Trader Horne was a British duo consisting of multi-instrumentalist and former Them keyboard player and vocalist Jackie McAuley and former Fairport Convention lead vocalist Judy Dyble. The short-lived musical partnership broke up after releasing only one LP, Morning Way, in 1970. Shortly after, Jackie McAuley decided to pursue a solo career, to form The Poor Mouth, and to work as a valued session musician and as Lonnie Donegan's Musical Director and sidesman. He is still recording and playing.
Judy Dyble went on to marry DJ and lyricist Simon Stable and joined a short lived band called Dyble Coxhill & the Miller Brothers and retired from music in 1973. She returned to music and performed at Fairport Convention's Cropredy Festival in the 'Anniversary' years of 1997, 2002 and 2007. In July 2020, Dyble died following a battle with lung cancer.
Throughout the years the Morning Way album has acquired mythical status. The band's singles are now highly collectable. Trader Horne was featured in Kingsley Abbott's book 500 Lost Gems of the 60s. To coincide with this, Stuart Maconie did a one-hour biopic radio special on Dyble's career on his BBC Radio 6 Music programme "Freak Zone", as well as a significant piece in Record Collector.
Jackie and Judy agreed to reunite as Trader Horne for a one-off show on 29 November 2015 at Bush Hall in London to celebrate 45 years since Morning Way was first released. They played the whole of the album, in original track order. They also appeared at the 2016 Green Man festival.
Links to Peel[]
John Peel with his nanny, Trader Horne, which the group named after
The band's name came from John Peel, who said it was his nanny Florence's name (Florence Horne). She was known as Trader Horne, a reference to the explorer and ivory trader, Alfred Trader Horn. It was Peel who had encouraged the duo to continue to perform together. He also saw them perform at Conway Hall in London on December 18th 1969.
Judy Dyble told Melody Maker in March 1970: "John Peel had a fixation about Trader Horne, and he gave us the name. The history of the name is very long and boring, but it all started with Captain Aloysius Smith...."[1] Later in an interview she mentioned that when she left Fairport Convention, she left behind her autoharp and Peel out of generosity, gave her the only solid electric autoharp in the country at that time. [2]
Peel also knew Judy Dyble's partner (and later, husband) Simon Stable, who, as well as working as a live DJ, contributed record reviews and playlists ("Your Stable Diet") to International Times when Peel was writing for the paper and also ran a record shop which Peel used to visit. He was occasionally mentioned by Peel on his shows in the late 1960s (including the Top Gear of 16 February 1969, when he seems to have been in the studio) but, like the band Trader Horne, seems to have been forgotten by JP after that time.
Live[]
Recorded live & broadcast on 12 July 1970
- When Morning Comes
- Better than Today
- Country Joe
- Just Fishing
Other Shows Played[]
Here Comes the Rain
- 1970
- 07 March 1970: Here Comes The Rain (7") Dawn
- 11 April 1970: Children of Oare (LP - Morning Way) Dawn