Off The Beaten Tracks 14 July 2025

It's a mostly North American playlist this week with one band from the UK, namely Jaywalkers. There are two songs from Arcadia the new album by Alison Krauss & Union Station and a Bob Dylan cover by Indigo Girls from their live album 1200 Curfews which was released back in 1995.

Listen to the show on Mixcloud or on Ginger Feather FM at 1pm or 8pm from Monday.

Asleep at the Wheel - Half A Hundred Years
Birds of Chicago - Cannonball
Alison Krauss & Union Station - North Side Gal
Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway feat Old Crow Medicine Show - Big Backyard
Dolly Parton - Seven Bridges Road
Jaywalkers - Ain't Nobody's Business
Hayseed Dixie - Dude Looks Like A Lady
Down Hill Strugglers - Abandoned Orchards That Grow
Indigo Girls - Tangled Up In Blue (live)
Rita Hosking - I See Storms
The Tillers - Weary Soul
Cam Penner - Gypsy Women
Alison Krauss & Union Station - One Ray of Shine
Yasmin Williams - Through The Woods 

OTBT mix 7 July 2025

Next week's Off The Beaten Tracks mix is now available to listen to on Mixcloud and on Ginger Feather FM at 1pm or 8pm from Monday.

Oysterband - Angels of the River 

Kate Rusby - Let Your Light Shine 

Eilidh Shaw & Ross Martin - Swimmy Tunes 

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Looking Forward 

Joni Mitchell - I Don't Know Where I Stand 

Sarah McQuaid - Walking Into White (Live in Rapid City) 

Fotheringay - John The Gun (Live - BBC Sounds Of The 70's)  

Kami Thompson - Never Again 

Steeleye Span - Thornaby Woods 

Seth Lakeman - Poor Man's Heaven (live) 

Eilidh Shaw & Ross Martin - Stoned Again 

Gordon Lightfoot - Sundown 

Steve Earle - Nebraska (live) 

The Jayhawks - Nevada, California 

Melissa Greener - Bullets to Bite 

Best New Releases 2025 (so far)

As we are at the mid-way point in the year I thought I'd look through my list of new releases which I've either been sent or have bought on Bandcamp or direct from the artist. Of these ten I have only seen one in concert this year, namely Flook, though I did see Miranda Sykes recently who is a member of Daphne's Flight and I watched a live stream of one of their gigs on Folkscape.

So in alphabetical order here is my Top Ten Jan-Jun 2025

Daphne's Flight - Favourable Light
Piers Faccini & Ballaké Sissoko - Our Calling
Flook - Sanju
I’m With Her - Wild and Clear and Blue
Jaywalkers - Move On
Iona Lane - Swilkie*
Merry Hell - Rising of the Bold
Reg Meuross - Fire & Dust : A Woody Guthrie Story
Eilidh Shaw and Ross Martin - Stay Here All Night
Natalie Wildgoose - Come Into The Garden 

*I contributed to Iona's Kickstarter and along with the cd I have received a very nice songbook which includes lovely illustrations and photos connected to the Western Isles and Orkney which provided her with inspiration to write the songs on the album.

Tune in to Off The Beaten Tracks every day at 1pm or 8pm
On Ginger Feather FM which broadcasts 24/7 online

Off The Beaten Tracks 30 June 2025

This show features Miranda Sykes on three songs - two by SykesMartin and one by Daphne's Flight. Also two tracks by musicians who apparently decided not to continue trying to make a living playing music in the aftermath of the Covid lockdown of 2020, namely Ewan McLennan and Ciaran Algar. If anyone knows what they're up to now, do let us know in the comments below.

Listen to the show now on Mixcloud or from Monday on Ginger Feather FM.

Cara Dillon - Black is the Colour 

SykesMartin - Blow out the Candle 

King Creosote & Jon Hopkins - Bats in the Attic 

Saso - Little Red Corvette 

Richard Thompson - Easy There, Steady Now 

Iona Lane - Boat Song 

Daphne's Flight - Home Before You Know It

SykesMartin - Standing Stones 

Fairport Convention - Matty Groves 

Reg Meuross - Woody Guthrie's Chains 

Ewan McLennan - Wild Mountain Thyme 

Greg Russell & Ciaran Algar - We Are Leaving 

Alice Allen & Patsy Reid - The Banks of Spey/Cullen House/The Fiddich-side Lasses

Blues mix for Max Haymes

I first met Max when I got involved with the community radio station Diversity FM. Max did his show on a Monday afternoon and occasionally I would cover for a guy called Reza whose show preceded Max's. I would normally end my hour with a blues track knowing that Max would be in the other studio waiting to take to the airwaves and I would listen to see what comment he would make. But while Max's expertise and love of the blues was the music of the early 20th century, I was more into guitarists who I had discovered in the 1980s like Robert Cray and those who to me were the older generation like BB King and Buddy Guy.

