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In praise of crows (2021)
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“In Praise of Crows – rebellious, political undertone blended with cask-strength satire … a strong collection of songs that draw comparisons to Scottish folk greats such as Matt McGinn, Hamish Imlach and The Corries.” (May 2021)
Bob Leslie is a Scottish folk singer born in Edinburgh. He started out playing and writing back in the 60s, inspired by the blooming folk revival, but was led astray by friends of the electric persuasion, and spent the next few decades being a part of the highly competitive London rock scene. But he never got the folk fully out of his system, and in 2012 he returned to the scene full-time. In 2017 he released his debut full-length Land and Sea, followed by The Barren Fig in 2019. Both albums garnered a great response from critics.
His latest album, In Praise of Crows, has a lot of the same qualities that can be found on Bob’s previous releases. There’s a distinct rebellious, political undertone blended with cask-strength satire, the result is a strong collection of songs that draw comparisons to Scottish folk greats such as Matt McGinn, Hamish Imlach and The Corries. The songs are performed in both English and Scots, a native language of Lowland Scottish people.
‘Discover’ Reviews
Cluck Old Hen
cluckoldhen.org/discover
“In Praise of Crows – Bob looks at events with a different eye, and brings out a humorous side that may go unnoticed. Spending an hour on this album and his views on life certainly gave me pleasure.” (May 2021)
In the 1960s and 70s, many current affairs television programmes had musical sections. Singer-songwriters, many of them folk singers, would sing songs, which were sometimes humorous, but many took a more serious look at the news items of the day. Artists such as Cy Grant, Jake Thackray, Lance Percival and Sir Richard Stilgoe became household names.
If this were to happen today, Scottish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Bob Leslie would probably be in high demand. He looks at events with a different eye, and brings out a humorous side that may go unnoticed.
Don’t Start the Revolution in the Morning makes a plea that if you want to change the world, can you do it in the afternoon, as musicians don’t get up that early. One Size Don’t Fit All asks for tolerance in the harsh world we live in, but, again, the lyrics make you smile, whilst also making you think. [On] more serious topics, Lest We Forget looks at politicians at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday, knowing some had been involved in promoting arms sales.
Bob is joined on two tracks by the lovely voice of Alice Leslie. Spending an hour on this album and his views on life certainly gave me pleasure.
Graham Hobbs
Shire Folk Magazine
shirefolk.org.uk
“In Praise of Crows – Beautiful … Magic … Bob, if you want to know what “marvellous” is, look no further than your own words. It’s a thumbs up from me for a purchase.” (April 2021)
Classic advice for writers: always start and end well. Bob’s opener, Don’t Start The Revolution In The Morning, is the album’s standout track. His strong closing song is Bob’s bonus track, a different arrangement of his beautiful Bess Millie. Magic.
Track 6, Next Best Bed is Bob’s adaptation of Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy’s poem Anne Hathaway. One thing for sure, his song works: it’s an improvement on the poem, with daughter Alice doing a sterling job on vocals.
Bob, if you want to know what “marvellous” is, look no further than your own words.
It’s a thumbs up from me for a purchase.
Dai Woosnam
Living Tradition Magazine
livingtradition.co.uk
“In Praise of Crows – a Scottish (half-Orcadian, actually) singer/songwriter with a humorous bent and a growing reputation … The emphasis is on entertainment … If In Praise Of Crows is any guide I think that a Bob Leslie gig would be a good night out.” (April 2021)
Bob Leslie is a Scottish (half-Orcadian, actually) singer/songwriter with a humorous bent and a growing reputation. In Praise Of Crows is his third album.
Bob wraps up some serious points in his songs but the emphasis is on entertainment and, presumably, the hope that those serious points will lodge in the minds of his listeners.
If In Praise Of Crows is any guide I think that a Bob Leslie gig would be a good night out.
Dai Jeffries
Folking Magazine
folking.com
“In Praise of Crows – warm and welcoming … sharp and relevant” (March 2021)
Bob Leslie has delivered an album that has a warm and welcoming feel to it. It feels like a night out with friends (remember those), it gets its round in and joins in the banter. And, because you’re with friends, there are times you can tell those brazen truths and there are times you can embellish a tale or two. The audience knows that a pinch of salt may be needed, but nothing’s going to get in the way of a good story.
