Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger live at The Regent Theatre, Sydney 1979.

Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger 1977 publicity kit photo

Yes, this one does not fit into the remit of this blog. In fact, there are only two connections to Australia. Firstly, this was a live performance at The Regent Theatre in January 1979 when they performed as part of the Sydney Festival of Folk Life. Secondly, they sang a song about Joh Bjelke-Petersen. However, I suspect many visitors to the blog will welcome the inclusion of this album.

That concert of about three hours was professionally recorded by the ABC and later broadcast in parts on ABC-FM. John B recorded the broadcast parts on a reel-to-reel recorder. He collated the parts to recreate the full concert and has subsequently separated and digitally converted each of the tracks. He has also conveniently numbered the tracks in order as two sets so as to enable the production of two CDs to feature the concert continually as in the original broadcast. (Note that if you wish to do that, ensure that there is no gap between tracks when recording - the default is usually 2 seconds)

There are a few minor glitches but, overall, the quality is very good despite an MP3 rate of 128 CBR which correlates to the original FM broadcast quality anyway. Great job John B.

Tracklist
101 Introduction
102 Cowboy Song
103 Battle of Harlaw
104 Going to The West
105 Henry Lee
106 Talking Bones
107 Penny Wager
108 Talking Matrimony Blues
109 Scolding Wife
110 Wha' Is It That Findlay?
111 Queensland Joh song
112 Crossbones Scully
113 Blast Against Blackguards

201 Cindy
202 Allende's Song
203 Dirty Old Town
204 Browned Off
205 Flying Cloud
206 No Sir No
207 Emily's Story
208 Freeborn Man
209 Ale-Wife
210 Ballad of Accounting
211 Shoals of Herring
212 I'm A Rover

Click here to download from MediaFire
 It is a compressed file which will need to be decompressed after downloading. Tracks are MP3 128 CBR. File size is 104Mb.
If download becomes unavailable please let me know and I will re-up the file - mr.stockman@gmail.com

A.L. Lloyd "Across the Western Plains" Wattle LP 1958

Picture: Drovers on the stock route on the Old Man Plain near Hay

My mate Gonzo rescued and ripped this 1958 Wattle label LP after locating it in very poor condition in a shed. His notes about the recovery and the extent to which he went to make the LP playable are included in the downloadable album. H has gone to considerable effort for which I, and probably many of the blog readers, offer our thanks. This is truly a historical album.

"Bert" Lloyd was an Englishman who spent some years in Australia mainly working in the Lachlan area where he collected several Australian folk songs. He was also a prolific performer of  British Isles folk songs.

Wattle was an Australian record producer with a strong focus on Australian folk music (refer to the recent posting of  the 1957 "The Bushwhackers" Wattle LP or do a web search for more details if required). This was release D1. There are extensive notes on each track on the rear of the album cover.

This is by no means a "clean" rip but Gonzo has brought up the tracks to a very listenable standard and it is easy to overlook the occasional glitches.

The vocals are all by Lloyd but he is very ably backed by Peggy Seeger on banjo and guitar; Ralph Rinzler on mandolin; and John Cole on mouth organ. The rear of the cover advises "Words and a map of place names included" but that is missing. Additional:- Paul Edmund Zajaczkowski has a prime example of the LP which has the notation neatly crossed out and a stamped message added - "Words and Notes available from Wattle Recordings ...". He is also offering the LP or copying.

Tracklist
Side 1   
1. The Flash Stockman
2. Click Go the Shears
3. One of the Has-Beens
4. The Road to Gundagai (really Lazy Harry's - not to be confused with O'Hagan's "Along the Road to Gundagai)
5. The Maryborough Miner
6. South Australia
Side 2
7. Lachlan Tigers
8. The Shearer's Dream
9. Wallaby Stew
10. The Wild Rover
11. Bluey Brink
12. Across the Western Plains

Click here to download compressed album with cover graphics and notes 97Mb 320CBR
File will need to be decompressed. Send an email or make a comment if download link fails and I will re-up the file.