Jim Borrows has played piano for his own entertainment for many years but only now has he released his debut album. Having friends like James Wood, Dave Pegg and Ric Sanders to call on may have helped him on his way. Carry Me Back To My Old Front Door is, structurally at least, an odd album – seven of the fifteen songs are Jim’s own compositions and the rest are covers, six of which are by Bob Dylan.
The opening title track is about regret and returning home after a long absence and it’s a really good song – Jim calls it a meeting of nostalgia and imagination and I can see that. I think that anyone writing such a song would feel the compulsion to embellish the story rather. The second original is ‘Next Time’ – a man laments his foolishness in his personal relationship and pledges that things will be different next time. Yeah, right! It’s another fine song.
In between are two Dylan covers: ‘It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry’ and ‘Watching The River Flow’, neither of which sound anything like the original versions. A straight copy of Dylan would be the death knell to a career but my personal jury is out on these two. ‘Time’ is another original as Jim contemplates growing old but then we’re back to Dylan. ‘Simple Twist Of Fate’ is more like it. Jim reaches notes that Bob never could and his piano arrangement is augmented by James’ synth. It has real Dylan atmosphere.
Jim eschews Neil Young’s rather plodding arrangement of ‘Harvest’. You could never accuse Peggy of plodding and his mandolin gives the song an added lightness that gives it a much needed lift. ‘The Lady’s Gone’ is an intimate reflection about his mother and her continuing influence on him. The piano is front and centre here but just listen to Peggy’s bass which also plays an important role in Jim’s slightly dramatic take on ‘Forever Young’.
Two more originals come next. ‘The Water’s As Sweet As Wine’ sports a bluesy rag-time arrangement behind a story about getting lost in the hills and subsequent events. Jim makes a whole song out of what happened in the space of a few hours. ‘Sink Or Swim’ is another up-tempo song inspired by a boyhood memory and that’s followed by ‘One Of These Days’, a bluesy lament for lost love.
Three covers bring the album to an end. Ric Sanders makes his guest appearance on ‘Seven Days’, a lesser-known Dylan song and the chaps have a real blast with this one. ‘Things Have Changed’, Dylan’s Oscar winner, is next – another up-tempo arrangement featuring electric piano – and finally a song that Peggy must be able to play in his sleep, ‘Who Knows Where The Time Goes?’
Despite some misgivings, I have enjoyed this album but I suspect that Jim under-rates his own song-writing. His compositions are the best tracks on Carry Me Back To My Old Front Door.
Dai Jeffries
Artist’s website: https://audiomack.com/jim-borrows/album/carry-me-back-to-my-old-front-door (as close as I can get.)
‘Seven Days’:
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