PETE SCOTT – Why Sing Goodbye Songs

If considering the proposition that the world would be a very different place if Yuri Gagarin had been allowed to play his banjo in space appeals then this is your sort of album.

There is something of Jake Thackray in Pete’s absurdist take on the detritus of life, the idle thoughts that afflict us all. ‘Pity The Poor Baritone’ describes Pete dissatisfaction with his vocal range while ‘Fantastic Pastie’ tells how he missed a train, and presumably lost his woman, on account of the original packed lunch. He takes a swipe at the fashion for naming children after the place where they were conceived in ‘Kuala Lumpur Clegg’ and another at what we can assume is not his favourite television show in ‘Midsomer Murders’.

There are some serious points among the humour. ‘Thomas William Arthur Tate’ (try it as an acronym) is self-explanatory while ‘Eddie’s Dead’ is about the fate that awaits most of us: live an ordinary, decent life and no-one will give a damn. Big Brother has a lot to answer for.

Why Sing Goodbye Songs isn’t going to revolutionise the folk scene but it deserves to be heard outside Pete’s native north-east where he plays most of his gigs. If a couple of these songs got into wider circulation it would be a good day’s work.

Dai Jeffries

Artist Web Link: www.petescott.co.uk