Lindisfarne are an English folk rock and progressive rock band from Newcastle upon Tyne established in 1968 (originally called Brethren). The original line-up comprised Alan Hull (vocals, guitar, piano), Ray Jackson (vocals, mandolin, harmonica), Simon Cowe (guitar, mandolin, banjo, keyboards), Rod Clements (bass guitar, violin) and Ray Laidlaw (drums). They are best known for the albums Nicely Out of Tune (1970), Fog on the Tyne (1971) which became the biggest selling UK album in 1972, Dingly Dell (1972) and Back and Fourth (1978), and also for the success of songs such as "Meet Me on the Corner", "Lady Eleanor", "Run For Home" and "We Can Swing Together"....
In 1970 Tony Stratton-Smith signed them to Charisma Records and their debut album Nicely Out of Tune was released that year. This album defined their mixture of bright harmony and up tempo folk rock. Neither single released from the album, "Clear White Light" nor "Lady Eleanor", charted; nor did the album itself at first. However the band obtained a strong following from its popular live concerts and built up a following as one of the top festival bands. (Read more at Wikipedia.)
Links to Peel[]
Lindisfarne were appreciated by Peel for both their music and their on-stage demeanour. They were one of the bands who seemed to be enjoying themselves on live gigs and sought to involve their audience, in contrast to the aloofness of many bands of their era. They did six Peel sessions between 1971 and 1974, the period when they peaked commercially, and he introduced them three times on Radio 1 In Concert shows. He paid less attention to them after that, although lead singer and main songwriter Alan Hull did four sessions between 1973 and 1976 as a solo artist, and the spin-off band Jack The Lad did eight sessions during the same period.
When John Peel appeared on Top Of The Pops in 1971 as an honorary member of the Faces, wielding a mandolin as they performed Rod Stewart's hit "Maggie May", he was miming to a part which had been played on the original recording session by Ray Jackson, and credited on the sleeve of Stewart's album Every Picture Tells A Story to "the mandolin player in Lindisfarne".
Festive Fifty Entries[]
- None
Sessions[]
Six sessions. Commercial releases:
-#4 on The Peel Sessions EP/CD, 1988 (Strange Fruit SFPS059/SFPSCD059)
-”Mandolin King” from #4 on Various Artists: 21 Years Of Alternative Radio 1 2xLP / CD, 1988 (Strange Fruit SFRLP 200 / SFRCD 200)
-”Lady Eleanor” from #4 on Various Artists: Before The Fall: The Peel Sessions 77-77 CD, 1991 (Strange Fruit, SFRCD 203)
-Tracks from assorted sessions on City Songs (BBC Sessions 1971-72) CD, 1998 (New Millennium Communications, PILOT 34)
-#4 on At The BBC: The Charisma Years 1971-1973 2xCD, 2009 (EMI 50999 696263 2 6)
1. Recorded 1971-01-12. First broadcast: 30 January 1971. Repeated: 10 April 1971.
- Positive Earth / Knacker's Yard Blues / Lady Eleanor / Dream Within A Dream / Psalm To A Secret (first broadcast 10 April 1971 repeat)
2. Recorded 1971-08-31. First broadcast: 11 September 1971. Repeated: 10 November 1971.
- Meet Me On The Corner / Uncle Sam / Alright On The Night / Fog On The Tyne / Together Forever (first broadcast 10 November 1971 repeat)
3. Recorded 1972-01-17. First broadcast: 10 March 1972 (see page for details of rescheduling from 04 February 1972 and 25 February 1972).
- Dancing Jack Peel / Together Forever / Alright On The Night / No Time To Lose / Meet Me On The Corner / Poor Old Ireland
4. Recorded 1972-05-08. First broadcast 13 June 1972. Repeated: 08 August 1972, 03 October 1972, 22 September 1975 (penultimate Top Gear)
- Mandolin King / Poor Old Ireland / Road To Kingdom Come / Lady Eleanor
5. Recorded 1973-01-08. First broadcast: 18 January 1973. Repeated: 15 February 1973
- Oh No Not Again / Train In G Major / Uncle Sam / Court In The Act
6. Recorded 1974-03-28. First broadcast: 04 April 1974. Repeated: 06 June 1974
- No Need To Tell Me / Taking Care Of Business / In Your Head / North Country Boy
- Alan Hull
Four solo sessions. Official release: 'One More Bottle of Wine' from #3 on When War Is Over 2xCD, 1998 (BBC Worldwide Pilot 37) and Radio Times • Live At The BBC 4xCD, 2023 (Repertoire REPUK1446)
1. Recorded 1973-01-08. First broadcast 18 January 1973.
- The Miller's Song / Money Game / Numbers / Tynemouth Song / Country Gentlemen's Wife
