24/08/2026
An audience with Martin Carthy (of sorts), Cecil Sharp House
‘Rolling Stone UK’ – the British folk revival versus…
I’m delighted to say that ‘Rolling Stone UK’ has now made Sophie Porter’s fabulous piece (in the current issue) on retired/disabled Scottish icon Dick Gaughan and many of his 70s folk revival peers versus the three people who identify as ‘Celtic Music’ available freely online. Featuring interviews with Martin Simpson, Allan Taylor, Andrew Cronshaw, Barbara Dickson, and modern-era cheerleaders the Mary Wallopers – plus some vintage photos.
Music was made to be heard.
URL in the comments.
Disco-Prog sensation! Hitherto unknown 1975 Focus film emerges
This is exciting – the first ‘new old’ film of Focus in ages, hitherto unknown. It’s filmed at Castle Groeneveld in the Netherlands in 1975, where Focus often rehearsed, and seems to be for a German channel – the brief interviews at the start are in English, with German translation in the voiceover.
The main piece of music – ‘My Sweetheart’ from their 1975 album ‘Mother Focus’ – starts at 3:54. The line-up is the classic 1972-73 one – Thijs Van Leer (piano/flute), Jan Akkerman (guitar), Bert Ruiter (bass) and Pierre van der Linden (drums) – but Pierre was not present when they recorded ‘Mother Focus’, with David Kemper on the record (Colin Allen had appeared on the previous one, 1974’s ‘Hamburger Concerto’). Pierre mimes here to the most un-Pierre-like (simple) drumming!
‘My Sweetheart’ is that rare beast ‘disco prog’ at its finest!
In September, the current Focus – Thijs, Pierre + 2 excellent younger players – play a short tour of Britain and Ireland (hurrah!). It can only be legendary!
1901 – the man who invented the direct-to-customer selling of recorded music
Irish-American vaudeville performer – slapstick comedy and uilleann piping virtuosity – Patsy Touhey was a remarkable fellow. I wrote a chapter on him in ‘The Wheels of the World’, my book on the history of Irish pipers (with John McSherry, one of the greats of today).
He was there at the very beginning of commercial sound recordings at the tail end of the 19th century and, uncannily, he invented the direct-to-consumer template that 99% of recording artists use in the 21st century.
His earliest cylinder recordings, from memory (of writing the book – not of the time!), date to 1898 – though one or two pipers were recorded a year before even that – but the stroke of genius came in 1901. He’d been offered a recording contract with the Edison company, which had pioneered the manufacturing of domestic phonograph players (which used cylinders) in the 1890s, but he didn’t like the terms. Instead, he advertised weekly in a New York newspaper – a list of 150 tunes, one per cylinder for $1 or $10 for a dozen. Every recording was, of course, a unique performance – introduced by Patsy himself, shouting the tune’s title.
As a comparison, the » Continue Reading.
The Mahavishnu Project, live in Germany 18/7/26
A sensational performance from Gregg Bendian’s periodically-performing 10th Dan Mahavishnu Orchestra homage ensemble in Garmany last week, uploaded today (URL in the comments).
I’ve just listened to the whole show, while involved in economic activity, and made a note of the set:
Meeting of the Spirits John’s Song #2 Sanctuary Trilogy Trilogy Cosmic Strut Lotus Feet Celestial Terrestrial Commuters Smile of the Beyond Birds of Fire Dream Dance of Maya One Word
The Story of Transatlantic Records 1961-80
Bin, Bin, Binface!