Albums like “In Praise Of Crows” walk a knife, it’s easy for them to become mawkish. Leslie ensures it stays sharp and relevant and ultimately an album that will find a way into your heart.
Neil King
Fatea Magazine
fatea-records.co.uk/magazine
“In Praise of Crows – arrives with joy … plays with both humour and the seriousness of life” (March 2021)
In Praise Of Crows comes with more than a song in the heart, it arrives with joy … Bob Leslie plays with both humour and the seriousness of life, but does so without ever giving into the temptation of melancholy. He takes that admiration of both senses and produces tracks such as the superb opener Don’t Start The Revolution In The Morning, in which the narrator speaks of his reluctance to rise with the tide of rebellion before 2pm due to his love of his bed … the excellent song of warning and arguing against indifference to all matters in Sittin’ In The Belly Of The Whale … he does so with that purest of belief, that he wants to entertain as well as have his voice heard.
Ian D. Hall
Liverpool Sound and Vision
liverpoolsoundandvision.co.uk
The Barren Fig (2019)
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“The Barren Fig – Good songs … some killer lines …
leaves the listener smiling” (August 2019)
Good songs, often using Scots or Orkney dialect, with tunes that suit the genre well.
Bob writes about things that traditional songs are made of: drovers, his homeland, war, history, mythology. The mix is peppered with lighter material and humour too, often with good choruses or refrains, like Nothing Else to Do – songs like this will go down well in folk clubs.
Ye’ll Nivver Find a Souter Doun in Hell is another with a good chorus, a humorous story, and some killer lines.
Another favourite is I Thowt I Liked Winter, words by Orcadian artist Ingrid Grieve, adapted and put to Bob’s tune. It’s gentle, warm, and homely, despite being about the cold winds of winter, and leaves the listener smiling.
Fiona Heywood
The Living Tradition
livingtradition.co.uk
“The Barren Fig – full of jewels” (March 2019)
It’s great when you have a competent musician who is a good song-writer. Even better, to have one who has such a terrific grasp of history and language. Bob Leslie’s new CD release, The Barren Fig, is full of these jewels that carry us from hope to humor and from the Orkney Islands to the Western Plains of North America, all in a memorable and very Scottish way.
Liz Browning Fox
Celtic! Old World to New Age
Radio Hatteras, Buxton, North Carolina
radiohatteras.org
“The Barren Fig – a piece of art” (March 2019)
Songs such as the opener Up, Carles, Dance!, Upon A Foreign Shore, the deep sadness and enlightening response of Already Walking So Tall, Ye’ll Nivver Find A Souter Down In Hell, and the thought provoking Lands o the Sioux an the Cree leave a bountiful harvest of fruit and productive memories.
Sometimes the modern critic will look away from such works, it doesn’t suit their personality or agenda, they are the ones missing out on a piece of art that is timeless in its delivery, passionate in its fertile imagination; a wonderful successor to 2017’s Land And Sea.
Ian D. Hall
Liverpool Sound and Vision
liverpoolsoundandvision.co.uk
Land and Sea (2017)
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“Land and Sea – seriously well-crafted songs” (August 2017)
After many years on the band circuit, Glasgow-born Bob Leslie has gone acoustic, written some seriously well-crafted songs in the Scottish vein and re-launched himself into the folk scene with two well-received albums and his new Land And Sea.
From the despair and the smouldering anger of the razed engine works in The World Came to Springburn and the bitter Highland Clearances (Cape Breton) to the typical Glasgow irony in Big Dead Bob, his wit and his writing are much to be commended.
Mick Tems
FolkWales Online Magazine
folk.wales/magazine
“Land And Sea – comes with a guarantee that you’ll
listen and enjoy” (August, 2017)
Craft a perceptive lyric, possess a voice suffused with richness, and write tunes that linger in the mind, and there’s a fair chance your work will generate considerable repute. True though that might be, it’s my contention that Bob Leslie deserves wider recognition as lyricist, songwriter and singer.
His latest album, Land and Sea, is a collection of memorable narratives with inspiration taken from legend, history, folklore and personal invention. The World Came to Springburn glories in the Age of Steam and laments its passing, the old ways and tales permeate The Seanachai, and the ever-roving Scots are remembered in Sir Alexander Leslie.
