Podcast appearances and mentions of Ned Kelly

For those who haven't heard the announcement I posted, songs from this point on will sometimes be split among multiple episodes, so this is the second part of a two-episode look at the song “Who Knows Where The Time Goes?” by Fairport Convention, and the intertwining careers of Joe Boyd, Sandy Denny, and Richard Thompson. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode. Patreon backers also have a forty-one-minute bonus episode available, on Judy Collins’ version of this song. Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by editing, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt's irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/ Erratum For about an hour this was uploaded with the wrong Elton John clip in place of “Saturday Sun”. This has now been fixed. Resources Because of the increasing problems with Mixcloud’s restrictions, I have decided to start sharing streaming playlists of the songs used in episodes instead of Mixcloud ones. This Tunemymusic link will let you listen to the playlist I created on your streaming platform of choice — however please note that not all the songs excerpted are currently available on streaming. The songs missing from the Tidal version are “Shanten Bells” by the Ian Campbell Folk Group, “Tom’s Gone to Hilo” by A.L. Lloyd, two by Paul McNeill and Linda Peters, three by Elton John & Linda Peters, “What Will I Do With Tomorrow” by Sandy Denny and “You Never Know” by Charlie Drake, but the other fifty-nine are there. Other songs may be missing from other services. The main books I used on Fairport Convention as a whole were Patrick Humphries' Meet On The Ledge, Clinton Heylin's What We Did Instead of Holidays, and Kevan Furbank's Fairport Convention on Track. Rob Young's Electric Eden is the most important book on the British folk-rock movement. Information on Richard Thompson comes from Patrick Humphries' Richard Thompson: Strange Affair and Thompson's own autobiography Beeswing.  Information on Sandy Denny comes from Clinton Heylin's No More Sad Refrains and Mick Houghton's I've Always Kept a Unicorn. I also used Joe Boyd's autobiography White Bicycles and Chris Blackwell's The Islander.  And this three-CD set is the best introduction to Fairport's music currently in print. Transcript Before we begin, this episode contains reference to alcohol and cocaine abuse and medical neglect leading to death. It also starts with some discussion of the fatal car accident that ended last episode. There’s also some mention of child neglect and spousal violence. If that’s likely to upset you, you might want to skip this episode or read the transcript. One of the inspirations for this podcast when I started it back in 2018 was a project by Richard Thompson, which appears (like many things in Thompson’s life) to have started out of sheer bloody-mindedness. In 1999 Playboy magazine asked various people to list their “songs of the Millennium”, and most of them, understanding the brief, chose a handful of songs from the latter half of the twentieth century. But Thompson determined that he was going to list his favourite songs *of the millennium*. He didn’t quite manage that, but he did cover seven hundred and forty years, and when Playboy chose not to publish it, he decided to turn it into a touring show, in which he covered all his favourite songs from “Sumer Is Icumen In” from 1260: [Excerpt: Richard Thompson, “Sumer is Icumen In”] Through numerous traditional folk songs, union songs like “Blackleg Miner”, pieces by early-modern composers, Victorian and Edwardian music hall songs, and songs by the Beatles, the Ink Spots, the Kinks, and the Who, all the way to “Oops! I Did It Again”: [Excerpt: Richard Thompson, “Oops! I Did it Again”] And to finish the show, and to show how all this music actually ties together, he would play what he described as a “medieval tune from Brittany”, “Marry, Ageyn Hic Hev Donne Yt”: [Excerpt: Richard Thompson, “Marry, Ageyn Hic Hev Donne Yt”] We have said many times in this podcast that there is no first anything, but there’s a reason that Liege and Lief, Fairport Convention’s third album of 1969, and the album other than Unhalfbricking on which their reputation largely rests, was advertised with the slogan “The first (literally) British folk rock album ever”. Folk-rock, as the term had come to be known, and as it is still usually used today, had very little to do with traditional folk music. Rather, the records of bands like The Byrds or Simon and Garfunkel were essentially taking the sounds of British beat groups of the early sixties, particularly the Searchers, and applying those sounds to material by contemporary singer-songwriters. People like Paul Simon and Bob Dylan had come up through folk clubs, and their songs were called folk music because of that, but they weren’t what folk music had meant up to that point — songs that had been collected after being handed down through the folk process, changed by each individual singer, with no single identifiable author. They were authored songs by very idiosyncratic writers. But over their last few albums, Fairport Convention had done one or two tracks per album that weren’t like that, that were instead recordings of traditional folk songs, but arranged with rock instrumentation. They were not necessarily the first band to try traditional folk music with electric instruments — around the same time that Fairport started experimenting with the idea, so did an Irish band named Sweeney’s Men, who brought in a young electric guitarist named Henry McCullough briefly. But they do seem to have been the first to have fully embraced the idea. They had done so to an extent with “A Sailor’s Life” on Unhalfbricking, but now they were going to go much further: [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Matty Groves” (from about 4:30)] There had been some doubt as to whether Fairport Convention would even continue to exist — by the time Unhalfbricking, their second album of the year, was released, they had been through the terrible car accident that had killed Martin Lamble, the band’s drummer, and Jeannie Franklyn, Richard Thompson’s girlfriend. Most of the rest of the band had been seriously injured, and they had made a conscious decision not to discuss the future of the band until they were all out of hospital. Ashley Hutchings was hospitalised the longest, and Simon Nicol, Richard Thompson, and Sandy Denny, the other three surviving members of the band, flew over to LA with their producer and manager, Joe Boyd, to recuperate there and get to know the American music scene. When they came back, the group all met up in the flat belonging to Denny’s boyfriend Trevor Lucas, and decided that they were going to continue the band. They made a few decisions then — they needed a new drummer, and as well as a drummer they wanted to get in Dave Swarbrick. Swarbrick had played violin on several tracks on Unhalfbricking as a session player, and they had all been thrilled to work with him. Swarbrick was one of the most experienced musicians on the British folk circuit. He had started out in the fifties playing guitar with Beryl Marriott’s Ceilidh Band before switching to fiddle, and in 1963, long before Fairport had formed, he had already appeared on TV with the Ian Campbell Folk Group, led by Ian Campbell, the father of Ali and Robin Campbell, later of UB40: [Excerpt: The Ian Campbell Folk Group, “Shanten Bells (medley on Hullaballoo!)”] He’d sung with Ewan MacColl and A.L. Lloyd: [Excerpt: A.L. Lloyd, “Tom’s Gone to Hilo” ] And he’d formed his hugely successful duo with Martin Carthy, releasing records like “Byker Hill” which are often considered among the best British folk music of all time: [Excerpt: Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick, “Byker Hill”] By the time Fairport had invited him to play on Unhalfbricking, Swarbrick had already performed on twenty albums as a core band member, plus dozens more EPs, singles, and odd tracks on compilations. They had no reason to think they could actually get him to join their band. But they had three advantages. The first was that Swarbrick was sick of the traditional folk scene at the time, saying later “I didn’t like seven-eighths of the people involved in it, and it was extremely opportune to leave. I was suddenly presented with the possibilities of exploring the dramatic content of the songs to the full.” The second was that he was hugely excited to be playing with Richard Thompson, who was one of the most innovative guitarists of his generation, and Martin Carthy remembers him raving about Thompson after their initial sessions. (Carthy himself was and is no slouch on the guitar of course, and there was even talk of getting him to join the band at this point, though they decided against it — much to the relief of rhythm guitarist Simon Nicol, who is a perfectly fine player himself but didn’t want to be outclassed by *two* of the best guitarists in Britain at the same time). And the third was that Joe Boyd told him that Fairport were doing so well — they had a single just about to hit the charts with “Si Tu Dois Partir” — that he would only have to play a dozen gigs with Fairport in order to retire. As it turned out, Swarbrick would play with the group for a decade, and would never retire — I saw him on his last tour in 2015, only eight months before he died. The drummer the group picked was also a far more experienced musician than any of the rest, though in a very different genre. Dave Mattacks had no knowledge at all of the kind of music they played, having previously been a player in dance bands. When asked by Hutchings if he wanted to join the band, Mattacks’ response was “I don’t know anything about the music. I don’t understand it… I can’t tell one tune from another, they all sound the same… but if you want me to join the group, fine, because I really like it. I’m enjoying myself musically.” Mattacks brought a new level of professionalism to the band, thanks to his different background. Nicol said of him later “He was dilligent, clean, used to taking three white shirts to a gig… The application he could bring to his playing was amazing. With us, you only played well when you were feeling well.” This distinction applied to his playing as well. Nicol would later describe the difference between Mattacks’ drumming and Lamble’s by saying “Martin’s strength was as an imaginative drummer. DM came in with a strongly developed sense of rhythm, through keeping a big band of drunken saxophone players in order. A great time-keeper.” With this new line-up and a new sense of purpose, the group did as many of their contemporaries were doing and “got their heads together in the country”. Joe Boyd rented the group a mansion, Farley House, in Farley Chamberlayne, Hampshire, and they stayed there together for three months. At the start, the group seem to have thought that they were going to make another record like Unhalfbricking, with some originals, some songs by American songwriters, and a few traditional songs. Even after their stay in Farley Chamberlayne, in fact, they recorded a few of the American songs they’d rehearsed at the start of the process, Richard Farina’s “Quiet Joys of Brotherhood” and Bob Dylan and Roger McGuinn’s “Ballad of Easy Rider”: [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Ballad of Easy Rider”] Indeed, the whole idea of “getting our heads together in the country” (as the cliche quickly became in the late sixties as half of the bands in Britain went through much the same kind of process as Fairport were doing — but usually for reasons more to do with drug burnout or trend following than recovering from serious life-changing trauma) seems to have been inspired by Bob Dylan and the Band getting together in Big Pink. But very quickly they decided to follow the lead of Ashley Hutchings, who had had something of a Damascene conversion to the cause of traditional English folk music. They were listening mostly to Music From Big Pink by the Band, and to the first album by Sweeney’s Men: [Excerpt: Sweeney’s Men, “The Handsome Cabin Boy”] And they decided that they were going to make something that was as English as those records were North American and Irish (though in the event there were also a few Scottish songs included on the record). Hutchings in particular was becoming something of a scholar of traditional music, regularly visiting Cecil Sharp House and having long conversations with A.L. Lloyd, discovering versions of different traditional songs he’d never encountered before. This was both amusing and bemusing Sandy Denny, who had joined a rock group in part to get away from traditional music; but she was comfortable singing the material, and knew a lot of it and could make a lot of suggestions herself. Swarbrick obviously knew the repertoire intimately, and Nicol was amenable, while Mattacks was utterly clueless about the folk tradition at this point but knew this was the music he wanted to make. Thompson knew very little about traditional music, and of all the band members except Denny he was the one who has shown the least interest in the genre in his subsequent career — but as we heard at the beginning, showing the least interest in the genre is a relative thing, and while Thompson was not hugely familiar with the genre, he *was* able to work with it, and was also more than capable of writing songs that fit in with the genre. Of the eleven songs on the album, which was titled Liege and Lief (which means, roughly, Lord and Loyalty), there were no cover versions of singer-songwriters. Eight were traditional songs, and three were originals, all written in the style of traditional songs. The album opened with “Come All Ye”, an introduction written by Denny and Hutchings (the only time the two would ever write together): [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Come All Ye”] The other two originals were songs where Thompson had written new lyrics to traditional melodies. On “Crazy Man Michael”, Swarbrick had said to Thompson that the tune to which he had set his new words was weaker than the lyrics, to which Thompson had replied that if Swarbrick felt that way he should feel free to write a new melody. He did, and it became the first of the small number of Thompson/Swarbrick collaborations: [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Crazy Man Michael”] Thompson and Swarbrick would become a brief songwriting team, but as much as anything else it was down to proximity — the two respected each other as musicians, but never got on very well. In 1981 Swarbrick would say “Richard and I never got on in the early days of FC… we thought we did, but we never did. We composed some bloody good songs together, but it was purely on a basis of “you write that and I’ll write this, and we’ll put it together.” But we never sat down and had real good chats.” The third original on the album, and by far the most affecting, is another song where Thompson put lyrics to a traditional tune. In this case he thought he was putting the lyrics to the tune of “Willie O'Winsbury”, but he was basing it on a recording by Sweeney’s Men. The problem was that Sweeney’s Men had accidentally sung the lyrics of “Willie O'Winsbury'” to the tune of a totally different song, “Fause Foodrage”: [Excerpt: Sweeney’s Men, “Willie O’Winsbury”] Thompson took that melody, and set to it lyrics about loss and separation. Thompson has never been one to discuss the meanings of his lyrics in any great detail, and in the case of this one has said “I really don't know what