Night Ride Poets

This page is an attempt to list the poets who appeared on John Peel's Night Ride programmes, from March 1968 to September 1969. It has been compiled with the help of Ken Garner's The Peel Sessions and various online sources, but the information given is incomplete, mainly because some of the writers featured on the programme are not well-known to the general literary public. Their work appeared in "little magazines", and in limited editions produced by small, specialist publishing houses, or was sometimes even self-published. As with punk music a decade later, an independent distribution network developed, aided by the underground press, especially the reviews by (Barry) Miles in International Times. Peel would also recommend new books of poetry to his readers in his columns for the paper.

Despite the tendency among critics to see this era of British poetry as something separate from (and inferior to) the mainstream poetic tradition, it has been receiving increasing attention in the academic world recently, so anyone with additional information is invited to fill gaps and/or correct mistakes in these listings.

However, some Night Ride guests were far from obscure; Adrian Mitchell, Roger McGough, and Brian Patten remained popular with readers and live audiences into the twenty-first century. Others were associated with the music scene (Pete Brown, Adrian Henri, Mike Evans, Marc Bolan) or the 1960s underground/counter-culture (Piero Heliczer, John Esam). Even a few established literary figures read poems on Night Ride (Stevie Smith, Patric Dickinson, and Roy Fuller, at the time Professor of Poetry at Oxford University).

March 1968

 * 06 March 1968: Adrian Mitchell
 * Homepage: http://adrianmitchell.moonfruit.com/#
 * Recorded live album with folksinger/songwriter Leon Rosselson; A Laugh, A Song And A Hand Grenade (Transatlantic Records, 1970).


 * 13 March 1968: Pete Roche
 * Friend and neighbour of Peel. Became member of Occasional Word Ensemble, recorded LP for Dandelion Records. He had edited the 1967 anthology, Love, love, love: The new love poetry (Corgi) and it's likely that he (and George Macbeth – see below) advised Peel on which poets to book for Night Ride.


 * 20 March 1968: Roger McGough
 * Member of Scaffold.


 * 27 March 1968: Adrian Henri
 * Leader of Liverpool Scene.

April 1968

 * 03 April 1968: Carlyle Reedy
 * Profile: http://flattimeho.org.uk/exhibitions/icons-process/


 * 10 April 1968: Pete Brown
 * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Brown
 * Best known for his lyrics for Cream. Took part in poetry and jazz sessions before fronting bands of his own, the Poetry Band, the Battered Ornaments and Piblokto!


 * 17 April 1968: Lady Diana Dukes?


 * 24 April 1968: Spike Hawkins
 * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spike_Hawkins

May 1968

 * 01 May 1968: Alan Jackson
 * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Jackson_(poet)


 * 08 May 1968: Brian Patten
 * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Patten
 * Became member of Grimms, but remains best known for his poetry and books for children.


 * 15 May 1968: Mike Evans
 * Contributed poems to Liverpool Scene albums, but not primarily a poet. Evans played saxophone with Merseybeat band the Clayton Squares before joining the Liverpool Scene. Later became involved with the Musicians' Union and in 1977 was appointed as the Union's rock organiser.


 * 22 May 1968: Mike Horovitz
 * Pioneer of Beat poetry in England.
 * Portrait; http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/21273/1/michael-horovitz-grandfather-of-albion


 * 29 May 1968: Pete Morgan
 * Guardian obituary: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/jul/15/pete-morgan-obituary
 * His poem "My Enemies Have Sweet Voices" was set to music by Al Stewart.

June 1968

 * 05 June 1968: Libby Houston
 * English poet, botanist, and rock climber. The native of North London has published several collections of poetry. Houston, a research associate at the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Bristol, has discovered several new species of whitebeam (Sorbus), one of which has been given her name. In addition to membership in several organisations related to botany,….(Read more at Wikipedia)


 * 12 June 1968: Roger Jones?


 * 19 June 1968: Christopher Logue
 * Guardian obituary: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/dec/03/christopher-logue
 * Took part in pioneering poetry and jazz sessions for BBC Third Programme; collaborated with Donovan on song "Be Not Too Hard", and in 1967 TV programme praised by Peel on Radio London show of 01 July 1967; read from his work at the 1969 Isle Of Wight Festival.


 * 26 June 1968: Tom Pickard
 * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Pickard
 * Had own band, King Ida's Watch Chain, which performed at Middle Earth on night of police raid, but never recorded. Later collaborated with Sting.

July 1968

 * 03 July 1968: Geoff Hill - member of Occasional Word Ensemble.


 * 10 July 1968: Gillian Barron (also appears on some poetry programmes on Radio 3 but little online information available).


 * 17 July 1968: Pete Roche


 * 31 July 1968: Henry Graham
 * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Graham_(poet)

August 1968

 * 07 August 1968: Len Grant


 * 14 August 1968: Ron Geesin as poet.
 * Made several appearances on Night Ride, as musician, poet and studio guest.
 * Official website: http://www.rongeesin.com/


 * 21 August 1968: Jim Eldridge
 * http://www.jimeldridge.com/


 * 28 August 1968: Tom Raworth
 * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Raworth
 * Blog: http://tomraworth.com/notes/

September 1968

 * 04 September 1968: Chris Kennedy?