There’s a sense of identity to these songs, driven by an understanding of the art of telling stories in song – listen to Tho We Lang Syne Landit oan Fair Isle, the mournful Cape Breton, and the moving The Church of San Pedro, el Viejo,and you’ll understand.
Charlie Elland
Folk Words
folkwords.com
“Land and Sea – the man can write” (August 2017)
Bob Leslie sings in a strong pleasant baritone voice, and his four female backing musicians really deliver the goods. Her Father Called Me Frankenstein was the track of the album, for me, and had me laughing out loud.
Not that his serious songs did not have their lighter moments. Sir Alexander Leslie is an interesting description of a remarkable free spirit, and, like I said, although a serious song, Bob uses some artistic licence in the last verse to really make me chuckle.
Of the slow, looking-back-on-yesteryear ballads though, it is the opener that most convinces. The World Came to Springburn tells well the story of the de-industrialisation of Springburn in North Glasgow.
The man can write, alright.
Dai Woosnam
The Living Tradition
livingtradition.co.uk
“Land and Sea – a gemstone of the folk genre” (August, 2017)
Bob Leslie performs incredibly well, a statesman with more than a declaration of intent or a piece of paper suggesting politically ideal folk in our time. In tracks such as The World Came to Springburn, Orkneyjar, Tho We Lang Syne Landit oan Fair Isle and the excellent Her Father Called Me Frankenstein, the Land and Sea join to make one storm and tidal wave of enjoyment, of reckoning and sincere thought, one enough to set the sail and weave a passage across time and personal memory, the reflection of all that has gone before.
Land and Sea never stands in the way of the truth, time and tide only adds
perspective to the grace in which the story teller excels; it is one in which Bob Leslie strides out into the deeper waters and plunges his hand into riptide, only to pull out a gemstone of the Folk genre.
Ian D. Hall
Liverpool Sound and Vision
liverpoolsoundandvision.co.uk
“Land and Sea – you will be hooked until the very last song”
(August 2017)
It’s a delight to hear such a well-written and produced collection of original music. Bob Leslie had me laughing, then crying, and then singing-along with his new CD, Land & Sea. His breadth of knowledge and experience shows through in every line. Listen to the first track, The World Came to Springburn, and you will be hooked until the very last song – Big Dead Bob – a funny song to bring the album to a close. Well done, Bob Leslie!
Liz Browning Fox
Celtic! Old World to New Age
Radio Hatteras, N. Carolina, USA
“Land and Sea – more gusto than a chill highland wind”
(November, 2017)
Land and Sea, an album that captures the mists and winds of the Scottish land and seascapes via twelve original songs from this fine singer songwriter. Each song presents an enchanting narrative wrapped in poetic Scottish dialect and backed by stirring strings and whistles. Sir Alexander Leslie, for example, tells the tale of the First Earl of Leven, Bess Millie pays tribute to the “spaewife o owld Stromness toun” whilst Cape Breton and Tho We Lang Syne Landit oan Fair Isle revisit historical subject matter with more gusto than a chill highland wind.
There’s also a generous serving of Bob’s singular humour, especially on Her Father Called Me Frankenstein and Big Dead Bob, each providing some giggles on this tapestry of historical ballads and heartfelt odes to Leslie’s beloved Scotland.
Liam Wilkinson
Northern Sky Magazine
northernskymag.com
“Land and Sea – A folk club favourite”
(November 2017)
Bob has composed 12 narrative songs for Land and Sea, and as per the title of one of these songs, he literally is The Seanachai, or traditional storyteller/historian. His reach is Springburn, Orkney, Fair Isle, and further afield.
The most fascinating tale is that of Sir Alexander Leslie, the 17th century Scottish soldier about whom, allegedly, the nursery rhyme ‘There Was a Crooked Man’ was written. The song’s theme is reminiscent of that of Scots Abroad by the McCalmans. Listen though to hear the unexpected ending.
The story songs are, I suspect, what must make him a folk club favourite, as well as the comic numbers such as Her Father Called Me Frankenstein.
Colin Bailey
RnR Magazine
rock-n-reel.co.uk
Bob Leslie 