This mix features old blues which hopefully Max would have approved of from the likes of Big Bill Broonzy and Oscar Woods up to the new generation of blues musicians like Jackie Venson and Errol Brown. Listen on Mixcloud to my Blues Mix for Max.

Thanks Max, for giving me a window into a world of early blues which I may not have got round to checking out. Rest in Peace.

John Lee Hooker - Boom Boom
Big Bill Broonzy - Mindin' My Own Business
Sonny Boy Williamson - Sugar Mama
Jackie Venson - Down By The Riverside / Up Above My Head
Little Whitt & Big Bo - I Got A Woman
Odetta - Midnight Special
Little Willie John - Fever
Eric Bibb - Six O'Clock Blues 
Grainne Duffy - Dirt Woman Blues
Errol Linton - Love Gone Cold
Blues N' Trouble - Honey Pot
Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee - Change The Lock On My Door
Keb' Mo' - Kindhearted Woman Blues
Sunjay - Train Home
Blind Boys of Alabama - Just Wanna See His Face
Ted Hawkins - Peace & Happiness
Oscar Woods - Lone Wolf Blues
Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee - I Love You Baby 

Off The Beaten Tracks 16 June 2025

Back to doing my radio show after a few week's off due to a family bereavement. I've got two numbers from Jaywalkers' new album titled Move On including one about never being played on the radio. Also two songs from the latest Songlines magazine download by Joshua Burnside and Natalie Wildgoose. 

Listen now on Mixcloud or from Monday on Ginger Feather FM.

Bert Jansch - Strolling Down The Highway
Jaywalkers - The Radio
Flook - The Farther Shore \ Winter Flower
The Jayhawks - Save It For A Rainy Day
Merry Hell - Singing In The Morning
Neil Young - Harvest
King Creosote - Jump At The Cats
Kathryn Priddy - A Boat On The River
Jaywalkers - Leaving Lerwick
I'm With Her - Ancient Light
Aly Bain & Phil Cunningham - The Queensferry Cooper \ Derry Cunningham's Jig
Joshua Burnside - Marching Round The Ladies
Natalie Wildgoose - I Lingered
Steve Knightley - Polly On The Shore
April Maybe May - Home
Chris Newman - Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007- VII. Gigue (Arr. for Guitar)

One More Card

No more birthday cards to buy, no more Mother's Days to remember
One less Christmas card to send, no going shopping for presents 

She liked her long hot baths so bubble bath or bath salts
Were guaranteed to bring a smile to her face 

One time I bought her a cd of a singer from long ago
My aunt told me that mum had been a fan way back when

But when she unwrapped the disc there was a look
Of puzzlement, of disappointment.

I said, "your sister told me you'd really liked his music"
"Oh did she", replied mum. The cd was gone the next time I was home.

The care home had kept all the cards I'd sent her over the years
They gave me them back. Odd to see them again.

Birthdays, Xmas, Easter, Mothering Sunday, a postcard from Shetland
And a few cards just sent to say hello, I'm thinking of you.

She's gone now. End of life care led to the inevitable end of her life.
Will I see you in heaven? sing the Jayhawks. I don't know.

I miss her. Can I buy her just one more card? Please?
But others buy With Sympathy cards and send them to me.

CMB
08/16/2025

A Mournful Ditty

A poem written by my grandfather William "Jock" Kay and included in his book Kay-otic Rhymes which was published in 1938. He lived in Hong Kong from 1913 until 1939, working as a school teacher and then Headmaster at Ellis Kadoorie School for Chinese Boys before moving on to be Headmaster at King's College. 

It was said of him, "Jock Kay had a lively wit and a prolific pen: he may not have been a great poet, but he excelled as a parodist and in humorous, though friendly, satire." 

I read this poem at my mother's funeral in Edinburgh on Tuesday the 3rd June 2025. 

