MY BACK CATALOGUE part 7

 A look back at recordings I made over my career.

Part 7. OPEN THE DOOR AND LET US IN: cassette. Steel Carpet Music MATS001  1988

This one was aimed at a specific audience—schools, but it did sell a few copies more widely.

In 1987 we moved from Luton to Derby. I was doing a lot of work in schools by then which continued for the next 15 years or so. Some of them asked where they could find the songs I used with the children and there wasn’t one particular source so I decided to make a cassette of them. This was made very quickly and without a great deal of planning—it was just a selection of tried and tested favourites. They were suitable for a range of age groups and included some for listening to but most for joining in with. Having moved to Derby I thought I should sing the Derby Ram/Tup (and discovered that not many children or adults knew anything about it!); Black, White, Yellow & Green came from my old mate and mentor Roy Harris; and When Shall We Get Married John? Was from Mum Johnstone (see previous post). Again it was recorded by Colin at Felixstowe and his mate Paul Palermo happened to drop in to see what we were doing just as we were recording The Titanic. He said “I know that” and joined in so we busked our way through it. It’s a great, lively, almost jug-band version.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtrH392_MgY

Also involved were Sue who provided some vocals and Trevor James on whistles and things.

Tracks:

The Derby Tup,     Old Daddy Fox,     Hal-an-toe,     Here Comes St Catherine

The Wren Hunt,     John Barleycorn,     The Silkie of Sule Skerry

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme,     London Bridge is Broken Down,     The Trees They Grow So High

When Shall We Get Married John?,     Black, White, Yellow and Green,     Bound for Botany Bay

The Titanic,     One More Day,     The Mingulay Boat Song,     Paddy Works on the Railway

The Blackleg Miner

This release saw the beginnings of my own label—Steel Carpet Music. Almost everything since has been on that. It means I can’t blame anyone else for anything! The name is an anagram of my name—thought up by Bill Prince (he crops up yet again!) It works well except that I occasionally get emails from China asking me to tender for supplying metal sheeting or similar!