it means. This song came out of a dream, and I pretty much wrote it as I dreamt it (it was the sixties), and didn't spend very long analyzing it. So interpret as you wish – or replace with your own lines.” But in the context of the traffic accident that had killed his tailor girlfriend and a bandmate, and injured most of his other bandmates, the lyrics about lonely travellers, the winding road, bruised and beaten sons, saying goodbye, and never cutting cloth, seem fairly self-explanatory: [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Farewell, Farewell”] The rest of the album, though, was taken up by traditional tunes. There was a long medley of four different fiddle reels; a version of “Reynardine” (a song about a seductive man — or is he a fox? Or perhaps both — which had been recorded by Swarbrick and Carthy on their most recent album); a 19th century song about a deserter saved from the firing squad by Prince Albert; and a long take on “Tam Lin”, one of the most famous pieces in the Scottish folk music canon, a song that has been adapted in different ways by everyone from the experimental noise band Current 93 to the dub poet Benjamin Zephaniah to the comics writer Grant Morrison: [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Tam Lin”] And “Matty Groves”, a song about a man killing his cheating wife and her lover, which actually has a surprisingly similar story to that of “1921” from another great concept album from that year, the Who’s Tommy. “Matty Groves” became an excuse for long solos and shows of instrumental virtuosity: [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Matty Groves”] The album was recorded in September 1969, after their return from their break in the country and a triumphal performance at the Royal Festival Hall, headlining over fellow Witchseason artists John and Beverly Martyn and Nick Drake. It became a classic of the traditional folk genre — arguably *the* classic of the traditional folk genre. In 2007 BBC Radio 2’s Folk Music Awards gave it an award for most influential folk album of all time, and while such things are hard to measure, I doubt there’s anyone with even the most cursory knowledge of British folk and folk-rock music who would not at least consider that a reasonable claim. But once again, by the time the album came out in November, the band had changed lineups yet again. There was a fundamental split in the band – on one side were Sandy Denny and Richard Thompson, whose stance was, roughly, that Liege and Lief was a great experiment and a fun thing to do once, but really the band had two first-rate songwriters in themselves, and that they should be concentrating on their own new material, not doing these old songs, good as they were. They wanted to take the form of the traditional songs and use that form for new material — they wanted to make British folk-rock, but with the emphasis on the rock side of things. Hutchings, on the other hand, was equally sure that he wanted to make traditional music and go further down the rabbit hole of antiquity. With the zeal of the convert he had gone in a couple of years from being the leader of a band who were labelled “the British Jefferson Airplane” to becoming a serious scholar of traditional folk music. Denny was tired of touring, as well — she wanted to spend more time at home with Trevor Lucas, who was sleeping with other women when she was away and making her insecure. When the time came for the group to go on a tour of Denmark, Denny decided she couldn’t make it, and Hutchings was jubilant — he decided he was going to get A.L. Lloyd into the band in her place and become a *real* folk group. Then Denny reconsidered, and Hutchings was crushed. He realised that while he had always been the leader, he wasn’t going to be able to lead the band any further in the traditionalist direction, and quit the group — but not before he was delegated by the other band members to fire Denny. Until the publication of Richard Thompson’s autobiography in 2022, every book on the group or its members said that Denny quit the band again, which was presumably a polite fiction that the band agreed, but according to Thompson “Before we flew home, we decided to fire Sandy. I don't remember who asked her to leave – it was probably Ashley, who usually did the dirty work. She was reportedly shocked that we would take that step. She may have been fragile beneath the confident facade, but she still knew her worth.” Thompson goes on to explain that the reasons for kicking her out were that “I suppose we felt that in her mind she had already left” and that “We were probably suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, though there wasn't a name for it back then.” They had considered inviting Trevor Lucas to join the band to make Denny more comfortable, but came to the (probably correct) conclusion that while he was someone they got on well with personally, he would be another big ego in a band that already had several, and that being around Denny and Lucas’ volatile relationship would, in Thompson’s phrasing, “have not always given one a feeling of peace and stability.” Hutchings originally decided he was going to join Sweeney’s Men, but that group were falling apart, and their first rehearsal with Hutchings would also be their last as a group, with only Hutchings and guitarist and mandolin player Terry Woods left in the band. They added Woods’ wife Gay, and another couple, Tim Hart and Maddy Prior, and formed a group called Steeleye Span, a name given them by Martin Carthy. That group, like Fairport, went to “get their heads together in the country” for three months and recorded an album of electric versions of traditional songs, Hark the Village Wait, on which Mattacks and another drummer, Gerry Conway, guested as Steeleye Span didn’t at the time have their own drummer: [Excerpt: Steeleye Span, “Blackleg Miner”] Steeleye Span would go on to have a moderately successful chart career in the seventies, but by that time most of the original lineup, including Hutchings, had left — Hutchings stayed with them for a few albums, then went on to form the first of a series of bands, all called the Albion Band or variations on that name, which continue to this day. And this is something that needs to be pointed out at this point — it is impossible to follow every single individual in this narrative as they move between bands. There is enough material in the history of the British folk-rock scene that someone could do a 500 Songs-style podcast just on that, and every time someone left Fairport, or Steeleye Span, or the Albion Band, or Matthews’ Southern Comfort, or any of the other bands we have mentioned or will mention, they would go off and form another band which would then fission, and some of its members would often join one of those other bands. There was a point in the mid-1970s where the Albion Band had two original members of Fairport Convention while Fairport Convention had none. So just in order to keep the narrative anything like wieldy, I’m going to keep the narrative concentrated on the two figures from Fairport — Sandy Denny and Richard Thompson — whose work outside the group has had the most influence on the wider world of rock music more broadly, and only deal with the other members when, as they often did, their careers intersected with those two. That doesn’t mean the other members are not themselves hugely important musicians, just that their importance has been primarily to the folk side of the folk-rock genre, and so somewhat outside the scope of this podcast. While Hutchings decided to form a band that would allow him to go deeper and deeper into traditional folk music, Sandy Denny’s next venture was rather different. For a long time she had been writing far more songs than she had ever played for her bandmates, like “Nothing More”, a song that many have suggested is about Thompson: [Excerpt: Fotheringay, “Nothing More”] When Joe Boyd heard that Denny was leaving Fairport Convention, he was at first elated. Fairport’s records were being distributed by A&M in the US at that point, but Island Records was in the process of opening up a new US subsidiary which would then release all future Fairport product — *but*, as far as A&M were concerned, Sandy Denny *was* Fairport Convention. They were only interested in her. Boyd, on the other hand, loved Denny’s work intensely, but from his point of view *Richard Thompson* was Fairport Convention. If he could get Denny signed directly to A&M as a solo artist before Island started its US operations, Witchseason could get a huge advance on her first solo record, while Fairport could continue making records for Island — he’d have two lucrative acts, on different labels. Boyd went over and spoke to A&M and got an agreement in principle that they would give Denny a forty-thousand-dollar advance on her first solo album — twice what they were paying for Fairport albums. The problem was that Denny didn’t want to be a solo act. She wanted to be the lead singer of a band. She gave many reasons for this — the one she gave to many journalists was that she had seen a Judy Collins show and been impressed, but noticed that Collins’ band were definitely a “backing group”, and as she put it “But that's all they were – a backing group. I suddenly thought, If you're playing together on a stage you might as well be TOGETHER.” Most other people in her life, though, say that the main reason for her wanting to be in a band was her desire to be with her boyfriend, Trevor Lucas. Partly this was due to a genuine desire to spend more time with someone with whom she was very much in love, partly it was a fear that he would cheat on her if she was away from him for long periods of time, and part of it seems to have been Lucas’ dislike of being *too* overshadowed by his talented girlfriend — he didn’t mind acknowledging that she was a major talent, but he wanted to be thought of as at least a minor one. So instead of going solo, Denny formed Fotheringay, named after the song she had written for Fairport. This new band consisted at first of Denny on vocals and occasional piano, Lucas on vocals and rhythm guitar, and Lucas’ old Eclection bandmate Gerry Conway on drums. For a lead guitarist, they asked Richard Thompson who the best guitarist in Britain was, and he told them Albert Lee. Lee in turn brought in bass player Pat Donaldson, but this lineup of the band barely survived a fortnight. Lee *was* arguably the best guitarist in Britain, certainly a reasonable candidate if you could ever have a singular best (as indeed was Thompson himself), but he was the best *country* guitarist in Britain, and his style simply didn’t fit with Fotheringay’s folk-influenced songs. He was replaced by American guitarist Jerry Donahue, who was not anything like as proficient as Lee, but who was still very good, and fit the band’s style much better. The new group rehearsed together for a few weeks, did a quick tour, and then went into the recording studio to record their debut, self-titled, album. Joe Boyd produced the album, but admitted himself that he only paid attention to those songs he considered worthwhile — the album contained one song by Lucas, “The Ballad of Ned Kelly”, and two cover versions of American singer-songwriter material with Lucas singing lead. But everyone knew that the songs that actually *mattered* were Sandy Denny’s, and Boyd was far more interested in them, particularly the songs “The Sea” and “The Pond and the Stream”: [Excerpt: Fotheringay, “The Pond and the Stream”] Fotheringay almost immediately hit financial problems, though. While other Witchseason acts were used to touring on the cheap, all packed together in the back of a Transit van with inexpensive equipment, Trevor Lucas had ambitions of being a rock star and wanted to put together a touring production to match, with expensive transport and equipment, including a speaker system that got nicknamed “Stonehenge” — but at the same time, Denny was unhappy being on the road, and didn’t play many gigs. As well as the band itself, the Fotheringay album also featured backing vocals from a couple of other people, including Denny’s friend Linda Peters. Peters was another singer from the folk clubs, and a good one, though less well-known than Denny — at this point she had only released a couple of singles, and those singles seemed to have been as much as anything else released as a novelty. The first of those, a version of Dylan’s “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” had been released as by “Paul McNeill and Linda Peters”: [Excerpt: Paul McNeill and Linda Peters, “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere”] But their second single, a version of John D. Loudermilk’s “You’re Taking My Bag”, was released on the tiny Page One label, owned by Larry Page, and was released under the name “Paul and Linda”, clearly with the intent of confusing particularly gullible members of the record-buying public into thinking this was the McCartneys: [Excerpt: Paul and Linda, “You’re Taking My Bag”] Peters was though more financially successful than almost anyone else in this story, as she was making a great deal of money as a session singer. She actually did another session involving most of Fotheringay around this time. Witchseason had a number of excellent songwriters on its roster, and had had some success getting covers by people like Judy Collins, but Joe Boyd thought that they might possibly do better at getting cover versions if they were performed in less idiosyncratic arrangements. Donahue, Donaldson, and Conway went into the studio to record backing tracks, and vocals were added by Peters and another session singer, who according to some sources also provided piano. They cut songs by Mike Heron of the Incredible String Band: [Excerpt: Linda Peters, “You Get Brighter”] Ed Carter, formerly of The New Nadir but by this time firmly ensconced in the Beach Boys’ touring band where he would remain for the next quarter-century: [Excerpt: Linda Peters, “I Don’t Mind”] John and Beverly Martyn, and Nick Drake: [Excerpt: Elton John, “Saturday Sun”] There are different lineups of musicians credited for those sessions in different sources, but I tend to believe that it’s mostly Fotheringay for the simple reason that Donahue says it was him, Donaldson and Conway who talked Lucas and Denny into the mistake that destroyed Fotheringay because of these sessions. Fotheringay were in financial trouble already, spending far more money than they were bringing in, but their album made the top twenty and they were getting respect both from critics and from the public — in September, Sandy Denny was voted best British female singer by the readers of Melody Maker in their annual poll, which led to shocked headlines in the tabloids about how this “unknown” could have beaten such big names as Dusty Springfield and Cilla Black. Only a couple of weeks after that, they were due to headline at the Albert Hall. It should have been a triumph. But Donahue, Donaldson, and Conway had asked that singing pianist to be their support act. As Donahue said later “That was a terrible miscast. It was our fault. He asked if [he] could do it. Actually Pat, Gerry and I had to talk Sandy and Trevor into [it]… We'd done these demos and the way he was playing – he was a wonderful piano player – he was sensitive enough. We knew very little about his stage-show. We thought he'd be a really good opener for us.” Unfortunately, Elton John was rather *too* good. As Donahue continued “we had no idea what he had in mind, that he was going to do the