title track Current 93 (who put out the inedit album recently) make an heartbreacking version live.
 
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Woebot

Well-known member
picked "time of the last persecution" up on CD.

for a while I was really gnawing my fist thinking, jesus this is so banale!

however i reached "pictures of adolf" and the whole thing clicked. in its damp, paranoid way it's quietly engrossing. enjoying it is definitely about getting into fay's headspace, rather than kicking back on the tunes or the performances. you can see why its the kind of record that gets plaudits from people like David Tibet and Jim O'Rourke (who couldnt write a catchy tune, even if they wanted too).

yeah, quite cool. must have been an absolutely MINISCULE record at the time, you read in the liner notes about him approaching John Peel (clearly overawed by, gasps, a radio one DJ) and you can grasp how (appealingly) samll fay's endeavour was. i suppose this is a time when post-Beatles just about anyone could get a record deal...
 
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