GUEST: Bob Bryden

Welcome to Canada, eh! We’ve showcased albums from around the globe but this time out it’s an all Canadian affair as we discuss the incredible career of Bob Bryden. From his early teen days as the “accidental musician” to his time with Reign Ghost and the formation of Christmas, “I wanted to start my dream band”. We dig into each track of their fantastic 1970 album Heritage and discuss their follow up Lies to Live By and the ultimate dissolution of the band. Bob’s story doesn’t end there though as we then chat about his other bands and his solo career as well as his time producing one of Canada’s premier punk bands. He’s had a fascinating life in music with many great albums along the way.

I hope you dig Heritage as much as I do.

-FJ

==LINKS==

1) Become a Patreon backer for as little as $1/month. This show is completely independent and relies on support from listeners. Join here and enjoy additional bonus content:

patreon.com/FarmerJohnMusic

Thank you for your support!

2) Check out Bob’s music at https://bobbryden.bandcamp.com

3) Check out Bob’s YouTube video for the song “Cowboys are Guys you can Trust”, dedicated to Cousin Bill here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfc3nqr7ZD8

4) Here's a Spotify link to all the songs used in this epysode:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2SRrlKdAWtNEHT0ytQwn9J?si=54e2b2cacbed46fa

==SONGS==

Songs used for this Epysode (in order of appearance). A Spotify playlist for this show has been created - see link above.

(*denotes a song not available on Spotify)

BLONDE ON BLONDE “Heart Without a Home”

JEFFERSON AIRPLANE “Saturday Afternoon”

THE DOORS “The End”

BOB BRYDEN “Cowboys Are Guys you can Trust”

REIGN GHOST “Reaching”

REIGN GHOST “Southern Hemisphere Blues”

REIGN GHOST “Enola Gay”

REIGN GHOST “Long Day Journey”

REIGN GHOST “Solar Nice”

CHRISTMAS “Just Suppose”

CHRISTMAS “Jungle Fabulous”

CHRISTMAS “Don’t Give it Away”

CHRISTMAS “Zenith”

CHRISTMAS “Rise Up”

CHRISTMAS “Goin’ To Oklahoma”

CHRISTMAS “Something Borrowed”

CHRISTMAS “Point Blank”

CHRISTMAS “Zephyr Song”

CHRISTMAS “Bustin’ Out Tonight”

CHRISTMAS “Blues on an Iceberg”

CHRISTMAS “April Mountain”

CHRISTMAS “Heritage”

CHRISTMAS “I am a Song (Sing Me)”

CHRISTMAS “When Night Falls”

*PRESTON WYNN “Happy Man”

THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS “Voice in the Wilderness”

THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS “The Factory”

*BENZINE JAG “Heavy Water”

AGE OF MIRRORS “Talk to the Crowd”

BOB BRYDEN “Love in the Atomic Age”

THE FORGOTTEN REBELS “No Beatles Reunion”

??MYSTERY BAND?? tune in to the next Epysode to find out...

NEWPORT ELECTRIC “Yippie-i-o”

GUEST: Blonde On Blonde vocalist/guitarist Dave Thomas.

In this epysode, we dive into this Welsh band's 2nd album, Rebirth. Dave Thomas provides detailed background information of the band's formation, their time on the BBC, touring with major acts, their 1969 Isle of Wight performance and the recording of their third and final album when they knew it would be their last. We also discuss Dave's resurgence, decades later ("I signed my second recording contract at the tender age of 70").

Blonde On Blonde mixed folk, psychedelia, blues-rock and prog all into a unique style all their own.

It's a great story of a great band and album.

I hope you dig "Rebirth" as much as I do.

-FJ

==LINKS==

1) Become a Patreon backer for as little as $1/month. This show is completely independent and relies on support from listeners. Join here and enjoy additional bonus content:

patreon.com/FarmerJohnMusic

Thank you for your support!

2) Check out Dave Thomas's website at https://davethomasblues.uk

3) I used a portion of the following fan review of Ralph Denyer's book "The Guitar Handbook" in the show. To listen/watch the full review, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQ0bqjfW50o

4) Here's a Spotify link to all the songs used in this Epysode! https://open.spotify.com/playlist/40eD3PNpfPl1XtpYLYuXpl?si=6017ee4a1fba41c9

==SONGS==

Songs used for this epysode (in order of appearance). A Spotify playlist for this show has been created - see link above. The final song is my band’s latest single. (*denotes a song not available on Spotify).

FUCHSIA “Shoes And Ships”

JIMMY REED “Bright Lights, Big City”

BLONDE ON BLONDE “All Day All Night”

BLONDE ON BLONDE “Country Life”

BLONDE ON BLONDE “Eleanor Rigby”

AQUILA “Flight of the Golden Bird”

BLONDE ON BLONDE “Castles in the Sky”

BLONDE ON BLONDE “Broken Hours”

BLONDE ON BLONDE “Heart Without a Home”

BLONDE ON BLONDE “Time is Passing”

BLONDE ON BLONDE “Circles”

BLONDE ON BLONDE “November”

BLONDE ON BLONDE “Colour Questions”

BLONDE ON BLONDE “You’ll Never Know Me/Release”

BLONDE ON BLONDE “Happy Families”

*CRYSTAL SUSPENSION “Boats”

GREENSLADE “Country Dance”

G AND T “Green and Pleasant Land”

DAVE THOMAS “One More Mile”

??MYSTERY BAND??...tune into the next epysode to find out...

Guest: Fuchsia bandleader Tony Durant.

Exeter University, 1971. Hearing classical music played in lunchtime concerts sparks a creative idea for a young student who decides "I can do that!". Corralling 5 classmates, they help develop his uniquely written songs melding rock with classical instrumentation. Together they record a brilliant album that goes completely unnoticed. Without an opportunity to record a follow up, the band split and the album is forgotten...until 40 years later when it makes a suprise comeback re-igniting the career of their songwriter and bandleader, kickstarting an unlikely "Act II" of the Fuchsia story.

A fantastic interview with Tony Durant who helps tell the story of this amazing album. I hope you dig Fuchsia as much as I do.

-FJ

*ERRORS AND OMISSIONS: Tony wanted to ensure that songwriting credit for the song "Me And My Kite" was properly given to Bob Chudley, this was not mentioned in the epysode.

Support us on Patreon for as little as $1/month here:

patreon.com/FarmerJohnMusic

Questions? Comments? Ideas for future epysodes? Email Farmer John at:

farmerjohnmusic@gmail.com

Want to hear the full versions of the songs used in this epsyode? Here's a Spotify playlist of all the tracks used (note some songs are not available on Spotify):

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2JpQBeWIUxWWSjM769xlIx?si=91887391abe9472a

I used excerpts from two other sources for this epysode:

1) a portion of an interview with drummer Chris Cutler, interviewed by Progdocs.com. You can hear the full interview here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLCKNg9XbBU&t=59s

2) I used a portion of the Gormenghast series, by Marvin Peake, narrated by Padded Cell Studios. Specifially book 1 "Titus Groan", chapter 6: Fuchsia. Here is a link to this chapter, and from there you can seek out the entire series:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdCa9FGnZdE&t=7s