A Quintessentially English Production

Sir John Betjeman was a British Poet Laureate, and a popular public figure. He was recorded several times in the 1970's reciting his wonderful, accessible poems to specially composed music, and the resulting albums are available at super-bargain price on CD.


Betjeman's Banana Blush is one such album, and I recommend it highly. Betjeman's voice is worldly, expressive, and marvelously precise, and his poetry is a delight. The words and music conjure up the exquisiteness of first love, the ache of lost love, the power of exotic places, and much more, with a quintessential Englishness and at times a wry humour.

The enjoyable light orchestral accompaniment, composed by Jim Parker, is varied and mostly very effective. I particularly liked the dramatic and poignant accompaniment to the reading of "The Arrest of Oscar Wilde at the Cadogan Hotel".

Not everything works: the faux-American accent used for "Longfellow's Visit to Venice"; the odd bluster and jauntiness accompanying the moving words of the final track "A Child Ill", but these quibbles hardly detract from the whole.

In addition to its availability on CD, the album is available for digital download (with sound samples).

p.s. I thought the track "A Shropshire lad" was rather strange... here is some background on the Captain Webb mentioned therein.