Folk/blues scenester, performer, club organiser, sometime broadcaster, former ‘Froots’ editor and personality Ian Anderson started a record label in Bristol in 1970. In this new podcast/cyber radio thing, he plays a track from everything the label released – 24 LPs and a few singles. My favourites from the label are Al Jones, Chris Thompson, Wizz Jones and a bit of Dave Evans. To my taste, you probably ‘had to be there’ for a couple of the other acts, but that matters not – hats off to Ian for making it happen in an era when independent labels were relatively rare. He had a decent hit rate, quality wise.
The link contains the pod / radio thing plus a few paragraphs of history on the venture and lots of LP sleeves and adverts.
I must listen to it myself…
Colin H says
As usual, the URL didn’t post… Here it is:
https://www.podwirelesswords.com/2020/09/podwireless-village-thing-50th.html?fbclid=IwAR11ZcyYbqbR45rUcVJWE_mp7enw0vDoxkJyWvpJQNJJFA4gByXQLxyLJHM
Colin H says
And if a short sampler is needed, here’s the wonderful and little-known Chris Thompson with ‘London Blues’:
deramdaze says
This sounds brilliant, Colin, I’ll listen to it straight away.
If I’d been my preferred age c. 1970 (i.e. John, Paul or George’s age) I would definitely have gone down this route rather than rawwwkkk. This and, bizarrely, funk.
Quite apt that the first LPs were released on the day Jimi Hendrix died.
Vulpes Vulpes says
Fascinating stuff Colin.
I already had the first Dave Evans album – what a little blinder that is, too. Always reminds me of the first Duncan Browne album. It was great to read Ian’s extended reverie about the goings on in Bristol a few years before my own move to the city – and more precisely to Clifton village – and on from then during the years that I spent there, when The Stonehouse was a regular haunt for me – I probably saw several of Ian’s label mates there but had long ago forgotten their names. I do remember the chaos that was The Pigsty Hill Light Orchestra when they played Exeter University – can’t say I ever bought their albums, but they made a lasting impression all the same.
Thanks for posting this!