Dick Gaughan - Social & Political Songs

By Paul Rootsical

 

 


Special tribute to Dick Gaughan

Collected Social & Political Songs 1971-2015

Mixtape showcasing some of Dick Gaughan's most overtly politically conscious work, together with a number of guitar led instrumentals. Also featuring tracks by associated folk group Boys From The Lough and celtic rock legends Five Hand Reel.

Part 1

 

 ^^stream & download^^ TAP PLAY TWICE^^

Edinburgh man Dick Gaughan is an outstanding figure in the music world. As outlaw protest singer, storyteller and activist he is second to none. His songwriting & choice of cover versions never deviate from his key humanistic values & convictions. A man of the people who sings to empower people. Activism aside, he is a renowned guitarist and composer who has an amazingly textured voice. Both his worker's songs and Scottish ballads/laments have a deep warmth and colour to them seldom heard elsewhere.

Part 2

   

^^stream & download^^ TAP PLAY TWICE^^

His music's had a leftfield vibe right from the onset and his 1st albums in 1972 & 76 showed the direction he was looking in. He came of age as a political artist during the seventies and his 1981 LP A Handful of Earth was a statement release, signposting his credentials as an activist. It was also probably his most successful album. His best known political song is his cut of World Turned Upside Down, his highly effective speeded up version becoming the new standard arrangement going forward. Solidarity with the miners (and workers everywhere), with the Irish republican movement & Scottish self-determination, with international socialism & protection of freedoms are recurrent themes throughout his subsequent career. 1983's A Different Kind of Love Song is equally good. Dick helped form celtic rock band Five Hand Reel, recording 3 LPs and touring with them 1976-78 and, later Clan Alba. He is best know, nonetheless, as a solo artist, a rebellious and beligerent guitar weilding brigand very much in the tradition of Woodie Guthrie, Ewan MacColl, Leon Rosselson, Almanac Singers, Billie Holiday, Pete Seeger, Josh White, Phil Ochs and Jon Baez, Steinbeck, Karouac, Ginsberg... all of them guys... and in tune with with many of his contemporaries in the folk scene.

Dick continued to put out quality studio and live albums well into the new millennium and continued to tour until 2016 after which he was forced to retire professionally due to ongoing health issues. These songs of awareness, of hope and anger, these testaments and clarion calls to action continue (perhaps unfortunately) to resonate as deeply today as ever. Division and polarisation, extremism and pervasive, worsening inequality are putting us and our very planet under threat and songs like these are a welcome reminder, a potent source of hope & positivity in a dangerous time. Thanks for listening.



2 continuous mixes. Total 3 hours 40 mins

^^download via the above streaming link^^ 

Contact me if you'd like a copy of the other Dick Gaughan collection - The Laddie Fae Dunedin - Scottish ballads & laments. @Siamrootsical

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