An Appointment with Mr. Yeats

by The Waterboys

Overview

The idea that the poetry of Ireland's William Butler Yeats could be set to rock music and captured adequately (let alone eloquently) by Mike Scott and his Waterboys sounds pretentious at the least. Yet, they proved it possible with "Stolen Child" on Fisherman's Blues, then with "Love and Death" off Dream Harder. Yeats and Scott share not only iconic status among their followers, they are also regarded as iconoclasts. The former was born a Catholic, became an atheist, and eventually found spirituality in nature and the occult. He was a celebrated poet and playwright but became a hard-willed, even ruthless politician in his defense of Irish freedom and unity. The latter is a controversial rocker and producer who has aspired to be a mystic, a social and political raconteur, a poet, and a traditional and postmodern balladeer. Also like Yeats, Scott's art has been adventurous: he's taken chances that have not always netted him critical -- or commercial -- success. An Appointment with Mr. Yeats contains 14 tunes adapted from the Irish poet's works that are wedded to musical compositions by Scott (with fiddler Steve Wickham and Catalonian trombonist Blaise Margail helping on the charts). These last two are members of a ten piece Waterboys that include its members keyboardist James Hallawell, multi-instrumentalist Kate St. John, bassist/co-producer Marc Arciero, flutist Sarah Allen and vocalist Katie Kim (who steals the show on the simple and sparse "Sweet Dancer," one of the set's finest moments.) The opener, "The Hosting of the Shee," begins with Celtic reggae but becomes a Celtic rocker with swooping strings and layered guitars. On "News for the Delphic Oracle," cabaret music gets transformed into Celtic cinematic stomp. There are hints of Scott's last proper album, The Book of Lightning, evidenced by "September 1913" with soulful jazz piano by Hallawell, and "Politics" with its horn charts that could have been lifted from Dexys Midnight Runners' debut album, Searching for the Young Soul Rebels. The all-too-brief "An Irish Airman Foresees His Death," with its organs and Rhodes piano, get underscored by a military snare drum and Scott's voice haunting in the verses. The only misstep is that "Let the Earth Bear Witness," with its hymnodic reverence, should have closed the set instead of the ethereal "Faery's Last Dance," but that's a minor quibble. Scott and his band have pulled off a gloriously wide-ranging celebration in An Appointment with Mr. Yeats; it is the Waterboys' strongest effort since Room to Roam. ~ Thom Jurek

Product Details

Release Date:	12/02/2022
Label:	Cooking Vinyl
UPC:	0711297524833
Rank:	107218

Album Credits

Performance Credits

The Waterboys   Primary Artist
Blaise Margail   Trombone
James Maddock   Vocals
Katie Kim   Vocals,Voices,Choir/Chorus
Marc Arciero   Resonator
Steve Wickham   Harmonica,Fiddle
Joe Chester   Harmonium,Choir/Chorus,Guitar (Electric)
Kate St. John   Oboe,Saxophone,Cor Anglais
Freddie Stevenson   Vocals,Voices
Mike Scott   Horn,Bells,Cello,Drums,Flute,Loops,Organ,Piano,Cabasa,Guitar,Vocals,Voices,Cymbals,Soloist,Bouzouki,Keyboards,Mellotron,Hand Drums,Drums (Snare),Piano (Electric),Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric),Guitar (12 String Acoustic)
Nuala Kennedy   Flute
Ralph Salmins   Drums,Tambourine
James Hallawell   Organ,Piano,Strings,Keyboards,Organ (Hammond)
Sarah Allen   Flute
Anna-Wendy Stevenson   Flute

Technical Credits

James Maddock   Composer
Katie Kim   Whisper,Composer
Marc Arciero   Producer
Nina Hunter   Cover Art
Paul Macmanus   Cover Photo,Photography
Wb Yeats   Composer,Lyricist
Chris Evans   Composer
Steve Wickham   Photography,Composer
Philip Tennant   Project Manager
Freddie Stevenson   Composer
Mike Scott   Loop,Effects,Arranger,Composer,Producer,Adaptation,Treatments,Programming,Instrumentation
Jim Duguid   Engineer
Nuala Kennedy   Fiddle Arrangement
Ralph Salmins   Photography
Tariq Zaid Al Nasrawi   Assistant
George Apsion   Engineer
Finn Eiles   Engineer
William Butler Yeats   Composer
Helge Skodvin   Photography
Anna-Wendy Stevenson   Fiddle Arrangement