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11 Jan 08 - 09:55 AM (#2233856) Subject: alastair hulet From: MARINER i recently heard a fine singer on youtube called Alastair Hulet but have been unable to find out anything about him .Can anyone help ? |
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11 Jan 08 - 10:06 AM (#2233861) Subject: RE: alastair hulet From: The Borchester Echo That's because he's Alistair Hulett. well-known Swarb collaborator. |
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11 Jan 08 - 10:10 AM (#2233864) Subject: RE: alastair hulet From: Beer Nothing came up on you tube by Hulet. But Hulett did. Now is the fellow your talking about Roaring Jack (Blond Hair)or just Alastir Hulett. Doesn't matter I like both anyway. Great find. I also know nothing about him"Them" Beer (adrien) |
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11 Jan 08 - 11:06 AM (#2233907) Subject: RE: alastair hulet From: GUEST,jimmy One of my favorites too. wonderful song writer and a really nice guy if you can manage to meet him sometime - keep searching and ye shall discover. regards - jimmy |
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11 Jan 08 - 12:31 PM (#2233996) Subject: RE: alastair hulet From: Jack Campin Alistair posts to the Footstompin forum occasionally and will doubtless read anything you ask about him there. http://www.folkicons.co.uk/alistair.htm http://www.folkmusic.net/htmfiles/inart516.htm http://www.footstompin.com/artists/alistair_hulett "Swarb collaborator"? You *do* realize Paul McCartney was in a band before Wings? (I've heard quite a bit of Hulett, very little of Swarbrick and nothing of their collaboration). |
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11 Jan 08 - 12:40 PM (#2234005) Subject: RE: alastair hulet From: The Borchester Echo You know "very little" of Swarbrick? Perhaps you need to get out more. A decade or so ago when the two musicians were each living in Australia they recorded together and since then have done extensive tours. Who's Paul McCartney? |
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11 Jan 08 - 12:51 PM (#2234015) Subject: RE: alastair hulet From: MoorleyMan Check out Alistair's website at www.alistairhulett.com (sorry can't do blue clicky things yet!) |
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11 Jan 08 - 12:59 PM (#2234022) Subject: RE: alastair hulet From: The Borchester Echo I already posted the sitelink which provides more information than anyone could possibly or decently need to know about Alistair Hulett at #2. Though expecting anyone looking at Mudcat to get an artist's name right, to actually read the thread or to click a link is clearly going way too far. Chill, Diane!!(In other words, be nice).-Joe Offer- |
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11 Jan 08 - 01:30 PM (#2234048) Subject: RE: alastair hulet From: Chris_S "Who's Paul McCartney?" Not surprising you haven't heard of him, he was just bass player, part time guitar player and drummer for one of the many pop groups that emerged from Liverpool in the 60s. They had the cheek to nick all the tunes from Oasis before they even thought of them. Clearly not fair. As for Alistair, the song 'He Fades Away' came to me via Andy Irvine and June Tabor and is in my opinion a really powerful song. It was a real treat to see him live at Sidmouth and do his own version. Not heard his CDs or collaborations with Swarb so interested in any comments as to which to look out for. Chris |
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11 Jan 08 - 03:08 PM (#2234137) Subject: RE: alastair hulet From: GUEST,Little Robyn When he was a lad, Alistair and his family came to NZ (1968 is when his biog says) and he used to sing with his sister Alison. They did a lovely version of 'Huntingtower' in one of our concerts that year. He lived in Christchurch where he joined a group called Croodin Cant, singing unaccompanied British trad songs that wowed us all in the late 60s. On one occasion a few members of the Wellington Folk Club bumped into them at the Wellington Railway station and were so pleased to see them. We weren't in a hurry and spent the next 10-15 minutes singing under the dome, with wonderful acoustics, echoing all around the railway station. I think it was a Saturday so there weren't great crowds but it was a memorable experience. We were sorry to lose him to Oz but I guess he had more inspiration and better opportunities there. When Gordon MacIntyre and Kate Delaney came to one of the Auckland Folk Festivals, they sang 'He fades away' and spoke about the writer, which reminded us of him and so the following year Alistair was the visiting guest. That was not long before he left Australia and returned to Scotland. The rest you can read on the site Diane gave. Robyn |