most incredible rock & roll show ever. He pretty much blew us off the stage before we even got on the stage.” To make matters worse, Fotheringay’s set, which was mostly comprised of new material, was underrehearsed and sloppy, and from that point on no matter what they did people were counting the hours until the band split up. They struggled along for a while though, and started working on a second record, with Boyd again producing, though as Boyd later said “I probably shouldn't have been producing the record. My lack of respect for the group was clear, and couldn't have helped the atmosphere. We'd put out a record that had sold disappointingly, A&M was unhappy. Sandy's tracks on the first record are among the best things she ever did – the rest of it, who cares? And the artwork, Trevor's sister, was terrible. It would have been one thing if I'd been unhappy with it and it sold, and the group was working all the time, making money, but that wasn't the case … I knew what Sandy was capable of, and it was very upsetting to me.” The record would not be released for thirty-eight years: [Excerpt: Fotheringay, “Wild Mountain Thyme”] Witchseason was going badly into debt. Given all the fissioning of bands that we’ve already been talking about, Boyd had been stretched thin — he produced sixteen albums in 1970, and almost all of them lost money for the company. And he was getting more and more disillusioned with the people he was producing. He loved Beverly Martyn’s work, but had little time for her abusive husband John, who was dominating her recording and life more and more and would soon become a solo artist while making her stay at home (and stealing her ideas without giving her songwriting credit). The Incredible String Band were great, but they had recently converted to Scientology, which Boyd found annoying, and while he was working with all sorts of exciting artists like Vashti Bunyan and Nico, he was finding himself less and less important to the artists he mentored. Fairport Convention were a good example of this. After Denny and Hutchings had left the group, they’d decided to carry on as an electric folk group, performing an equal mix of originals by the Swarbrick and Thompson songwriting team and arrangements of traditional songs. The group were now far enough away from the “British Jefferson Airplane” label that they decided they didn’t need a female vocalist — and more realistically, while they’d been able to replace Judy Dyble, nobody was going to replace Sandy Denny. Though it’s rather surprising when one considers Thompson’s subsequent career that nobody seems to have thought of bringing in Denny’s friend Linda Peters, who was dating Joe Boyd at the time (as Denny had been before she met Lucas) as Denny’s replacement. Instead, they decided that Swarbrick and Thompson were going to share the vocals between them. They did, though, need a bass player to replace Hutchings. Swarbrick wanted to bring in Dave Pegg, with whom he had played in the Ian Campbell Folk Group, but the other band members initially thought the idea was a bad one. At the time, while they respected Swarbrick as a musician, they didn’t think he fully understood rock and roll yet, and they thought the idea of getting in a folkie who had played double bass rather than an electric rock bassist ridiculous. But they auditioned him to mollify Swarbrick, and found that he was exactly what they needed. As Joe Boyd later said “All those bass lines were great, Ashley invented them all, but he never could play them that well. He thought of them, but he was technically not a terrific bass player. He was a very inventive, melodic, bass player, but not a very powerful one technically. But having had the part explained to him once, Pegg was playing it better than Ashley had ever played it… In some rock bands, I think, ultimately, the bands that sound great, you can generally trace it to the bass player… it was at that point they became a great band, when they had Pegg.” The new lineup of Fairport decided to move in together, and found a former pub called the Angel, into which all the band members moved, along with their partners and children (Thompson was the only one who was single at this point) and their roadies. The group lived together quite happily, and one gets the impression that this was the period when they were most comfortable with each other, even though by this point they were a disparate group with disparate tastes, in music as in everything else. Several people have said that the only music all the band members could agree they liked at this point was the first two albums by The Band. With the departure of Hutchings from the band, Swarbrick and Thompson, as the strongest personalities and soloists, became in effect the joint leaders of the group, and they became collaborators as songwriters, trying to write new songs that were inspired by traditional music. Thompson described the process as “let’s take one line of this reel and slow it down and move it up a minor third and see what that does to it; let’s take one line of this ballad and make a whole song out of it. Chopping up the tradition to find new things to do… like a collage.” Generally speaking, Swarbrick and Thompson would sit by the fire and Swarbrick would play a melody he’d been working on, the two would work on it for a while, and Thompson would then go away and write the lyrics. This is how the two came up with songs like the nine-minute “Sloth”, a highlight of the next album, Full House, and one that would remain in Fairport’s live set for much of their career: [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Sloth”] “Sloth” was titled that way because Thompson and Swarbrick were working on two tunes, a slow one and a fast one, and they jokingly named them “Sloth” and “Fasth”, but the latter got renamed to “Walk Awhile”, while “Sloth” kept its working title. But by this point, Boyd and Thompson were having a lot of conflict in the studio. Boyd was never the most technical of producers — he was one of those producers whose job is to gently guide the artists in the studio and create a space for the music to flourish, rather than the Joe Meek type with an intimate technical knowledge of the studio — and as the artists he was working with gained confidence in their own work they felt they had less and less need of him. During the making of the Full House album, Thompson and Boyd, according to Boyd, clashed on everything — every time Boyd thought Thompson had done a good solo, Thompson would say to erase it and let him have another go, while every time Boyd thought Thompson could do better, Thompson would say that was the take to keep. One of their biggest clashes was over Thompson’s song “Poor Will and the Jolly Hangman”, which was originally intended for release on the album, and is included in current reissues of it: [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Poor Will and the Jolly Hangman”] Thompson had written that song inspired by what he thought was the unjust treatment of Alex Bramham, the driver in Fairport’s fatal car crash, by the courts — Bramham had been given a prison sentence of a few months for dangerous driving, while the group members thought he had not been at fault. Boyd thought it was one of the best things recorded for the album, but Thompson wasn’t happy with his vocal — there was one note at the top of the melody that he couldn’t quite hit — and insisted it be kept off the record, even though that meant it would be a shorter album than normal. He did this at such a late stage that early copies of the album actually had the title printed on the sleeve, but then blacked out. He now says in his autobiography “I could have persevered, double-tracked the voice, warmed up for longer – anything. It was a good track, and the record was lacking without it. When the album was re-released, the track was restored with a more confident vocal, and it has stayed there ever since.” During the sessions for Full House the group also recorded one non-album single, Thompson and Swarbrick’s “Now Be Thankful”: [Excerpt, Fairport Convention, “Now Be Thankful”] The B-side to that was a medley of two traditional tunes plus a Swarbrick original, but was given the deliberately ridiculous title “Sir B. McKenzie’s Daughter’s Lament For The 77th Mounted Lancers Retreat From The Straits Of Loch Knombe, In The Year Of Our Lord 1727, On The Occasion Of The Announcement Of Her Marriage To The Laird Of Kinleakie”: [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Sir B. McKenzie’s Daughter’s Lament For The 77th Mounted Lancers Retreat From The Straits Of Loch Knombe, In The Year Of Our Lord 1727, On The Occasion Of The Announcement Of Her Marriage To The Laird Of Kinleakie”] The B. McKenzie in the title was a reference to the comic-strip character Barry McKenzie, a stereotype drunk Australian created for Private Eye magazine by the comedian Barry Humphries (later to become better known for his Dame Edna Everage character) but the title was chosen for one reason only — to get into the Guinness Book of Records for the song with the longest title. Which they did, though they were later displaced by the industrial band Test Dept, and their song “Long Live British Democracy Which Flourishes and Is Constantly Perfected Under the Immaculate Guidance of the Great, Honourable, Generous and Correct Margaret Hilda Thatcher. She Is the Blue Sky in the Hearts of All Nations. Our People Pay Homage and Bow in Deep Respect and Gratitude to Her. The Milk of Human Kindness”. Full House got excellent reviews in the music press, with Rolling Stone saying “The music shows that England has finally gotten her own equivalent to The Band… By calling Fairport an English equivalent of the Band, I meant that they have soaked up enough of the tradition of their countryfolk that it begins to show all over, while they maintain their roots in rock.” Off the back of this, the group went on their first US tour, culminating in a series of shows at the Troubadour in LA, on the same bill as Rick Nelson, which were recorded and later released as a live album: [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Sloth (live)”] The Troubadour was one of the hippest venues at the time, and over their residency there the group got seen by many celebrities, some of whom joined them on stage. The first was Linda Ronstadt, who initially demurred, saying she didn’t know any of their songs. On being told they knew all of hers, she joined in with a rendition of “Silver Threads and Golden Needles”. Thompson was later asked to join Ronstadt’s backing band, who would go on to become the Eagles, but he said later of this offer “I would have hated it. I’d have hated being on the road with four or five miserable Americans — they always seem miserable. And if you see them now, they still look miserable on stage — like they don’t want to be there and they don’t like each other.” The group were also joined on stage at the Troubadour on one memorable night by some former bandmates of Pegg’s. Before joining the Ian Campbell Folk Group, Pegg had played around the Birmingham beat scene, and had been in bands with John Bonham and Robert Plant, who turned up to the Troubadour with their Led Zeppelin bandmate Jimmy Page (reports differ on whether the fourth member of Zeppelin, John Paul Jones, also came along). They all got up on stage together and jammed on songs like “Hey Joe”, “Louie Louie”, and various old Elvis tunes. The show was recorded, and the tapes are apparently still in the possession of Joe Boyd, who has said he refuses to release them in case he is murdered by the ghost of Peter Grant. According to Thompson, that night ended in a three-way drinking contest between Pegg, Bonham, and Janis Joplin, and it’s testament to how strong the drinking culture is around Fairport and the British folk scene in general that Pegg outdrank both of them. According to Thompson, Bonham was found naked by a swimming pool two days later, having missed two gigs. For all their hard rock image, Led Zeppelin were admirers of a lot of the British folk and folk-rock scene, and a few months later Sandy Denny would become the only outside vocalist ever to appear on a Led Zeppelin record when she duetted with Plant on “The Battle of Evermore” on the group’s fourth album: [Excerpt: Led Zeppelin, “The Battle of Evermore”] Denny would never actually get paid for her appearance on one of the best-selling albums of all time. That was, incidentally, not the only session that Denny was involved in around this time — she also sang on the soundtrack to a soft porn film titled Swedish Fly Girls, whose soundtrack was produced by Manfred Mann: [Excerpt: Sandy Denny, “What Will I Do With Tomorrow?”] Shortly after Fairport’s trip to America, Joe Boyd decided he was giving up on Witchseason. The company was now losing money, and he was finding himself having to produce work for more and more acts as the various bands fissioned. The only ones he really cared about were Richard Thompson, who he was finding it more and more difficult to work with, Nick Drake, who wanted to do his next album with just an acoustic guitar anyway, Sandy Denny, who he felt was wasting her talents in Fotheringay, and Mike Heron of the Incredible String Band, who was more distant since his conversion to Scientology. Boyd did make some attempts to keep the company going. On a trip to Sweden, he negotiated an agreement with the manager and publisher of a Swedish band whose songs he’d found intriguing, the Hep Stars. Boyd was going to publish their songs in the UK, and in return that publisher, Stig Anderson, would get the rights to Witchseason’s catalogue in Scandinavia — a straight swap, with no money changing hands. But before Boyd could get round to signing the paperwork, he got a better offer from Mo Ostin of Warners — Ostin wanted Boyd to come over to LA and head up Warners’ new film music department. Boyd sold Witchseason to Island Records and moved to LA with his fiancee Linda Peters, spending the next few years working on music for films like Deliverance and A Clockwork Orange, as well as making his own documentary about Jimi Hendrix, and thus missed out on getting the UK publishing rights for ABBA, and all the income that would have brought him, for no money. And it was that decision that led to the breakup of Fotheringay. Just before Christmas 1970, Fotheringay were having a difficult session, recording the track “John the Gun”: [Excerpt: Fotheringay, “John the Gun”] Boyd got frustrated and kicked everyone out of the session, and went for a meal and several drinks with Denny. He kept insisting that she should dump the band and just go solo, and then something happened that the two of them would always describe differently. She asked him if he would continue to produce her records if she went solo, and he said he would. According to Boyd’s recollection of the events, he meant that he would fly back from California at some point to produce her records. According to Denny, he told her that if she went solo he would stay in Britain and not take the job in LA. This miscommunication was only discovered after Denny told the rest of Fotheringay after the Christmas break that she was splitting the band. Jerry Donahue has described that as the worst moment of his life, and Denny felt very guilty about breaking up a band with some of her closest friends in — and then when Boyd went over to the US anyway she felt a profound betrayal. Two days before Fotheringay’s final concert, in January 1971, Sandy Denny signed a solo deal with Island records, but her first