Gaughan chose to sing mostly contemporary songs from his vast repertoire, starting with a Si Kahn song What You Do with What You've Got, and moving through songs from Brian McNeil, Richard Thompson and others.
Gaughan is a Scottish Nationalist who believes that the only constructive
thing we did with Charles Edward Stuart is put his face on a tin of shortbread
and export it to Europe
. His anecdotes and opinions are given
while his fingers are constantly moving on his guitar, strumming chords in
DADGAD tuning.
The man is a monster guitar player - his 1977 recording Coppers and Brass still amazes me every time I hear it. The ballad Bonnie Jeannie of Bethelnie showed he still has the chops - even while singing at the same time.
Sound at the Flying Cloud was good as usual - and nobody was getting up for beer in the middle of the set!
Archie Fisher, another legendary Scottish singer-songwriter, comes to the Cloud on Sunday, Nov 1.
Copyright © 1997 Wil Macaulay