Only just discovered the site and I have to say, if this expansive ( in more ways than one!)thread is anything to go by, I'm going to be visiting on a more-than regular basis!

Just wanted to comment on "Tom Bliss" ( unfortunately don't know you Tom but I have a feeling we'd be "okay" when it comes to music in general!) and his seeming enthusiasm re defence of the BBC4 Christmas Session.....

....So, what's to defend?!?! This was a wonderfully jolly, talent-packed, yet informal and cuddly, celebration of the "music of Christmas" - or as much of it as could be crammed into such a, relatively, short programme - produced, in the opinion of mine and my beautiful Phyl's, eyes and ears, in the "style", if that's an acceptable word, of a "local Folk Club", typically, of the 70's or early 80's!! I think I'd defend that description by claiming that it presented all the vagaries, inconsistencies, and, yes, flaws, of an, again, "typical", night at "The Chequers" / "fill in your own nostalgic memory here"( anyone from the Island remember those utopian nights?!? ), along with the talent, musical entertainment ( YES, TOM, I, for one, still remember that word! ), and, and I make no apology to man 'nor the gods for saying this, pure joy, that those nights promised, and, invariably, delivered!

This was a programme of, not just the aforementioned, and, IM(less than humble!)O, talent, but of the communal, co-operative, "everybody-play-with-everybody-else" vibe that pervaded the, relatively, small, local clubs of that, musically, wonderful era.
Yes!! Of course I'm awash with nostalgia! I'm 60 for christ's sake! .......

........BUT ( and here come's some, very minor (!!), self-glorification!), Mike Jolliffe once wrote, in the programme for the, oft remembered in these parts, Blue Whale Concert, of '76, that,in terms of songwriting, I was " The most prolific of us all" and that I could " write a meaningful song about a pool cue"!
If there's ANY truth in that, then I claim the right, along with all the other opinionated contributors to this thread, to state, as a god-given fact, the merits, or otherwise, of this programme!! :-)

It was BRILLIANT entertainment! The sound was PERFECT - sorry folks, but, in the context of our TV's speakers, it WAS!..... and the sentiment of the show, whether accidental or intended, was simply WONDERFUL!......

......and JIM ( if I may be so familiar ) you may feel, whether because of the key, or lack of adequate preparation, that your performance of "Emmanuel" was less-than-perfect....and maybe it was. Maybe it wasn't note-perfect, and maybe not all the phrasing or breath-points were how you would have liked - but we two loved it!
We loved the expression - both vocal AND facial! :-)

Well, it's nice to be here and to have contributed, in however pathetically inadequate a way, to a thread that pressed pretty much all of my personal buttons!

To all out there who celebrate this most magical time of year, we both wish you a wonderful Christmas, and a beautifully peaceful New Year, and may we meet in mutual musical appreciation for a long time to come.......I bloody well hope so, anyway!! :-)

Seeya
Chris and Phyl