solo album would not end up produced by Joe Boyd. Instead, The North Star Grassman and the Ravens was co-produced by Denny, John Wood — the engineer who had worked with Boyd on pretty much everything he’d produced, and Richard Thompson, who had just quit Fairport Convention, though he continued living with them at the Angel, at least until a truck crashed into the building in February 1971, destroying its entire front wall and forcing them to relocate. The songs chosen for The North Star Grassman and the Ravens reflected the kind of choices Denny would make on her future albums, and her eclectic taste in music. There was, of course, the obligatory Dylan cover, and the traditional folk ballad “Blackwaterside”, but there was also a cover version of Brenda Lee’s “Let’s Jump the Broomstick”: [Excerpt: Sandy Denny, “Let’s Jump the Broomstick”] Most of the album, though, was made up of originals about various people in Denny’s life, like “Next Time Around”, about her ex-boyfriend Jackson C Frank: [Excerpt: Sandy Denny, “Next Time Around”] The album made the top forty in the UK — Denny’s only solo album to do so — and led to her once again winning the “best female singer” award in Melody Maker’s readers’ poll that year — the male singer award was won by Rod Stewart. Both Stewart and Denny appeared the next year on the London Symphony Orchestra’s all-star version of The Who’s Tommy, which had originally been intended as a vehicle for Stewart before Roger Daltrey got involved. Stewart’s role was reduced to a single song, “Pinball Wizard”, while Denny sang on “It’s a Boy”: [Excerpt: Sandy Denny, “It’s a Boy”] While Fotheringay had split up, all the band members play on The North Star Grassman and the Ravens. Guitarists Donahue and Lucas only play on a couple of the tracks, with Richard Thompson playing most of the guitar on the record. But Fotheringay’s rhythm section of Pat Donaldson and Gerry Conway play on almost every track. Another musician on the album, Ian Whiteman, would possibly have a profound effect on the future direction of Richard Thompson’s career and life. Whiteman was the former keyboard player for the mod band The Action, having joined them just before they became the blues-rock band Mighty Baby. But Mighty Baby had split up when all of the band except the lead singer had converted to Islam. Richard Thompson was on his own spiritual journey at this point, and became a Sufi – the same branch of Islam as Whiteman – soon after the session, though Thompson has said that his conversion was independent of Whiteman’s. The two did become very close and work together a lot in the mid-seventies though. Thompson had supposedly left Fairport because he was writing material that wasn’t suited to the band, but he spent more than a year after quitting the group working on sessions rather than doing anything with his own material, and these sessions tended to involve the same core group of musicians. One of the more unusual was a folk-rock supergroup called The Bunch, put together by Trevor Lucas. Richard Branson had recently bought a recording studio, and wanted a band to test it out before opening it up for commercial customers, so with this free studio time Lucas decided to record a set of fifties rock and roll covers. He gathered together Thompson, Denny, Whiteman, Ashley Hutchings, Dave Mattacks, Pat Donaldson, Gerry Conway, pianist Tony Cox, the horn section that would later form the core of the Average White Band, and Linda Peters, who had now split up with Joe Boyd and returned to the UK, and who had started dating Thompson. They recorded an album of covers of songs by Jerry Lee Lewis, the Everly Brothers, Johnny Otis and others: [Excerpt: The Bunch, “Willie and the Hand Jive”] The early seventies was a hugely productive time for this group of musicians, as they all continued playing on each other’s projects. One notable album was No Roses by Shirley Collins, which featured Thompson, Mattacks, Whiteman, Simon Nicol, Lal and Mike Waterson, and Ashley Hutchings, who was at that point married to Collins, as well as some more unusual musicians like the free jazz saxophonist Lol Coxhill: [Excerpt: Shirley Collins and the Albion Country Band, “Claudy Banks”] Collins was at the time the most respected female singer in British traditional music, and already had a substantial career including a series of important records made with her sister Dolly, work with guitarists like Davey Graham, and time spent in the 1950s collecting folk songs in the Southern US with her then partner Alan Lomax – according to Collins she did much of the actual work, but Lomax only mentioned her in a single sentence in his book on this work. Some of the same group of musicians went on to work on an album of traditional Morris dancing tunes, titled Morris On, credited to “Ashley Hutchings, Richard Thompson, Dave Mattacks, John Kirkpatrick and Barry Dransfield”, with Collins singing lead on two tracks: [Excerpt: Ashley Hutchings, Richard Thompson, Dave Mattacks, John Kirkpatrick and Barry Dransfield with Shirley Collins, “The Willow Tree”] Thompson thought that that album was the best of the various side projects he was involved in at the time, comparing it favourably to Rock On, which he thought was rather slight, saying later “Conceptually, Fairport, Ashley and myself and Sandy were developing a more fragile style of music that nobody else was particularly interested in, a British Folk Rock idea that had a logical development to it, although we all presented it our own way. Morris On was rather more true to what we were doing. Rock On was rather a retro step. I'm not sure it was lasting enough as a record but Sandy did sing really well on the Buddy Holly songs.” Hutchings used the musicians on No Roses and Morris On as the basis for his band the Albion Band, which continues to this day. Simon Nicol and Dave Mattacks both quit Fairport to join the Albion Band, though Mattacks soon returned. Nicol would not return to Fairport for several years, though, and for a long period in the mid-seventies Fairport Convention had no original members. Unfortunately, while Collins was involved in the Albion Band early on, she and Hutchings ended up divorcing, and the stress from the divorce led to Collins developing spasmodic dysphonia, a stress-related illness which makes it impossible for the sufferer to sing. She did eventually regain her vocal ability, but between 1978 and 2016 she was unable to perform at all, and lost decades of her career. Richard Thompson occasionally performed with the Albion Band early on, but he was getting stretched a little thin with all these sessions. Linda Peters said later of him “When I came back from America, he was working in Sandy’s band, and doing sessions by the score. Always with Pat Donaldson and Dave Mattacks. Richard would turn up with his guitar, one day he went along to do a session with one of those folkie lady singers — and there were Pat and DM. They all cracked. Richard smashed his amp and said “Right! No more sessions!” In 1972 he got round to releasing his first solo album, Henry the Human Fly, which featured guest appearances by Linda Peters and Sandy Denny among others: [Excerpt: Richard Thompson, “The Angels Took My Racehorse Away”] Unfortunately, while that album has later become regarded as one of the classics of its genre, at the time it was absolutely slated by the music press. The review in Melody Maker, for example, read in part “Some of Richard Thompson’s ideas sound great – which is really the saving grace of this album, because most of the music doesn’t. The tragedy is that Thompson’s “British rock music” is such an unconvincing concoction… Even the songs that do integrate rock and traditional styles of electric guitar rhythms and accordion and fiddle decoration – and also include explicit, meaningful lyrics are marred by bottle-up vocals, uninspiring guitar phrases and a general lack of conviction in performance.” Henry the Human Fly was released in the US by Warners, who had a reciprocal licensing deal with Island (and for whom Joe Boyd was working at the time, which may have had something to do with that) but according to Thompson it became the lowest-selling record that Warners ever put out (though I’ve also seen that claim made about Van Dyke Parks’ Song Cycle, another album that has later been rediscovered). Thompson was hugely depressed by this reaction, and blamed his own singing. Happily, though, by this point he and Linda had become a couple — they would marry in 1972 — and they started playing folk clubs as a duo, or sometimes in a trio with Simon Nicol. Thompson was also playing with Sandy Denny’s backing band at this point, and played on every track on her second solo album, Sandy. This album was meant to be her big commercial breakthrough, with a glamorous cover photo by David Bailey, and with a more American sound, including steel guitar by Sneaky Pete Kleinow of the Flying Burrito Brothers (whose overdubs were supervised in LA by Joe Boyd): [Excerpt: Sandy Denny, “Tomorrow is a Long Time”] The album was given a big marketing push by Island, and “Listen, Listen” was made single of the week on the Radio 1 Breakfast show: [Excerpt: Sandy Denny, “Listen, Listen”] But it did even worse than the previous album, sending her into something of a depression. Linda Thompson (as the former Linda Peters now was) said of this period “After the Sandy album, it got her down that her popularity didn't suddenly increase in leaps and bounds, and that was the start of her really fretting about the way her career was going. Things only escalated after that. People like me or Martin Carthy or Norma Waterson would think, ‘What are you on about? This is folk music.'” After Sandy’s release, Denny realised she could no longer afford to tour with a band, and so went back to performing just acoustically or on piano. The only new music to be released by either of these ex-members of Fairport Convention in 1973 was, oddly, on an album by the band they were no longer members of. After Thompson had left Fairport, the group had managed to release two whole albums with the same lineup — Swarbrick, Nicol, Pegg, and Mattacks. But then Nicol and Mattacks had both quit the band to join the Albion Band with their former bandmate Ashley Hutchings, leading to a situation where the Albion Band had two original members of Fairport plus their longtime drummer while Fairport Convention itself had no original members and was down to just Swarbrick and Pegg. Needing to fulfil their contracts, they then recruited three former members of Fotheringay — Lucas on vocals and rhythm guitar, Donahue on lead guitar, and Conway on drums. Conway was only a session player at the time, and Mattacks soon returned to the band, but Lucas and Donahue became full-time members. This new lineup of Fairport Convention released two albums in 1973, widely regarded as the group’s most inconsistent records, and on the title track of the first, “Rosie”, Richard Thompson guested on guitar, with Sandy Denny and Linda Thompson on backing vocals: [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Rosie”] Neither Sandy Denny nor Richard Thompson released a record themselves in 1973, but in neither case was this through the artists’ choice. The record industry was changing in the early 1970s, as we’ll see in later episodes, and was less inclined to throw good money after bad in the pursuit of art. Island Records prided itself on being a home for great artists, but it was still a business, and needed to make money. We’ll talk about the OPEC oil crisis and its effect on the music industry much more when the podcast gets to 1973, but in brief, the production of oil by the US peaked in 1970 and started to decrease, leading to them importing more and more oil from the Middle East. As a result of this, oil prices rose slowly between 1971 and 1973, then very quickly towards the end of 1973 as a result of the Arab-Israeli conflict that year. As vinyl is made of oil, suddenly producing records became much more expensive, and in this period a lot of labels decided not to release already-completed albums, until what they hoped would be a brief period of shortages passed. Both Denny and Thompson recorded albums at this point that got put to one side by Island. In the case of Thompson, it was the first album by Richard and Linda as a duo, I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight: [Excerpt: Richard and Linda Thompson, “I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight”] Today, I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight is widely regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time, and as one of the two masterpieces that bookended Richard and Linda’s career as a duo and their marriage. But when they recorded the album, full of Richard’s dark songs, it was the opposite of commercial. Even a song that’s more or less a boy-girl song, like “Has He Got a Friend for Me?” has lyrics like “He wouldn’t notice me passing by/I could be in the gutter, or dangling down from a tree” [Excerpt: Richard and Linda Thompson, “Has He got a Friend For Me?”] While something like “The Calvary Cross” is oblique and haunted, and seems to cast a pall over the entire album: [Excerpt: Richard and Linda Thompson, “The Calvary Cross”] The album itself had been cheap to make — it had been recorded in only a week, with Thompson bringing in musicians he knew well and had worked with a lot previously to cut the tracks as-live in only a handful of takes — but Island didn’t think it was worth releasing. The record stayed on the shelf for nearly a year after recording, until Island got a new head of A&R, Richard Williams. Williams said of the album’s release “Muff Winwood had been doing A&R, but he was more interested in production… I had a conversation with Muff as soon as I got there, and he said there are a few hangovers, some outstanding problems. And one of them was Richard Thompson. He said there’s this album we gave him the money to make — which was I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight — and nobody’s very interested in it. Henry the Human Fly had been a bit of a commercial disappointment, and although Island was altruistic and independent and known for only recording good stuff, success was important… Either a record had to do well or somebody had to believe in it a lot. And it seemed as if neither of those things were true at that point of Richard.” Williams, though, was hugely impressed when he listened to the album. He compared Richard Thompson’s guitar playing to John Coltrane’s sax, and called Thompson “the folk poet of the rainy streets”, but also said “Linda brightened it, made it more commercial. and I thought that “Bright Lights” itself seemed a really commercial song.” The rest of the management at Island got caught up in Williams’ enthusiasm, and even decided to release the title track as a single: [Excerpt: Richard and Linda Thompson, “I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight”] Neither single nor album charted — indeed it would not be until 1991 that Richard Thompson would make a record that made the top forty in the UK — but the album got enough critical respect that Richard and Linda released two albums the year after. The first of these, Hokey Pokey, is a much more upbeat record than their previous one — Richard Thompson has called it “quite a music-hall influenced record” and cited the influence of George Formby and Harry Lauder. For once, the claim of music hall influence is audible in the music. Usually when a British musician is claimed to have a music ha

