A compendium of musical delights by Alan and Margaret Ashworth
To coincide with the publication of my article https://am-records.com/2022/05/15/how-i-made-a-beatles-album-with-a-little-help-from-my-friends/ about the Beatles tapes I recorded in 1963, I thought I would do a short season of my favourite tracks from Pop Go the … Continue readingThe Beatles: Crying, Waiting, Hoping
Adam’s House Cat was formed in the late 1980s in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. They went on to find fame as the Drive-By Truckers. Here’s the original Runaway Train. And here’s … Continue readingAdam’s House Cat: Runaway Train
ON the last page of the booklet within the 1994 Beatles double CD, Live at the BBC, in the smallest possible print, is this: I’ve just done a quick Google … Continue readingHow I made a Beatles album (with a little help from my friends)
OF all the beautiful birds we have, I think my favourite is the bullfinch, with the male’s bold colours and markings subtly echoed by the female. The white rump is … Continue readingWelcome back, bullfinches
The music was written by violinist Georges Boulanger with lyrics by Carlos Gomez Barrera in 1926 as Avant de mourir (Before dying). I don’t think it was recorded. The English lyrics were … Continue readingThe Platters: My Prayer
Cliff was my first love. I must have seen the film Summer Holiday, which features this song, a dozen times. It was written by Buddy Kaye and Philip Springer, and recorded on 10 … Continue readingCliff Richard and the Shadows: The Next Time
‘And the train conductor says: Take a break, driver 8.’ From the 1984 album Reckoning.
Almost indistinguishable from his other hits, I’m Gonna Make You Mine (1969) and Rhapsody in the Rain (1966) this was written by Christie and Twyla Herbert. It was released in December 1965 and reached … Continue readingLou Christie: Lightnin’ Strikes
This was written by Graham Nash and appeared on the 1972 Graham Nash/David Crosby album. I’ve always thought it sounded more like a Neil Young song. Here’s a live version … Continue readingGraham Nash and David Crosby: Southbound Train
OUR neighbours in the Ribble Valley include a couple who, since they are big Thunderbirds fans, I shall call Virgil and Lady Penelope. Now retired, they were both coppers at … Continue readingShoplifters’ Paradise