OTBT mix 19 May 2025

Due to a family bereavement I'll be taking a break from doing my radio show for the next 2 or 3 weeks. You can listen to this coming week's mix on Mixcloud or Ginger Feather FM from Monday.

Fairport Convention - Over The Next Hill 

Flook - Jig for Sham/The Dawn Wall/Johnny D's/Timewaver 

Chris & Kellie While - 36 Miles Away From The Sea 

Fay Hield - Sweet William's Ghost 

Gigspanner Big Band - Betsy Williams 

Merry Hell - Changing Just The Same 

Rock, Salt and Nails - I'm Looking Through You 

Bob Dylan - Farewell, Angelina 

I'm With Her - Mother Eagle (Sing Me Alive) 

Indigo Girls - Kid Fears 

REM - Wall of Death 

John Mellencamp - Let It Out (Let It All Hang Out) 

Eagles - Train Leaves Here This Morning 

June Carter Cash - Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone 

Off The Beaten Tracks 12 May 2025

On my latest show there are two tracks which feature Wizz Jones who passed away at the end of last month. Also songs from new releases by Samantha Whates & MG Boulter, Iona Lane, Marlon Williams and Lancaster band Hiroshima Twinkie.

Listen now on Mixcloud or at 8pm every evening on Ginger Feather FM. 

First Aid Kit - The Lion's Roar 

Hiroshima Twinkie - Going To Hell in a Handcart 

John Renbourn & Wizz Jones - Fresh as a Sweet Sunday Morning 

Alice Jones - The Cruel Mother 

Stevie Palmer - Rise Up Singing 

Samantha Whates & MG Boulter - Lily-Rose

Marlon Williams - Kuru Pounamo

Damien O'Kane & Ron Block - Brown Eyes 

Davy Graham - Seven Gypsies 

Iona Lane - Silent 

Ralph McTell & Wizz Jones - When You're Gone 

Simon Mayor & Hilary James - When Summer Comes Again 

Paddy Garrigan & The Stroller Priests - Me and the Universe Blues 

Carolina Chocolate Drops - Your Baby Ain't Sweet Like Mine

Rhiannon Giddens - You Put the Sugar in My Bowl 

The Foghorn Stringband - Chicken Reel 

OTBT mix 5th May

A mix with a theme of parts of the body, so songs with things like head and heart in the title. As I had so many songs to choose from I thought I would add some bonus tracks for Mixcloud listeners. So the playlist is as follows. Listen at 8pm on Ginger Feather FM from Monday.

Jez Lowe - Hands Feet
Darwin Song Project - Heavy in my Hand
Richard Thompson - Blackleg Miner
The Young 'Uns - Hand Over Hand
Runrig - Hearts of Olden Glory (live)
Peatbog Faeries - Shifting Peat & Feet
Roger Wilson - Where My Feet Are Going I Don't Know
June Tabor - Lay This Body Down
Linda Thompson - As Fast As My Feet
Shawn Colvin & Loudon Wainwright III - A Heart Needs A Home
Flossie Malavialle - Slipping Through My Fingers
Gilmore & Roberts - The Stealing Arm (Live)
Judy Dyble - Head Full of Stars
Kathryn Roberts & Sean Lakeman - The Maid with the Bonny Brown Hair
Lindisfarne - Turn A Deaf Ear
Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors - Rowdy Heart, Broken Wing 

Bonus Tracks (Mixcloud only)

This is the Kit - Scabby Head and Legs
Honey & The Bear - Head In The Stars
The Deadly Winters - Hand to Heart
Martin Stephenson - Wholly Humble Heart 

https://www.mixcloud.com/cmbertram/otbt-mix-5-may-2025/

Off The Beaten Tracks 28 April 2025

New radio show with two tracks from the Gigspanner Big Band album titled Turnstone. They are currently on tour as are The Young 'Uns and Steeleye Span with the latter playing at Kendal on May the 1st. 

Listen now on Mixcloud or on Ginger Feather FM from Monday.

