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Peter Bellamy Sings the Barrack-Room Ballads of Rudyard Kipling

This privately issued cassette contains settings of Kipling’s Barrack-Room Ballads, including re-recordings of all songs from the Free Reed LP Peter Bellamy Sings the Barrack-Room Ballads of Rudyard Kipling.

Recorded by Nigel Schofield in January and February 1990

Musicians

Peter Bellamy: vocals, Anglo concertina [2, 4, 7, 11, 13-14, 16, 18, 20, 22], drum [18];
Jamie O’Dwyer: fiddle [1b, 9, 19, 21];
Brian Stafford: uilleann pipe drones [5];
Maggie Boyle: vocals [6, 10];
Keith Marsden: vocals [8, 15], chorus [3, 12];
Steve Tilston, John Wade: chorus [3, 12]

Tracks

Side 1

  1. Two by Two / The Widow at Windsor (3.58)
  2. Tommy (3.38)
  3. The Young British Soldier (5.03)
  4. Route Marchin’ (4.22)
  5. Shillin’ a Day (2.40)
  6. Soldier, Soldier (6.04)
  7. That Day (3.55)
  8. Bill ’Awkins (1.24)
  9. Ford o’ Kabul River (3.17)
  10. The Widow’s Party (3.09)
  11. Loot (4.51)
  12. The Baynit and the Butt (0.34)
  13. Private Ortheris’ Song (3.30)

Side 2

  1. Gunga Din (4.48)
  2. Cells (4.29)
  3. Cholera Camp (7.06)
  4. The Ladies (Roud 30903) (3.42)
  5. Follow Me ’Ome (4.34)
  6. Gentlemen Rankers (5.49)
  7. Danny Deever (3.52)
  8. Troopin’ (3.29)
  9. Mandalay (5.54)

All tracks lyrics Rudyard Kipling, music Peter Bellamy except
Tracks 10, 14, 17, 20-22 lyrics Rudyard Kipling, music trad. arr. Peter Bellamy

Sleeve Notes by Peter Bellamy

This collection was specially recorded to complement the New Victoria Theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme’s 1990 production of Tony Perrin’s play Soldiers Three, based on Rudyard Kipling’s soldier tales and barrack room ballads. Nine of the songs are original to this production, the other fifteen being new recordings of settings which first appeared on some of my previous albums. The texts of all poems have been used in their entirety except for The Young British Soldier which had to be shortened for reasons of space.

My gratitude to the musicians and singers who assisted me, and above all to Nigel Schofield without whose unstinting generosity of time, patience and skill the project would have been impossible.