Here is a PDF of my 2017 book on Ralph McTell – Parallel Lives (Pomera Press).
Ralph McTell is the leading singer guitarist of his generation and has built up a formidable catalogue of his songs and poems. His reputation is for carefully constructed songs with sensitive lyrics and exquisite melodies. In this book, Michael Grenfell explores the way biography features in Ralph’s work: his own background in post-World War 2 London, those that surrounded him in his personal life experiences, his contemporaries, and artistic influences. It also considers the various ‘biographies’ that Ralph created to carry his songs: Michael in the Garden, Dancing Doreen, Clown and others. There are also the real life biographies he used in interpreting life’s experiences: Dylan Thomas, Sylvia Plath, Hermann Hesse.
The chapters are based on Ralph’s work and personal life story, and include extensive extracts from interviews conducted by the author with him. This also includes the musical styles that inspired him: especially Blues and Ragtime players from the past.
The account is set within the times when Ralph grew up and his early years in London, Paris and Cornwall.
The book also includes three Interludes, which focus on different accounts of creativity. Interlude 1 probes the sociology and philosophy of aesthetics for artist and audience. Interlude 2 delves into the psychology of the creative individual – the pros and cons. Finally, Interlude 3 moves into a more esoteric direction in exploring the invisible forces, which shape artistic expression. The Interludes are intended to complement the particular example of Ralph and his work and open up features that we may all share.
This highly original take on biography allows one example to discuss a range of social, psychological, cultural and aesthetic issues. How we respond to this coverage in fact is shaped by our own biographies. Hence the book’s title Parallel Lives: to indicate how we are each unique but living lives in relation to each other in several ways.
What emerges is a highly engaging account, which ends up examining the impact of music and the arts on their audience – indeed the nature of biography itself and the place of art and culture within it.
Ralph McTell states:
‘It has been a revealing and emotional experience working with Mike Grenfell on this book. His scholarly interpretations and evaluations of my songs are most gratifying and I have been moved very much by what he has written. His perceptiveness and conclusions are illuminating to me’.
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