Sounds Like West Cornwall in Melody Maker

Journalist, pop obsessive & all-round good egg Richard Morton Jack recently forwarded me a review of Sentinel's debut release, which he stumbled upon in his Melody Maker archives recently. This review appeared in the October 3rd 1970 edition of the paper, and Richard tells me that the Melody Maker's coverage of the Cornish folk scene was fairly widespread in the late 60s/early 70s, so hopefully we can expect more from his collection in the future. Please?! Either way, thanks very much for this snippet; how delightful it is to see my Uncle Douglas mentioned not once but twice in its text! Richard's excellent blog can be found here: http://galacticramble.blogspot.com/

This also seems as good a place as any to reproduce some of the sleeve notes (since the music isn't much to my taste) from "Christmas In Cornwall" by the Climax Choir (SENS 1010). These notes are, for me, as pure a statement of a label's intent as "the greatest recording organisation in the world" or "it was easy, it was cheap, go and do it".

"We at Sentinel are endeavouring to present something of the true Cornwall on all our records. We firmly believe that Cornishmen & lovers of Cornwall alike, want to hear the fine sound of our choirs, bands & artists as they really are, and in a natural setting.
"To this end, we refuse to put a 'studio polish' on the sound from our LPs, and shun all studio gimmickry, even though this does present us with many technical problems. Letters from all over the world and reviews from many critics make this point & encourage us in what we are trying to do. We hope that you, the listener, agree with this policy."

Happy Christmas all!

Don't Mention Wogan

The problem with writing a blog about a label like Sentinel is knowing that, sooner or later, I’m going to have to write about a form of music for which I have little enthusiasm. Thus it is with brass & silver bands, which make up a sizable portion of the Sentinel catalogue. Still, this 45 issue of The Helston Flora Dance by the Helston Town Band (SENM 003) is certainly a curio. Released in 1972, it’s a recording I remember from airplay on BBC South West & Radio Cornwall. I always felt a little cheated by the studio sheen on the 1977 hit version by the Brighouse & Rastrick Brass Band (the label bills the recording as “The Authentic Helston Flora Dance” making it THE REAL DEAL, guys), not to mention Katie Moss’ extreme re-writing of the piece, so it was something of a nostalgia-fest to find a copy of this single recently. It certainly feels authentic, & bears all the hallmarks of a field recording, definitely lacking the polish of its Yorkshire cousin. Hurrah!

The flip is a location recording of another traditional Cornish festival, that of the Padstow Obby Oss. Now, as a former Newlyn resident, Padstow was a bit “up country” for me, but I gather Obby Oss Day served a similar purpose to that of the Helston Flora Day, in that it marked the passing of the winter months and the arrival of spring (both festivals occur at the start of May within days of each other). If these recordings are anything to go by, Padstow sounds like a rather more rambunctious celebration than its Helston equivalent. That’s North Cornwall for you.

The Flora Dance



Padstow Obby Oss