Down In The Valley by Charlotte Greig.

Today I thought I’d tell you about an album that I’m listening to at this very moment. The mood of it is quite fitting for this cold and cloudy December day. It is called Down In The Valley by Charlotte Greig recorded in 1999. I discovered her music while reading about another singer Anne Briggs. The article said that Anne was an influence on Charlotte, so I checked Charlotte out on YouTube and decided to order an album. I also discovered that Charlotte Greig was a bit of a polymath. As well as being a singer songwriter, she was also a playwright, novelist, and journalist.  On this recording there are eight songs written by Charlotte plus four traditional songs. As well as singing, Charlotte also plays harmonium and dulcimer which reminded me of Nico and Joni Mitchell. I did read that Charlotte also cited Nico as an influence. She is accompanied by Julian Hayman on guitar; there is also bass and drums.

The opening song Trees has a pastoral and melancholy mood and contains samples of a traditional folk song The Trees They Do Grow High sung by Walter Pardon. Trees are a recurring theme through several of these songs. The Cruel Mother is a traditional song that has been recorded by many artists over the years including Shirley Collins, Joan Baez and my personal favourite Anne Briggs. The title song Down In The Valley to my ears is the most accessible song on first listen with the title being the refrain last line of every verse. Black Name is quite a brooding song as the title would suggest. Take Me Home is an intimate love song (See video below) The next track The Wondrous Cross is a well-known hymn written by Isaac Watts in 1707. House Of Pain and Here I Stand continue the mood of underlying melancholy that pervades many of the songs. 

I much prefer To Make You Stay composed by Lal Waterson who I have written about previously on this site. The Bells Of Paradise is another trad song given a drone like arrangement by Charlotte. All Through The Night is like a sister song to Down In The Valley where high trees are again mentioned. Shadows as well as trees are a recurring image throughout these songs as in Shadows In A Dream  a short and sweet song to bring the album to a close. Sadly, Charlotte died at the relatively young age of 59 which is a tragic loss because she was obviously a very talented creative artist in many fields of expression. I was pleased to see on Wikipedia that both her sons are musicians as well. I have enjoyed listening to her music again this afternoon. 

However, I suspect that this recording doesn’t represent her best work. I wonder if listeners who are more familiar with her work than me would consider it one of the best of her six albums. I say that because when I first searched her music on youtube I liked other songs like Rosalie, I Wish, I Wish, Seven Seas, and Twin Stars (Shared Below) more than many of the songs on Down In The Valley. I don’t regret buying this album though and am very grateful to have discovered her music. Listen to the videos below and decide for yourself. Cheers.

Charlotte Greig Take Me Home

Charlotte Greig -Twin Stars

Jimmy Cliff Many rivers to cross Live at Glastonbury 2003

End Of The Middle by Richard Dawson

Sorry I haven’t written anything for ages. I guess I just lost interest for a while, and I don’t know why. I have had tickets to go to various events that I was meaning to tell you about, but when the days came to go to them, I just couldn’t be bothered going. For instance, I had a ticket for a talk by legendary record producer Joe Boyd at Toppings bookshop in Bath, but I never went. They were kind enough to send me a signed copy of his book though. It is about 920 pages. I have read the first chapter but doubt if I’ll ever get through the whole thing. I also had a ticket to see one of my favourite bands of the 1970s which is Lindisfarne, but when the night arrived it just seemed easier to stay in by the fire. A couple of months ago I was in the kitchen doing the washing up and this amazing guitar music came on the radio, probably BBC6 Music and I thought, “Brilliant, that’s John Fahey”. But when it ended the radio presenter said that it was Gwenifer Raymond. I had never heard of her, so looked her up on the internet. 

I discovered that she was playing in Bradford On Avon on a double bill with Richard Dawson. I also hadn’t heard of him but after reading about him on Wikipedia and hearing a couple of songs on youtube I bought a ticket for the gig and ordered a copy of his latest album. I didn't go to that gig either which I regret now because I love his album. A few days ago I read that one of the music magazines, I think it is Uncut placed it at number 14 of their top 50 albums of the year. (Van Morrison’s Remembering Now was placed at number 25 by the way) Anyway; to pass the time on this cold November afternoon I thought I’d make the supreme effort to overcome my lethargy and tell you about End Of The Middle by Richard Dawson. Richard’s music is very hard to describe. Quirky might be a word people could use on first listen. It is very experimental, like taking folk music apart and reassembling it with some free jazz added to the mix.  

I think people who enjoy English freak folk music would like this album. I was reminded once or twice of Jake Thackray or Barry Booth because of the storytelling elements of the songs. They sang about fictitious people, but with Richard you sense that he is singing about real events and real people from his own life. There is a lot of humour, but also bleakness and sadness in the lives of the people he depicts. It is a very simple recording with just Richard on guitar and vocals, Andrew Cheetham on drums, Faye MacCalman on clarinet, and his partner Sally Pilkington on synths and vocals on one song. The opening song Bolt is about a true-life incident which happened when Richard was a kid. The roof of their house was hit by lightning which ran down the phone line from room to room before vanishing with a deafening boom. Daytime television like Good Morning Britain and Deal Or No Deal is mentioned in many of the songs such as Gondola which concerns the lost dreams of an ageing lady who always wanted to go to Venice. 

