THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
907) Ralph McTell — “Daddy’s Here”
From the “Streets of London” comes a stunning and poignant from the first note song from McTell’s second album (Spiral Staircase). The autobiographical folk song “expresses well [a] child’s anxiety that accompanies the increasingly rare visits of his [absentee] father”. By the way, I reserve the right to play “Streets of London” sometime in the future, at least the Spiral Staircase version. So sue me!
Paul Jenkins delves into “Daddy’s Here”:
McTell faced a difficult childhood. His father walked out on his family when Ralph was only three. . . . [and] reappeared periodically, but his last visit came in 1951. On that occasion young Ralph interrupted his parents’ row and “burst out with a string of invective that stopped both my parents in their tracks” . . . . “Why don’t you go away and leave us alone?” he recalls shouting at him. . . . McTell admits that “most of my songwriting is autobiographical” . . . . It’s only natural, then, that many of McTell’s songs should concern fathers and fatherhood. His earliest song to touch on the topic is “Daddy’s Here”, from the 1968 Spiral Staircase album. Told in the first person and played in a slow, wistful way, the song expresses well the child’s anxiety that accompanies the increasingly rare visits of his father. Touchingly, the child’s first thought is for the effect the visit will have on his mother . . . . The child appreciates the effect his father’s desertion has had on his mother . . . . Such compassion is a McTell trademark. On the other hand . . . the . . . mother leaves the boy and his brother alone in order to speak in private with her husband, prompting the boy’s agonizing question: “How could we know you’d only took a walk/To a neighbour’s for a quiet talk?” . . . Mirroring the boy’s anxiety are the dying sunshine he sees “flickering on a grey wall”, and the growling dog he hears in the hall. The anxious children are reduced to “playing guessing games”, wondering what the latest twist in the plot of their lives will be. . . . To ease their fears, the boy and his brother tell each other stories. Soon enough, however, order is restored to their lives. The everyday, comforting details of “radio, celery, and Sunday tea” signal a return to normalcy. Life is better without the interloping father, and somehow the boy knows that he will no longer bother them.
Fortunately, a surrogate father appeared in McTell’s life. The caring actions of this kind man are described in “Mr. Connaughton”, from the 1987 album, Bridge of Sighs. The Irishman who lived above the McTell family for a time helped the boy experience many of the normal father-son activities he would otherwise have missed: building a soapbox cart, and fixing up a motorbike. Even more important, though, was the daily emotional presence of a man who realized how much the boy needed him . . . .
http://www.ralph-mctell.co.uk/essay.html
Mark Deming delves into Ralph McTell:
Best remembered for writing the classic and much-covered song “Streets of London,” Ralph McTell is one of the most enduring figures on the British folk scene. A talented guitarist and songwriter who also possesses a strong and expressive voice, McTell has enjoyed a long and successful career in the U.K . . . [but] he’s only attracted a cult following in the United States . . . . Early efforts such as Spiral Staircase . . . were the foundation of [his] reputation with his often witty and just as frequently poignant songwriting and warm, rich vocals. . . . [I]n the ’80s he scored unexpected success composing music for children’s television . . . .
McTell was born Ralph May in Farnborough, Kent, England . . . . Ralph’s father Frank McTell . . . abandoned the family in 1947, and Winifred McTell raised her sons . . . on her own in the South London town of Croydon. Frank showed an interest in music at an early age, and when he was seven, his uncle gave him a harmonica and he learned to play. When the skiffle boom hit the U.K., Ralph bought a used ukulele and . . Zz quickly taught himself to play and formed a band. . . . [When he] had grown tired of school he] signed up for the Junior Leaders Battalion of The Queen’s Surrey Regiment. Military life proved even worse than education, and after six months he was discharged and he enrolled in college, studying art. . . . McTell immersed himself in beat literature and American folk, jazz, and blues music. . . . [H]e took his cues from Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Robert Johnson, and Blind Willie McTell, taking his new stage name from the latter. . . . [H]e he took off to travel along the south coast of England and the rest of Europe, where he made his way around hitchhiking and busking. . . . [He] tried out a conventional career as a teacher but continued playing folk clubs around London. He began a long tenure at Les Cousins in the Soho section of the city and there he began to make a name for himself. A music publisher was impressed by McTell’s early songs and secured a recording deal for him. His first album, 8 Frames a Second, was released . . . in 1968; Capitol Records issued it in North America, to little response. . . . McTell began attracting a large audience as a live act, mixing vintage blues and original material in his sets. In 1969, McTell issued his second album, Spiral Staircase (which featured his first recording of “Streets of London”), with the third, My Side of Your Window, following several months later. . . . [I]n December [1969 he] was headlining his first major London concert. . . . [and i]n May 1970[ he] sold out the Royal Festival Hall and was booked to play the Isle of Wight Festival . . . .
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/ralph-mctell-mn0000863774/biography
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