Ivor Cutler
Ivor Cutler at 90 – BBC Sounds
A celebration of the 90th anniversary of poet, humourist and absurdist Ivor Cutler.
The deceptively quiet wordsmith was born on 15th January 1923 near the Rangers ground at Ibrox Park in Glasgow. “I have a harmonium and it’s going to explode in two minutes”, were the opening words spoken on BBC Radio 1’s Andy Kershaw Show in 1980 by a gentle voiced Scotsman called Ivor Cutler.
Championed by everyone from the Beatles to Billy Connolly, Ivor Cutler was a poet, humourist and absurdist whose appearances on BBC radio and TV span over 5 decades. As well as producing a vast body of records, books and plays, Ivor was a notable eccentric, often seen cycling around London in plus fours, handing out homemade stickers and badges to strangers.
To mark what would have been Ivor’s 90th birthday in 2013, BBC Radio 4 held a ‘party’, to celebrate his life and BBC archive in particular, with a full house, with performers, fans, collaborators and even his long-term partner, Phyllis King, introducing their favourite poems, songs and memories of Ivor. Weirdness from the archives, pleasure for fans, and a singular introduction to those encountering him for the very first time. Highlights include Bramwell and King re-enacting a morse code performance of “The Little Black Buzzer”. Presenter David Bramwell is a writer and musician. He is the founder of the “Catalyst Club”; a place for enthusiasts to speak on any subject close to their heart. Ivor Cutler is a subject close to his, having kept correspondence with him in the 1980’s.
Ivor died aged 83 in 2006. Producer: Sara Jane Hall First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2013
Listen to the broadcast at: Archive on 4 – Ivor Cutler at 90 – BBC Sounds
Karine Polwart Announces New Album: Scottish Songbook
Karine Polwart announces her new album ‘Scottish Songbook’. Listen to the latest single, her version of ‘Women Of The World’ by Ivor Cutler.
Karine Polwart today announces her forthcoming new album ‘Scottish Songbook’, due for release on August 2, 2019 through Hegri Music. The follow-up to her acclaimed 2018 album ‘Laws Of Motion’ (reviewed here) – which drew standout reviews, including Mojo Folk Album Of The Year – the new project captures multi-award winning songwriter and musician, theatre maker and published writer Polwart reimagining a clutch of tracks which span over sixty years of Scottish pop. Spawned from Karine’s much-praised 2018 Edinburgh International Festival live show of the same name, ‘Scottish Songbook’ draws together her interpretations of classic tracks by the likes of John Martyn, Chvrches, Strawberry Switchblade and Biffy Clyro. The album details arrive today alongside the latest single from the album, Polwart’s version of ‘Women Of The World’ by Ivor Cutler.
Karine – a six-time winner at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, including 2018 Folk Singer of The Year – will launch the album alongside a performance at this year’s Cambridge Folk Festival on August 2, 2019, ahead of a UK headline tour including London’s Barbican on November 27, 2019 (on sale March 15).
Recorded at Chem 19 (where the likes of Franz Ferdinand, King Creosote and Teenage Fanclub have all cut albums), Polwart’s ‘Scottish Songbook’ features regular bandmates Steven Polwart and Inge Thomson, alongside Graeme Smillie (bass and keys), Calum McIntyre (kit and percussion) and Louis Abbott of Admiral Fallow (vocals, guitar & percussion). The sextet’s hymnal interpretation of cult Scottish singer Cutler’s ‘Women Of The World’ arrives alongside the first of a series of blogs Karine will be publishing via Medium throughout the month, inspired by trailblazing Scottish women. The first – published today just ahead of International Women’s Day (March 8, 2019) – is Polwart’s tribute to Mary Brooksbank. You can read Part 1 here and Part 2 here. A much-revered political activist and songwriter, Brooksbank is the only woman to have her words inscribed alongside the likes of Robert Burns and Edwin Morgan – on the Writer’s Wall at the Scottish Parliament. Polwart first came across Brooksbank’s legacy in the late nineties when – seeking an outlet from the pressures of her work at Scottish Women’s Aid safeguarding the victims of domestic abuse – she attended an evening class called ‘Women and Folksong’.
Speaking about the interplay between Cutler’s simple, resonant lyrics to ‘Women Of The World’ and Brooksbank’s struggles for women’s rights, Polwart says; “The social and health care jobs most of us inhabited were precisely those that Mary fought for, at a time when infant mortality in Scotland’s industrial towns and cities was close to 20%, and the NHS and the Welfare State were but a dream. The act of singing in community with others in that draughty old school was physically, emotionally and politically restorative for all of us. For me, it is still. Indeed, it’s why I sing.”
Karine has collaborated with Scottish visual artist Jen Frankwell to create a series of multi-layered artworks to accompany ‘Scottish Songbook’. Created using a miscellany of items including postcards, pin badges, statistical data and textile remnants, Frankwell’s thoughtful montages cut to the heart of the issues surrounding community, dignity, purpose, mental health and hope that Polwart’s body of work continues to shine a light on.
Source: Karine Polwart Announces New Album: Scottish Songbook | Folk Radio