Cover of Cardiff band Little Miracle's excellent album
In the 90s Red Poets (then Society) were launching at a Jazz Club in Cardiff, recorded for a Radio Wales arts show and who was playing alongside us but the inimitable Riff Williams from Cardiff Band Little Miracle.
Riff was to Red Poets then what Barry Taylor and Jamie Bevan are today, a vital musical dimension.
Miracle's great album 'Birth of a Bison' was not long released.
I used to think they'd totally disappeared in the internet age till I found this cd on Amazon, a used version at over £16.
Riff could perform equally well solo as singing and playing lead guitar with his band. He owed much to his heroes Roy Harper and Neil Young : stirring chords from the former, lyrical tones from the latter.
The cd veers more towards rock than folk and tracks 'The Naked Truth' and 'Jimmy's Dad' top and tail it : the first about the massacre of American Indians, the second about the hypocrisy involving legalisation of marijuana.
Inevitably, my favourite track has to be 'Chico Mendes', as I wrote the words and Riff did such an amazing job putting them to music ; it's about the well-known Brazilian Trade Unionist who became a global campaigner for the rain forests.
I met Riff for the first time at a Friends of the Earth Cymru gig in Porthcawl and was delighted when he said he wanted to use 'Chico'.
At the time there was a smart-looking man who fancied himself as Riff's manager, but nothing came of it. Little Miracle ended up doing mostly cover versions on the pub and club circuit.
Last I heard Riff had injured his arm so badly he couldn't play guitar again
His songs could be softer and gentler, but it's the righteous indignation I remember most and in 'Kill the Folklaw' he railed against traditionalists who were killing the music with their stuffiness.
He believed that folk music should move on, reinvent itself and I wholeheartedly agreed with him.
I often wonder what he'd make of developments in Cymru and elsewhere nowadays, many of which are enthralling.
Georgia Ruth for example who - even on her overly poppy second album 'Fossil Scale' - can produce wonderful songs where the harp sounds thoroughly contemporary, like ' Sylvia' and 'Supermoon'.
Then there's the alt-folk of the trio Plu, including the ubiquitous Gwilym Bowen-Rhys, who were the outstanding act of the Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow earlier this year.
The group Ghazalaw have perfectly combined traditional Welsh folk songs with Indian music to completely transform them.
But what Riff represented has been especially embraced by Wigan-based folk-rockers Merry Hell.
Though closer to folk vocals than he ever was, their themes and deep concerns reflect the musical philosophy of Little Miracle.
I particularly admire their rousing anthems of hope and political solidarity such as ' We need each other' and 'Stand down' ; 'Come on , England' is an alternative national anthem for that country, summoning the land of the Levellers and Diggers, not gentry and royalty.
They too can be more muted, as on 'When we are old' , but there are few bands like them willing to stand up and be counted.
Of all the Welsh singer-songwriters it is Julie Murphy who most successfully blends the personal and political without ever sounding preacherly. Her 2015 album 'Every bird that sings' deserved to win the Welsh Music prize.
When Riff stopped playing with Red Poets we lost an essential ingredient, yet the likes of Hastings / Pudner, Heather Pudner, Barry and Jamie have all more than compensated.
Meanwhile, 'Birth of a Bison' is a snip at £16........you never know.....one day......
And Riff, if you're out there gazing in on the digital world, give us a bell.
RIFF REMEMBERED
Riff does not exist on Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram, or any other.
Google him or Little Miracle
and one used cd on Amazon,
or maybe Red Poets references ;
nothing whatsoever on Wikipedia.
So, he doesn't exist for us,
except those precious albums.
The many times at gigs,
the climbing chords, impassioned vocals
against war and hypocrisies,
for greener times and hashish.
Riff riffing in Swansea, Cardiff, Merthyr,
folk and rock living together :
then going underground so far
that only the finest caver......
a deep chamber, echoing guitar,
that voice leading on.
Riff was to Red Poets then what Barry Taylor and Jamie Bevan are today, a vital musical dimension.
Miracle's great album 'Birth of a Bison' was not long released.
I used to think they'd totally disappeared in the internet age till I found this cd on Amazon, a used version at over £16.
Riff could perform equally well solo as singing and playing lead guitar with his band. He owed much to his heroes Roy Harper and Neil Young : stirring chords from the former, lyrical tones from the latter.
The cd veers more towards rock than folk and tracks 'The Naked Truth' and 'Jimmy's Dad' top and tail it : the first about the massacre of American Indians, the second about the hypocrisy involving legalisation of marijuana.
Inevitably, my favourite track has to be 'Chico Mendes', as I wrote the words and Riff did such an amazing job putting them to music ; it's about the well-known Brazilian Trade Unionist who became a global campaigner for the rain forests.
I met Riff for the first time at a Friends of the Earth Cymru gig in Porthcawl and was delighted when he said he wanted to use 'Chico'.
At the time there was a smart-looking man who fancied himself as Riff's manager, but nothing came of it. Little Miracle ended up doing mostly cover versions on the pub and club circuit.
Last I heard Riff had injured his arm so badly he couldn't play guitar again
His songs could be softer and gentler, but it's the righteous indignation I remember most and in 'Kill the Folklaw' he railed against traditionalists who were killing the music with their stuffiness.
He believed that folk music should move on, reinvent itself and I wholeheartedly agreed with him.
I often wonder what he'd make of developments in Cymru and elsewhere nowadays, many of which are enthralling.
Georgia Ruth for example who - even on her overly poppy second album 'Fossil Scale' - can produce wonderful songs where the harp sounds thoroughly contemporary, like ' Sylvia' and 'Supermoon'.
Then there's the alt-folk of the trio Plu, including the ubiquitous Gwilym Bowen-Rhys, who were the outstanding act of the Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow earlier this year.
The group Ghazalaw have perfectly combined traditional Welsh folk songs with Indian music to completely transform them.
But what Riff represented has been especially embraced by Wigan-based folk-rockers Merry Hell.
Though closer to folk vocals than he ever was, their themes and deep concerns reflect the musical philosophy of Little Miracle.
I particularly admire their rousing anthems of hope and political solidarity such as ' We need each other' and 'Stand down' ; 'Come on , England' is an alternative national anthem for that country, summoning the land of the Levellers and Diggers, not gentry and royalty.
They too can be more muted, as on 'When we are old' , but there are few bands like them willing to stand up and be counted.
Of all the Welsh singer-songwriters it is Julie Murphy who most successfully blends the personal and political without ever sounding preacherly. Her 2015 album 'Every bird that sings' deserved to win the Welsh Music prize.
When Riff stopped playing with Red Poets we lost an essential ingredient, yet the likes of Hastings / Pudner, Heather Pudner, Barry and Jamie have all more than compensated.
Meanwhile, 'Birth of a Bison' is a snip at £16........you never know.....one day......
And Riff, if you're out there gazing in on the digital world, give us a bell.
RIFF REMEMBERED
Riff does not exist on Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram, or any other.
Google him or Little Miracle
and one used cd on Amazon,
or maybe Red Poets references ;
nothing whatsoever on Wikipedia.
So, he doesn't exist for us,
except those precious albums.
The many times at gigs,
the climbing chords, impassioned vocals
against war and hypocrisies,
for greener times and hashish.
Riff riffing in Swansea, Cardiff, Merthyr,
folk and rock living together :
then going underground so far
that only the finest caver......
a deep chamber, echoing guitar,
that voice leading on.
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