Plongez dans la traque de Ned Kelly, le plus célèbre hors-la-loi australien. Fils d'un ex-bagnard irlandais, il grandit dans la pauvreté, sous la surveillance constante d'une police coloniale corrompue. Bandit pour les uns, héros pour les autres, Kelly devient l'ennemi public numéro un. Attaques de banques, affrontements sanglants, cavale spectaculaire… À chaque étape, la tension monte. Et tandis que les autorités resserrent l'étau, Ned Kelly forge son mythe — jusqu'à son dernier combat, en armure, face à la loi. La bataille finale de Glenrowan Le 26 juin 1880, Ned Kelly sabote les rails à Glenrowan pour piéger un train de policiers. Tandis que la tension monte, une fête s'organise à l'auberge où le gang retient des otages. Trahi par un instituteur relâché, Ned affronte les forces de l'ordre dans une fusillade sanglante où il est capturé. Jugé et condamné à mort, il est pendu le 11 novembre. Sa légende naît alors que l'Australie reste secouée par son héritage. Pour découvrir d'autres traques, cliquez ci-dessous : ⁠[INÉDIT] Paul Touvier, le milicien jamais repentis : les origines d'un collabo (1/4)⁠ ⁠[INÉDIT] Paul Touvier, le milicien jamais repentis : fuite après la libération (2/4)⁠ ⁠[INÉDIT] Paul Touvier, le milicien jamais repentis : plutôt mourir que de se rendre (3/4)⁠ ⁠[INÉDIT] Paul Touvier, le milicien jamais repentis : condamné en fin de vie (4/4)⁠ Crédits : Production : Bababam  Textes : Lola Bertet Voix : Anne Cosmao, Aurélien Gouas Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Plongez dans la traque de Ned Kelly, le plus célèbre hors-la-loi australien. Fils d'un ex-bagnard irlandais, il grandit dans la pauvreté, sous la surveillance constante d'une police coloniale corrompue. Bandit pour les uns, héros pour les autres, Kelly devient l'ennemi public numéro un. Attaques de banques, affrontements sanglants, cavale spectaculaire… À chaque étape, la tension monte. Et tandis que les autorités resserrent l'étau, Ned Kelly forge son mythe — jusqu'à son dernier combat, en armure, face à la loi. Les premiers meurtres Le 26 octobre 1878, Ned Kelly et sa bande tendent une embuscade meurtrière à la police à Stringybark Creek, tuant trois agents. En cavale, les bushrangers multiplient les braquages, comme à Euroa et Jerilderie, et humilient les autorités. Tandis que le gouvernement durcit la traque et arrête des proches du gang, Ned rédige un manifeste pour dénoncer l'injustice coloniale. Traqué, trahi et décidé à frapper fort, il rêve d'une République du nord-est et forge des armures pour la révolte. Pour découvrir d'autres traques, cliquez ci-dessous : ⁠[INÉDIT] Paul Touvier, le milicien jamais repentis : les origines d'un collabo (1/4)⁠ ⁠[INÉDIT] Paul Touvier, le milicien jamais repentis : fuite après la libération (2/4)⁠ ⁠[INÉDIT] Paul Touvier, le milicien jamais repentis : plutôt mourir que de se rendre (3/4)⁠ ⁠[INÉDIT] Paul Touvier, le milicien jamais repentis : condamné en fin de vie (4/4)⁠ Crédits : Production : Bababam  Textes : Lola Bertet Voix : Anne Cosmao, Aurélien Gouas Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Plongez dans la traque de Ned Kelly, le plus célèbre hors-la-loi australien. Fils d'un ex-bagnard irlandais, il grandit dans la pauvreté, sous la surveillance constante d'une police coloniale corrompue. Bandit pour les uns, héros pour les autres, Kelly devient l'ennemi public numéro un. Attaques de banques, affrontements sanglants, cavale spectaculaire… À chaque étape, la tension monte. Et tandis que les autorités resserrent l'étau, Ned Kelly forge son mythe — jusqu'à son dernier combat, en armure, face à la loi.  Le début de la cavale  1877, Ned Kelly affronte violemment l'homme responsable de son emprisonnement, gagne en prestige mais reste dans le viseur des autorités. Après la torture de son frère par un policier, il déclare la guerre aux forces de l'ordre et organise un vaste trafic de chevaux. Sa rivalité avec le policier Fitzpatrick dégénère en tentative d'arrestation ratée et en affrontement sanglant. Recherché avec son frère, il prend la fuite, sa mère est arrêtée, et il entre en cavale. Cette traque de 26 mois marque le début de la légende Kelly. Pour découvrir d'autres traques, cliquez ci-dessous : ⁠[INÉDIT] Paul Touvier, le milicien jamais repentis : les origines d'un collabo (1/4)⁠ ⁠[INÉDIT] Paul Touvier, le milicien jamais repentis : fuite après la libération (2/4)⁠ ⁠[INÉDIT] Paul Touvier, le milicien jamais repentis : plutôt mourir que de se rendre (3/4)⁠ ⁠[INÉDIT] Paul Touvier, le milicien jamais repentis : condamné en fin de vie (4/4)⁠ Crédits : Production : Bababam  Textes : Lola Bertet Voix : Anne Cosmao, Aurélien Gouas Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Plongez dans la traque de Ned Kelly, le plus célèbre hors-la-loi australien. Fils d'un ex-bagnard irlandais, il grandit dans la pauvreté, sous la surveillance constante d'une police coloniale corrompue. Bandit pour les uns, héros pour les autres, Kelly devient l'ennemi public numéro un. Attaques de banques, affrontements sanglants, cavale spectaculaire… À chaque étape, la tension monte. Et tandis que les autorités resserrent l'étau, Ned Kelly forge son mythe — jusqu'à son dernier combat, en armure, face à la loi. La naissance d'un hors-la-loi  Ned Kelly, jeune bushranger au passé déjà chargé, est capturé après une traque sanglante. Fils d'immigrés irlandais, élevé dans la pauvreté et la marginalité, il grandit entre vols, injustice et rébellion. À 15 ans, il trahit malgré lui son mentor Harry Power, ce qui lui vaut la méfiance des siens. Libéré un temps, il retombe vite dans les griffes de la justice pour un vol de cheval. Lors de son arrestation, la violence policière s'abat sur lui, scellant définitivement son destin de hors-la-loi. Pour découvrir d'autres traques, cliquez ci-dessous : ⁠[INÉDIT] Paul Touvier, le milicien jamais repentis : les origines d'un collabo (1/4)⁠ ⁠[INÉDIT] Paul Touvier, le milicien jamais repentis : fuite après la libération (2/4)⁠ ⁠[INÉDIT] Paul Touvier, le milicien jamais repentis : plutôt mourir que de se rendre (3/4)⁠ ⁠[INÉDIT] Paul Touvier, le milicien jamais repentis : condamné en fin de vie (4/4)⁠ Crédits : Production : Bababam  Textes : Lola Bertet Voix : Anne Cosmao, Aurélien Gouas Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bienvenue dans la traque. Cette semaine, découvrez une toute nouvelle saison. Une histoire, prête à vous entraîner dans l'exploration d'un parcours criminel, saisissant. Plongez dans la traque de Ned Kelly, le plus célèbre hors-la-loi australien. Fils d'un ex-bagnard irlandais, il grandit dans la pauvreté, sous la surveillance constante d'une police coloniale corrompue. Bandit pour les uns, héros pour les autres, Kelly devient l'ennemi public numéro un. Attaques de banques, affrontements sanglants, cavale spectaculaire… À chaque étape, la tension monte. Et tandis que les autorités resserrent l'étau, Ned Kelly forge son mythe — jusqu'à son dernier combat, en armure, face à la loi. Joignez-vous alors à nous et découvrez cette nouvelle saison prochainement disponible sur toutes les plateformes d'écoute.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