 * 11 September 1968: Wes Magee
 * http://www.wesmagee.com/


 * 18 September 1968: Frances Horovitz
 * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Horovitz


 * 25 September 1968: Piero Heliczer
 * Piero Heliczer (1937–1993) was an Italian-American poet, publisher, actor and filmmaker associated with the New American Cinema.…..Most of Heliczer's films were silent, with sound added later. In some cases he used live musicians to provide a soundtrack. One band, the Falling Spikes, who played for a Heliczer show called The Launching of the Dream Weapon in early 1965, later changed their name to the Velvet Underground. (Read more at Wikipedia.)

October 1968

 * 02 October 1968: Libby Houston


 * 09 October 1968: David Black
 * David Macleod Black (born 8 November 1941) is a South African-born Scottish poet and psychoanalyst. He is author of six collections of poetry and is included in British Poetry since 1945, Emergency Kit (Faber), Wild Reckoning (Calouste Gulbenkian), Twentieth Century Scottish Poetry (Faber) and many other anthologies. As a psychoanalyst he has published many professional papers, an edited volume on psychoanalysis and religion, and a collection of essays relating to values and science. (Read more at Wikipedia.)


 * 30 October 1968: Adrian Henri

November 1968

 * 06 November 1968: Anne Beresford
 * Own website: http://www.anneberesford.net/


 * 13 November 1968: Barry MacSweeney
 * "The poet Barry MacSweeney....... was a boy wonder, in the Romantic tradition, who turned lyricism on its head and made it a very dark place to be.
 * "MacSweeney's debut The Boy from the Green Cabaret sold unusually well for a book written in the air of those unusual times. When its publishers, Hutchinsons, nominated him for the Chair in Poetry at Oxford, the 19 year old with three 'O' levels received three votes. It took half a lifetime for his reputation to recover......" (Read more at this appreciation.)


 * 20 November 1968: John Horder
 * Information: https://francisdiclemente.wordpress.com/2015/05/21/john-horder-a-sense-of-being/


 * 27 November 1968: Mark Talbot

December 1968

 * 04 December 1968: Patric Dickinson


 * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patric_Dickinson (show hosted by Pete Drummond)


 * 11 December 1968: Christopher Logue


 * 18 December 1968: Roger McGough

January 1969

 * 22 January 1969: Kevin(?) Morgan


 * 29 January 1969: Anna Taylor

February 1969

 * 05 February 1969: James Verner, Mike Tristram


 * 12 February 1969: Stevie Smith
 * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevie_Smith


 * 19 February 1969: George Macbeth
 * Not just a poet, but an infuential figure at the BBC in this era - produced many poetry programmes for Third Programme and other BBC networks.
 * https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/george-macbeth


 * 26 February 1969: Bob Cobbing
 * Obituary; https://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/oct/07/guardianobituaries.booksobituaries

March 1969

 * 05 March 1969: Adrian Mitchell


 * 12 March 1969: Dennis Lysons


 * 19 March 1969: Roy Fuller
 * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Fuller


 * 26 March 1969: Tammo de Jongh
 * Not a poet, but wrote books on mysticism and the occult, and did the artwork for the sleeve of King Crimson's LP In The Wake Of Poseidon.

April 1969

 * 02 April 1969: John Horder


 * 09 April 1969: Bob Wood - own website shows him to be folk singer, guitarist, but listed as poet in The Peel Sessions.


 * 23 April 1969: Bernard Kelly, Colin (or Ciaran?) Carson?

May 1969

 * 07 May 1969: Bob Cobbing, Ivor Cutler


 * 21 May 1969: Alan Jackson


 * 28 May 1969: Pete Roche

June 1969

 * 04 June 1969: Brian Patten


 * 11 June 1969: Marc Bolan reading poetry from his collection The Warlock Of Love


 * 18 June 1969: Dan Gardner
 * http://www.donaldgardner.net/


 * 25 June 1969: Eddie Linden
 * An 80th birthday tribute: http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/happy-80th-birthday-eddie-linden-poet-pacifist-and-catholic-atheist-1.2211208

July 1969

 * 02 July 1969: Michael Chapman.
 * Not the singer/guitarist who became a Peel favourite, nor the South African poet of the same name. This Michael (Mike) Chapman contributed a few pieces to International Times. In this one, he writes about his travels.


 * 09 July 1969: John Esam
 * Obituary: https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2011/sep/11/john-esam-obituary


 * 16 July 1969: Len Grant


 * 23 July 1969: ?


 * 30 July 1969: Eddie Linden

August 1969

 * 06 August 1969: Iain Sinclair
 * Iain Sinclair FRSL (born 11 June 1943) is a Welsh writer and filmmaker. Much of his work is rooted in London, most recently within the influences of psychogeography. His early work was mostly poetry, much of it published by his own small press, Albion Village Press. He was (and remains) closely connected with the British avant garde poetry scene of the 1960s and 1970s.........(Read more at Wikipedia.)


 * 20 August 1969: John F. Shepherd

September 1969

 * 03 September 1969: Barry MacSweeney


 * 10 September 1969: Pete Morgan


 * 17 September 1969: Pete Roche, Lindsay Levy, Alex Elliot (last two names may be poets or musicians - track written by Levy appears on Amaryllis, the third LP by Edinburgh band Bread, Love and Dreams).


 * 24 September 1969: Adrian Mitchell (final show)