The Underfall Yard
Encyclopedia
The Underfall Yard is the sixth studio album by the English progressive rock
band Big Big Train
. It was released on 15 December 2009, by English Electric Recordings.http://www.bigbigtrain.com/
The opening instrumental track, Evening Star, sets out some of the instrumental motifs which recur in the title track.
Two of the songs, Master James of St. George and Victorian Brickwork are about Spawton’s father who died shortly before the album was released.
Last Train is a song about a Mr Delia who was the last station master at Hurn station, which was an isolated station on a rural branch line on the border of Dorset
and Hampshire
. The station closed in 1935. The song tells the story of Mr Delia’s final day as the last train departs.
Winchester Diver is about diver William Walker who, in the early 1900’s, worked under the flooded foundations of Winchester Cathedral
to save it from collapse. Diving in 20 feet of water and in appalling conditions, Walker shored up the foundations. The song explores the contrast between the dreadful working conditions he endured and life in the cathedral above him, which carried on as normal.
The 23 minute title track, The Underfall Yard, is a song about Isambard Kingdom Brunel and the great Victorian engineers. The song explores Enlightenment themes, contrasting the rationalism of the Victorian era to a coming ‘age of unreason’. The Underfall Yard was initially inspired by Richard Fortey’s The Hidden Landscape. In the book, Fortey describes a journey along Brunel’s Great Western line, where, as the author travelled west, the rocks are found to be older .
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
band Big Big Train
Big Big Train
Big Big Train is an English progressive rock band that was founded in 1990. Based in Bournemouth, England, the band members are Nick D'Virgilio, Dave Gregory, David Longdon, Andy Poole and Gregory Spawton....
. It was released on 15 December 2009, by English Electric Recordings.http://www.bigbigtrain.com/
Background
The Underfall Yard consists of an opening instrumental track and 5 songs. The album has an elegiac atmosphere, with a number of the songs exploring historical themes in an almost nostalgic manner.The opening instrumental track, Evening Star, sets out some of the instrumental motifs which recur in the title track.
Two of the songs, Master James of St. George and Victorian Brickwork are about Spawton’s father who died shortly before the album was released.
Last Train is a song about a Mr Delia who was the last station master at Hurn station, which was an isolated station on a rural branch line on the border of Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
and Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
. The station closed in 1935. The song tells the story of Mr Delia’s final day as the last train departs.
Winchester Diver is about diver William Walker who, in the early 1900’s, worked under the flooded foundations of Winchester Cathedral
Winchester Cathedral
Winchester Cathedral at Winchester in Hampshire is one of the largest cathedrals in England, with the longest nave and overall length of any Gothic cathedral in Europe...
to save it from collapse. Diving in 20 feet of water and in appalling conditions, Walker shored up the foundations. The song explores the contrast between the dreadful working conditions he endured and life in the cathedral above him, which carried on as normal.
The 23 minute title track, The Underfall Yard, is a song about Isambard Kingdom Brunel and the great Victorian engineers. The song explores Enlightenment themes, contrasting the rationalism of the Victorian era to a coming ‘age of unreason’. The Underfall Yard was initially inspired by Richard Fortey’s The Hidden Landscape. In the book, Fortey describes a journey along Brunel’s Great Western line, where, as the author travelled west, the rocks are found to be older .
Track listing
- "Evening Star" – 4:53
- "Master James Of St. George" – 6:19
- "Victorian Brickwork" – 12:33
- "Last Train" – 6:28
- "Winchester Diver" – 7:31
- "The Underfall Yard" – 22:45
Personnel
- David Longdon – vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
- Nick D'VirgilioNick D'VirgilioNick D'Virgilio is an American drummer and multi-instrumentalist musician, often referred to as NDV, best known as a former member of the progressive rock band Spock's Beard. He was also one of two drummers chosen to replace Phil Collins in Genesis on the Calling All Stations album...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person .... - Andy Poole – bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments... - Gregory Spawton – guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s, keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
Guest musicians
- Dave Gregory – guitars, electric sitarElectric sitarAn electric sitar is a kind of electric guitar designed to mimic the sound of the traditional Indian instrument, the sitar. Depending on the manufacturer and model, these instruments bear varying degrees of resemblance to the traditional sitar...
- Francis DunneryFrancis DunneryFrancis Dunnery is an English musician, singer-songwriter, record producer and record label owner. He is best known as a solo performer , and for fronting the original lineup of the band It Bites between 1982 and 1990 .Dunnery served as a sideman and...
– guitar - Jem Godfrey – synthesizerSynthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
solos - Rich Evans – cornetCornetThe cornet is a brass instrument very similar to the trumpet, distinguished by its conical bore, compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. It is not related to the renaissance and early baroque cornett or cornetto.-History:The cornet was...
- Dave Desmond – tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
- Jon Foyle – celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
- Nick Stones – french horn
- Jon Truscott – tubaTubaThe tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...