Steeleye Span (featuring Francis Rossi) - Hard Times of Old England 

Gigspanner Big Band - The Rolling of the Stones 

SykesMartin - Lovely on the Water 

Spiers & Boden - Reynardine 

Richard Thompson - A Love You Can't Survive (live) 

Nuala Kennedy - Death and the Lady 

The Nordic Fiddlers Bloc - The Devil's Polska 

Seth Lakeman - The White Hare 

Gigspanner Big Band - Hind Horn

The McCalmans - Nowhere Else To Go 

The Young 'Uns - Dark Water 

Eddi Reader - Hummingbird 

Off The Beaten Tracks 21 April 2025

Two songs by James J Turner on my latest show including his new single Beltane Fires. Listen now on Mixcloud or from Monday on Ginger Feather FM. 

James J Turner - Beltane Fires
Fairground Attraction - Perfect
Fay Hield- Night Journey
John Renbourn - White House Blues
Steve Knightley - Forever Young
Charlotte Carrivick - I'm Glad That's Not My Dog
Ringo Starr - Sunshine Life For Me (Sail Away Raymond)
Pete Townshend and Raphael Rudd - Let My Love Open The Door
I'm With Her - Espresso
The Low Countries - We Weathered The Storm
The Jellyman's Daughter - I Hope
David Ferrard - The War Carries On (Turn Turn Turn)
Tim O'Brien - Everything Is Broken
M.G. Boulter - His Name Is Gene
James J Turner - How Could We Be Wrong
Larkin Poe - Kick The Blues
Errol Linton - Bo Diddit 

Off The Beaten Tracks 7 April 2025

Next week's Ginger Feather FM radio show playlist. Listen now on Mixcloud. 

The Gigspanner Big Band is on tour from April the 11th with dates in the NW at Kendal, Bury and Liverpool. See https://www.gigspanner.com/live for all the details.

Show of Hands - Arrogance, Ignorance & Greed
Spiers & Boden - Butter and Cheese and All
Sandy Denny - Ecoute Ecoute
Nic Jones - The Little Pot Stove
Miranda Sykes - I Need You 
Kris Drever - If Wishes Were Horses
John Smith - Joanna _ Tupelo Honey (live)
Spiers & Boden - Fallow Ground
MacMaster Hay - Stay With You
Hannah Sanders & Ben Savage - Boots of Spanish Leather
Gigspanner Big Band - Betsy Williams
Gilmore & Roberts - Skip and Jump
Breabach - The Striking Clock 

OTBT mix 31 March 2025

A mix for the coming week with two tracks by Scottish folk group The McCalmans. These songs are from a Nick Keir compilation I picked up recently from Greentrax Records. 

Listen now on Mixcloud or from Monday on Ginger feather FM   

Richard Thompson - Tear Stained Letter
The McCalmans - Applecross Bay
Archie Churchill-Moss - Odi & Nancy
Banter - Seneca Square / Soldiers Joy
Piers Faccini & Ballaké Sissoko - Ninna Nanna
Norma Waterson, Martin Carthy & Chris Parkinson - Black Muddy River
Dick Gaughan - Stand Up For Judas
Roving Crows - Fire Sky
The McCalmans - Ainster Harbour
Kami Thompson & James Walbourne - I Long For Lonely
The Rheingans Sisters - The Photograph
Fotheringay - Knights of the Road
Katheryn Tickell & The Darkening - Just Stop and Eat The Roses
Mikey Kenney - Montagna Di Menta

Off The Beaten Tracks 24 March 2025

This week's show starts with a track from Steve Knightley's new album "Positively Folk Street" which includes six covers of songs by both Bob Dylan and Martin Carthy. 

Listen to the show on Mixcloud or from Monday on Ginger Feather FM 

Steve Knightley - Girl From The North Country
Uiscedwr - Prescription Junkie
Tidelines - Any Heart in a Storm
Jez Lowe - Snow to Nova Scotia
Steeleye Span - Shipbuilding
Tom Kitching - Old Molly Oxford
The Imagined Village - The Handweaver And The Factory Maid
Ross Ainslie - Fly Higher
Karine Polwart - Salters Road
Katherine Priddy - Walnut Shell
Kris Kristofferson - Chase The Feeling
Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway w/ Gillian Welch - Side Saddle
Tumbling Bones - How They're Rolling
The Staves - I Don't Say It, But I Feel It
Joni Mitchell - Little Green 

Off The Beaten Tracks 17 March 2025

There are two tracks on this week's show from the new album by Reg Meuross titled "Fire & Dust: A Woody Guthrie Story" which was released on the 14th of March. The album was produced by Pete Townshend who plays on a couple of tracks along with the likes of Phil Beer, Geraint Watkins and Beth Porter. 