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11 Jan 08 - 04:42 PM (#2234208) Subject: RE: alastair hulet From: Murray MacLeod if I recall correctly, he tunes his guitar to DADEAB. or at least he did about ten years ago |
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11 Jan 08 - 05:32 PM (#2234253) Subject: RE: alastair hulet/ Alistair Hulett - info? From: Pete_Standing Indeed he does, one tone above Martin Carthy's CGCDGA, from whom he got the tuning. He also uses a standard set of strings and that top B is a mite floppy. I met Alistair when I went to Oxford FC, purely because he was collaborating with Swarb. I was really impressed with Ali's guitar playing, singing and songs and now I regularly perform his "Song of a Drinking Man's Wife" and "He Fades Away", but on bouzouki. |
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11 Jan 08 - 06:04 PM (#2234288) Subject: RE: alastair hulet/ Alistair Hulett - info? From: Murray MacLeod One of my favourite Alistair Hulett somgs has always been Destitution Road (Click on link for an MP3 download). When Alistair first recorded this, I remember suggesting to one of Scotland's best-loved performers (who shall remain nameless) that he should cover the song, but he said that his literary sensibilities would never let him come to terms with the chorus "It's no use getting frantic It's time to hump your load Across the wild Atlantic On the Destitution Road" I kind of agree with him about the chorus, but I still love the song. |
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11 Jan 08 - 08:02 PM (#2234392) Subject: RE: alastair hulet/ Alistair Hulett - info? From: Sandra in Sydney My favourite album is "The Cold Grey Light of Dawn" maybe cos it's the album I bought at the first concert of his I attended. It contains many songs I love. Unfortunately I can't find "The Day the Boys Came Down" or "The Swaggies have all waltzed Matilda away" but I did find Seige of Union Street (Youtube) I think I've subsequently bought all of his albums. sandra |
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11 Jan 08 - 09:05 PM (#2234419) Subject: RE: alastair hulet/ Alistair Hulett - info? From: Susanne (skw) Sandra, 'swaggies' is on Dance of the Underclass' (1992). Fine song and fine album (though I agree with Murray and his anonymous witness about 'Destitution Road' - the chorus just doesn't fit and spoils the song for me). |
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12 Jan 08 - 02:50 AM (#2234545) Subject: RE: alastair hulet/ Alistair Hulett - info? From: GUEST,Gerry Susanne, I think what Sandra meant was that she couldn't find performances of those two songs on YouTube. They are on The Cold Grey Light of Dawn, as well as being on Dance of the Underclass. For someone getting started on Alistair, I'd recommend either (or both) of those CDs, and/or Saturday Johnny and Jimmy The Rat. The Red Clydeside album has some great work on it, but not everyone is going to want to listen to a whole album about the Scottish left during World War I. There's at least one more album that doesn't seem to be on the site linked to at #2, it has a mix of Scottish trad & Hulett topical. It may be called Sleepy Scotland - in any event I'm pretty sure that's the name of one of the tracks on it. |
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12 Jan 08 - 08:00 AM (#2234636) Subject: RE: alastair hulet/ Alistair Hulett - info? From: GUEST,huw Alistair Hulett is brilliant.Dance of The Underclass is a great album but I also think Red Clydeside is an example of a politically committed and creatively inspired musician on top form.It about the explosive situation in Glasgow during the First World War and its immediate aftermath and contains many fine songs including "When Johnny Came Hame To Glasga" about the great anti war socialist John Maclean.Stirring stuff! When he died ten thousand went to his funeral. Huw |
