The Early Years

Description

Rodney Cordner – The Early Years (independent 2006)

The Early Years is a compilation album by the British folk singer and songwriter Rodney Cordner, independently released by Alan Gibson in 2006 (“only meant for a few old friends”).

Anyone who knows anything about the UK Jesus Music scene of the 1970s will know the name of Rodney Cordner from Portadown, Northern Ireland. His musical roots were in the burgeoning folk music boom of the ’60s, then after he got saved, he eschewed the familiar Christian music circuit and re-established himself in mainstream folk culture. Latterly he’s been involved in cross-community reconciliation projects in Ireland, and he’s continued to write and tour with his distinctive brand of gritty, hard-hitting roots music. He has 14 albums on his discography, and five of them from 1976 to 1991 have been raided for this 20 song compilation, ‘Rodney’ from 1976, ‘Don’t Look Away‘ from 1978, ‘Only One Name‘ from 1980, and two of his collaborations with French jazz violin maestro Jean-Pierre Rudolph, ‘Touch Of Irish Joy’ (1989) and ‘Sing For The Song’ from 1990; there are also various bonus tracks and live cuts. Some of the sound quality is a bit iffy, probably as a legacy of being re-mastered from vinyl – the four songs from ‘Rodney’ fare rather badly – but there are some classics here, including the very Larry Norman-esque «Brainwashed», and the short but sweet «Only One Name», and the six Cordner/Rudolf tracks are a delight. If you’ve never had the Rodney Cordner experience, then get hold of this and have your eyes and mind opened. [Trevor Kirk, Cross Rhythms, June 2006]

CD tracklist:

01. Brainwashed (from Don’t Look Away, 1978)
02. The One (from Rodney, 1976)
03. Take My Hand (from Rodney, 1976)
04. Turn To Jesus (from Rodney, 1976)
05. Samaritan (from Rodney, 1976)
06. The Trial (from Don’t Look Away, 1978)
07. Mountains (Bonus -live- Track, 1981)
08. This Land (from Don’t Look Away, 1978)
09. Beautiful Day (Bonus -live- Track, 1979)
10. Tommy’s Song (from One One Name, 1980)
11. One One Name (from One One Name, 1980)
12. I Will Sing (from Touch Of Joy, 1989)
13. Like You (Bonus Track Celtic Praise 4, 1999)
14. Mad Mad World (from Touch Of Irish Joy, 1989)
15. Last House In The Street (from Sing For The Song, 1991)
16. There Were Roses (from Sing For The Song, 1991)
17. Gift (from Sing For The Song, 1991)
18. Never Hear Your Voice Again (Bonus Studio Track, 2002)
19. Our Gods (Bonus Studio Track, 2004)
20. Let’s Go Out With Joy (from Touch Of Irish Joy, 1989)

In 1973 Rodney became a Christian. He recalled in an interview with New Christian Media magazine, “I was working with a guy called Ronnie who talked about Jesus with so much love and was obviously living what he was saying. He wasn’t the person I was used to relating to, but he made an impression and so I finally gave in and became a Christian.” Consequently Rodney’s music became focused on presenting the Gospel and singing to promote peace. His self-titled first album in 1976 and his second, ‘Don’t Look Away‘ in 1978, sound very much like pop Jesus music and stylistically are a long way from his later popular folk style. Rodney explained, “Well, my roots are folk. But when I got my first record deals with Christian labels, I’d been listening to Larry Norman, Garth Hewitt, Ishmael and the likes and assumed that was what Christian listeners wanted. But I do seem to remember a band called Parchment telling me to take the Irish folk direction, which as I’ve already said were my roots anyway.”

Rodney moved back into the mainstream folk scene and teamed up with Tim Maney for the 1980 release ‘Only One Name‘. That was the last album he recorded before meeting talented French fiddler Jean-Pierre Rudolph. Rodney recalled, “I met Jean-Pierre in 1980 in his home town of Strasbourg, France through a mutual friend. We did a festival in Holland together and just kept going. We never really planned it, it just kind of evolved into a duo.” Since that first concert together in Stenwijk back in May 1981, the pair have stayed together recording albums despite living a thousand miles apart. “I guess that means we don’t fall out with each other,” Rodney said. “He is an excellent musician, arranger and producer having of course studied jazz at Strasbourg Conservatory and greatly enriches the songs we do. Even on old traditional ballads like «Black Is The Colour» to name but one, he does unique arrangements. Although we also do our own individual projects these days, we still tour in UK and Europe, doing a few dozen concerts per year.” [Rodney Cordner, excerpt from an interview in Cross Rhythms, May 2007]