''Gentle Men'' is an album released in 1997 by

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

singers Roy Bailey and Robb Johnson in collaboration with Belgian singer Vera Coomans and Belgian

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

band Koen De Cauter and the Golden Serenaders. The album takes the form of a song cycle inspired by the experiences of Johnson's grandfathers during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and was released as part of the Vredesconcerten

Passendale Passendale () or Passchendaele ( , ; ) is a rural Belgian village in the Zonnebeke municipality of West Flanders province. It is close to the town of Ypres, situated on the hill ridge separating the historical wetlands of the Yser and Leie val ...

(Paschendale Peace Concerts) series.

Concept

Johnson based the songs on the album around the experiences of his two grandfathers at the

Ypres Salient The Ypres Salient, around Ypres, in Belgium, was the scene of several battles and a major part of the Western Front during World War I. Location Ypres lies at the junction of the Ypres–Comines Canal and the Ieperlee. The city is overlooked b ...

in 1917 and used official histories and family memories in his research. According to the album's sleevenotes, Johnson's paternal grandfather, Ernest Isaac Johnson, was an apprentice

glassblower Glassblowing is a glassforming technique that involves inflating molten glass into a bubble (or parison) with the aid of a Blowpipe (tool), blowpipe (or blow tube). A person who blows glass is called a ''glassblower'', ''glassmith'', or ''gaffer'' ...

and amateur musician, who served as a bandsman in the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) was a specialist corps in the British Army which provided medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. On 15 November 2024, the corps was amalgamated with the Royal Army De ...

from 1915 until the conclusion of the war in 1918. His maternal grandfather, Henry Robert Jenner, enlisted despite being underage and served with the

Post Office Rifles The Post Office Rifles was a unit of the British Army formed in 1868 from volunteers as part of the Volunteer Force, which later became the Territorial Force (and later the Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Territorial Army). The unit evolved sever ...

. When his true age was discovered, he was allocated duties away from the frontline, but was eventually sent back to the trenches. Despite being affected by a

mustard gas Mustard gas or sulfur mustard are names commonly used for the organosulfur compound, organosulfur chemical compound bis(2-chloroethyl) sulfide, which has the chemical structure S(CH2CH2Cl)2, as well as other Chemical species, species. In the wi ...

attack, he also survived the war.

Credits

According to the sleevenotes, Bailey, Johnson and Coomans all contribute lead vocals, and Johnson also plays

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

and

whistle A whistle is a musical instrument which produces sound from a stream of gas, most commonly air. It is a type of Fipple, fipple flute, and may be mouth-operated, or powered by air pressure, steam, or other means. Whistles vary in size from a s ...

. Koen De Cauter plays

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

, guitar and

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

, and the Golden Serenaders band also includes Hendrik Braeckman on guitar, Dajo De Cauter on

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

, Myrdhin De Cauter on clarinet, Jan De Coninck on

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

, Philip Hoessen on

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

and Willy Seeuws on

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

. Piet Chielens produced the album, which was recorded and mixed by Rudy Dekeyzer. All songs were written by Johnson and arranged by De Cauter and his band.

Reception

Folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

magazine ''The Living Tradition'' described the songs as "emotive, thought provoking and carry nggreat depth and weight."

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

described the songs as "moving" and stated that it was one of the best albums of Johnson's career. ''

Mojo Mojo may refer to: * Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in Hoodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Mojo'' (2017 film), a 2017 Indian Kannada drama film written and directed by Sreesha Belakvaadi * '' ...

'' named the album Folk Album of the Month, and ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' chose it as Folk Album of the Year.

Track listing

Disc One

Disc Two

In 2000 Johnson performed the songs from the album at a

Remembrance Day Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day owing to the tradition of wearing a remembrance poppy) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth member states since the end of the First World War to honour armed forces me ...

concert in

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with a band which included Russell Churney. He also re-recorded the song "When Harry Took Me To See Ypres", providing the lead vocals himself, on his 2005 album ''A Beginner's Guide''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gentle Men (Album) 1997 albums Songs about the military Robb Johnson albums