The Humblebums — Please Sing A Song For us: The Transatlantic Anth

Through this little folk band from Glasgow we can chart the rise of two of Britain’s most successful artists, Gerry Rafferty of Stealer’s Wheel and Baker Street fame and one of the world’s most successful comedians, Billy Connolly. The band were originally formed in 1965 by Connolly and Tam Harvey as a folk duo, playing around the club circuit in Glasgow throughout the mid-1960s until Rafferty joined them in time for the release of their debut album “First Collection of Merry Melodies”. Harvey left the band shortly after the release of their debut album, whilst Connolly and Rafferty went on to record two further albums as a duo. This set brings together all 3 albums across two discs, with the addition of a 1969 single release of “Saturday Round About Sunday” and “Bed of Mossy Green”, and a series of outtakes from the sessions for third album “Open Up The Door”.

Disc One begins with their debut album “First Collection of Merry Melodies”. Connolly, who was taught to play the banjo by Clive Palmer of Incredible String Band fame takes centre stage on this collection of folk and bluegrass inspired tunes. The album features the oddity “Saltcoats at the Fair”, a track that reminds me of a later comedy routine by Connolly concerning drunken Scottish folk singers. The highlight on this debut album release tend to be the ISB inspired numbers, most notably “Will You Follow Me”, “Little Blue Lady”, “Travel Away” and “Close Your Eyes”, although the whole album is pleasant enough, without ever breaking new ground.

Second album “New Humblebums” signifies a shift in the role of Rafferty who takes on greater vocal and song writing duties. This is evident from the opening track “Look Over the Hills and Far Away”. The sound is more accessible to a commercial audience. Rafferty’s material steps away from the folk of their debut into more contemporary pop territory, songs like “Rick Rack” have a definite Beatles influence. Connolly’s banjo infused folk remains, however there is more of an even split in the material between the two songwriters. The first CD is brought to a close by the single “Saturday Round About Sunday/Bed of Mossy Green” which is more typical of their debut album, both songs heavily influenced by The Byrds and Incredible String Band and sung by Connolly.

CD two opens with third album “Open Up The Door”. The first track “My Apartment” highlights the continuing development of Rafferty as a songwriter of some note.Whilst acoustic guitar still lies at the heart of the music, a series of other instruments add a lushness the production. Title track “Open Up the Door” is typical of Connolly’s output but sounds perhaps a little more polished than previous releases. You do however start to get a feel for where Rafferty was heading through songs like “All the Best People”, “Shoeshine Boy” and “Keep it To Yourself”. You can hear what is almost like two separate bands on this album, Connolly’s jaunty folk indiscriminately sits next to Rafferty’s pop sensibilities to create something that is diverse but still works. The final track on the album “My Singing Bird” works to highlight the change in direction taken by Rafferty as he heads off into the sun and on to greater pop success with Stealer’s Wheel and as a solo artist, whilst Connolly would take the comedy route, a role he was always born to play. The bonus tracks are interesting, “Half A Mile (Church Version) is interesting for its heavy use of a church organ as the main backing instrument, whilst Continental Song is an average Rafferty song, whilst Time which closes the CD is lovely folky reminder of Connolly’s talents as a musician.

This is a fascinating overview of the band’s history, and it really is nice to see their full output available in one complete set. The quality of the music is good without ever reaching the levels of some of their peers, however the most interesting thing here is hearing Gerry Rafferty’s shift from bit part player on the debut album, to key songwriter and vocalist by their third album. Those who like The Humblebums will already know all of this , but those with an interest in folk who have yet to take the plunge with find this an interesting collection, and a fascinating look at two celebrated figures in their formative years.