Claire Hamill - The Minor Fall, The Major Lift: The Best Of

Possibly one of the best singers you’ve never heard

A consistent performer with a devoted, if small, fanbase, Hamill perhaps only registers with a broader public for the company she keeps. Signed to Chris Blackwell’s Island at the start of the 70s, her first two albums featured labelmates John Martyn and Free’s Simon Kirke on a selection of tender pastorals and upbeat folk with a smidgen of jazz, akin to Joni Mitchell after elocution lessons at an English finishing school.

Her third album, Stage Door Johnnies, saw her relocate to Ray Davies’ Konk and move further towards jazz stylings, supporting Gilbert O’Sullivan on a UK tour. She later joined “serious” guitar merchants Wishbone Ash for a brief time, and she’s also collaborated with Jon & Vangelis as her material took on a decidedly New Age motif.

This compilation gives equal billing to all nine of her albums, right up to 2003’s The Lost & The Lovers, and there’s much to enjoy right across the spectrum of 30 years. A perfect starting point to acquaint oneself with a bafflingly overlooked chanteuse who has long deserved the recognition so often afforded to the likes of Sandy Denny and Linda Thompson.

3 stars 3 stars 3 stars

Esoteric | ECLEC 2024 (2-CD)

Reviewed by Terry Staunton
<< Back to Issue 346

Login Here

Free Newsletter


Subscribe to
our email newsletter by emailing:

anna.bowen@
metropolis.co.uk