Pickin' The Blues

Recording History

 * The American Southern Rock band Grinderswitch, members of whom were once roadies for the Allman Brothers Band, recorded this instrumental blues for the Capricorn LP 'Macon Tracks' in 1975. Due to its association with John Peel's show from the very beginning, the track was subsequently released as a 7 inch single in the UK the following year, but failed to crack the top 40. It also made the Festive Fifty chart that year.
 * It features some virtuoso guitar work by Dru Lombard that, if John played it for long enough (for example, if there was time remaining before the pips at the end of his show), he referred to as 'the good bit'.

Show Appearances

 * When Peel's previous vehicle Top Gear came to an end in September 1975, rather than have a specially recorded theme (as the Nice had done for the aforementioned show), John merely chose something from what one assumes was his own collection. 'Pickin' The Blues' subsequently topped and tailed almost every show from 29 September 1975 until some time at the end of 1991, when the idea of a sig as such was quietly dispensed with. Nonetheless, as can be heard from the 29 November 2003 (BBC World Service) programme, it remained part of his non-BBC programming to some extent.
 * He played the track in full at the close of his 20 November 1975 show, following a listener enquiry.
 * Its stately opening seemed to chime well with the material JP was playing at the time, but over the years, as one musical revolution after another hit the DJ's show, it came to have an increasingly anachronistic quality which John himself even came to recognise: indeed, on the 30 December 1986 show, he expressed a wish to change it in the following year (some listeners even remember him experimenting with different themes at one point during the 80s).

Festive Fifty Entries
1976 Festive Fifty, #27.

Other Versions

 * The Housemartins, when billed as 'the Fish City Five' made an accappella version which JP used to open his show (previous to a repeat of the session it came from) on 22 December 1986.