His gang was ruthless from bank robberies to stealing horses and killing police. It all came to an end in an epic shootout with much blood spilled.

Ben and Ione chat housekeeping, gigs in Beechworth, staying in Ned Kelly's cottage, Melbourne band Convenience Store, getting positive texts from Caveh Zahedi, Love on the Spectrum, Ione's Sydney book launch at the Lord Dudley, the trade war on Tiktok, Bon Iver's universe building, The Moorepark Dachshund Festival, Bernie Sanders at Coachella, Neil Young at the Fighting Oligarchy rally and answer listener questions about glamorous restrooms, humans needs for the supernatural, whether Ben and Ione are threatened by their past relationships, talking dirty, and a brief history of Ben's involvement in cults.To dive deeper into our universe head over to https://weirdertogether.substack.com/

This is a fun one! We each decided to give our 5 greatest death scenes in movie history. Perhaps it was because it was gory and gruesome. Maybe because it was funny. Or it made our list because of how sad it made us. There are a bunch and we are gonna dive in! Lite spoilers ahead. The movies being discussed are: Boondock Saints, In a Violent Nature, Starship troopers, Zombieland, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, Shaun of the Dead, American History X, Bone Tomahawk, The Untouchables, The Jackyl, Ghost Ship, Ned Kelly, The Patriot, Game of Thrones, My Girl, Jackie Brown, Rocky 3 and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recibimos al periodista Pedro Piqueras, que presenta el libro ‘Cuando ya nada es urgente'. Tomamos el vermú con el cirujano Pedro Marquina, premiado en Washington y Javier Jimenez, premio Camarero del Año. Además, Eloy Morera recuerda la historia de Ned Kelly, el último bushranger.

Eloy Morera viaja hasta los bosques de Australia para seguir los pasos de Ned Kelly, uno de los forajidos que se escondían en el Bush, una zona deshabitada al abrigo de bosques y montes.

Tom Roberts' Shearing The Rams and Sidney Nolan's Ned Kelly series both feature on Lorraine's list 

Laura takes us back to Australia in the 1800s, where a group of outlaws known as the Kelly Gang are becoming folk heroes. But as their legend grows, tensions rise and a betrayal from within sets the wheels in motion for a dramatic downfall.If you want to see a picture of Ned Kelly, click here: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ned-Kelly-Australian-banditMurder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available twice a week on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at lauraandiain@bbc.co.uk.

Blamison are back in the march towards the Ides with a banger of a film starring Mick Jagger as Ned Kelly (1970). And, get this!, Micky Boy only sings one song on this film and it is all the better for it. We talk about film, yes, but mostly about how fucking incredible this soundtrack is and why it makes the movie so much better than it actually is.Other things talked about: throwing Demetrius Sanders under the bus again and our favorite historical figures and their portrayals in cinema.Clip: "Insult Comic Restaurant" from Season 2, Episode 5 of I Think You Should Leave.

In June 1880, the Kelly gang clashed with the Victoria Police in a long-anticipated shootout. When the police arrived in the small town of Glenrowan, where the gang was holed up, they quickly donned their homemade iron armour, crafted from stolen ploughboards. Whatever else Ned Kelly may have been; he was undoubtedly innovative. Join us this week as we explore his story and examine the Biblical armour that God has prepared for each of us. 

The culmination of what is now an audio documentary of Ned Kelly's life (at over 1.5hrs of content), this episode examines the Kelly Gang's last stand at Glenrowan, and the legacy of Ned Kelly.

Today marks one hundred and seventy years since one of New Zealand's most enduring folk heroes was arrested for rustling sheep. Historian Annette Bulovic joins Mark Leishman.

Australian comic book creator, Lucas Scheffel makes a return appearance to discuss his upcoming Kickstarter, Ned Kelly and the 5 Revolvers launching March 8 https://shorturl.at/3HLpP Music: Andre Jetson - Bipolar (Original Mix)

This week we'll be looking towards the Bushranger's life, as he goes from small-time criminal to well-known highwayman, and discuss what Ned did throughout the years that he was a Bushranger, from 1876 to 1879. 

In this special movie episode: the same week that we rediscover the first filmic Ned Kelly, we lose the chance to have Apocalypse Now made in Australia – and while sexy times sell ‘sinema' tickets, singer-stripper-philosopher-turned-soft core star Count Copernicus hangs up his G-string. Plus, the new trend to sci-fi flicks that includes ‘The Star Wars', Colonel Sanders pops in for a meat pie and a British fashion commando gives our blokes the big thumbs up.Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustraliaApple: apple.co/forgottenaustraliaShowgirls, Teen Wolves and Astro Zombies - the link is actually too long to paste here. But it's available on Amazon.com.au The Story of the Kelly Gang: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdD99am_-zUThe Cosmic Clownhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Xc3vgPD4jk&t=3sCheck out Ross Hamilton's band Stringybarkhttps://stringybark.com/Aussie Inventions That Changed The World - show (episode 8 has the Ned Kelly segment)https://tv.apple.com/au/show/aussie-inventions-that-changed-the-world/umc.cmc.1jkri86gatihce11p8d3wvvc6Aussie Inventions That Changed The World - podcast (episode 8 has David Hunt and me in conversation)https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/aussie-inventions-that-changed-the-world/id1468061172To buy They'll Never Hold Me:https://www.booktopia.com.au/they-ll-never-hold-me-michael-adams/book/9781923046474.htmlThe Murder Squad:https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-murder-squad-michael-adams/book/9781923046504.htmlHanging Ned Kelly:https://www.booktopia.com.au/hanging-ned-kelly-michael-adams/book/9781922992185.htmlAustralia's Sweetheart:https://www.booktopia.com.au/australia-s-sweetheart-michael-adams/book/9780733640292.htmlEmail: forgottenaustraliapodcast@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, the first part of three, we look at the beginning of Ned Kelly's life, and his upbringing as part of the massive Kelly clan. We'll see how he grew up, and his first forays into a life of crime and bushranging, working to understand what led him to be the person he'd become.

Here at Book Matters we are taking a well-earned break over the holiday period but in the meantime we have put together some great listening in our best in-conversation events held during the year.Back in October we were fortunate to have well known crime writer and winner of three Ned Kelly awards, Candice Fox here at Bunjil Place.   Fellow crime writer and local girl Kerryn Mayne interviewed Candice about her writing, her collaboration with James Patterson, the adaptations of her novels to the screen and her newest novel “High Wire”.   The audio quality was a little patchy as it was recorded live but we hope you enjoy.Connected Libraries WebsiteConnected Libraries Facebook PageIn a nook with a book Facebook GroupConnected Libraries Instagram PageConnected Libraries YouTube

This week, we discuss the events of 1879-1880, as they occurred around Ned Kelly. From a riot over cricket which would include Australia's future first prime minister, to another bushranger whose life has been overshadowed by Kelly, this week is incredibly interesting!   Next week, we'll be diving straight into Ned Kelly and his gang!

Interview by Kris PetersAmerican Pie Emo Night is coming to Australia, celebrating 25 years of the infamous movie American Pie featuring Thomas Nicholas Band. Frontman, Thomas Ian Nicholas is best known as Kevin Myers from the films.Thomas began his acting career on Who's the Boss? playing a young Tony Danza. At age 12, Nicholas embarked on a series of feature films that would shape his young adult career, including Rookie of the Year, A Kid in King Arthur's Court. By 18 he had recurring roles on hit TV shows like Party of Five and the role of Kevin Myers in the extremely successful American Pie franchise.Over the last 15 years his band has played over 1000 concerts in 12 countries and released a half dozen studio albums. Thomas' fourth release, a self-titled EP, first single My Generation was included on the American Reunion soundtrack album. The song has received global radio play and is close to 1 million streams on Spotify.Most recently, their seventh studio album We're Gonna Be Okay was released by SBÄM Records and Double Helix Records on May 17, 2024 produced by Taylor Carroll (LIT) and includes features from Bowling For Soup, Less than Jake, The Early November and Ayron Jones.In 2015, Thomas co-write and performed the song All the Way which was included on Blue Traveler's album, Blow Up the Moon and in 2022 Thomas released 1999, a parody to Bowling for Soup's 1985.Now, for the first time ever, Thomas is headed to Australia to celebrate life, love, music and 25 years of American Pie. HEAVY had a great chat with the great man earlier this week."Man, it's really a highlight moment for me that has opened up so many doors," he smiled when asked what American Pie means to him 25 years on. "Here I am 25 years later and the success of this billion dollar franchise is giving me the opportunity to come and tour Australia. The doors that it opens for me just continue to happen, and I'm so thankful."We ask him what his first impressions were when asked to be in a movie that involved the now infamous pie scene."My initial reaction was actually way worse than you could think," he teased. "The first scene in the movie was Kevin and Vicky, not Jim and his sock puppet (laughs). It was Vicky instructing Kevin on which way to use his fingers… we'll let you put the rest of the scene together in your own mind - so I threw the script in the trash and called my agent and said 'why are you sending me porn?"In the full interview, Thomas relives other moments from the American Pie franchise, discusses his relationship with Ned Kelly, talks about his band - the Thomas Nicholas Band, what to expect from them live, working with Bowling For Soup and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

