A compendium of musical delights by Alan and Margaret Ashworth
Suggested by Andy Marshall. This is a clip from Do Not Adjust Your Set, a sixties teatime comedy series which served as an appetiser for Monty Python, with the cast … Continue readingThe Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band: Tubas in the Moonlight
THE writer of this carol was considered in his day to be the equal of Charles Wesley, but of his 400 hymns and carols this is just about the sole … Continue readingAngels from the Realms of Glory
This was written by the leading Motown team of Holland-Dozier-Holland. It was released in July 1963 and made No 8 in America, but entirely missed the British charts. Here they … Continue readingMartha & the Vandellas: Heatwave
Who remembers this quaint curio from 1969? Funny that skinheadery always seems to be associated with racism nowadays, whereas these are all black geezers.
The song is credited to Vincent and his manager Bill Davis but there is a story that the words were by Donald Graves and that Davis bought out his rights … Continue readingGene Vincent: Be-Bop-A-Lula
Brilliant! My favourite track from Trout Mask.
THIS much-loved Christian song has an unusual background: the words were by an atheist and the music by a man from a Jewish background. The verses were written in 1847 … Continue readingO Holy Night
THE last time I visited Lindisfarne, or Holy Island, I intended to show our son Jim what a lovely place it is. Unfortunately the fog was so thick that you … Continue readingLindisfarne through the fog
From the 1978 album Heavy Horses. ‘Then I’m down straining at the lead’. I can empathise with that since I am sometimes described as a ‘sideways dog’.
Barely recognisable from the original but still well worth a listen. A live performance at Coventry Cathedral ten years ago. The Travis is flautist Theo, nothing to do with the … Continue readingTravis and Fripp: Moonchild