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12 Jan 08 - 09:45 AM (#2234674) Subject: RE: alastair hulet/ Alistair Hulett - info? From: Tattie Bogle He's doing 3 gigs in the forthcoming "Celtic Connections Festival" in Glasgow, 2 of them children's concerts, and taking part in an evening of political song. Details on his own website (as shown by Moorley Man above)or the Celtic Connections website (search by artist). www.alistairhulett.com www.celticconnections.com |
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12 Jan 08 - 09:46 AM (#2234675) Subject: RE: alastair hulet/ Alistair Hulett - info? From: Tattie Bogle P.S. Hope the above links work: they are NOT when I test them, tho' the spelling has been checked 3 x over! |
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12 Jan 08 - 10:09 AM (#2234682) Subject: RE: alastair hulet/ Alistair Hulett - info? From: The Borchester Echo As a matter of accuracy (absolutely NOT "niceness" of which I harbour not one jot), it was I who provided the link to AH's site way, way above. And no, the links two posts above do not work, confined as they are to a search only of Mudcat's server since you omitted the prefix "http://". |
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12 Jan 08 - 11:13 AM (#2234713) Subject: RE: alastair hulet/ Alistair Hulett - info? From: gnomad For Celtic connections ere 'tis |
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12 Jan 08 - 12:47 PM (#2234779) Subject: RE: alastair hulet/ Alistair Hulett - info? From: Jack Campin The link both Diane and I provided independently was this: http://www.folkicons.co.uk/alistair.htm The link Tattie Bogle didn't quite make and Moorley Man provided as text is better and more up-to-date: http://www.alistairhulett.com/ The folkicons page doesn't link to the other one - it seems to have been last updated in 2006. |
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12 Jan 08 - 10:07 PM (#2235128) Subject: RE: alastair hulet/ Alistair Hulett - info? From: Sandra in Sydney many thanks to all concerned for Alistair's 'new' website - I do have all his albums! and look froward to future new ones. sandra |
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13 Jan 08 - 10:53 AM (#2235373) Subject: RE: alastair hulet/ Alistair Hulett - info? From: Bruce from Bathurst "It's time to hump your load." Well, it's really not all that confusing when you think about it in context. Almost self-explanatory, in fact. It's worth a snigger, I suppose, but it doesn't really match the wondrous confusion caused around the world by words such as 'rubbers', 'thongs' or 'fags'. Where I live we also find poetic warnings such as: "Australia's a big country, and freedom's humping bluey" - from Henry Lawson's 'Freedom On The Wallaby'. In that poem, 'bluey' is another name for a swag (think 'swagman')and is definitely not the name of a close personal friend, dog, pet sheep or a political enemy. Alistair Hulett (watch that spelling!) can craft lyrics that just make you feel better singing them. I reckon that "hump your load" line is one example, and it's in the chorus of a very fine song. Bruce |
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14 Jan 08 - 12:11 PM (#2236200) Subject: RE: alastair hulet/ Alistair Hulett - info? From: Tattie Bogle Thanks to those who supplied the correct tech know-how to make the links work. I did follow the instructions to "make a blue clicky", but hadn't appreciated that I had to copy and paste the link from outside Mudcat, rahter than just type in the web address. |
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14 Jan 08 - 05:02 PM (#2236405) Subject: RE: alastair hulet/ Alistair Hulett - info? From: Murray MacLeod Bruce , I think you are missing the target, it's not so much the "hump your load " which grates , it's the desperately contrived insertion of "frantic" to get a rhyme with "Atlantic". It just doesn't work, imo, but as I said above, I still love the song. |
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14 Jan 08 - 05:52 PM (#2236458) Subject: RE: alastair hulet/ Alistair Hulett - info? From: Jack Campin Maybe something like No place for your emotion It's time to hump your load Across the Western Ocean On the Destitution Road ? |
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14 Jan 08 - 06:07 PM (#2236469) Subject: RE: alastair hulet/ Alistair Hulett - info? From: Murray MacLeod much better , Jack. "haul your load" would be better still imo |