In this episode, the hosts engage in a wide-ranging discussion covering various historical and criminal topics. They begin with a personal exchange about their mornings in different time zones, highlighting the contrasts between cold Scotland and sunny Australia. The conversation then transitions to a detailed exploration of the infamous Australian outlaw, Ned Kelly. They discuss his life, ideological motivations, and ultimate downfall, drawing parallels with other historical figures such as Rob Roy McGregor. The discussion then shifts to contemporary observations about Australia, including its cultural attitudes towards politics, media, and sports. They reflect on how historical rebellions against the British Empire may influence modern-day Australian cynicism towards politics. The hosts also touch upon the country's rapid but effective legislative response to mass shootings, contrasting it with the United States' approach.They delve into more crime cases, including the harrowing Port Arthur Massacre and the Snowtown murders, discussing how societal attitudes towards victims can impact police investigations. The episode also covers the famous Edinburgh Outrages and the train robbers' notorious heist, highlighting the importance of connections in solving crimes. In a significant section, the hosts address the murder of Kriss Donald in Glasgow, discussing how community relations and influential leaders like Mohammed Sarwar played crucial roles in bringing the perpetrators to justice. They reflect on the importance of strong community ties and leadership in resolving such cases.The episode concludes with reflections on digital crime, policing strategies, and hypothetical questions posed by organized crime leaders to law enforcement, providing listeners with insights into the complexities and challenges in the world of crime investigation.00:00 Introduction and Morning Routine00:35 A Day in Perth, Australia01:38 Ned Kelly: Hero or Villain?03:44 Australian Cynicism Towards Politics05:29 The Edinburgh Outrages06:23 Comparing Ned Kelly to Rob Roy13:08 The Port Arthur Massacre16:02 Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)16:57 Challenges in Child Protection26:07 The Dingo Baby Case31:04 The Frustrations of Policing31:45 Observations in Melbourne33:05 Snowtown Murders Analysis36:45 Digital Identity and Crime38:41 Organized Crime in Naples42:18 The Kriss Donald Case48:06 Community Relations in Policing50:57 Hypothetical Policing in Chinatown57:36 Concluding Thoughts and Farewell Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode of Crime time Inc. delves deep into the life and legacy of Ned Kelly, Australia's most notorious outlaw. With Simon in Australia, the hosts explore iconic true crime cases, starting with Kelly, a figure who embodies both rebellion and controversy. Born in 1854 in rural Victoria, Ned Kelly's life was marked by poverty, social strife, and an early brush with the law. His transformation from a troubled youth to a feared bushranger began after a pivotal encounter with the police known as the Fitzpatrick Incident. Following this, Kelly formed the Kelly Gang with his brother Dan and associates Joe Byrne and Steve Hart, launching a series of daring raids that cemented their infamy. The episode discusses significant events in Kelly's life, including the Stringybark Creek ambush and the legendary bank robberies that showcased the gang's reckless audacity. The hosts also examine the complex aspects of Kelly's character, from his altruistic acts like saving a boy from drowning to his fierce resistance against what he saw as systemic injustices. They highlight Kelly's manifesto, the 'Jerilderie Letter,' where he articulates his grievances against the authorities. The story builds to Kelly's final stand at Glenrowan, a dramatic siege that ended with Kelly's capture and the deaths of his gang members. Despite his execution, Kelly's legend continued to grow, symbolizing the struggle against oppression and the fight for justice. The episode concludes by reflecting on the enduring fascination with Ned Kelly, whose remains were only identified through DNA testing in 2011, underscoring the lasting impact of his story on Australian cultural identity.00:00 Introduction to Australian True Crime00:07 Ned Kelly: The Outlaw Icon01:10 Early Life and Family Struggles02:28 First Brush with the Law03:31 The Fitzpatrick Incident04:47 Formation of the Kelly Gang05:07 Stringybark Creek Ambush06:00 The Kelly Gang's Daring Raids08:34 The Glenrowan Siege10:52 Ned Kelly's Capture and Trial11:52 Legacy and Enduring Fascination Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tom and Simon kick off with a discussion about Simon's upcoming trip to Australia for Crime Time Inc., emphasizing the importance of exemplary conduct and noting the organization's tight expense policies. They delve into famous Australian cases, including the legendary outlaw Ned Kelly. The conversation then shifts to a series of topical crimes, particularly those around Christmas time, as noted by their deep dive team. Paul Logan's unsolved murder is highlighted, with Tom discussing the importance of preserving evidence and keeping cold cases 'warm' for potential breakthroughs. They touch on infamous cases like the Sodder children and JonBenét Ramsey, critiquing poor initial crime scene management and exploring potential theories behind the incidents. The pair also reflect on Amelia Earhart's mysterious disappearance and the influence of conspiracy theories, driven by social media. The podcast transitions to a broader analysis of crime scene investigations, the importance of immediate actions by first responders, and conspiracy theories' propensity to thrive in the absence of definitive answers. Notably, Tom praises Police Scotland's Homicide Review Board for their methodical and thorough approach to solving cold cases. The episode also teases a future live show at the Mitchell Library in Glasgow and mentions their special guest, former crime reporter Jane Hamilton, who will bring a unique perspective as a journalist. This episode offers a blend of case analysis, procedural critique, and personal anecdotes, providing listeners with insight into the investigative process and the challenges faced in high-profile crime inquiries.00:00 Introduction and Trip Preparations00:21 Professional Conduct and Expense Warnings01:40 Famous Australian Cases01:57 Christmas Crimes and Cold Cases04:44 The Paul Logan Case06:56 Cold Case Investigations11:50 Forensic Evidence and Lockhart's Exchange Theory16:53 The Sodder Children Disappearance23:06 Violence in Policing26:11 The Importance of Searching Prisoners27:36 Public Inquiry into Sheku Bayoh's Death29:49 Botched Crime Scenes: Jon Benét Ramsey Case35:57 The Maurin Murders: A Complex Case42:20 Amelia Earhart: The Mystery of Her Disappearance46:16 Conspiracy Theories and Social Media48:57 Upcoming Live Show Details Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ned Kelly = Chaotic Good.If you're a 1800's Australian police officer, maybe go ahead and avoid this episode, as we come for your incompetence pretty hard... but we promise you it's nowhere NEAR as hard as Ned comes for the Ausie po-po and squattocracy as a whole.In this thrilling conclusion, we talk about the horse stealing ring, the birth of the "Kelly Gang", the politest heists in human history, and an EPIC last stand from our hero.This episode will grab you by the balls and have you drinking with your hostages.Long Live Ned Kelly! Join our Patreon for extra WEEKLY content!You can purchase Spill the Mead merchandise https://www.etsy.com/shop/SpilltheMeadPodcast/Music is composed by Nicholas Leigh nicholasleighmusic.comFind us on Instagram, and Facebook @spillthemeadpodcastFind Madi @myladygervais on InstagramFind Taylor @tjonesarmoredamma on InstagramFind Betsy @betsy.hegge on Instagram

Let's go to Australia in the late 1800's, shall we? It's a ruthless world of livestock stealing, prison sentences, and bushrangers. And it's where we find the hero of our story: Ned Kelly.In this pro-Ned telling of his life, we begin at... well, the beginning. We set the scene of Ned's life by looking at where his parents came from, and the general struggles of life in Australia at the time.More specifically, we talk about things like shiny green sashes, sub-par-stakeouts, rat-uncle-Jack, and a Harry Power who isn't too good at ranging bush in the beginning (just stick with him, he'll surprise you).**Also the show Madi was talking about is called "Banished" and it was a BBC show on Hulu!Join our Patreon for extra WEEKLY content!You can purchase Spill the Mead merchandise https://www.etsy.com/shop/SpilltheMeadPodcast/Music is composed by Nicholas Leigh nicholasleighmusic.comFind us on Instagram, and Facebook @spillthemeadpodcastFind Madi @myladygervais on InstagramFind Taylor @tjonesarmoredamma on InstagramFind Betsy @betsy.hegge on Instagram

Benny Reed is the vocalist, guitarist, and one half of (alongside drummer Johnny Lani) the Australian band, Skegss. Their third full length release, Pacific Highway Music, is out now via Loma Vista Recordings. Benny tells us why the new record, recorded in Los Angeles at two iconic studios (The Village and Fivestar Studios), was a new experience for the band, and how Dave Catching's studio Rancho De La Luna played a role in the overall sound and gear selection.   Joe and Benny discuss how a songwriting challenge from Benny's dad resulted in a song about two Australian cultural legends, bushranger Ned Kelly and celebrated singer-songwriter, Paul Kelly. Benny shares his early life in a small town, how the Tension body boarding videos influenced his musical taste, and we hear a couple new tunes. Skegss Loma Vista Episode supported by Izotope Ep supported by our friends @izotope. Izotope cyber week starts now! Head over to izotope.com now to and get massive savings on all their production software. Use code FRET10 at check out. Episode supported by Distrokid Check out the Distrokid App!

Benny Reed is the vocalist, guitarist, and one half of (alongside drummer Johnny Lani) the Australian band, Skegss. Their third full length release, Pacific Highway Music, is out now via Loma Vista Recordings. Benny tells us why the new record, recorded in Los Angeles at two iconic studios (The Village and Fivestar Studios), was a new experience for the band, and how Dave Catching's studio Rancho De La Luna played a role in the overall sound and gear selection.   Joe and Benny discuss how a songwriting challenge from Benny's dad resulted in a song about two Australian cultural legends, bushranger Ned Kelly and celebrated singer-songwriter, Paul Kelly. Benny shares his early life in a small town, how the Tension body boarding videos influenced his musical taste, and we hear a couple new tunes. Skegss Loma Vista Episode supported by Izotope Ep supported by our friends @izotope. Izotope cyber week starts now! Head over to izotope.com now to and get massive savings on all their production software. Use code FRET10 at check out. Episode supported by Distrokid Check out the Distrokid App!

Dominic Gaetani is a senior associate from DKO Architecture, who as a Tasmanian-born architect, left the sleepy Apple Isle more than 10 years ago to pursue his dream of shaping Melbourne's skyline. One of those is the old Prison Pentridge in Coburg, an Australian landmark established in 1851, that has housed some of Australia's most notorious criminals including Ned Kelly, Squizzy Taylor, Mark ‘Chopper' Read and Julian Knight. It was closed in 1997.DKO Architecture recently won a design competition for its initial masterplan and design strategy for the southern portion of the historic Pentridge Village precinct in Coburg in Melbourne's north.  Appointed by developer Salvo following a multi-stage pitch process, DKO has outlined a preliminary vision to revitalise the 19,000m2 site into a $1.2 billion mixed use redevelopment featuring a highly activated public realm, community spaces and integrated retail amenity that reflect the rich history of the site and Coburg character, along with reimagined multi-residential spaces.In this exclusive interview, Gaetani outlines how he overcame the unique challenges in master planning such an iconic site, and what cultural legacies he believes this project will leave the city of Melbourne.This podcast is brought to you in association with AWS,  proud sponsors of our 2024 Residential series of podcasts.

