Eddi Reader pays tribute to and celebrates the life and work of Robert Burns on her latest CD, Eddi Reader Sings the Songs of Robert Burns. Fellow Scotsman Dougie MacLean undertook a similar project several years ago on his beautiful album Tribute, but while MacLean performed songs by three classic Scottish songwriters including Burns, Reader sings only Burns, who was born in 1759 and is commonly known as the "Bard of Scotland." On her website, Reader says she "has discovered in Burns something she believes has been overlooked in the approach to his work, and she believes that her interpretations of his poetry will reach more ears than have previously heard him."

This is Reader's seventh studio album since leaving Fairground Attraction, with whom she first gained notoriety in the 1980s. Throughout her solo career, Reader has perfected a no-nonsense style of folk-pop, collaborating with other like-minded British singer-songwriters, working most often of late with Boo Hewerdine. Hewerdine and John McCusker of the Battlefield Band served as co-musical directors for this project and were joined in the studio by a host of accomplished musicians including Phil Cunningham of Silly Wizard (also known for his excellent recordings with Aly Bain), Ian Carr (who's worked with McCusker and Kate Rusby, who also appears here on harmony vocals), Ewan Vernal (who's worked with Deacon Blue and more recently Capercaillie) and Roy Dodds (who has worked with Reader for her entire career). This ensemble is augmented with strings from the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, conducted by Kevin McCrae.

The arrangements were done with the utmost care by Reader either alone or in collaboration with the other players, depending on the song. Musically, Burns' songs have a simplistic sort of sing-song quality to them, but the lyrics as poetry have withstood the test of time and have become classics of the culture and history of Scotland. Other than "Auld Lang Syne," on which Reader takes more liberties with the melody than you might expect, most of the material is less familiar, except perhaps to Scots and Burns aficionados. Reader's interpretation of "Ae Fond Kiss" was originally recorded with Fairground Attraction and she's been performing it ever since.

The booklet that accompanies the CD includes a description by Reader of each song. The information she provides is excellent, but to fully understand the magnitude of her appreciation of Burns, you really have to hear her tell it on one of the authorized bootleg live CDs. These are not really bootlegs; they are proper releases, sold through normal retail channels and also through the websites of both the artist and record company. After the release of the Burns CD, Reader did a tour of the U.K. to play this material along with some favorites from her career. Four of the shows were recorded directly from soundboard to minidisc, as described on the jacket "warts and all." These recordings all have excellent sound, and each contains the entire concert start to finish on two CDs with nothing edited out.

In concert, the instrumentation is somewhat simpler than on the studio recording, with no strings, but the arrangements have all the same love and care that went into the studio versions, perhaps with a slightly more direct and visceral feel in live performance. What makes these recordings an essential companion to the studio CD is the verbal descriptions that Reader gives the Burns songs. When she explains her decision to learn more about Burns than is normally taught in school, and when she tells the many anecdotes and legends of Burns and his extraordinary life, the entire project literally comes alive as she brings you along for her joyous ride of discovery and appreciation, no less than if you were right there in the audience for these shows. The extended raps about Burns allow Reader's warm Scottish personality to shine through like never before on record. Another plus is that Hewerdine gets to sing one of his own songs in each show, demonstrating why he is one of our most gifted and most under-appreciated singer-songwriters.

For the record, over the course of the four live shows, she sang 28 different songs, only 10 of which appear on all four sets. Each show has one or more songs unique to that show, and while the descriptions by Reader are somewhat similar from show to show, there are many differences. I would suggest that the casual listener needs at least one of the live albums as an essential companion to the studio album. For the collector, completist or serious fan, all four live albums are well worth buying.

Interestingly and ironically, Reader pays the ultimate tribute to Burns by including a song not written by him on her Burns album, and this song is also a highlight of all four live shows. Written by John Richard Douglas, a member of the Trash Can Sinatras, "Wild Mountainside" has perhaps the most beautiful melody on the record and lyrics that are themselves a tribute to the poetry of Burns. In the CD booklet, Reader explains, "I wanted to include this song because I wanted to show how poetry is alive and well in Burns country. Through the centuries it still breathes its way out of the sons and daughters of the west coast of Scotland. Also, it is a homecoming song. I found an appreciation of Burns along with my way home to Scotland."

Listen to these fine recordings and you will, too.

- Rambles
written by William Kates
published 19 June 2004

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