A portion of the show (File 1) was discovered by Peel Mailing List user andysmith10. It is heavily edited to highlight the session tracks, and lacks almost all of the Peel links.
File 5 has around 80 minutes of the show, with plenty of Peel comments about records and life in general, including a response to some critical letters from listeners and his explanation of why riding on trains is like going to the cinema.
Complete show track listing supplied by Ken Garner of Peel Mailing List, to whom many thanks. Ken adds: 'This one your mystery taper taped from quite near the beginning of the show but edited more out. He clearly did not like the Idle Race. I've done the full show track listing because this show is very much of its time and remarkably consistent in its bluesy feel, and for that reason, not one of the classics, I fear...'.
The Daughters of Albion and the Collectors, both relatively obscure bands, aren't particularly bluesy either, which may explain why the tracks weren't preserved by the taper. The former group had Leon Russell among their backing musicians on the album. Dragonfly were far more obscure, and copies of their albums now fetch big prices among collectors.
The Bread And Beer Band track, a version of the theme tune from a famous BBC radio serial of the 1940s and '50s, features the then little-known Elton John on piano. Peel revisited the single towards the end of his career; see June 2004 (FSK) for details.
Love Sculpture's session consists of four cover versions; of Jerry Lee Lewis's "Great Balls Of Fire", George Harrison's "The Inner Light", "Evenin'", made famous in the 1930s by the Count Basie orchestra with singer Jimmy Rushing - and Georges Bizet's "Farandole" from his "L'Arlesienne Suite No. 2". The latter track was an attempt to repeat the success they had with their hit single of Khachaturian's "Sabre Dance", also done first on a Top Gear session.
Sessions[]
Love Sculpture, #3. Recorded 1969-01-28. No known commercial release.
Glass Menagerie, #2. Recorded 1969-01-21. No known commercial release.
Taste, #3. Recorded 1969-02-17. No known commercial release.
Idle Race, #5 (repeat). Recorded 1969-01-20. No known commercial release.
Tracklisting[]
Idle Race: Days Of The Broken Arrow (Peel Session)
John begins to talk about a phone call he's just had from East of Eden's record producer, but is seriously distracted by some strange noises in his headphones
Info for Leonard Cohen fans – Peel may have his new LP by next week
Dragonfly: She Don't Care (LP - Dragonfly) Megaphone MS-1202 (US release) JP says he "knows absolutely nothing about this band" and the LP "is on a very peculiar and particularly obscure American label"@
Blood Sweat And Tears: More And More (LP - Blood Sweat And Tears) CBS 63504 (JP mentions that" famed pop columnist, wastrel and varlet" Chris Welch (of Melody Maker) thinks it’s the best LP of the past 12 months; he says it’s “certainly very good")
JP: "Riding on trains is very much like going to the cinema..." – he recommends the Exeter to London line with bridges, trees and "some very contented sheep and cows"…
Love Sculpture: Great Balls Of Fire (Peel Session) (JP: 'You ought to hear me sing that.')@
Bobby Parker: It's Hard But It's Fair (single) Blue Horizon 57-3151 @
Idle Race: Mr Crow And Sir Norman (Peel Session) (JP: “Tell me audience, what do you think of Roger Hunt?”)
JP: “The Pink Floyd played like Gods in Bristol the other day…” .and Nick Mason said he liked the LP he plays next
HP Lovecraft: High Flying Bird (LP - HP Lovecraft II) Philips PHS 600 279 @
Peel reads out postcard from Florida from John Mayall, on tour in the US
Glass Menagerie: Life Is Getting It Together (Peel Session) @
Marc Brierley: The Answer Is (LP - Welcome To The Citadel) CBS 63478 $
Taste: Leaving Blues (Peel Session) @ £ (JP: “This is a Leadbelly thing – I’m not going to get into arguments about how to pronounce his first name on this programme as well as on Night Ride”)
Collectors: My Love Delights Me (LP - Grass And Wild Strawberries) Warner Bros. WS 1774 (“this is a Bernie track…he likes it very much…”)
JP: “Consider yourselves all members of the Top Gear Smiling Section…”.
Jefferson Airplane: Somebody To Love (LP - Bless Its Pointed Little Head, recorded live at the Fillmore. RCA LSP-4133 (US release –JP hopes it’ll be released in the UK soon, as imported copies are selling well)@ #