Our friend Michael Adams, who hosts the excellent podcast Forgotten Australia, joins us again on Australian True Crime today to talk about his new book."They'll Never Hold Me" follows the life and crimes of prodigious prison escapee and fugitive, Kevin John Simmonds, also known as the Ned Kelly for the rock and roll era.Like Ned Kelly, Simmonds was a charismatic crook who had a way with words and once boasted as he was being led away from court and towards prison that "they'll never hold me!".True to his word, Simmonds escaped and kicked off the biggest armed manhunt in Australian history."They'll Never Hold Me" will be available to purchase from October 29th. You can click here to get your copy.You can listen to Michael's podcast "Forgotten Australia" wherever you get your podcasts.Send us a question by recording a voice message here.Click here to subscribe to ATC Plus on Apple Podcasts and access all ATC episodes early and ad-free, as well as exclusive bonus episodes. For Support: Lifeline  on 13 11 1413 YARN on 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support phone line for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)1800RESPECT: 1800 737 732CREDITS:Host: Meshel Laurie. You can find her on Instagram Guest: Michael AdamsExecutive Producer/Editor: Matthew TankardGET IN TOUCH:https://www.australiantruecrimethepodcast.com/Follow the show on Instagram @australiantruecrimepodcast and Facebook Send us a question to have played on the show by recording a voice message here.Email the show at AusTrueCrimePodcast@gmail.com Become a subscriber to Australian True Crime Plus here: https://plus.acast.com/s/australiantruecrime. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ned Kelly is Australia's most famous outlaw. A mix of frontier bandit, murderer, and gang leader, Kelly has gone down in Australian lore as an anti-establishment hero. Dr. Lachlan Strahan tells the story of his great-great-grandfather, Anthony Strahan, who was one of the Australian policemen who helped hunt down Ned Kelly. Listen to this fascinating story about the famous Ned Kelly, hero worship in Australian history, but also about the men tasked to uphold the law. Episode 569.

How did three Irishmen who emigrated to Australia in the mid-1800s become a part of one of the deadliest attacks on police in the 19th century?

What awful event have you been to that was completely different to how it was advertised? Wait until you hear these stories!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Your bushmen of balanity have returned to take you on a tour of the Australian outback with Paul Hogan's iconic creation — a one-man ambassador for the local charm and natural beauty found down under...or a one-man stereotype, depending on your point of view. You'll learn all about the truly insane real-life story that kinda-maybe-sorta inspired the plot, the tabloid love triangle that emerged from the production, the late Aussie rock star who helped bring the movie to the big screen, and all the ways it changed the face of tourism for an entire continent. Along the way you'll get the TMI guy's patented conversational diversions that touch on the finer points of autoerotic asphyxiation, Aussie outlaw Ned Kelly, bidets, opium, the meaning of the term "strewth," and so much more.  Support your friendly neighborhood TMI Guys here! https://ko-fi.com/toomuchinformationpodcastSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ned Kelly is a murdering, bank-robbing, Australian folk hero. What is the true history of this mythic figure? And how did an outlaw - or bushranger - rise up to become a symbol for a new nation?Anthony Delaney and Maddy Pelling are joined by Meg Foster, an award winning historian of banditry and author of Boundary Crossers: the hidden history of Australia's other bushrangers.Edited and produced by Freddy Chick. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign here for up to 50% for 3 months using code AFTERDARKYou can take part in our listener survey here.After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal is a History Hit podcast.

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In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Judith Brett, the acclaimed political historian, chats with Gabriella about the choices she made while writing The Enigmatic Mr Deakin. This biography of Alfred Deakin, Australia's second Prime Minister, won the 2018 National Biography Award.  Here's what you'll discover in this episode:  Judith Brett shares with us why she titled her biography The Enigmatic Mr Deakin.  Judith explains why she opened The Enigmatic Mr Deakin with a comparison between the notorious outlaw Ned Kelly and our second Prime Minister, Alfred Deakin.  Judith describes her painstaking research strategy and its complexities.  She reveals how she achieved a unique synthesis of Deakin's public life with his beliefs, doubts, private struggles and spiritual wrestling.  Judith also reveals how she balanced technical details of politics and parliament to craft an engaging narrative for readers who might not have a political background. https://biographersinconversation.com Facebook: Share Your Life Story Linkedin: Gabriella Kelly Davies Instagram: Biographersinconversation

In the 19th century, Victorian newspapers labeled Pentridge Prison inmate John Weachurch as a "bloodthirsty werewolf."Who was this supposed homicidal maniac who, for a time, shared his prison sentence with Ned Kelly? And why did he not share the same fame as the aforementioned inmate?Michael Adams from the Forgotten Australia podcast joins us on this episode of Australian True Crime to tell us all about the "rebel with a cause," John Weachurch.You can listen to Michael Adam's "Forgotten Australia" wherever you get your podcasts. For Support: Lifeline  on 13 11 1413 YARN on 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support phone line for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)1800RESPECT: 1800 737 732CREDITS:Host: Meshel Laurie. You can find her on Instagram Guest: Michael AdamsExecutive Producer/Editor: Matthew TankardGET IN TOUCH:https://www.australiantruecrimethepodcast.com/Follow the show on Instagram @australiantruecrimepodcast and Facebook Email the show at AusTrueCrimePodcast@gmail.comBuild your pro podcast with The Audio College Become a subscriber to Australian True Crime Plus here: https://plus.acast.com/s/australiantruecrime. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a "Shortcut" episode. It's a shortened version of this week's more detailed full episode, which is also available on our feed.In the 19th century, Victorian newspapers labeled Pentridge Prison inmate John Weachurch as a "bloodthirsty werewolf."Who was this supposed homicidal maniac who, for a time, shared his prison sentence with Ned Kelly? And why did he not share the same fame as the aforementioned inmate?Michael Adams from the Forgotten Australia podcast joins us on this episode of Australian True Crime to tell us all about the "rebel with a cause," John Weachurch.You can listen to Michael Adam's "Forgotten Australia" wherever you get your podcasts. For Support: Lifeline  on 13 11 1413 YARN on 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support phone line for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)1800RESPECT: 1800 737 732CREDITS:Host: Meshel Laurie. You can find her on Instagram Guest: Michael AdamsExecutive Producer/Editor: Matthew TankardGET IN TOUCH:https://www.australiantruecrimethepodcast.com/Follow the show on Instagram @australiantruecrimepodcast and Facebook Email the show at AusTrueCrimePodcast@gmail.comBuild your pro podcast with The Audio College Become a subscriber to Australian True Crime Plus here: https://plus.acast.com/s/australiantruecrime. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we welcome entertainment lawyer Bryce Menzies. You name an Australian film and Bryce most likely worked on it; Muriel's Wedding, Romper Stomper, Proof, Ned Kelly, The Great Gatsby, The Babadook and The Dry - to name a few. From coordinating 100,000 people at an anti-uranium rally in the 70's, to bringing together multiple parties on major movie contracts, Bryce says the fundamentals are the same, and it all comes back to organising. Bryce has had a unique and wonderful Life in the Law and it was a pleasure to welcome him to the podcast. www.greenslist.com.au/podcast

You're just too good to be true! This week on the show, the life and films of Heath Ledger, from teen heartthrob to posthumous Oscar winner, from 10 Things I Hate About You to The Dark Knight, we cover it all! If you have any questions/comments/suggestions for the show, follow us on twitter @TheMixedReviews, like us on Facebook, e-mail us at reviewsmixed@gmail.com, visit our  Instagram or  TikTok for extra content, become a patron on  our Patreon, or stop by  our shop and pick up some podcast merchandise! Don't forget to subscribe to us on  iTunes,  Stitcher Radio,  Spotify,  Podchaser,  Audible, or  Google.

Redmond Barry is best known for sending Ned Kelly to the gallows. But he never would have sat in judgement if it wasn't for some poor judgement of his own. State Library Victoria librarian Andrew McConville joins the show to tell the tale of Barry's torrid love affair at sea, and how it changed the young lawyer's life.Like the show? Read more at heraldsun.com.au/ibawSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the late 19th century, the American frontier became famous for its outlaws and gangsters. Men like Billy the Kid and Jesse James became notorious for their criminal exploits. While this was happening in the American West, there were similar outlaws in the Australian bush.  One, in particular, has captured the imagination of Australia, and the reason he became so famous was…..unique. Learn more about Ned Kelly and the Kelly Gang and how they became legendary, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors Sign up today at butcherbox.com/daily and use code daily to choose your free offer and get $20 off. Visit BetterHelp.com/everywhere today to get 10% off your first month. Use the code EverythingEverywhere for a 20% discount on a subscription at Newspapers.com. Subscribe to the podcast!  https://link.chtbl.com/EverythingEverywhere?sid=ShowNotes -------------------------------- Executive Producer: Charles Daniel Associate Producers: Peter Bennett & Cameron Kieffer   Become a supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/everythingeverywhere Update your podcast app at newpodcastapps.com Discord Server: https://discord.gg/UkRUJFh Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everythingeverywhere/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/everythingeverywheredaily Twitter: https://twitter.com/everywheretrip Website: https://everything-everywhere.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's our 200th episode, and to celebrate Mat looks back at some of his favourite moments from the last five years. From convict graveyards to WW2 veterans and the death of Ned Kelly, this episode has it all!Want to know more? Subscribe to listen to a special BONUS EPISODE - the full interview with Tobruk veteran Bert Le Merton - by clicking here: https://www.patreon.com/MMHistoryPresenter: Mat McLachlanProducer: Jess StebnickiSubscribe via Patreon for exclusive bonus episodes, early access to all episodes, ad-free listening and special online events with Mat McLachlan! https://www.patreon.com/MMHistoryJoin one of our battlefield tours and walk in the footsteps of the Anzacs! Visit www.battlefields.com.au for more information.Find out more about the podcast and everything Mat is doing at https://linktr.ee/matmclachlan Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join Snaxton & Goose as they continue with their fifth episode of the Sugar & Spice season! Today Goose covers the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner, Malala Yousafzai, and Snaxton covers notorious Australian outlaw, Ned Kelly. Don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe!

https://www.unidentifiedsignal.com/ check out our new projecthttps://www.patreon.com/AdeptusRidiculoushttps://www.adeptusridiculous.com/https://twitter.com/AdRidiculoushttps://orchideight.com/collections/adeptus-ridiculousEdward Kelly a was an Australian bushranger, outlaw, gang leader and convicted police-murderer. One of the last bushrangers, he is known for wearing a suit of bulletproof armour during his final shootout with the police.In the century after his death, Kelly became a cultural icon, inspiring numerous works in the arts and popular culture, and is the subject of more biographies than any other Australian. Kelly continues to cause division in his homeland: some celebrate him as Australia's equivalent of Robin Hood, while others regard him as a murderous villain undeserving of his folk hero status. Journalist Martin Flanagan wrote: "What makes Ned a legend is not that everyone sees him the same—it's that everyone sees him. Like a bushfire on the horizon casting its red glow into the night."Support the show