![]() An only child, he was raised by his mother in her cousin’s house and left school at 12 to work for a local stonemason. His shepherd father died when he was only a few months old. ![]() Not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms.Telford was born in 1757 in Eskdale, a remote Scottish valley close to the English border, in a parish that (according to Smiles) was so far removed from progress that it possessed only two tea kettles. The opinions expressed in this article are Many fans will hope that as Larry's estate and other record companies begin to re-release his music that their compilations will be a bit less random sounding than this one. Apart from the stellar live tracks I've highlighted in most cases we have most of these songs in much better quality on other releases meaning that sadly 'Colossus Of Roads' marks a slightly haphazard start to the process of sifting through Larry master tapes and releasing them after his passing. Because of the three different source types the quality of the songs and performances vary from excellent to disappointing as we journey with Larry from the '70s into this decade. Here at last in the stunning band versions of "I Hope I'll See You In Heaven", "It's Only Today That Counts", "A Note From Mr God" and "Why Can't You Be Good" we find Larry on top form singing his own material and backed by an impressive band on some great sounding recordings and it becomes obvious why even though these are not his best known songs Norman was held in such high regard as a songwriter and as a captivating live performer. The highlights are the four songs recorded live with Alwyn Wall and Norman Barratt on tour in 19. ![]() There is also a compelling live solo version of "Be Careful What You Sign", a song which rarely featured in Larry's live sets or live releases. ![]() A few rarities pop up in this section as Larry performs "Sonshine" with Steve Camp and recites the words to "The Outlaw" acapella. "All Fall Down" as it appeared on his 'Sessions' CD was one of his greatest cover versions and arguably one of his best ever recordings yet here it just sounds rough as if Larry and the band have a lot of work left to do to polish the song into shape. Here again I suspect the casual fan will find it frustrating to hear Larry shouting the chord changes to the band during "Man Of Constant Sorrow" when he released a perfectly listenable version on his 'American Roots' compilation a few years ago. Secondly we have a few studio demos of cover versions. These song segments might fit a studio outtakes compilation really well but probably won't be appreciated by the more casual fan. Firstly there are rehearsals and outtakes from the '70s which see Larry and Randy Stonehill working on their harmony parts for songs from Larry's seminal 'In Another Land' album and we hear Randy improvising lyrics for a song "Uptown To Burbank". Broadly speaking the tracks on this album fall into three different categories. ![]()
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