Music by Pritchard, words by Woodcock

By Henry Lipput

You may think (as I did) that after having written both words and music for wonderful songs like “Mont St. Michel” from 2016’s Mother Town Hall and “Lullaby” from 2019’s Midland Lullabies that Bill Pritchard would have little need or incentive to collaborate with the Canadian poet Patrick Woodcock.

But it turns out this is a genius move and has resulted in the stunning new album Bill Pritchard Sings Poems by Patrick Woodcock (TapeteRecords). Woodcock has written nine books of poetry that reflect his work as a migrant writer, volunteer, and teacher. As a long-time fan of Pritchard’s work, during the pandemic lockdown he reached out to the musician and asked it he would like to write a song based on one of his poems. The songs were created from poems in Woodcock’s latest collection Farhang Book One out on September 5^th (the poems on the album are included with the CD and vinyl releases of Sings Poems by Patrick Woodcock).

Pritchard has lost none of his ability to create brilliant melodies and songs like “The Lowering” and “Art in G Sharp” that knock me out. The vocals and simple arrangements make you stop what you’re doing and listen to the words and give the poetry the attention it must be paid.

Two of the eleven tracks on the album are spoken by Woodcock with music written by Pritchard. “Floe” and “Balcony” are darker poems and it’s terrific to be able to hear the words in the author’s voice.