Reg is on tour in March and April before playing at various festivals over the summer. See https://www.regmeuross.com/events/ for more info. 

This show is available to listen to now on Mixcloud or on Ginger Feather FM from Monday at 1pm and 8pm. 

Grace Petrie - Farewell To Welfare
Reg Meuross - A Folk Song's A Song
Nick Keir - Crooked Smile
Bonny Light Horseman - Blackwaterside
Lisa Knapp & Gerry Diver - I Must Away Love
Show of Hands - Senor (Tales Of Yankee Power)
Honey & The Bear - Buried In Ivy
GNOSS - Audrey's
Katie Spencer - Sweet and Gentle
Crosby & Nash - Lay Me Down
Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors - Can't Take It With You
Yasmin Williams (feat. Aoife O'Donovan) - Dawning
Reg Meuross - The Gypsy Singer 

OTBT Folk Mix 10 March 2025

A mix which will go out on Ginger Feather FM at 1pm and 8pm from Monday the 10th. Also available to listen to on Mixcloud. 

Bellowhead - London Town
Plumhall - The Space Between
Toni Bunnell - The Waterways of England
Breabach - Scotland's Winter
Dick Gaughan - Now Westlin Winds
Fairport Convention - South Dakota to Manchester
Steve Knightley - The Bristol Slaver
Linda Thompson featuring The Unthanks - Three Shakey Ships
Kate Rusby - Three Little Birds
McGoldrick, McCusker & Doyle - Trip to Pakistan / Edinburgh Rock
The McCalmans - The Weaving Song
Roger Wilson - Fair and Tender Lovers
Lassi Logren - Benevolence
Bellowhead - Death and the Lady 

Off The Beaten Tracks 3 March 2025

In tribute to drummer Rick Buckler I've included a cover of a song by The Jam which The Bad Shepherds recorded on their album Yan, Tyan, Tethera, Metheral. 

Listen to the show now on Mixcloud or tune in to Ginger Feather FM at 1pm or 8pm from Monday.

Billy Bragg & Wilco - Walt Whitman's Niece
Thea Gilmore - Don't Stop Singing
Reg Meuross - Fit For Work (Illegal Hands)
Heal & Harrow - Da Dim
Hannah Sanders & Ben Savage - Lark in the Morning
Alice Allen and Patsy Reid - Miss Stewart’s Jig / of Bombay / Miss Watt’s Jig / Mether Cluny
Banter - Below Below
George Harrison - Mama You've Been On My Mind
Bob Dylan - House of the Rising Sun
Ralph McTell - Anji & Lullaby of Birdland (live)
The Bad Shepherds - Down In The Tube Station At Midnight
And Did Those Feet - Dream of a Dream
Luke Jackson - Ruler of Nothing
The Proclaimers - Sean
Mariearad and Anna - She Loves Me (When I Try) 

Off The Beaten Tracks mix 24 Feb 2025

Four Bob Dylan songs including two from the The Bootleg Series, Vol. 1-3- Rare & Unreleased, 1961-1991 a copy of which I picked up recently. Also a track from the new Reg Meuross album Fire & Dust - A Woody Guthrie Story which is being released on March the 14th. It includes contributions from Phil Beer and Pete Townshend who also produced the album. See regmeuross.com/fire-and-dust for more info.

Listen now on Mixcloud or from Monday at 1pm or 8pm on Ginger Feather FM.

Steve Knightley - A Song For Wickham
Jackie Oates - When I Was A Fair Maid
Martyn Joseph - Getting Older
Christy Moore - The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
The Dylan Project - You Angel You
Bob Dylan - Rambling, Gambling Willie
Reg Meuross - So Long It's Been Good to Know Ya
Sam Sweeney - Westering
Fotheringay - Banks of the Nile [Alternative Take]
Bert Jansch - The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
SykesMartin - Dark Eyed Sailor
The Trials of Cato - Paper Planes
Bob Dylan - Moonshiner
Fara - The Road Home 

Off The Beaten Tracks 17 Feb 2025

A mix of singer/songwriters, Americana and blues on the new edition of Off The Beaten Tracks. Listen now on Mixcloud or from Monday on Ginger Feather FM  

