Having recorded "A Mon Like Harry" and "Manchester Ballads" in joint production with Chris Harvey over the last couple of years, I though it was time to do a follow up to "Brown Photographs" that I did in 2002.
The new one is called "Travelling Tales" and it contains the following tracks:

1 The Bolinder Boatman 2 St Aubin-sur Mer 3 The Bard's Reformation 4 No Use For Him 5 Sister Josephine 6 The Brothers Malone/Ashton Mashers
7 The Curse of Croyland 8 Maginot Waltz 9 Rawtenstall Annual Fair 10 Ais Gill 11 With Her Head Tucked Underneath Her Arm 12 Peterloo 13 Lloyd George 14 Tommy Note 15 Whoam Brewed 16 July Wakes 17 Cob-o-Coaling 18 Margarita 19 On Again, On Again 20 The Lancashire Liar
21 Farewell to the Gold 22 The Spaniard That Blighted My Life

22 tracks which can't be bad.

Some are requests - the 2 Jake Thackray ones and "Margarita", some are Lancashire songs that didn't make the Harry Boardman CD.

"At Rawtenstall Fair" is based on the recording by Randolph Sutton in 1932 and is totally different in words and music to the song "The Rawtenstall Annual Fair" that Lea Nicholson recorded on "Deep Lancashire" in 1968 although it is the same song - Fat Girl, House of Mystery, Mermaid, Tatooed Lady.

"The Spaniard That Blighted My Life" is as written by Billy Merson in 1911 but harks back to an earlier version called "If I catch Alfonso tonight" which features his stage "Girlfriend". The spirit of this earlier version is incororated by Alison Younger who adds to the "Oh Yes! - Oh No!!" exchanges within the song.

"The Curse of Croyland" was written by Paul Eady who also wrote "Following Olga to Lynn" that I did on "Brown Photographs" and is based on the true event of the sacking by Vikings of Croyland Abbey in 870AD. Croyland is now known as Crowland and is 13 miles or so NE of Peteborough.

All this for a tenner!

More details on www.markdowding.co.uk

Cheers
Mark