Jack Mancor: Press

Woody Guthrie of down under
(Monday 26 November 2007)
Red Folk with MIKE NEWMAN
MIKE NEWMAN introduces Australia's travelling singer-songwriter Jack Mancor.

Welcome back to the Red Folk column, where we focus on some of the great political music around and the people making it.

Jack Mancor is not a name that will trip readily off the tongue of lovers of political folk music here in Britain. But the release of the Australian-born singer-songwriter's second CD Black Top Blues may well help to change that.

Comparisons with the great Woody Guthrie are all too easily made, but, with Mancor, that comparison holds true.

His blend of traditional folk and roots music, his life spent working his way around Australia plying his trade as a mechanic by day and socially driven singer by night, coupled with his strong voice and convictions, make the connection.

Born in Melbourne to immigrant parents, Mancor sings about working people and their hopes and struggles. It's the politics of life that motivates him, "trying to reclaim what is rightfully ours, the profits of our labour and a planet and future worth having."

On Black Top Blues, Mancor is joined by some of the finest roots and folk performers of the Australian music scene. Particular appealing are the rousing Wheels of the Workers and a fine finale of the Woody Guthrie song I Ain't Got No Home.

Touring in Australia can bring its own unique problems due to the vast size of the country and the distance often needing to be travelled between each gig. But Mancor is currently in the middle of a mammoth tour of Australia of over 30 dates, with more being planned for the new year.

You can find out more about Mancor at his website www.jackmancor.com and both Black Top Blues and his first release Looking For Something can be brought in Britain from www.fourdogsmusic.co.uk

Like a young Billy Bragg gone bush, Australian folk singer-songwriter Jack Mancor marries lyrics of social realism set to deceptively simple melodies that linger long after the CD has been put back in its case. Tastefully produced by Dave Steel (Weddings Parties Anything guitarist), Black Top Blues has Mancor’s earthy vocals and acoustic guitar embellished by a band of seasoned session-players including Ruth Hazeleton on banjo and the curiously named Matiss Schubert on fiddle and mandolin. Rich storytelling is the order of the day; the bleak but beautiful melancholy of ’70 Miles From The Border’ tells with crushing poignancy the tragedy of a Mexican mining disaster, ‘How much Your Women Cried’ is a beautifully realised domestic drama and ‘Bottles In The Sand’ is a prayer for reconciliation. For much of this album, Mancor does a good job of persuading the listener that a promising new folk talent has arrived, but when the hard-living country-rock of ‘Something Double’ cascades from the speakers – as it surely ought to be from every radio in the country - it feels as if you’ve just stumbled across the next roots artist to make the leap into the big time.

JACK MANCOR – Black Top Blues

Tales from an Aussie battler with a folk/blues sound.

Jack Mancor sings of broken men, hardships and the Australian way of life. Black Top Blues is an earthy blend of blues/roots as Jack connects a traditional country style with a contemporary folk sound, making him a quintessential one-man band. A mechanic from Melbourne his passion contributes greatly to the overall feel of this album. One track in particular Chicken On The Bone/Road to Riga includes some delightful Fiddle and Mandolin work from Matiss Schubert which could be mistaken for Celtic folk. Ultimately the instrumentation on this album is what really holds it together. This is Jack’s second album and remains very sombre with an often too obvious American folk feel reminiscent of Bob Dylan and John Cougar Mellencamp. His captivating voice, good Australian story telling and string ensemble combine to form a true blue Aussie album, great for the whole family.

JONATHON HOWARD