Joseph Topping - Ghosts in the Shadows

Joseph Topping has a fine voice, plays exquisite bluesy guitar, write some excellent songs, and makes a great selection of other material to sing. Enough said, really - book him for your folk club now, before he ends up on the guest list of every festival next summer!

He plays acoustic and National guitars, and is ably backed by Miranda Sykes on acoustic bass and vocals, Joe Wright on fiddle and mandolin, and Richard Adams on percussion. His material has something of an American bias, with several pieces on this album coming from, or inspired by, a fund-raising walk (with guitar) from Chicago to New Orleans: Fat's Domino's Walking To New Orleans, of course, Willie Dixon's Little Red Rooster and his own How High, a protest song prompted by the New Orleans flood disaster.

There's also a splendid rendition of The Lakes of Ponchartrain. One or two of his own songs perhaps don't quite hit the mark: William McKenzie and the Devil, for instance, where the tune and style seem at odds with the spooky subject matter. But listen to All Coming Back to Me Now, a real rattler, worthy of Richard Thompson at his sardonic best, with Joe Wright backing the vocals with some sizzling Cajun-sounding fiddle.

Everything is rounded off with one of the best renditions I've ever heard of She Moved Through the Fair, recorded live at Hitchin Folk Club - heartfelt singing and eerie blues guitar; wonderful. Full marks, too, for the tasteful sleeve and insert layout and photographs, with the lyrics to all Joseph Topping's own songs. An excellent production all round.
Chris Beaumont
Fellside FECD 231 www.fellside.com