Alan Hull: Singing A Song In The Morning Light: The Legendary Demo Tapes 1967-1970, 4CD Box Set

• First-ever release of legendary late 60s demos from one of the finest British songwriters of all time.
• Includes early versions of classic Lindisfarne songs ‘Lady Eleanor’, ‘Winter Song’ and ‘Clear White Light – Part 2’

Lindisfarne were the hottest new band around in 1972, with a couple of huge hit singles and three albums reaching the Top Five that year – including chart-topping second LP ‘Fog On The Tyne’, a sales phenomenon that stayed in the listings for more than 12 months.

Many of their finest songs had been written by band member Alan Hull while he was working as a trainee psychiatric nurse from late 1966 to early 1969.

After ending the decade as a solo act in regional folk clubs, he’d linked up with local band
Brethren to form Lindisfarne in mid-1970.

Lindisfarne consolidated their success with constant touring, but Alan struggled to write on the road, and he would regularly dip into his late 60s cache of songs that had been recorded for publishing purposes at Impulse Sound, a Wallsend studio owned by Hull’s manager and enabler David Wood. Those late 60s demos would become legendary amongst fans and pop media alike,
but very few tracks have ever surfaced – until now.

A remarkable 4CD, 90-track anthology, the painstakingly-assembled ‘Singing A Song In The Morning Light’ includes no less than 77 hitherto-unreleased tracks, with several dozen titles previously undocumented.

It features revelatory early demos of ‘Lady Eleanor’, ‘Winter Song’, ‘Scarecrow Song’, ‘Clear White Light – Part 2’ and other Lindisfarne classics, the original, semi-mythical ‘Clear White Light – Part 1’, recordings with backing from Brethren and psychedelic band Skip Bifferty as well as other collaborations alongside many solo performances.

Almost 30 years after Alan’s tragically early passing, ‘Singing A Song In The Morning Light’ is a thrilling addition to the body of work left behind by one of the all-time great British songwriters.

TRACK LISTING

DISC ONE
1 HERE I AM
2 CLICK CLOCK TICK TOCK
3 BANG IT ON THE BIG BASS DRUM
4 BETTER TOWN
5 I DON’T WANT TO LISTEN
6 LOOK IN MY FACE
7 BARNEY SWAYNE
8 ARTHUR McLEAN MORRISON JONES
9 CONVERSATION WITH A CHINESE CAT
10 SONG FOR A SLEEPING PRINCESS
11 WHERE IS THE LITTLE GIRL
12 LIKE I ALWAYS DO
13 SO HARD DOING IT EVERY DAY
14 SOMETIMES I WONDER
15 SOME OTHER TIME
16 I COULD NOT BELIEVE ALL THE GOOD THINGS
17 THE VILLAGE IDIOT
18 THIS LAND IS COLD
19 YOU PUT THE LAFF ON ME
20 SCOTCH EGG
21 LADY ELEANOR (Alan Hull with Brethren)
All tracks recorded 1967-1970, previously unreleased
 
DISC TWO
1 WINTER SONG
2 WINDY MILLER
3 HOW COME YOU KNOW ME
4 OVERSTRUNG AT 3 A.M.
5 STAY WITH YOU
6 RIVER
7 OPPOSITES
8 SOMEWHERE OUT THERE
9 LOVE LASTS FOREVER
10 JUSTANOTHERSADSONG
11 NEVER BE THE SAME FROM TODAY
12 STRANGE WORLD
13 SPAIN – 67
14 THE LONG WAIT
15 LITTLE THINGS
16 TAKE YOUR TIME
17 SCOTCH EGG BLUEBIRD PIE
18 PUB WITH NO TASTE
19 BUTTERFLY
20 SCARECROW SONG
21 THE UNIVERSE IS
22 THERE IS NOTHING BETWEEN YOU AND THIS SONG
23 WE CAN SWING TOGETHER (Alan Hull with Brethren)
All tracks recorded 1967-1970, previously unreleased except for 23, from the vinyl album Take Off Your Head And Listen, Rubber LP 001, released 1971
 
DISC THREE
1 SCHIZOID REVOLUTION (with Skip Bifferty)
2 THIS WE SHALL EXPLORE (with Skip Bifferty)
3 TOMORROW – IF I’M HUNGRY
4 WHERE IS MY SIXPENCE
5 ALRIGHT ON THE NIGHT
6 DINGLY DELL
7 DOCTOR OF LOVE
8 DO NOT BE AFRAID
9 SMILE
10 PICTURE A LITTLE GIRL
11 DON’T TRY TO TELL ME
12 FOR NO APPARENT REASON
13 GO THROW YOUR LIFE AWAY
14 IF I OWNED
15 FIRST DAY OF SPRING
16 LIKE A LEAF
17 I WILL REMEMBER (FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE)
18 PERSONAL HISTORY BOOK
19 FIND MY TIME
20 WHY WAS I BORN AT ALL
21 GO TO SLEEP
All tracks recorded 1967-1970, previously unreleased except for 1, 2 From the 2-CD set The Story of Skip Bifferty, Castle CMEDD 518, released 2003. 3 From the Lindisfarne CD Buried Treasures Volume 2, Virgin CDVM 9012, released 1992. 4 From the vinyl album Take Off Your Head And Listen, Rubber LP 001, released 1971. 5-10 Bonus tracks from the CD reissue of Lindisfarne album Happy Daze, Market Square MSMCD 148, released 2009
 
DISC FOUR
1 WE CAN SWING TOGETHER
2 OBIDIAH’S GRAVE
3 SHE
4 WILD FLOWER
5 I AM AND SO ARE YOU
6 297 WORDS
7 IT’S MUCH EASIER
8 DREAM YOUR LIFE AWAY
9 BERENICE PATRICIA
 
15 LITTLE THINGS
16 TAKE YOUR TIME
17 SCOTCH EGG BLUEBIRD PIE
18 PUB WITH NO TASTE
19 BUTTERFLY
20 SCARECROW SONG
21 THE UNIVERSE IS
22 THERE IS NOTHING BETWEEN YOU AND THIS SONG
23 WE CAN SWING TOGETHER (Alan Hull with Brethren) All tracks recorded 1967-1970, previously unreleased except for 23, from the vinyl album Take Off Your Head And Listen, Rubber LP 001,
 
10 GOLDEN APPLES
11 ALL THE WAY HOME
12 MARY McGHEE AT LAWS STORES
13 STORYBOOK OF MAN
14 BE WITH ME
15 SWINGING ALONG
16 WE ALL GET DRUNK NOW HUH?
17 NEVER MISS THE WATER
18 ACCIDENTAL TIME
19 WHAT YOU’RE DOING
20    WORKING
21 SCARECROW SONG (alternative version)
22 IT’S ALL OVER TOWN
23 WHEEL OF FORTUNE
24 CLEAR WHITE LIGHT
25 CLEAR WHITE LIGHT – PART 2