Ian Campbell Folk Group

Music from North Eastern England. Season two (1): Geordie Black, a song in search of its true tune

December 2021: season two of Music from North Eastern England had its origins in this post from Bill Taylor, published in August. Now that I have reposted, with minor updates, all seven instalments of the original series, it is time... Read more →


Dirty Old Town: enduring fascination with - and debate on - Ewan MacColl's song, now 75 years old

When Bill Taylor compared very different versions of Dirty Old Town - the song about Salford that Ewan MacColl wrote for a play in 1949 - in our Cover Story series, there was lively if modest interest. Bill's piece first... Read more →


Cover Story: (72) The Bells of Rhymney. Ian Campbell Folk Group, Chris Hillman,The Alarm, Joan Baez and back to Idris Davies

The revived, evolving discussion at Salut! Live about the origins and differing interpretations of The Bells of Rhymney, Idris Davies's emotive 1930s poem from the South Wales coalfield that became an outstanding song in Pete Seeger's expert hands, reminds us... Read more →


Cover Story: (67) Death Comes Easy. Harvey Andrews, Ian Campbell and a superior anti-war song

CLICK ANYWHERE ON THIS PARAGRAPH TO EXPLORE THE FULL COVER STORY SERIES - COMPARING DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF THE SAME SONGS AND SOMETIMES TUNES Bill Taylor revives Salut! Live's popular but neglected Cover Story series with another look at songs of... Read more →