Review: Ralph McTell, Gulbenkian Theatre, Canterbury, Tuesday, November 1

by Keith Hunt

The mutton chop sideburns have long gone and the once lustrous hairline has thinned and receded somewhat, but at the age of 66, Ralph McTell shows no signs of hanging up his beloved guitars.

In customary fashion, the evergreen singer-songwriter walked casually onto the stage for a return to Canterbury's Gulbenkian Theatre in his trademark denims and polo shirt for another understated master class.

It is always easy to forget that it is just one man, a unique nasal twang, two guitars and a couple of mouth organs taking us through a musical and often whimsical journey of a career that has spanned around four decades.

Although he is best known for one truly iconic song, the one time busker has a treasure chest of a back catalogue to draw on. Many of his songs are inspired by personal experiences and often the simple pleasures in life, such as growing vegetables on an allotment.

Among those paraded for a largely older audience's pleasure were the ecological song he didn't realise he had, First And Last Man, and When Maddie Dances, inspired by seeing the ethereal moves of Steeleye Span's Maddie Prior during a Top of the Pops appearance.

He never tires of paying homage to heroes such as Woody Guthrie, Blind Arthur Blake and Bob Dylan and delights in reworking their music. His complex blues guitar picking is always a highlight - not bad for a man who learnt to play by ear.

McTell is avuncular and modest and a skilled teller of stories in between songs. One he didn't tell was the time he saw a busker on the Underground singing Streets of London and says he wasn't sure whether to congratulate him or take 10 per cent.

He slipped the 1974 classic, which continues to be relevant in more modern times, into the middle of his act without prompting and a restrained audience only needed a little urging to join in the familiar chorus.

The Kent-born and Croydon raised performer joked that he usually trotted out a medley of his greatest hit at the end of his act.

The show was 90 minutes or so of pure entertainment with no interval. There were many of his gentle and charming songs such as Let Me Down Easy, From Clare to Here, Maginot Waltz and Hesitation Blues I would have liked reprised, but there was too little time and he was only entertaining written requests.

The Ghost of Robert Johnson and The Girl on the Jersey Ferry from his latest album Somewhere Down The Road more than made up for it. The title track proved a fitting encore with a sentiment we could all relate to.