Hugh Cornwell - Golden Brown (live)
Jenna - 21st Century Cowgirl
Ian McNabb - Great Dreams of Heaven (live)
Annlaug - Suril Luril
Dori Freeman - Good Enough
John Mellencamp - Diamond Joe
Sam Baker - Isn't Love Great
Bonnie Raitt - Dimming of the Day (live)
Jerry Lee Lewis - Honky Tonk Wine
Robert Cray - Foul Play (live)
Little Whitt & Big Bo - Sweet Home Chicago
Big Bill Broonzy - Glory of Love
Teddy Thompson - Fifteen Minutes
Thea Gilmore - I Am A Lonesome Hobo
Bob Dylan - Mr Tambourine Man 

Off The Beaten Tracks 10 Feb 2025

This week's Ginger Feather FM radio show opening with two Fairport tracks as they are on tour just now. They play Lytham St Annes on Sunday the 16th of February.

Listen to the show now on Mixcloud. 

Fairport Convention - Time Will Show The Wiser 

Fairport Convention - Rui's Guitar 

Drop The Box - Now Becomes Today 

Karine Polwart - I'm Gonna Do It All 

Trail West - John Henry 

Session A9 - Dig A Little Well For Zoe 

Siobhan Miller - The Month of January 

Norma Waterson - Lost In The Stars 

Howard Haigh - The Woodland 

The Shackleton Trio - Little Wooden Shoes 

Crosby, Stills & Nash - Wasted on the Way 

Tom Waits - Martha 

Jane Kramer - Red Balloon 

Danni Nicholls - Where The Blue Train Goes 

Off The Beaten Tracks mix 3 Feb 2025

 This coming week's playlist. Listen now on Mixcloud or from Monday at 1pm and 8pm on Ginger Feather FM.

Merry Hell - Over The Border *
Charlotte Carrivick - Bacopa Reel 
Richard Thompson - Singapore Sadie
Nuala Kennedy - Ye Lovers All 
Jenny Sturgeon - Honest Man 
Greg Russell & Ciaran Algar - All Fall Down 
Kaela Rowan - Naive Melody 
Plu - Dinistrio Ni 
Honey and the Bear - River Man 
Battlefield Band - That's How Strong My Love Is \ The Water Is Wide 
And Should Those Feet - All Through The Night 
John Renbourn & Wizz Jones - Strolling Down The Highway
Ralph McTell & Wizz Jones - Deportees 
Jamie Smith's MABON - Lady of the Woods 

* From Merry Hell's 2023 compilation album Let The Music Speak For Itself 

Off The Beaten Tracks 27th January 2025

A mixture of music from both sides of the Atlantic with a few blues tracks towards the end. Listen now on Mixcloud or from Monday on Ginger Feather FM.

Asleep At The Wheel - Half A Hundred Years
Dori Freeman - Wrong Direction
Teddy Thompson - If It's Magic
Leyla McCalla - So I'll Go
The Society of Strange and Ancient Instruments - The Butterfly
The Pogues - Love You 'til The End
David Crosby feat. Sarah Jarosz - For Free
Steeleye Span - January Man
The Proclaimers - Drop Dead Destiny
Ross Ainslie & Jarlath Henderson - Gordon
Bert Jansch - Black Cat Blues
Reverend Freakchild - Death Don't Have No Mercy
Jackie Venson - Down By The Riverside \ Up Above My Head
Matt Woosey Band - Black Smoke Risin'
Locust Honey String Band - Lonesome Song 

Remembering John Sykes

Sad to hear of the passing of former Thin Lizzy and Whitesnake guitarist John Sykes. Here are my recollections of seeing him with Lizzy back in '83. This is an extract from my 2012 ebook "Drum Solos, Bottles and Bands - Memories of a Concert-Goer 1981-1999". 

Thin Lizzy

The Playhouse, Edinburgh

17 March 1983

While I was a fan of many of the rock bands that were in the charts in the 70s I wasn't sure about the heavier bands. I liked the odd song by Black Sabbath and Deep Purple but I was reluctant to splash out on one of their albums. In the school holidays I used to go down to Lancashire and stay with a friend's family for a week. He knew I liked rock music and tried to get me interested in some of the heavy metal he was into. He played me a Whitesnake album on one occasion but my reaction was that while the music was okay I didn't really like the singer.

