Ok, I am scratching my head as I listen to this album, “Carry Me Back To My Old Front Door” by Jim Borrows with Dave Pegg and James Wood. Albums like this don’t really make any sense to me and perhaps this is just a vanity release and that might well explain a lot.
Oddly, there isn’t actually anything wrong with this album, You get seven originals and eight cover versions all piano led, and most amiably so, by Jim Borrows. The thing is that this isn’t even the sound of yesterday updated to today as, with actual musicianship always on show, a time machine must have directly transferred all that took part from the easy listening times of a seventies Reo Stakis steakhouse. As for the cover versions, they are mostly from the softer side of Bob Dylan’s substantial back catalogue and all are delivered with a degree of unforced sentimentality that matches Uncle Jim’s own words. There is no commercial sense in such a stylistic choice in these cold and heavily processed times yet it is hard to argue with the authenticity of the performances.
Whilst I suppose it is possible that someone just asked Uncle Jim to knock out some tunes on the piano to get the party going, “Carry Me Back to My Old Front Door” is more likely Jim Borrows doing what he has always wanted to do. That might also explain why Uncle Jim always gets invited to parties.