Coals of Fire

Description

Coals of Fire is the debut album by the British singer/songwriter Billy Penn’s Brother (a.k.a. Richard Nicholson of Giantkiller fame), a cassette-only effort independently released on Torn Curtain Records in 1988. The album was recorded June 1988 at The Music Womb in London, England. All songs written by Richard Nicholson.

Another British import, this time acoustic folk music that is just a guitar and vocals. There is not a whole lot of variation from song to song, so this may not be everyone’s thing. The tape also comes with a full fold out sheet of lyrics. To me, it sounds like this leans towards Irish and Scottish folk music – but I am sure that someone from the area could correct me on which one it is. An online interview from few years later indicates that he was influenced by Bob Dylan. Vocally he is much clearer than Dylan, and I am not sure his guitar is Dylan-esque – but I guess that serves as a starting point. There are several other demos under this moniker – which Richard explains the origin of in the interview as well. Eventually it seems he made his way to Sticky Music. Other albums include Power Blocs/Mustard Seeds (also on Torn Curtain Records) and Ruckus in Real Time (on Sticky Music). [Christian Tape Underground, March 17, 2018]

Cassette tracklist:

Side One
A1. “England’s Burning”
A2. “Sad House”
A3. “The Wreck Of The Poor Mary Rose”
A4. “Oh! Margarita”
A5. “The Great American Nightmare”

Side Two
B1. “There Is A Farm In The Yonder Blue”
B2. “Charismatic Man”
B3. “What’s Up Doc?”
B4. “Big Boy Now”