The Days of David McWilliams

by David McWilliams

Overview

This 22-track compilation is largely drawn from the three albums McWilliams released on Major Minor in 1967-68, tagging on a B-side apiece from 1968 and 1969. Although it's agreeable folk-pop-rock, it's hard to get worked up about it, due both to its rather generic qualities and its obvious inferiority to the obvious comparison, Donovan. "Days of Pearly Spencer," with a more memorable melody and darker, more forceful atmosphere than anything else on the disc, remains the standout in McWilliams's repertoire (and is of course included here, as the leadoff track). Shades of Bob Dylan and Bob Lind can also be detected, though always in a somewhat less dangerous, more pop-inclined slant than any of the singer-songwriters with whom he might have shared similarities. As for some of the better tracks, "Redundancy Blues" bears some resemblance, melodically, to the (subsequent) Al Stewart track "The Ballad of Mary Foster," while "Hiroshima" is an early Donovan-Dylan-style look at nuclear danger, though with an effective, almost jazzy uptempo rock-baroque arrangement. ~ Richie Unterberger

Product Details

Release Date:	10/07/2014
Label:	Rpm
UPC:	5013929522527
Rank:	252122

Tracks

1. Days of Pearly Spencer
2. For Josephine
3. Brown Eyed Girl
4. Marlena for a Little Girl
5. For a Little Girl
6. Lady Helen of the Laughing Eyes
7. What's the Matter With You
8. There's No Lock Upon My Door
9. Tomorrows Like Today
10. Mister Satisfied
11. I Love Susie in the Summer
12. Harlem Lady
13. Letter to My Love
14. City Blues
15. Three O'Clock Framingo Street
16. Redundancy Blues
17. Huroshima
18. Question of Indentity
19. Time of Trouble
20. And I'm Free
21. In the Early Hours of the Morning
22. Born to Ramble

Album Credits

Performance Credits

David McWilliams   Primary Artist,Guitar (Acoustic),Vocals

Technical Credits

David McWilliams   Composer
Jon Mills   Liner Notes
Mike Leander   Producer,Arranger
Phil Smee   Design
Jon "Mojo" Mills   Liner Notes
Mark Stratford   Compilation Producer