| The Bones of All Men | |
|---|---|
| Studio album by Philip Pickett | |
| Released | 7 April 1998 |
| Genre | Classical |
| Label | Ryco |
| Producer | Joe Boyd |
The Bones of All Men is an album by Philip Pickett.
The exact credits on the front of the album are "Mr Philip Pickett with Mr Richard Thompson and the Fairport Rhythm Section" - giving a mock-formality to the event, as if it were a classical music concert. All of the tracks on this album are instrumentals. Typically they start with the sound of medieval instruments. Then as the tune is repeated with variations, rock instruments are added. Finally Richard Thompson adds a counter-tune on a loud guitar. The fast guitar runs that were a trademark sound on early Fairport Convention albums are heard here once more. This time it is a contest between Philip Pickett's virtuosity and Richard Thompson's, instead of a sparring match between Dave Swarbrick and Thompson. At first sight eight tracks seems very short, but the last two are very long.
The choice of material is from Pickett's research around the libraries of Europe. Usually he is able to group material according to a theme that then becomes an album title. In this case he had a pile of miscellaneous tunes, mostly with complicated time signatures, that could not easily be put into a category for use with the Musicians of the Globe or The New London Consort. His wife Sharona Joshua plays rare, original renaissance instruments on this album, including two harpsichords at once (due to the magic of studio dubbing). The sound is something like being transported to the sixteenth century and the 1970s, simultaneously.
Running time 45 minutes 29 seconds. Recorded and released in 1998. Produced by Joe Boyd.
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