The Best Of Eddi Reader is quite a tall order given the span of time and styles it must encompass – from bright late-80s pop through the soulful solo albums and the Robert Burns collection to her role as an elder statesperson of Scottish music who can take any direction that pleases her. Even thirty tracks doesn’t seem enough. The set isn’t organised in a strict chronological order although it does begin with Fairground Attraction’s two hit singles, ‘Find My Love’ and ‘Perfect’, both written by Mark E Nevin. Compiler Tom Rose has put together the album to engender a sense of “I wonder what’s coming next” while maintaining a coherent feel.
Eddi is a song-writer as well as a performer but she is more than adept at selecting songs to sing and collaborating with other writers. The first of her own songs we hear is ‘Whispers’, also from Fairground Attraction, and with the benefit of hindsight it says a lot about her future. ‘Leezie Lindsay’ is a modernish re-interpretation of Burns’ lyric which comes from the same era as the brilliant ‘Muddy Water’ which Eddi wrote with John McCusker and Boo Hewerdine, a name that crops up many times throughout her career. Sadly Hewerdine’s country waltz, ‘Wings On My Heels’, doesn’t count among my favourite tracks and neither does Eddi’s take on Si Khan’s ‘What You Do With What You’ve Got’ – drama is good but it seems overdone to my ear.
The second disc seems to concentrate on less obvious material, opening with Eddi’s fragile reading of Steve Earle’s ‘My Old Friend The Blues’ and a long, dramatic version of Fred Neil’s ‘Dolphins’. In the midst of all this the traditional ‘Willie Stewart’ springs up to get the party going. As a bonus the second set includes a cover of Amy Winehouse’s ‘Love Is A Losing Game’ and the classic ‘Moon River’.
The Best Of Eddi Reader is an excellent set. If you have one two of her albums it will make you think about the ones you’re missing.
Dai Jeffries
Artist’s website: http://eddireader.co.uk/
‘Patience Of Angels’ – live on Later:
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