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14 Jan 08 - 10:47 PM (#2236650) Subject: RE: alastair hulet/ Alistair Hulett - info? From: Bruce from Bathurst I take your point about "frantic/Atlantic", Murray. That's certainly not a rhyme I've seen in a song before this one, so I'll still award points for originality. I wonder what Alistair thinks about it? |
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15 Jan 08 - 02:43 AM (#2236725) Subject: RE: alastair hulet/ Alistair Hulett - info? From: GUEST,Ally H. Someone the other day mentioned this thread to me so I've quite enjoyed watching it unfold. I wrote the song way back in 1986, so 'not a lot' is the short answer to Bruce From Bathurst's question. I do still occasionally dust the song off, as it gets requested now and again, and yes, it's in my website songbook so I guess the awkward rhyme doesn't bother me over much. I probably wouldn't have used it if I was writing it now but I'm fairly relaxed about stuff like that from the dim and distant. Two lines were in my mind at the time, I recall. 'I've done my share of humpin' wi' the dockers on the Clyde' (Trad Scots song Tramps and Hawkers) and 'When he gets a few jars he goes frantic, He's tall and he's dark and romantic and I love him in spite of it all' (Lassies From Kimmage by Luke Kelly). I seemed fine at the time and no-one's bothered much till now, so I got away with it for over twenty years I suppose! Anyway, it's nice to know folk care enough to post. Best wishes to all, Alistair |
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15 Jan 08 - 02:51 AM (#2236728) Subject: RE: alastair hulet/ Alistair Hulett - info? From: Murray MacLeod Welcome to Mudcat, Alistair. Are you still using the DADEAB tuning btw? |
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15 Jan 08 - 04:05 AM (#2236747) Subject: RE: alastair hulet/ Alistair Hulett - info? From: GUEST,Ally H Sure am Murray. Lovely tuning for trad stuff, epecially ballads. It makes a guitar behave like a concertina when you get a handle on it. I've been doing a lot in standard as well recently and still revert to DADGAD too, now and again. Anyway, I'm out of here. Eavesdropping on threads about yersel is probably bad luck. Sorry to blunder in but it was fun just the same. |
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29 Jan 10 - 08:14 AM (#2824428) Subject: RE: alastair hulet/ Alistair Hulett - info? From: GUEST,drewsmilitia Absolutely shatterded to hear tonight that Alistair has died in Glasgow. A lovely bloke has gone and music is the worse for it. |
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15 Feb 10 - 08:57 PM (#2840524) Subject: RE: alastair hulet/ Alistair Hulett - info? From: GUEST,Henry in Sydney I was at his memorial last sunday in Syndey and it was so good to see so many people turned up to farewell such a ledgend. I hope his music and his politics live on for ever. |
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06 Feb 14 - 06:41 AM (#3598765) Subject: RE: alastair hulet/ Alistair Hulett - info? From: GUEST,Alistair Hulett Memorial Trust Alistairhulett.com |
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05 May 20 - 08:16 AM (#4050602) Subject: RE: alastair hulet/ Alistair Hulett - info? From: weerover Choosing music the last few days for my brother's funeral with another brother we decided on a track by Alistair. Only after this did we find that my late brother and Alistair knew one another. Don't know how friendly they were but this would have been nothing to do with "trad" music as said brother had little interest, they had other things very much in common. I had heard some recordings of Alistair but he was not particularly on my radar, but since learning of the connection I have listened to a good deal, and will certainly go looking for more. A great talent. |
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06 May 20 - 02:38 AM (#4050755) Subject: RE: alastair hulet/ Alistair Hulett - info? From: Daniel Kelly Alistair, in my view, put together some of the most pleasant to listen to settings of traditional ballads and was also a master of capturing complex political issues in a 3-minute song. There was a great turn out at his memorial concert in Sydney earlier this year. He certainly inspired me as a ballad singer and topical songwriter. |