Bullies’ concerns being beaten up at school by Anthony Pape who gets expelled for something else entirely, then the same kind of behaviour is repeated by the next generation. The Question is about a girl called Elsie who has an apparition of a railway worker who committed suicide. Boxing Day Sales is a bleak tale of post-Christmas shopping in bad weather for stuff that people don’t need. Knot concerns a drive to an awful wedding which is the height of bad taste. Richard’s lyrics say, ‘my soul is sick, a herring gull in an oil slick’. Polytunnel is my favourite track on the album (See video below). Richard is obviously very fond of gardening, and his allotment is his ‘happy place’. I read on Wikipedia that his allotment shed where he does all his work was blown over during last year’s Storm Jocelyn. Removals Van is about domestic turmoil of two generations and having to move house due to being made redundant from work.  More Than Real is co-written and sung with his partner Sally Pilkington and would appear to be about not wanting to repeat the mistakes of the past. It brings the album to an end on an upbeat optimistic note. I have enjoyed listening to this music again this afternoon, and I hope I feel inspired to tell you about something else soon. Cheers.

Richard Dawson - Polytunnel

Review: The Songs of Joni Mitchell, Komedia, Bath October 16th 2025.

It is quite a nice day here, so I’ve got to get myself back to the garden before the rain arrives, but first I just thought I’d tell you quickly about a most enjoyable concert that me and my sister Margaret went to at the Komedia in Bath in Bath on Thursday night. It was called The Songs of Joni Mitchell, a celebration of Joni’s music featuring Kate Stables, Jesca Hoop and Lail Arad, accompanied on piano by Richard Sears. Sadly, Lail wasn’t able to sing on the night due to laryngitis, but she bravely played guitar on several of the songs. I have become quite a fan of Kate Stables in the last few years after buying two albums Bashed Out and Careful Of Your Keepers, and you may recall I wrote a review of her band This Is The Kit when they played in Frome last year. 

I knew a little about Jesca Hoop before this concert because a while ago a friend sent me a compilation CD featuring one of her songs which encouraged me to listen to more. Interestingly, I found out recently that Jesca used to work as a nanny for Tom Waits children, and Tom and his wife Kathleen became her early mentors. Tom described her voice as, ‘like a four-sided coin. She is an old soul, like a black pearl, a good witch or a red moon. Her music is like going swimming in a lake at night’. I have looked at Kate and Jesca from both sides now, but I really don’t know Lail at all. However, I think she is the organising power behind this tour where all three have taken time out from their own projects to celebrate the huge influence of Joni on their lives. We had much better seats in this intimate little venue than when I saw Nick Lowe here earlier in the year. 

Kate

The show began promptly at 8.00 with just Jesca and her guitar performing an exquisite Morning Morgantown from Ladies Of The Canyon. This was followed by one of Joni’s lesser-known songs That Song About The Midway from the Clouds album. Then she was joined by Kate for This Flight Tonight from one of the greatest albums ever recorded which is Blue. One of my highlights of the evening was Kate performing California and proving what a great multi-instrumentalist she is, accompanying herself on the dulcimer just like Joni. Kate then explained that Lail was unable to sing and introduced Richard who demonstrated what a great electric piano player he is. Jesca then sang another aviation inspired song Amelia from Hejira, a Joni album that passed me by when it was released in 1976, but as I’m now realising contains some of her greatest songs. Before the interval there was another song, but I didn’t recognise it.

Jesca

After the break Jesca and Richard performed another song that I didn’t know, but it might be Night Ride Home because it mentioned the 4^th of July. It was excellent anyway. Free Man In Paris from Court & Spark featuring all the ensemble was performed sublimely. I filmed most of their splendid version of Woodstock which you can see below. Shine from 2007 is a lesser-known Joni song but the lyrics referring to such horrors as evaporating seas and Frankenstein technologies are very powerful and relevant to today’s world. The sombre tone of that song was uplifted with Carey which is a mean old song, but it’s out of sight. A seasonal song from Blue is River which reminds us that soon it will be Christmas, and they will be cutting down trees. Due to gaps in my Joni knowledge I think I haven’t mentioned some songs because I didn’t know them. The evening ended with Both Sides Now which was wonderful, and the audience were encouraged to sing along with some of the verses.

Lail.

At the end of the song Kate, Jesca, and Lail applauded the audience. At the merchandise table on the way out I bought a recent EP they have recorded of Joni songs containing Raised On Robbery, Morning Morgantown, Big Yellow Taxi, and A Case Of You which I am listening to at this very moment. I also bought Margaret a poster of the evening to thank her for getting me a ticket. Kate, Jesca & Lail all signed it for me, and I thanked them for a nice evening. Then we headed for the train station. What a great night it had been. 

Jesca, Kate & Lail at the merch table.