Time & Tide, The Songs Of Big Big Train – Andrew Wild & R.Douglas Helvering – Kingmaker Publishing

(Yet) another fine Prog Rock production from  Kingmaker Publishing that delves ever so deep into the BBT songcraft.

FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH

Time and tide – waiting for no man and making the most of the moment. And as the Big Big Train rolls on from strength to strength, so grows the legacy in music and words. A band deserving of the sort of deep academic burrowing contained within the 500 + pages of Time & Tide, but hen again, Big Big Train were always a band prime for a deep dive thesis.

And the latter is what we get; backed by Kingmaker with their own BBT connection, who have already published three equally impressive tomes. The most recent of which, Andy Stuart’s Woodcut album companion, sets the standard for in depth song/album analysis.

Of the authors, Andrew Wild has form – prolifically so, and not just on the subject of BBT. Already a Kingmaker go-to with his two volumes on the Prog revival of the Eighties (via Kingmaker, naturally and available from…etc, etc) and a shared authorship with BBT singer Alberto Bravin on the songs of The Beatles, his credentials need no introduction. R.Douglas Helvering provides the clout for a more academic musical analysis. Meat and potatoes to him and maybe some readers but typical of the sort of minutae that will delight BT students. Together they’ve created a massive tome that defines both meticulous and definitive.

IN A NUTSHELL

A mere forty year timespan begins with quotes from Shakespeare and Hippocrates. There can’t be too many corners left untouched. Many shelves dusted to reveal long forgotten treasures, all carefully dissected. Take, for example, the section on the Folklore album as a smidgen of what to expect. An album analysis to give a perspective. Quotes rom several of the band, references to live performances of the songs, exact timed references to particular passages of the songs that highlight a solo or significant moment and of course background to source (and inspirational) material. The musical aspect may be above the heads of some of us mere mortals – harmonic resolutions, phrases in groups of four and shifts in minors – but manna from heaven to musical scholars. Images of brass cores, boy’s comics, artworks and locations , maintain the pleasing Kingmaker house style.

Talking of… Kingmaker, noted for what was in the old days of bootleg record a certain TMOQ (Trade Mark Of Quality) continue a now fine tradition of )that word again) definitive products. For BBT passengers, this is essential. For the casuals or the observers, an exercise in how to respect a band’s work. A band who are fortunate to have such devotees to their cause and from one who’s written postgrad and doctoral theses, the attention in the research and presentation is eye-watering.

SPINE BENDING…

The only problem? One for those who like their books to remain pristine and not break the binding and the spine. By Folklore, mine has gone… A small price to pay though. Judas Unrepentent? Kingmaker triumphant!

Available from the wonderful sales desk at Burning Shed.

And after finding out about Captain Albert Ball, let’s not forget the music:

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