Along the Road Forever: Martin Carthy at the BBC 1965-2022
17/07/2026
MARTIN CARTHY – ALONG THE ROAD FOREVER: LIVE AT THE BBC Released: 17th July 2026 MARTIN CARTHY – ALONG THE ROAD FOREVER: LIVE AT THE BBC
THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE MARTIN CARTHY COLLECTION EVER ASSEMBLED – 20 CD SET WITH LIVE AND SESSION PERFORMANCES RECORDED FOR THE BBC OVER A 57 YEAR PERIOD
INCLUDES 80-PAGE HARDBACK BOOK WITH AN ESSAY BY CELEBRATED BIOGRAPHER CLINTON HEYLIN, COVERING MARTIN’S WHOLE LIFE IN MUSIC
WITH UNSEEN PHOTOS, MANY FROM MARTIN’S PERSONAL ARCHIVE, SEPARATE SESSION NOTES BY RENOWNED CARTHY CHRONICLER KEVIN BOYD AND A PHOTOGRAPH SIGNED BY MARTIN
The troubadour, the folk-rocker, the guitar hero, the acapella master, the champion of songs from the people, the voice of history, the wit and raconteur, Martin Carthy seemingly walked the road forever, never strayed far from the folk clubs and never sold out. This limited edition set – lovingly curated by Colin Harper – includes a lavishly illustrated 80-page hardback book with essays by Clinton Heylin and Kevin Boyd, a 1971 Keith Morris photograph signed by Martin and 20 discs of audio magic mastered by Pete Reynolds. With your hosts John Peel, Suzy Klein, Andy Kershaw, Jim Lloyd and further denizens of Broadcasting House, » Continue Reading.
Martin Simpson leads the campaign to retrieve 22 albums for 12 folk legends
28/05/2026
Help us get this music back to those who made it, and get it heard by a new generation
Almost the entire catalogues of Bill Leader’s twin Trailer and Leader imprints and also the Rubber Records label from the same era – catalogues all claimed currently by the same entity – have been unavailable for many years, most never available on CD let alone digitally.
These catalogues contain joyful, powerful, and beautiful music – but audiences have been unable to legally buy it other than through second-hand LPs on eBay, and artists and their heirs have been unable to earn royalties or see their work enjoyed by new generations.
Now, thanks to Cliff Richard (yes really!) some of the pioneering artists of the 1960s and 1970s have a clear-cut legal route to regain access to their work – including the rights to re-release it and to ensure session musicians get a share of the payment.
We’re fundraising, collectively, to cover the legal fees for a group of artists to hire the expert solicitor they need. To get more specific: if we raise the full target (outlined in more detail below) it will allow these artists active in the early » Continue Reading.
Astounding! The final Mk 1 Mahavishnu Orchestra concert (30/12/73) turns up
Bill Leader (1929-2026)
Obituary
I’m sorry to say that Bill Leader (1929-2026) has passed on. A legendary, remarkably modest and remarkably prolific engineer and producer of folk and traditional music from Britain and Ireland from the mid-50s to the end of the 70s (and very occasionally thereafter). Recorded history in that sphere would be unrecognisable without his herculean contribution to documenting it.
He recorded dozens of now revered musicians, several of whom maybe no one else would have – the very first albums by Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated, Bert Jansch, The Watersons, Sweeney’s Men, Archie Fisher, Barbara Dickson, Gerry Rafferty (yes, really), Dick Gaughan, The Boys of the Lough, Robin & Barry Dransfield, Roy Bailey, Vin Garbutt, Dave Burland…
And classic albums by Irish trad icons like Willie Clancy, Martin Byrnes and Seamus Ennis, and Christy Moore’s proto-Planxty ‘Prosperous’…
Many of these were for his own labels Trailer and Leader (1969-78) – after 15-odd years recording for Topic, Decca, Argo and Transatlantic, he put his money where his mouth was and captured magic, locking it down forever. Albeit, circumstances mean that much of that music never made it into the digital era – at least not yet.
Mike Butler is four volumes into » Continue Reading.
Terry Cox RIP
Obituary
Sad to say that Terry Cox, an extraordinary, unique drummer – and also, with Pentangle, an underappreciated singer and songwriting force (alongside the more obvious Jansch, Renbourn and McShee) – has left us. He was 89.
Before Pentangle he played and recorded with jazz legend Sandy Brown, Alexis Korner, Duffy Power / Duffy’s Nucleus (with Danny Thompson and John McLaughlin) and others, and during the Pentangle era (1967-72) he also played on numerous albums by others, jazz, folk and pop, from John Williams to Dave Bowie, the Bee Gees, Elton John, Shirley Collins…
In the later 70s (living in Majorca, I think) he toured and recorded with cabaret/jazz sensation Charles Aznavour. He was involved in the 1982-83 orginal Pentangle reunion (tours of Italy and Australia) and stayed on for two new Pentangle albums along with Bert Jansch and Jacqui McShee (and Thompson on the first of them): ‘Open the Door’ (1984) and ‘In the Round’ (1986). He took part in the final all-originals Pentangle reunion shows in 2008 and 2011, including several TV/radio spots and the live album ‘Finale’.
