JOHN RENBOURN'S SHIP OF FOOLS

Whether "Ship of Fools" is simply the album title or actually the name of this ensemble, it's clear that the former PENTANGLE guitarist has here assembled THE JOHN RENBOURN GROUP mach 2. Instead of trotting out JACQUI MCSHEE yet again, he wisely engaged the young fresh marriage and business partners STEVE TILSTON and MAGGIE BOYLE who had guested on each others' albums and later worked as a pair.

Boyle could not only sing angelically and with more warmth than MCSHEE, but she adds flutes and whistles complementing those of the ever present TONY ROBERTS, while Tilston himself sings and strums and plucks a cornucopia of instruments. The result is the best such collaboration in Renbourn's long career at this unlikely late date of 1988. While it can't match his best instrumental projects, songs like the STEELEYE like "Searching for Lambs", the enchanting "Sandwood down to Kyle", and the MORRIGAN-like title cut lend credibility to the hypothesis that the newcomers injected needed vivacity into a formula that had thus far been only a titch to the good side of competent. Even the one vocal-less number "Cobbler's Jig / Maltese Brawls", with a title that screams filler, is one of the high points for its flourishing arrangements.

It's a shame that this was not only a one off but proved to be Renbourn's last disc for a decade. While it hits the 3.5 star level on the nose, I'd be a fool not to round up if only to acknowledge its preeminence relative to the 1977 and 1980 top heavy John Renbourn Group issues.