The Reverend S. Ulysses Wainwright: Reviews

A REVIEW BY KARL BARTONI

Preacherman CD

‘Preacherman’
Review by Karl Bartoni.

I have known Stephen Brown for several years and but only have the pleasure of meeting up with him every October in Edinburgh. In 2005, he mentioned to me that he had started work on producing a CD which would be a compilation of bizarre stories and songs. I heard no more but when we met up in 2006, Stephen handed me a nicely packaged CD entitled ‘PREACHERMAN’, which he asked me to listen too and let him know what I thought.

Well I was intrigued by the title, ‘Preacherman – The Somewhat Bizarre Songs, Stories and Music of the Very reverend S. Ulysses Wainwright’ and could not wait until I got home to play it. Well I ended up playing it over and over during the next few days as it’s one of those disks which gives the listener something each time it is played.

In the introduction, we are told that the Preacherman was a Victorian preacher who was born and lived in the west of Scotland. This narration (as well as the stories later) is given in the best of the Scottish accents, already setting the mood for what is to come.

Stephen has arranged the CD so that we hear a story which is then followed by a song or musical piece. The stories are strange and certainly spooky if one plays the disk as suggested, in a dark room “by the light of a single candle and a glass of your favourite libation”.

Now before I go any further, I need to mention that this is not amateur recording and production, it’s a professionally recorded CD in a studio and with pro musicians. Stephen has written and tells the stories, sings the songs and even plays some of the instruments. Sound effects have been added BUT ONLY when it seemed fitting. It’s a truly professionally work in all the senses and a pleasure to listen too.

There are 9 tracks and all but one are original to Stephen. We have in order:-

1. The Inroduction.

2. ‘Up on Mortwood Hill’. A story about Lucy Wainwright and her son in the Mortwood Hill Asylum.

3. ‘.... and the WHIP keeps Crackin’ on Down’. A song about a man who paid the price for listening to the voices in his head.

4. ‘The Photograph’. Another nice story which draws the listener in.

5. ‘The Ghost of ll Collegio. A rather sad instrumental song and the listener can quite easily let their imaginations travel towards spooky places and spirits.

6. ‘The Curse of Augustus De La Zouche’. A story about him, how he was bullied and of the curse he placed on those who had treated him so badly. Again, very atmospheric and thought provoking at the end.

7. ‘Something Wicked Coming Your Way’. A song in which Stephen sings about the Devil wanting your soul. This is quite a catchy song which I found myself humming for many days.

8. ‘Leaning on the Everlasting Arms’. This musical track is the only track which was not composed by Stephen Brown. It is quite fitting for the ending track of the CD which as been an audio experience to say the least.

9. ‘Outroduction’. This is the final track in which Stephen brings your listening to an end. A nice touch indeed and done in such a way that some might still get a small shiver or two before the silence.


‘Preacherman’ is a CD which lasts for just over half an hour and listening to it is a most enjoyable experience. Stephen has spent a good deal of time and effort in producing this disk so that it does not just come across as a ‘collection’ of stories, songs and music’ loosely strung together. This is ‘Audio Bizarre’ done with skill and experience which Stephen has drawn from his interest in bizarre magic, many years as a songwriter and musician. If you want to chill out with an experience, then listen to ‘Preacherman’ rather than pick up that book to read another ghost story.......make sure you turn out the lights and light a candle.

Karl Bartoni

A REVIEW BY MARY TOMICH

Preacherman CD

"Preacherman" contains nearly 36 minutes of material. There are stories, music, and songs— The journey is indeed bizarre, but I think you will find Preacherman a very worthwhile journey .

So just who is the Preacherman? According to the introduction, he is a Victorian preacher who was born and raised in western Scotland. It's clear that Brown and Wainwright share the same homeland. Brown's rather pronounced Scottish accent adds to the atmosphere.

The introduction suggests that the preferred way to listen to the contents of the CD is by the light of a single candle and a glass of your favorite libation. You'll need it for the first story, Up on Mortwood Hill.

Mortwood Hill Asylum is an institution for the criminally insane. Lucy Wainwright, a woman whose short, difficult life contributed to her admission to Mortwood Hill. In this day and age, she would have been hospitalized in a medical facility. But in Wainwright's day, it was a time when even certain medical conditions could lead to incarceration at such an institution. The story chronicles Wainwright's travails, including the birth of her son. The little boy is a strange one--whose demeanor suggests one who's much older than he is. By the end of the story, you'll be more concerned with what he is.

Overall, I found Up on Mortwood Hill to be quite interesting. Brown complements the storyline with appropriate audio effects which contributed to the mental picture for the listener. His liberal use of adjectives helped build suspense and only once or twice did they seem too much for my tastes.

Aside from that, I found the story to be well done and, at the end, I was left with my own imagination and how I would have felt if I experienced the same fate as one of the characters in the story. Panicky comes to mind.

Leaving Mortwood Hill, we are transported to a different kind of prison--a 6x8 prison cell. The Whip Keeps Crackin’ on Down is a song about the desperate tale of a man who listened to the voices in his head—and paid the price for it. He’s given life for his crimes and experiences his own hell. The music has a tight, Western-style beat that I enjoyed.

The fourth track, The Photograph, opens innocently enough on a crisp November night with a man gazing up at the twilight sky. Two distinctly different but related memories intrude on his seemingly peaceful repose. He associates them with two colors: sky blue and sea green. Using each color, Brown recounts the memories that the man associated with them. The blue memory represented a tragedy—the premature death of his son. .

In contrast, the second memory represented by green, floods the man's consciousness with his own childhood excitement when his father, a stage manager for a local venue, would take him backstage where all of the stars waited their turn. The listener will feel enveloped by the story as he or she imagines the scene and the man mental musings move back and forth between his memories and the present. At the end, an interesting twist to the story awaits the listener. Nicely done.

Then we move to The Ghost of Il Collegio, a melancholy instrumental song dominated with the sound of harpsichord and cello. It has a sad Victorian or Gothic thread running through its somewhat haunting instrumental. The listener is left to his or her own mental imaginings. It’s quite easy to conjure your own spooky settings and ghosts, aided by no more than Brown’s adept instrumentals. As the piece unfolds, the musical tension builds as it would if a ghost were about to present itself. Then the music settles back down again for a fittingly melancholic close. I liked it.

We then meet Augustus De La Zouche, a tortured soul who was bullied for many years. He exacts a terrible revenge on the people who treated him so poorly. As he's led away, he manages to strike fear in the hearts of those present by cursing them. Brown then asks the listener, "What if your relative was in court that day?" Food for thought...

Track 7 is a song, Something Wicked Coming Your Way. It starts with a slow folksy melody and picks up tempo until it acquires a catchy, quick-tempo bluegrass feel. Throughout the song, Brown sings of the Devil wanting to take your soul. He sings of the encounter and ends with a one-sentence instruction for the Devil. It's a fast song.

Leaning on the Everlasting Arms – With this musical track, the trip has come full circle, back from the edge of the abyss—insanity, murder, ghosts. This piece is the only track on the CD that is not of Brown’s - the song’s a fitting ending and integrates well with the flow of the CD.

The final track, Outroduction, asks the questions that you would expect at the end of a bizarre journey: inquiries about your well-being, the origin of the strange noises that you may be hearing, and so forth. The Narrator tells you to live well, but you just might start listening a little more closely to the unexplained sounds that you might hear.