A compendium of musical delights by Alan and Margaret Ashworth
This song by Motown’s Holland-Dozier-Holland (Lamont Dozier and brothers Brian and Eddie Holland) was the B-side of Jimmy Mack, which was Martha & the Vandellas’ last Top Ten hit in … Continue readingMartha & The Vandellas: Third Finger, Left Hand
TODAY is Palm Sunday, and I can’t do better than repeat the story about Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem to meet the barbaric fate he knew awaited him as I told it … Continue readingAll Glory, Laud and Honour
RIP Bill Withers, July 4 1938 to March 30, 2020.
Sorry, but as far as I am concerned Phil Spector could do no wrong. He co-wrote this one with Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich and produced it. Released in November … Continue readingThe Ronettes: Baby, I Love You
THERE is nothing like the call of the curlew. Perhaps it’s more evocative than any other sound of the uplands in spring. However it is heard less frequently these days … Continue readingCurlews calling
There are many versions of this beautiful song but here the old crooner does it better than most. From his 1978 album The Bride Stripped Bare.
This was written by Motown’s main production team, Holland-Dozier-Holland (Lamont Dozier and brothers Brian and Eddie Holland), and it reached No 1 in both America and Britain in 1966. The … Continue readingFour Tops: Reach Out (I’ll Be There)
Only the lovely Bridget could describe standing in a dog’s egg with no shoes on as ‘bare feet getting dirt-pretty’. This lovely track is from her first album Ask Me … Continue readingBridget St John: Bare Feet and Hot Pavements
From before he started doing Louis Armstrong impressions.
The Edward G Robinson of rock never sang better than this. From Veedon Fleece, 1974.