2. Recorded 1973-11-12. First broadcast 11 December 1973. Repeated 12 May 1975.
- Take Good Care Of Business / Gin And Tonics All Round / Money Game / Waiting
3. Recorded 1975-05-22. First broadcast 29 May 1975.
- Squire / Dan The Plan / Money Game / One More Bottle Of Wine
4. Recorded: 1976-03-11. First broadcast: 06 April 1976. Repeated 27 May 1976.
- Walk In The Sea / Love Is The Answer / I Wish You Well / Somewhere Out There
Live[]
The first two live concert programmes introduced by Peel, both available on At The BBC: The Charisma Years 1971-1973 2xCD, 2009 (EMI 50999 696263 2 6). All the live concert programmes introduced by Peel, available on Radio Times • Live At The BBC 4xCD, 2023 (Repertoire REPUK1446)
- 18 July 1971: live, recorded 1971-06-24, Paris Theatre
- City Song
- Train In G Major
- Lady Eleanor
- Fog On The Tyne
- Knackers Yard Blues
- We Can Swing Together
- 07 December 1971: live, recorded 1971-12-02, unknown venue
- Together Forever
- No Time To Lose
- January Song
- Lady Eleanor
- Meet Me On The Corner
- Train In G Major
- Fog On The Tyne
- Jackhammer Blues
- 05 January 1974: live, recorded 1973-12-14, Paris Theatre
- Steppenwolf
- No Time To Lose
- North Country Boy
- Roll On River
- Taking Care Of Business
- Lady Eleanor
- Moonshine
- Tow The Line
- When The War Is Over
Other Shows Played[]
- 1971
- 09 January 1971: Winter Song (LP - Nicely Out Of Tune) Charisma
- 1972
- 25 January 1972: Meet Me On The Corner (single) Charisma
- 15 February 1972: Meet Me On The Corner (single) Charisma
- 18 February 1972: No Time To Lose (single – Meet Me On The Corner b-side) Charisma
- 24 March 1972: Jackhammer Blues (LP - Nicely Out Of Tune) Charisma
- 22 August 1972: All Fall Down (LP - Dingley Dell) Charisma
- 25 August 1972: O No Not Again (LP - Dingly Dell) Charisma
- 15 September 1972: All Fall Down (single) Charisma
- 03 October 1972: unknown
- Radio Luxembourg Tracklistings 2 (unknown date, 1972): Meet Me On The Corner (single) Charisma
- 1973
- J P D29: North Country Boy (album - Roll On Ruby) Charisma CAS 1076
- 1978
- 11 July 1978: King's Cross Blues (LP-Back And Fourth) Mercury (JP erroneously refers to Lindisfarne album as 'Back To the Fourth')
- 07 September 1978 (Paul Gambaccini): Juke Box Gypsy (7”) Mercury
- 11 October 1978: JP mentions he will appear the following evening on Omnibus, the BBC-TV arts show. (According to the BBC Genome listings for 12 October, the programme was called The Record Machine: "Omnibus opens its new series with an investigation behind the scenes of the multi-million-pound pop industry and cut-price alternatives.......John Peel examines the ' British New Wave' ideal and its attempts to break the commercial monopoly " Other participants included Paul Gambaccini, Sham 69, Debbie Harry of Blondie, Lindisfarne, UK Subs, The Mekons, and The Slits.)
- 1980
- 17 March 1980: Fog On The Tyne (unknown release)
- 1983
- 11 August 1983: Fog On The Tyne (album - Fog On The Tyne) Charisma
- 1988
- 05 October 1988: Mandolin King (12" - The Peel Sessions) Strange Fruit
- 24 October 1988: Lady Eleanor (12" - The Peel Sessions) Strange Fruit
- Alan Hull
- 07 June 1973: Money Game (LP: Pipedream) Charisma
- 26 June 1973: For The Bairns (LP: Pipedream) Charisma
- 03 July 1973: Breakfast (LP – Pipedream) Charisma
- 05 July 1973: I Hate To See You Cry (single)
- 12 July 1973: Justanothersadsong (LP – Pipedream) Charisma
- 17 July 1973: Money Game (LP: Pipedream) Charisma
- 26 July 1973: I Hate To See You Cry (LP-Pipedream)' (Charisma)
- 16 August 1973: Breakfast (LP - Pipedream) Charisma
- 25 February 1986: Heroes (v/a LP - Heroes) Rock 'N' Dole
See Also[]
- Jack The Lad
- Mos Eisley: Two of the three band members - Jack and Jed - were sons of Ray Laidlaw, the drummer in Lindisfarne and Jack The Lad.
- Sounds Playlist
- Gigography 1972
- Gigography 1973
- Gigography 1978
- Disc & Music Echo: Peel Columns
- Sounds