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Ray Fenwick chatted to Get Ready to ROCK! Radio about his career and the anthology.
Lemon Records/Cherry Red [Release date 30.04.21]
Perhaps not the first name to be checked in a conversation about music front runners, British composer/guitarist Fenwick is nonetheless one of its most talented journeymen, in demand with 60 years on the clock.
Factors driving the genesis of this consistently engaging 3-CD compilation are pre-dominated by versatility, capability and peer popularity. The first two are evidenced by the variety of genres and sheer quality of material covered in this set; the last, because his Zelig-like figure pops up wherever talent is going about its business. Need play, call Ray.
Eschewing the usual linear timeline sequencing, ‘Playing Through The Changes’ criss-crosses the decades, jumping genres from the off with Ian Gillan Band and The South Coast Ska Stars sandwiching Minute By Minute’s ‘Tijuana Holiday’.
Session and guest appearances with the likes of Gillan, Mike Hurst, Roger Glover, Eddie Hardin’s Wizards Convention, Cozy Powell (a hammering cover of Mason Williams’ ‘Classical Gas’), Bo Diddley and more are complemented by Ray’s time with Spencer Davis Group, Dutch pop psychsters Tee-Set, Forcefield, White Lightning amongst others.
Plenty of his solo material comes to light, including previously unreleased, from 1971 debut ‘Keep America Beautiful, Get A Haircut’ to the present day’s sample from 2020 release ‘Going Large’ and an edit of prog ensemble’s Amorphous Androgynous’ 2021 release ‘We Persuade Ourselves We Are Immortal’.
Spanning pop, rock, funk, ska, rockabilly, R’n'B, soul, the sixty plus tracks across 3CDs on offer here make for a head-spinning melange that never lulls. And the package overall is exemplary with extensive and comprehensive booklet notes illustrated by an abundance of period images to satisfy the most demanding fashion sentimentalist.
Before the insidious creep of AI started to determine playlists, radio stations had record libraries from which presenters could pull down content to build their shows.
This release would have been their number one go-to. It’s got everything – and everything is first rate. ****
Review by Peter Muir
Ray Fenwick is a Featured Artist at Get Ready to ROCK! Radio
Going Large EP (2021)
Fancy box set (2021)
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