Coventry Folk Club and Acoustic Scene 1960's to Present: January 2014

"About September 1973, I was doing a gig for the Birmingham Streetpress in Moseley (Birmingham) at Fighting Cocks and after the gig started to hitch my way back to Coventry. Most of the buses had finished and i walked into the center of Birmingham around Digbeth and hardly a car went by. This was Birmingham right. Tired and despairing of a lift home to Coventry (or even part of the way), I sat down on the curb strumming Vanity Fair's Hitchin' a Ride. Out of the blue came a car - I never expected it to stop but when I got in, I noticed a guitar in the back! It was John Golding, the Daventry folk singer who had also had a gig in Birmingham that night and was travelling back to Daventry and so passing by Willenhall in Coventry. How neat was that! I didn't know John up til then but we had a good chat and I went to see him perform in Coventry at the Antelope Folk Club in Coventry. John had just made an album and I gave it a plug in Hobo Magazine." Trev Teasdel

About 1994 John Golding was getting nowhere with major record companies. They liked his material and gave him studio time but said his songs were just not commercial enough for general release. So John set up his own production company - Cottage Records and launched his first album Discarded Verse.

Read more in this Coventry Journal cutting from March 15th 1974

And the follow on in the Coventry Evening Telegraph when Decca took an interest.

Rod Felton's advert in Hobo Magazine mentioning John Golding (although spelt incorrectly)

I Might Change - John Golding

Sleep Easy

All My Words Were Taken Away

John Golding appeared on Whispering Bob Harris late night show for BBC Radio 1, along with Barclay James Harvest from 1974, here's I Might Change.

Its True from Photographs Album produced by Bob Harris

Another - John Golding produced by Bob Harris

Do You Really Need To Keep On Asking 2:23

Getting Over You 3:25

All My Words Were Taken Away 4:21

It Only Hurts When You Laugh 2:31

Loner 5:09

Believe What You Feel 3:31

Here's To The Sunnier Day 3:15

Bad Gigs 2:36

Photographs 2:05

All Gone 2:45

I Might Change

Acoustic Guitar – Dave Doddington

Acoustic Guitar, Electric Bass, Concertina – Bernard Wrigley

Backing Vocals – The Virgin Choir

Banjo, Electric Bass – George Ristel*

Double Bass – Mike Hadley

Engineer – Bob Young (4), Nic Hatton

Producer – Monty Bird

Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Tambourine, Songwriter, Producer – John Golding

Bird Sound Studio - 2000 copies pressed.

1974 album

Good Luck And Love To You 2:51

Home 3:01

The Coalman Song 2:50

It's True 3:17

Sailor James 4:03

All My Words Were Taken Away 4:13

Oh Boy 2:57

Those Blue And Golden Sunny Skies 3:38

The Man Who Sells The News 3:43

Loving Is A One Sided Thing 2:01

Loner 5:04

Another

Acoustic Guitar, Bass Guitar – Pete Cosker

Acoustic Guitar, Dulcimer – Dave Doddington

Banjo, Mandolin – George Van Ristell

Engineer – Paul Tregurtha

Harmony Vocals – Roy Webber

Keyboards – Paul Garrett

Mastered By – George Peckham, George Peckham

Percussion – Roger Narraway

Photography – Barry Roberts

Producer – Bob Harris (6)

Saxophone – Jimmy Jewell

Sleeve – John Golding

Steel Guitar, Bass Guitar – Paul Middleton (4)

Tape Op – Georg Nicholson

Violin, Bass Guitar – Pete Sage

Vocals, Words By, Music By – John Golding

Issued on green and orange Atlantic labels; includes an insert with full lyrics and credits.

Recorded at Morgan Studios, London, August 1974.

Pressing and mastering credits derived from matrix.

Single 1970

Tracks on Discarded Verse

John Golding in Brinklow 2005

English singer songwriter John Golding. From the album Photographs released in 1974 on Atlantic Records and produced by Radio 2 DJ Bob Harris.

1976 album on Cottage Records

Tracks Another John Golding Album

Those Being Far Away From You Blues
Sleep Easy Tonight
What They Say (About You)
It Only Hurts When You Laugh
Floor Singers Blues
Why Don't You Let It Be Me
Nothing At All
Discarded Verse
I Was Dreaming
Whither Away And Die
Getting Over You
The Good Times Always End

...

Bob Young

Engineer, Piano, Harmonium

Bob Plews

Acoustic Guitar

Dave Doddington

Acoustic Guitar

John McIntosh

Bass Guitar

Monty Bird

Engineer

George Van Ristell

Mandolin, Banjo

More https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_m78pQXkCYHww429CW-IdEwxgQ2fM_13Wg

This post is not a specifically Coventry one, except in that I sent off for some copies of New City Songster Peter Seeger has recently passed at the age of 94.

Peggy Seeger and Ewan MacColl

in the late 70's and lived in Coventry at the time but I thought it would be an interesting post, especially as

I had read about Sing Out in Greenwich village in Scaduto's biography of Bob Dylan in 1973 and saw an ad in Melody Maker for New City Songster. "New City Songster was almost entirely the work of Peggy Seeger (who chose, edited and notated the songs) and David Scott (the artist for all but one of the issues). It featured songs by Peggy Seeger and Ewan MacColl and songwriters from all over the English-speaking world. It ran for 21 volumes, 1968-1985." as it says in this site about about the New City Songster. http://www.wcml.org.uk/contents/activists/ewan-maccoll/music/new-city-songster/

The site tells " NCS began in 1967, when there were nearly 2000 folk clubs in Britain. The reason for its formation was to circulate new songs before they became historical pieces, for communications between clubs in different regions was and still is fairly undeveloped. So truly speaking, NCS is a product of the folk revival, that invigorating resurgence of interest in our native music and song." Read more on the above link.