MANSON GRANT - Still Kickin'

 MANSON GRANT has been a mainstay of The Dynamos, and indeed the Scottish music scene for half a century. He joined The Dynamos when he was just 20 years old, and over the decades has performed a variety of music all across the Country and beyond. 
His latest album “Still Kickin’ ”(Pan Records
) , recorded in lockdown at Studio-D in Wick, is a real Classic Country album, with 13 songs that will take you back to when Country was Country. He starts off with a couple of Vince Gill numbers, “I Never Really Knew You” and “Don’t Come Crying To Me”, before going way back to Bill Anderson’s “The Tips Of My Fingers”, and even further back to Hank Williams “Mansion On The Hill”. 
Webb Pierce is remembered with “There Stands The Glass” and “Back Street Affair”, whilst Buck Owens, who Manson devoted a whole album to a few years back, is remembered on “There Goes My Love”.  You can relive Mel Tillis’ “Arms Of A Fool”, Willie’s “I’ve Loved You All Over The World”, and even Gordon Lightfoot’s “Cotton Jenny” too.
There’s also a nice timely, incidental, tribute to Des O’Connor with a good version of “Careless Hands”, although I think Manson’s version will have been more inspired by the Country versions from Slim Whitman, Dottie West and Jerry Lee Lewis.  The song was co-written by Bob Hilliard, who also wrote “From The Candy Store On The Corner”, which also features on the album. 
I love the intensity of “Have You Seen This Man” which I tracked down to album tracks from Skeeter Davis and Ernest Tubb, but was never a hit. Manson really found a bit of treasure with this sad tale of a man whose life was destroyed by the bottle. 
Through the wonders of modern technology, the album features some great Nashville and Irish musicians and backing singers like Aubrey Haynie, Steve Hinson, Eamon McLoughlin, Marcia Ramirez, Kelly Smiley, Crawford Bell and, of course, former Orcadian Phil Anderson, alongside fellow Dynamos from closer to home, Robert Cameron, Brandon McPhee and ex Chicken Picker Chis Boxall. 
When I’ve seen Manson (and the Dynamos) perform, he’s never failed to entertain the crowd. This album, where he gets solo billing, not only proves that he’s “Still Kickin’”, but that these timeless tunes have still plenty of life in them too. 
An absolute winner!