Sheila Hancock/ Sydney Carter

A rather battered and bruised LP I found today at the local Age UK shop for 50p. On the Transatlantic label from 1962 and features the songs of Sydney Carter sung by him and Sheila Hancock the well known actress. A curious mix of folk song and cabaret with musicians such as Stephen J. Sedley on guitar and lute, Ralph Trainer on guitar banjo and recorder, Roger Hellyer on bassoon and Joy Silman on drums tambourine, dustbin lid and assorted sound effects. Wikipedia says - "Sheila Hancock was born in Blackgang on the Isle of Wight, the daughter of Ivy Louise (née Woodward) and Enrico Cameron Hancock, who was a publican. Her sister Billie is nine years older (and worked as a variety artist until retiring to Antibes in 2003 at the age of 79). After wartime evacuation, Hancock attended Dartford County Grammar School and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. [edit]Theatre She worked in repertory during the 1950s and made her West End debut in 1958, replacing Joan Sims in the play Breath of Spring. She then appeared in Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop production of Make Me An Offer in 1959, and her other early West End appearances included the revue One Over the Eight with Kenneth Williams in 1961, and starring in Rattle of a Simple Man in 1962. In 1965, she made her Broadway debut in Entertaining Mr Sloane. In 1978, she played Miss Hannigan in the original London cast of the musical Annie and two years later, she played Mrs Lovett in the original London production of the musical Sweeney Todd. She appeared in The Winter's Tale, Titus Andronicus and A Delicate Balance for the Royal Shakespeare Company. At the National Theatre she appeared in The Cherry Orchard and The Duchess of Malfi. She also directed A Midsummer Night's Dream for the RSC on tour and was the first female director at the National, with The Critic. In 2006, she played the role of Fraulein Schneider in the West End revival of the musical Cabaret at the Lyric Theatre. She won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role In A Musical. In 2009, she spent over a year playing Mother Superior in Sister Act the Musical at the London Palladium." Wikipedia says of Sydney Carter - "Sydney Bertram Carter (6 May 1915 – 13 March 2004) was an English poet, songwriter, folk musician, born in Camden Town, London. He is best known for the song "Lord of the Dance" (1967), set to the tune of the American Shaker song "Simple Gifts", and the song "The Crow on the Cradle", adapted from an old folk song. Other notable songs include "Julian of Norwich", "One More Step Along the World I Go", "When I Needed a Neighbour", "Friday Morning", "Every Star Shall Sing a Carol", "The Youth of the Heart" and "Down Below". He studied at Montem St Primary school in Finsbury Park, Christ's Hospital school in Horsham, West Sussex and Balliol College, Oxford, graduating in history in 1936. A committed pacifist, Carter joined the Friends' Ambulance Unit on the outbreak of World War II and served in Egypt, Palestine and Greece. He worked as a lyricist for Donald Swann's revues and musicals in the 1950s and in 1962, produced an album "Putting out the Dustbin" with Sheila Hancock, with the song "Last Cigarette" on failing to give up smoking that became a minor hit." Hancock/Carter - Side One. Hancock/Carter - Side Two

Burl Ives

An old LP on the Columbia's "Harmony" label from the 60's I would guess- found at a car boot sale this week for a few pence.

Tracks are -

1.The Lollipop Tree
2. Old Wich, Old Witch
3. The Little Turtle
4. The Moon Is The North Wind's Cookie
5. Two Little Trains
6. The Lavender Cowboy

"With his grandfatherly image, Burl Ives parlayed his talent as a folksinger into a wide-ranging career as a radio personality and stage and screen actor. After spending his early 20s traveling the country as an itinerant singer, Ives moved to New York City in 1937. By the end of 1938, he had made his Broadway debut, and he also sang folk songs in Greenwich Village clubs. In 1940, Ives began to appear regularly on radio, including his own show, The Wayfarin' Stranger, on CBS. Ives made his first records for Stinson, a small folk label, then was signed to Decca, a major label. He made his movie debut in Smoky in 1946. In 1948, his first book, Wayfaring Stranger, was published. In 1949, he had his first chart hit with "Lavender Blue (Dilly Dilly)." The same year, he moved to Columbia Records. With the advent of the long-playing record, Ives suddenly had a flurry of LP releases from his three labels: The Wayfaring Stranger on Stinson; three volumes of Ballads & Folk Songs, Women: Folk Songs About the Fair Sex, Folk Songs Dramatic and Humorous, and Christmas Day in the Morning on Decca; and Wayfaring Stranger, Return of the Wayfaring Stranger, More Folk Songs, American Hymns, The Animal Fair and Mother Goose Songs on Columbia. He also recorded a series of albums for Encyclopedia Brittanica Films under the overall title Historical America in Song. In 1951, he hit the Top Ten with "On Top of Old Smoky." In 1952, he returned to Decca. While continuing to publish books and to act on Broadway and in the movies, Ives made a series of albums that included Coronation Concert, The Wild Side of Life, Men, Down to the Sea in Ships, In the Quiet of the Night, Burl Ives Sings for Fun, Songs of Ireland, Old Time Varieties, Captain Burl Ives' Ark, Australian Folk Songs, and Cheers, all released in the second half of the 1950s. In 1961, Ives oriented himself toward country music, resulting in the hit "A Little Bitty Tear," which made the Top Ten in both the pop and country charts. The single was contained on The Versatile Burl Ives. "Funny Way of Laughin'" was another pop and country Top Ten in 1962; it appeared on It's Just My Funny Way of Laughin' and won Ives a Grammy Award for Best Country Western Recording. He turned his attention primarily to movie work from 1963 on, especially with the Walt Disney studio. But he charted with Pearly Shells in 1964 and made a children's album, Chim Chim Cheree and Other Children's Choices, for Disney Buena Vista Records. At the end of the '60s, Ives returned to Columbia Records for The Times They Are A-Changin' and Softly and Tenderly. "

Tom Glazer

Delving into the archives I found this that I havent uploaded before - probably for good reason! Anyway I feel I have to broaden my outlook to include these dodgy bargains - even at 89 pence it seemed a bit steep! It has a certain charm though and reminds me of the Wally Whyton records of my youth and later - singing along with my young son to similar ditties on the radio and television.