His drumming and percussion (including ‘that bloody glockenspiel!’ in his words) for Pentangle, especially during the original era, was extraordinary » Continue Reading.
Gaughan tribute concert – on BBC Radio Scotland and iPlayer tonight
A public service (broadcasting) announcement… Link in the comments.
True and Bold: A Night for Dick Gaughan Travelling Folk
Recorded at Celtic Connections 2026, we have highlights of the True and Bold: A Night for Dick Gaughan concert, put together to celebrate one of Scotland’s most significant folk singers and songwriters.
Featuring an incredible host of musicians, including Siobhan Miller, Billy Bragg, Ricky Ross & Lorraine McIntosh, Lisa O’Neill and Paul McKenna, the concert celebrates Dick’s amazing back catalogue and even features an appearance from the man himself.
Sorrow Hides The Longing To Be Free – The Songs of Bert Jansch
06/03/2026
A public service share of info about an beautiful sounding album homage to Bert Jansch by an Australian duo, about whom I know nothing. It can be heard – and bought – via Bandcamp, and heard via YouTube.
Here is the blurb…
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Guitarist & producer Shane O’Mara, and singer Jac Tonks, announce their tribute to the songs of Bert Jansch – ‘Sorrow Hides The Longing To Be Free’, out March 6 via Cheersquad Records & Tapes.
The brilliant Bert Jansch pioneered a “folk baroque” style that blended traditional British folk with elements of blues and jazz. His innovative fingerstyle guitar technique was one that redefined the instrument’s role in the 1960s British folk revival.
Long before his passing in 2011, Jansch was famed as an inspiration to acolytes as gifted in their own rights as Paul Simon, Jimmy Page, Neil Young, Donovan, Mike Oldfield, Nick Drake, and Johnny Marr.
Add to that list guitarist virtuoso Shane O’Mara, who, with singer Jac Tonks, channels the great Scottish folk stylist’s lyrical melodies and ethereal chord voicings like an uncanny mist forever suspended beyond the madness of modern times.
With a deft balance of masterful technique and disarming empathy, the duo » Continue Reading.
A tribute to Alex Harvey
Ulster punk legend and muli-instrumentalist Glenn Kingsmore – The Defects, Ashanti, currently drumming with Henry Cluney in XSLF etc. – has a new solo album out later this year, ‘Cairn Holy’, a homage to Scotland.
He’s just shared this song and SAHB-filled video from it, a doff of the cap to Alex Harvey. He has a knack for a memorable tune.
Andy Edwards gets to the heart of things… the moment has now gone
The Adventures – live at the Empire, Belfast
Venue:
The Empire, Belfast
Date: 10/01/2026
The audience:
Lots of blokes with cropped grey hair and their partners, but also a fair number of younger women dancing around, who couldn’t have been ‘there’ back in the days.
It made me think..
About that link to the 1960s. Also about mortality – I lost a great pal from the Belfast music scene recently, and he was only in his 60s, one of those people seemingly indestructible and around forever. The Adventures make a still young sound, yet they’re pensioners. But let us be joyful and celebrate them while they’re still rocking (once in a while)! And if any GB festival promoters are reading this, trust me – book them and they’ll wow your crowd.
Secret Affair – time for a reappraisal?
The Affair feature on the cover of the current ‘Record Collector’. It prompts one to ask the question ‘Is it time for a reappraisal?’ Or, indeed, ‘Is it time for action’? Is it their world we’re living in every day, and would you have it any other way?
Is it, in short, time for a revival of the Mod Revival?
Leaf Hound – the (second) comeback!
Few would deny that Leaf Hound’s ‘Growers of Mushroom’ was one of the great rock albums of 1971. Vocalist Peter French went on to front the greatest of all Atomic Rooster albums, ‘In Hearing Of…’, later that same year. One album with each band. And then… he disappeared. There were a few more recordings with this or that band in the 70s but nothing that anyone’s ever heard of. He must surely be the greatest ‘classic British rock’ vocalist never to have found a vehicle with longevity and public acceptance comensurate with the quality of his voice.
