Description
Against the Grain, sub-titled Songs of Peace, Protest, Poetry and Prayer, is a double disc compilation album by the British singer and songwriter Garth Hewitt, independently released on Hewitt’s own label Ginger Dog Records in May 2018. The double CD is a companion to Garth’s memoir entitled Against the Grain, containing some new songs like “Against the Grain” itself, songs from different stages of Garth’s recordings, and some demos not previously released.
This two-disc, 31-song compilation offers an excellent overview of the veteran’s decades-long ministry and also features a handful of previously-unreleased tracks. Such is the length of Garth’s discography that there were bound to be a few omissions. Notable tracks like «Blood Brothers» and «Dance On Injustice» are absent here. However, the listener gets the feeling that a broad overview of a career has been preferred to a ‘Greatest Hits’-type package and the two new songs, along with some demo versions of others, mean that even a Hewitt completist will find this excellent value. Those who have perhaps previously given Hewitt a wide-berth have occasionally claimed that the man’s music is not sufficiently “Christian”, or is too “liberal”. Yet here we have a performer who is as Christian and as prophetic as anything you’re likely to hear – someone whose lyrical approaches cover the theological, the devotional and the evangelistic as effectively as anyone. Genres are mixed, too, covering country, blues and protest: interesting is the fact that Hewitt probably sounded highly contemporary at many stages of his career. For example, «Alien Brain» from 1985 is reminiscent of Madness and Hazel O’Connor, both critically – and commercially – successful back then. Musicians like Pete Banks and Paul ‘Prof’ McDowell help ensure that the musicianship, as well as the lyrics, remain exceptional quality. «I Will Return» with Chris Barber, at the start of Garth’s recording-career, with a Bix Beiderbeck reference, was a brave attempt at trad jazz and one which works. As does the straight-forward agitprop numbers, notably the demo version of the chilling «We Don’t Do Body Counts» which challenges the listener to consider our own morality, values, responsibilities and how we view God and others. [John Cheek, Cross Rhythms, August 2018]
This double CD represents more than 40 albums released by Garth Hewitt over 45 years – with eight never-before-released tracks and two previously appearing only as vinyl singles, you’ll experience Garth’s variety of styles and subjects ranging from worship songs on justice (from the album Justice Like a River) to 1840s Chartist hymns Garth put to music on his recent album Liberty is Near! There have also been two children’s albums and one in Spanish! Garth has been joined on his records by a wide variety of artists: Bryn Haworth, B J Cole, Beth Rowley, Jessy Dixon, Sir Cliff Richard, Martyn Joseph, Randy Stonehill, Ben Okafor, Reem Kelani, Penny Cave, Mark Heard, Paul Field, Paul Pilot, Duke Special, Denise Ogbeide and many more including his own daughter Abi and daughter in law Eils Hewitt – you’ll hear many of these on this album.
This album is a companion to Garth’s autobiography/memoir also called Against the Grain. In the book Garth tells what motivated his ministry of music and justice. He shares his influences – his early years – tells the story of his involvement with the Greenbelt festival from its earliest days. He talks about his sense of vocation both as a priest and in terms of his commitment to issues of justice. Garth tells of the creation and work of the Amos Trust that he founded and also how and why he got involved in the struggle for justice for Palestine. [garthhewitt.org]
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2CD tracklist:
Disc One
1-01. Against The Grain – 2018
1-02. Raise The Flag – 2006
1-03. Do Unto Others – new recording 2018
1-04. Rivers, Mountains and Trees – 1999
1-05. Lifeline of Hope – 2018
1-06. Immigrant Eyes – 2018
1-07. Stealing Jesus Back – 2006
1-08. The Hungry Wind – 1982
1-09. We Don’t Do Body Counts – demo 1994
1-10. Not In My Name – 2003
1-11. Rainbow Over Kampala – 1983
1-12. Love Song For The Earth – 1976
1-13. Eternal Echoes – 2006
1-14. Physical Pain – 1979
1-15. I Will Return (with Chris Barber jazz and blues band) – 1974
Disc Two
2-01. Alien Brain – 1985
2-02. Oscar Romero – 1985
2-03. Come Home Mar Gregorios – 2018
2-04. Poets of Nicaragua – 2010
2-05. Cast Your Net Again – 2003
2-06. Did He Jump… Or Was He Pushed – 1979
2-07. The Writing On the Wall – 1992
2-08. Hail Glorious Morn – 2013
2-09. Number One – 1974
2-10. Love Bade Me Welcome – 1992
2-11. Bread Of Life – 1993
2-12. Goodbye To All The Heroes – 1978
2-13. Red Hot and Cooking – 1982
2-14. How The Dice Falls – demo 1981
2-15. Golden Studded Jukebox – demo 1980
2-16. May You Live To Dance… On Your Own Grave – 1978
Note: Garth Hewitt also published an autobiography by the same title as the CD compilation.
