Review:'Peter Daltrey' 'The Life And Times of Blue Larry &The Huguenot Kid'
- Label: 'Think Like A Key Music'
- Genre: 'Folk'
- Release Date: '28.11.25.'
Our Rating:
The Life And Times Of Blue Larry And The Huguenot Kid is the 28th solo album by Psychedelic legend Peter Daltrey, who way in Kaleidoscope whose first record came out 58 years ago. The vinyl edition of this album only contains 6 songs, while the cd and download versions contain 13 songs. The album was recorded with Derek Head, Arjen Lucassen and Oli Daltrey, the album was produced by Peter Daltrey.
The album opens with a hearty round of applause at the start of the intro to Trapeze Man a hazy psychedelic pop song, for running away to the circus instead of working some dead-end office job, a good range of odd sounds and a sylph like guitar part drive it on. A Different Song opens like an early 60's Bob Dylan song, but with a rather more musical vocal, strings adorning the dark reflections of needing to sing a different song, helping change lives in positive ways, the harmonica is particularly redolent of that need for protection.
Dandelion Caress has a drum and bass intro that's skittery, the urgency of the music and Peters vocals, telling this tale that may explain just what a Dandelion Caress is, acoustic guitars sounding suitably menacing, before we get to a stunning deeply trippy guitar freak out.
Faye Goes Dreaming is heavily atmospheric for all the pills Faye is throwing away, while wondering if she's experienced or not, she's entered a weird place with clouds spinning round her head in a Rosetti style, ambient strings last out of a horror film. Mary By The Sea feels like an ancient folk song being picked on the acoustic guitar, the quiet day spent by Mary By The Sea gets disturbed in some cruel ways.
I Am A Huguenot is about the exodus of Huguenot's from France in the 18th century, many of whom of course ended up in the East End of London, this sombre song for the pain of displacement and becoming an often unwelcome refugee in a strange land, strings make this feel a sad lament for the generation who lived in The Flowery and Brick Lane just prior to my family moving in, a Huguenot meeting house converted into the synagogue on Princelet Street, this for me is one of the key songs on the album.
Recent single Our Mutual Disease is about that addiction to finding gold and wealth, love of money and what you'll do to get it, be it clog dancing in Amsterdam or busking, dark pop edge, fluid guitar take us on a trans-European journey, to the heart of the sax solo, hope of riches at the far end of the trail.
English Roses opens like a Hans Lundin synthscape before Peter's slow narration of the tale of a painting of English Roses, evocative feelings and memories the painting conjures up, including his son learning to play guitar, the strings add warmth to the cold atmosphere.
A Linden Tree In Chelsea has a magnificent searing guitar solo as centrepiece, this tale of Chelsea tree's and long-gone pubs in the area, while Peter sings of black wedding dresses and decay hiding the ghosts of older adventures.
Elfin Boy is a cover of the Curved Air classic from 1973; This is full of atmospheric backing, breaking down into soft jazz trumpet and ambient birdsong, we wonder what happened to that Elfin Boy. My Honeycomb Bride has lush strings and harp, full of reflections, back to wonderful times spent with his Honeycomb Bride, coolly reflective and understated elegiac beauty.
Buffalo opens with the line "There are no Suicides in Heaven", that grabs the attention while the slow strings accompany dark portents, driving his alcoholic indulgences, trying to drown out the sorrow of the Buffalos in Idaho, addicted to methamphetamine and harmonica solos, hear buffalo's cries mimicked on the guitar solo.
The album closes with Blue Larry a thirteen minute plus tale, slow organ and strings swell, a tale of mean streets adventures, procurements, busts, celluloid dreams made reality, buying gold wheelchairs, Cadillacs and loud music and not a cucumber in sight, just slow sprawling crazy horse guitar freak out, this will reveal more with repeated listening, long before you go and pay homage at Forest Lawns while dreaming of that immaculate shot, before the messy denouement sitting in that gold wheelchair full of despair.
Find out more at https://www.thinklikeakey.com/release/534791-peter-daltrey-the-life-and-times-of-blue-larry-and-the-huguenot-kid https://peterdaltrey.bandcamp.com/album/the-life-and-times-of-blue-larry-and-the-huguenot-kid https://www.facebook.com/peter.daltreykaleidoscope