"Best-known for authoring the children's classic "On Top of Spaghetti," folksinger and songwriter Tom Glazer was born in Philadelphia on September 2, 1914. After the death of his carpenter father four years later, he and his siblings were raised by their mother and assorted relatives, sometimes living in an orphanage. At school, Glazer studied a variety of musical traditions and instruments (among them guitar, bass, and tuba) before relocating at 17 to New York City, where he worked at Macy's department store while finishing high school at night. After three years at New York City College, he relocated to Washington, D.C., accepting a job at the Library of Congress and befriending the legendary musicologist Alan Lomax. Upon learning a handful of folk songs from Lomax, Glazer soon began a performing career, even appearing at a small White House function organized by Eleanor Roosevelt before making his formal public debut in early 1943 at Manhattan's Town Hall. Two years later, he launched the ABC radio series "Tom Glazer's Ballad Box," which aired through 1947; he also appeared on radio programs including "We the People," "Listening Post," "True Story," and "Theatre Guild on the Air." Glazer used his radio broadcasts not only to expand his audience, but also to disseminate his political beliefs -- songs like "Because All Men Are Brothers," "When the Country Is Broke," "Talking Inflation Blues" (sometimes covered by the young Bob Dylan), and "Citizen C.I.O." plainly articulated the populist leanings at the heart of much of his music."


Tom Glazer - Come In And Join The Game

Tom Glazer - The Dickie Bird Song

Tom Glazer - Eentsy Weentsy Spider

Tom Glazer - Eye Winker, Tom Tinker, Chin Chopper

Tom Glazer - Five Little Ducks

Tom Glazer - Go In And Out The Window

Tom Glazer - He's Got The Whole World In His Hands

There Was This Bloke

Found this today in the local Oxfam shop. It's on the Rubber record label from 1974.
4 folk singers with a humourous slant- some funnier than others. I particularly like the cockney capers of Derek Brimstone that I'd not heard of before.

Derek Brimstone.

"In the early 60’s Brimstone was studying classical guitar, and by chance wandered into the Spinning Wheel folk club in his hometown of Hemel Hempstead. Long stories can be boring, but it can be said that the whole direction of his life changed on that night. Bach and Tarrega gave way to Broonzy and Davy Graham, and the next few years were spent learning the ropes in the company of such people as Maddy Prior, Donovan, Sandy Denny, Derrol Adams – to name but a few. After winning the prestigious solo artist’s prize in the national competitions held at the first Cambridge Folk Festival in 1965, he embarked on a long and successful career, which has continued up to the present day."

Bill Barclay.

"In the 1970s Bill Barclay toured with the big boys of rock. In 1974 he supported Rod Stewart on his British tour. That was followed by a one-night stand in Edinburgh's 3 000-seat Playhouse Theatre supporting Elton John and a Glasgow Apollo gig with Bill Haley. Then then there were three nights in London's Theatre Royal with Dusty Springfield. He has taken the stage in front of audiences exceeding 50,000 in three major rock festivals, at Reading, White City and Lincoln.

Of course, in addition to the jet-setting, Bill Barclay is very well-known back home here in Scotland where he has appeared in countless golf-clubs, smokers, rugby clubs, bowling clubs, folk clubs, concerts, and festivals, and at special dinner functions for every conceivable organisation."


Derek Brimstone - Sir Quincy De Bas etc.

Tony Capstick - John Blunt etc.

Bill Barclay - Polly Was A Poodle etc.

Mike Harding - Irwell Delta Blues


These SendSpace files are available for seven days or until exhausted.

Slim Pickins

Found this LP today at the Oxfam in Chester for a couple of quid ( three actually ) which is more than I would usually pay but I was intrigued by some of the song titles and the toxic green vinyl! Also it was signed by Slim and dedicated to someone called Hazel or maybe even Hank? Not to be confused with the american film star of the same name!

Not much to be gleaned about him on the tinternet but he still gigs around the Midlands it seems. This album is on the Westwood Recordings label in Wales and came out in 1975. It reminds a bit of The Two Ronnies when they did that spoof C&W act "Jahosophat & Jones". A nice mixture of comedy and country and western.
Other musicians on the Lp are Stewart Barnes - Lead guitar, acoustic guitar. Steve Hughes - Bass. Alan Holmes - Drums, backing vocals. Jeannie Denver - Backing vocals. Tony Cervi - Piano and an unkown ukulele player. On the sleeve nots it states "None of the musicians have been seen since".


Slim Pickins - I'm A Ladies Man

Slim Pickins - Hoot & Holler Bar & Grill

Slim Pickins - 15 Beers Ago

Slim Pickins - Kansas City Star

Slim Pickins - Make Me A Star


These SendSpace files are available for seven days or until exhausted.