Double CD – Against the Grain – Songs of peace, protest, poetry and prayer
The book includes stories behind some songs, so this CD has been produced as a companion to it. It has new songs like Against the Grain itself, demos not previously released, and songs from most stages of my career – some that won’t have been heard for many years.
There is a group of peace songs, particularly on CD One; a group of poems on CD Two, and one or two oddities that creep in!
We came across three demos which we’ve included, one of them, We Don’t Do Body Counts, was a demo for the ’94 album Stealing Jesus Back but didn’t make it onto the album – it still seems extremely relevant
There are two others from around the 1980/81 time, which we managed to rescue from a cassette! They’re a little bit rough! They are two country songs, one called How the Dice Falls, and the other Golden Studded Jukebox; they’ve never seen the light of day and I thought it would be fun to put them on this album.
We have also included the single The Hungry Wind that was released in 1982 on the Blue Moon label which was one of the labels of Magnum Force Records. This anti-nuclear weapons song comes across with a real strength. Its B side, Red Hot and Cooking is also on the album, a strange and fictitious story of an incredible rock and blues guitarist who was playing in a little club in New York – I think I’d only been to New York once at the time I wrote this and really knew nothing about it, and so I was pleased and surprised when a Christian radio station in New York chose it as the theme tune for one of their programmes – I wonder what they thought it was about!
I have four songs on the album to do with poetry – this links with Chapter Twelve in the book, “Liberty is Near!” with the subtitle “Poetry is a Human Right”. One song is my tribute to the Poets of Nicaragua, recorded on the Moonrise album, another is Hail Glorious Morn from the album Liberty is near! which is songs from the Chartist hymnbook of 1845; then there is one written by friend and poet the late Dave Rees who was with the band The Mighty Flyers. This was recorded in 1974 – it’s a very powerful spiritual poem called Number One. The fourth song to do with poets is a song from the album I Shall Be Made Thy Musique where I put poems of the metaphysical poets to music, working with the harpsichordist Penny Cave. The track I’ve chosen is George Herbert’s wonderful poem Love Bade Me Welcome.
Also in 1974 I recorded a track with the Chris Barber Jazz and Blues Band, called I Will Return, a joyful piece of traditional jazz that later led into a TV programme that we did together one Good Friday, called “The Reason and the Rhyme”.
The new songs on the album include the title track Against the Grain, Lifeline of Hope (about the work of Joy Junction homeless shelter in Albuquerque and its founder Jeremy Reynalds), a new recording of Do Unto Others, and a song by American songwriter Guy Clark called Immigrant Eyes. The musicians playing on the new tracks are Chris Rogers on fiddle, Paul McDowell on accordion, Pete Banks and Abbie Goldberg on backing vocals, all produced by Kevin Duncan who is also on keyboards and other instruments.
Another new track is Come Home Mar Gregorios, a prayer about the kidnapped Syrian Orthodox Archbishop of Aleppo, Mar Gregorios. This was recorded in Georgeham in Devon – the vicar of the local church, Mike Newbon, had formally been studio manager of ICC Studios in Eastbourne and has his own small studio in his house. I recorded the song there, my daughter-in-law Eils is on backing vocals, and then my son Ben brought in their three children – my grandchildren, Harley, Caitlin and Aisha. Great to have them on this – their first recording – they sang beautifully! Mike then added some bass and Nashville high strung guitar.
As it’s tricky to fit the lyrics for 31 songs on a CD cover – oh how I miss vinyl LPs! – Isobel, my PA, is putting together a lyric sheet of all the songs on the album, with details of where they appear in the book i.e. page numbers. This will be available on the website or at concerts. [Excerpt from Garth Hewitt’s newsletter, Garth Hewitt Foundation, March 2018]
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