24/03/2025
Friends, I’m going to need your help in a few weeks – especially friends in the music world, for whom some of this might resonate. That help will be sharing links on your own FB pages and elsewhere.
I’ll be launching a crowdfunding campaign that involves aiming for a significant sum of money. I won’t be taking any of it – my role is philanthropic – but I’ll be thrilled if the target is reached: it will allow to happen a project of preservation, celebration and remuneration around a partly ‘lost era’ of work from one of the great artists of the 20th century, in my view.
Dick Gaughan was a folk music giant – a singer *and* instrumentalist of astonishing, singular quality, whose early career was mostly based on traditional music, moving more into songs of his own time in the mid-80s. He was brilliant at all of it and a man of rare compassion and optimism in his worldview.
His first album was released in 1972, his last in 2008. His career ended with a stroke in 2016. He is off the grid and legally blind, unable to play an instrument – but that remarkable optimism remains.
Most artists with a long career see periodic reissues, anthologies, even box sets of their work – keeping the flame of their artistry alive – in their later years and into retirement. This is the case with peers of similar singular artistry from the background of the folk revival – Bert Jansch, June Tabor, Martin Carthy.
Gaughan has been unlucky in this respect: 7 of his 12 albums from 1972–88 are out of reach to licensors and have never or never properly appeared on CD (one appeared briefly on low-run CDr) let alone digital/streaming; of the other five, only one has been sonically refreshed/reissued in the past 30-odd years (the fabulous ‘Handful of Earth’, 1981, remastered/repacked 6 years ago).
This has created an alarming ‘legacy gap’ – let alone the money that might have gone to Gaughan and the reputation-burnishing and introducing to a new generation that might have happened had his early work been periodically re-presented. Look at the tranche of UK national publicity, for example, that greeted the simple reissue on vinyl of Martin Carthy’s first LP last year, or this month’s UK broadsheet and monthly magazine features on Vashti Bunyan, on the occasion of a 20th anniversary reissue of her 2005 comeback album after a one-album original career in 1970. It’s not enough for musical artists to do great work – that work must be periodically refreshed and re-presented, made available to new listeners, celebrated anew by the faithful, with the artist themselves benefitting either directly (with revenues) or indirectly (with publicity that helps generate ongoing work or sales of other releases).
I saw Gaughan performing many times in the 80s and 90s – an awesome experience. Last year, I began to think that he and his music were fading from view – and I resolved to try and do something about that.
In brief, I created on paper ‘R/evolution: 1969-84’ – a 7CD+DVD box set restoring that lost repertoire and magical early era via BBC and club/concert recordings along with stray studio tracks from scattered various-artist albums, two albums in full and selections from two others, plus film from five broadcasters. 128 audio tracks / 83 previously unreleased and 21 video tracks.
Labels weren’t interested, they didn’t believe there was a market. I believe there is a market – and I also believe the artistry is of a level of greatness that even if that market is modest, it *has* to be created. It’s not hubris, it just feels wrong to give in. So, I’m going to be running a Kickstarter campaign to fund it, launching in late March, all being well. There will be 1,000 copies, priced at likely £65. 9 hours of audio, 80 mins of film, 20,000 words of illustrated booklet.
The late publisher Rayner Unwin, confronted with Tolkien’s ‘The Lord of the Rings’ in the 1950s, telegrammed his father, Sir Stanley, head of the firm, saying ‘I think it’s a work of genius but we might lose £1,000’. His father, to his credit, replied: ‘*If* it’s a work of genius, you can lose £1,000.’
Happily, with the all-or-nothing Kickstarter crowdfunding model, I won’t be losing £1,000 – but I’ll need to raise around £25,000. The costings are nearly all in, and even with generosity from several of the professionals involved, that’s the sum necessary.
Gaughan is fully on board. We’ll be filming a Kickstarter promo video together in Edinburgh in two weeks, with a few other ‘team members’: Graeme Thomson, Ian McCalman, Karine Polwart, Chris Brain.
It is a project of preservation, celebration and remuneration for Gaughan, one of the folk music giants of the late 20th century: (1) to preserve, polish and present a remarkable body of work from 1969–84 (most of it previously unreleased); (2) to celebrate his incredible artistry once again, years after he and much of his recorded work have faded from view; and (3) to remunerate him fairly and squarely for that work (receiving ALL the revenues after costs).
Look out for the campaign launch in March and help share it far and wide if you can!
Something from the sole Gaughan album from pre 1996 to have been remastered / re-presented in the past 30-odd years: ‘Handful of Earth’ (1981; remastered plus new notes and revised cover 2019):
Have messaged you re this triffic project.
Ta!
Victim of Celtic I assume.
Count me in.
Yes. And ta!
Having to look for non-Celtic Music owned versions of his repertoire has revealed huge amounts of tremendous BBC session and live performances of much of it – better than the LP versions in many cases. ‘Farewell to Whisky’ – only commercially recorded on the first ‘Boys of the Lough’ (1973) LP – was one of his big numbers in the 70s, and there are a couple of *stunning* versions on the box set, one from Radio 4 1972 from BOTL and one solo in a John Peel session 1977, both from master tape.
I am part of your market, for both product and funding.
Thank you, Chesh. Two posts about the project – effectively, the above post, announcing a forthcoming announcement, really – on a Facebook folk music group have had over 400 shares between them in two days and an outpouring of love in the comments. A fantastically heartening response! I’ll be filming a Kickstarter promo with Dick, Graeme Thomson and two musical pals in Edinburgh next.
I’d imagine that Ricky Ross of the unfairly maligned Deacon Blue might be interested. He has definitely expressed an appreciation for the man and might have done a cover I think? He’s fairly easy to get hold of.
Perhaps he’ll support the Kickstarter.
Take my wallet, basically.
Thank you, Cakemeister.
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In a recent SONGLINES edition, Dick Gaughan’s »Handful Of Earth« album made the Top 10 albums from Topic Records – as chosen by musicians. Jim Ghedi: »A masterpiece with an approach to traditional and folk material that is unmatched by any other artist. The delivery and connection to each song’s source is incredible… Over 40 years old and still untouched.«
It’s certainly a classic – and the 2019 remaster sounds terrific, though Topic missed a trick, I feel, by not stating clearly it was remastered and with a new essay – and by sticking with a jewel case + full price (£14.99). And it wouldn’t have been difficult to have found contemporaneous club recordings to select a few bonus tracks (I’ve found an entire box set of the stuff). I’ve expressed these views to Topic.
The trouble with ‘Handful of Earth’ is that, yes, it’s stunning – but (for reasons around ownership of much of his catalogue) it’s as if Gaughan’s entire 70s/80s career has boiled down to periodic reissues of that one album. The world *needs* more Gaughan – and it shall have it! 🙂
They also skimped on the lyric sheets included in my copies of both the Gaughan and Handful of Earth LPs – little photocopies by the look of things, printed on A4 sheets!
I’m in, Col.
Good man, Vulpsmewister!
Wish me luck – I’m off to Edinburgh tomorrow to film the crowdfunding promo with the maestro himself and a litany of illustrious associates. It will be like filming ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ (the director’s cut) and then editing it down to an episode of ‘Roobarb’. 😀