So I stuck with the familiar sounds of Queen and Thin Lizzy and on St Patrick's Day in 1983 Phil Lynott brought the final line-up of Lizzy to Edinburgh on the Thunder and Lightning tour. Snowy White had left the band and been replaced by former Tygers of Pan Tang guitarist John Sykes. Watching footage of that line-up there is a striking contrast between the youthful exuberance of Sykes bouncing around the stage and the ashen-faced, weary looking Scott Gorham. The drug taking of Lynott and Gorham has been well documented but what is noticeable is how in control Lynott looked on stage, still loving every minute of being Lizzy's frontman. Despite it now being the best part of thirty years on, that night in Edinburgh remains one of my favourite gigs of all time. Support came from the young Irish band Mama's Boys but the night belonged to Lizzy. Lynott had the audience eating out of the palm of his hand. Highlights included 'Jailbreak', complete with police lights spinning round behind Brian Downey's drum kit during the instrumental break, and 'Emerald' played in the encore and dedicated to St Patrick.

It was one of rock music's great tragedies that Phil Lynott's life pretty much fell apart after Thin Lizzy disbanded. He had some success with Gary Moore on the 'Out in the Fields' single and formed the band Grand Slam which briefly included Brian Downey. But by all accounts he had simply done too much damage to his body with the drink and drugs. He died on the 4th of January 1986 of pneumonia and multiple organ failure. Tommy Vance presented a tribute show to Phil Lynott on his BBC Radio 1 Friday Rock Show with various members of Thin Lizzy sharing memories of their former band leader, and each one dedicated a song to him. Brian Robertson in particular sounded very emotional and chose 'Still In Love With You'. I had come home early from the pub that Friday to hear the show and I will admit to shedding a few tears myself. With Lynott's passing we had lost one of the great rock talents of the 70s and early 80s.

The following year I started getting more into the hard rock and heavy metal scene, reading Kerrang! and buying a leather biker's jacket off a friend at work and I was even starting to see the appeal of Whitesnake. This was partly due to the fact that John Sykes had joined them after Thin Lizzy split and Cozy Powell now occupied the drum seat vacated by the equally impressive Ian Paice. So I gave David Coverdale's voice another listen and went to see them on their Slide It In tour in February 1984.

Off The Beaten Tracks 20th January 2025

This week's show includes tracks by a number of Scottish singers, musicians and bands as it is Burns Night on Saturday the 25th of January. Listen now on Mixcloud or from Monday on Ginger Feather FM.

Ewan MacColl's real name was James Henry Miller. He was born in 1915 in Salford to Scottish parents. He was father to Kirsty MacColl and as well as being a folk singer he was a folk song collector, labour activist and actor.

Read more about him at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ewan_MacColl

Martin Stephenson - Little Red Bottle
Megson - Working Town (live)
Track Dogs - Amor De Mi Vida
The Low Countries - Don't Let It Be You
Deep Cabaret - Real Reality
Eddi Reader - Wild Mountainside
Kris Drever, Eamonn Coyne & Megan Henderson - Parcel of Rogues
Reg Meuross - I Ain't Dead
GNOSS - Dirt & Bone
Kate Rusby - Friday I'm In Love
Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas - The 3-Stringed Uke
Jim Causley & Miranda Sykes - Blackingstone Ravens
Smith & McLennan - Long Way Down
Peatbog Faeries - Jakes on a Plane
Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger - Mormond Braes 

Off The Beaten Tracks 13 January 2025

My first radio show of the year after a break over Xmas and New Year. It includes tracks from albums I've recently downloaded by Martyn Joseph and Morag Brown & Lewis Powell-Reid along with some Fairport \ Thompson family numbers at the end. 

As ever you can listen at any time on Mixcloud or wait until next week when the show will be going out from Monday on Ginger Feather FM at 1pm and 8pm. 

Equation - He Loves Me
Morag Brown & Lewis Powell-Reid - Tide Time
Oisin Leech - October Sun
The Magpie Arc - Wassail
Show of Hands w/ Track Dogs - Company Town (live)
Martyn Joseph - Chapel Porth Beach (acoustic)
Rhiannon Giddens - Hey Bebe
Pokey LaFarge - It's Not Over
Fierce Flowers - Scene De Danse
Sunjay - Mail Order Mystics
Fairport Convention - Fotheringay (2012 version)
Fotheringay - Nothing More (Live In Rotterdam - 1970)
Richard Thompson - Johnny's Far Away
Linda Thompson featuring Teddy Thompson - Those Damn Roches