Sold Date: June 27, 2020
Start Date: May 27, 2020
Final Price: $30.00 (USD)
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RON DAVIES - SILENT SONG THROUGH THE LAND - A&M SP4264 (1970)
Ron Davies is best-known, if he's known at all, for writing "It Ain't Easy," which David Bowie covered on Ziggy Stardust just a little while after Long John Baldry had a U.K. hit with the tune.  This, along with a Dave Edmunds cover, gives the impression that Davies was a bit of a blues-rocker, which isn't the case.  He fit comfortably within the wave of singer/songwriters of the early '70s, influenced by Dylan but perhaps a bit more meditative and inward-looking, never quite kicking up the dust after "It Ain't Easy" opens 1970s Silent Song Through the Land, even though the title track does bring the soulful backing singers back and replicates some of the mountain imagery.  Davies maintains the quiet, almost pastoral mood, although it has to be said that his quivering, nasal voice can pierce that spell, and the intimate settings also reveal his songs as just a shade too guileless.  So, he's better suited to the bigger arrangements, the ones that arrive on "Change," "Silent Song Through the Land," and, especially, on "It Ain't Easy," which is indeed his one enduring moment of brilliance.