Dick Gaughan’s first two albums (‘No More Forever’ and ‘Kist O’ Gold’, both for Bill Leader’s Trailer label) and his fourth (‘Songs of Ewan MacColl’, shared with two other singers, for Geoff Heslop’s ‘Rubber Records) are unlikely to be reissued in the digital era. They are owned by the heirs of a controversial businessman who seemed – to the casual observer – to buy defunct/troubled labels and then do nothing with them. Decades would pass and beloved artefacts of cultural history would lie in his warehouse, presumably decaying like all else to the ravages of time.

I asked the mighty Eroc – aside from the work he will do on the forthcoming Gaughan box set’s DVD content – to master from near-mint vinyl those first two albums and some associated tracks, using his extremely high-end vinyl gear and his unique ears, and I’m freely sharing the results.

Here’s ‘Kist O’ Gold’ (recorded 1975, released 1977) and the four Gaughan-sung tracks from ‘Songs of Ewan MacColl’ (1978), his joint album with Dave Burland and Tony Capstick for Rubber.

(link in the comments)