French reconstituted a new Leaf Hound in 2004, recording new albums in 2007 (studio) and 2012 (live).
He then joined a reformed Atomic Rooster with fellow 1971-72 member Steve ‘Bolton’ Bolton and the blessing of late bandleader Vincent Crane’s widow Jean in 2016. I think he continued with Leaf Hound as well for a period overlapping with this, but eventually focused on Rooster. Wikipedia tells us (!) that he left in the middle of a 2023 European tour, reportedly not able to keep up with the touring schedule – though there had previously been talk of musical differences (a wonderfully 1970s phrase!).
Anthony Toner, live in Belfast
Venue:
The Sunflower Bar
Date: 18/12/2025
Belfast’s Sunflower Folk Club is a bit of an oddity, but a welcome one. It happens every Thursday at the Sunflower Bar in a central Belfast backstreet and is unashamedly a throwback to the 1970s. For a start, it’s an English-style folk club on the 60s/70s model, on an island that has only ever had two or three clubs on those lines – happening in an upstairs room of a licensed premises, two halves with floor singers in the first and a guest artist in the second (or a mix of both in the two halves) plus a raffle.
The club is in part a homage to a Sunflower Folk Club that ran from 1977 into the mid-80s at a different pub that was also called the Sunflower, on an even more desolate thoroughfare of Belfast – a venue that was front-page news twice in the earlier 70s for fatal bombings and shootings by terrorists. I imagine the publican must have bitten the late Geoff Harden’s hand off when he offered to run a weekly folk club in the upper room there in 1977. Barry Moore (the future Luka Bloom) was the » Continue Reading.
12 minutes of exquisite ‘British folk-baroque’
Dariush Kanani – a modern disciple of the Jansch/Renbourn/Davy Graham school of fingerstyle magic has just filmed a session for Turnstone Guitars (playing one of their instruments). There’s no boring gear talk – just 11 mins 48 of fabulous music: ‘Angie’, ‘Lady Nothing’s Toye Puffe’, ‘Sermonette’, ‘Blueberry Hill’ and ‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face’.
I know Dazza slightly but I’d be posting this clip even I didn’t – a beautiful sound, marvellous music and marvellous playing.
Link in the comments. Enjoy!
Dick Gaughan on ‘The Rolling Wave’ (RTÉ Radio 1)
RTÉ Radio 1’s ‘The Rolling Wave’ last night – a terrific extended interview with Dick Gaughan (in Edinburgh) by Aoife Nic Cormaic (in Dublin), interspersed with music from ‘Live at the BBC: 1972-79’, out now on CD and out soon (this side of Christmas) on vinyl.
Vice Squad – time for a reappraisal?
While the rejuvenated Cockney Rejects are out there playing anywhere that will have them, Vice Squad have taken a different path. I don’t think they’ve performed live since lockdown – deliberately so – taking the route of recording at home (Rebecca & Paul’s place, VS vocal/guitar & guitar) and creating social media videos from home. Very effectively, it seems to me – and good luck to them.
There’s little or no money in touring at the club level, and a lot of risk, so the Squad seem to be a good example of a heritage act (I’m sure they’d hate that phrase) operating a firmly DIY operation to get their music out to fans from their living room/kitchen without schlepping around the country playing to 40 people a night or whatever it may be.
They have a new ‘best of’ just out – titled ‘Punk Rockers’ (lest there be any confusion), own label, own distribution – featuring newly recorded versions of classics. I salute them for ignoring the remains of the trad record industry and doing it themselves.
They have a knack for decent tunes, adding aspects of pop to their metally punk. Speaking of which, on this number, ‘Punk » Continue Reading.
Mahavishnu Orchestra – Chicago 18/2/73
Oi! Oi! Jeff ‘Stinky’ Turner wants to smash the West Ham system
As well as running the Cockney Rejects’ popular comeback, Jeff ‘Stinky’ Turner has recently started a podcast talking about soccer, boxing and punk – and most recently, he seems to be keen to get rid of some people from West Ham. I’m not a soccer follower myself, so does anyone know what this is about? And is he on the right or wrong side of history?
Stinky’s call to storm the barricades is in the comments.
