{"title":"Robb Johnson","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"pennypot-lane","title":"Pennypot Lane","description":"\u003cp\u003eJanuary 2024 looked endless; I needed to do some recording to cheer myself up. The studio I usually use was booked all month, but before the disasters of Brexit and Covid I’d met pianist Yves Meerschaut in Gent, and he’d shown me his recording studio, Room 13, and that did have a couple of days free in January…\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI decided to make a record of old songs that other people have liked, and \/ or that I play differently now, and \/ or that haven’t appeared on vinyl before. So, here, there’s: \u003ci\u003ePennypot Lane\u003c\/i\u003e, a fox song that people like, “Winter Turns to Spring” that was Tony Benn’s favourite song, “The Blue Sea Says Yes”, a song about how the sea welcomes us all, heroic or fragile, equally in our mortality (something like that anyway) , that I had forgotten about till people started saying how much they liked it, “More Than Enough”, that Roy Bailey and Martin Simpson have kindly rescued from the obscurity of its previous appearance on a CD in 1992, “Babbecombe at the Closing of the Day”, a song about going to Babbecombe model village, “At the Siege of Madrid” which quite a few people like, but is one of those songs that always somehow eludes a definitive performance, “A True History of Couscous”, a song I like that is more or a less fictionalized autobiography, and lastly.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“You Don’t Have to Say Goodbye”. This is a song from my first CD; Thames Valley folk-stalwart Terry Silver used to enjoy performing it so that afterwards he could shock audiences who’d been happily singing along to it by revealing it had been written by that dreadful lefty Robb Johnson, It’s also, more recently, a song our son Arvin likes very much too, and he graces this version with his characteristically modest tasteful Spanish guitar playing. He also nagged me into doing the artwork for the cover.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThree of these songs are lucky enough to have Yves’s breathtaking, exquisite piano playing embellishing them, and Sian Allen gifts “Madrid” some beautiful trumpet accompaniment too. But primarily, for good or ill, it’s mainly me with an acoustic guitar. Robb Johnson, May 24.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Irregular Records","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50445339197771,"sku":"2203695","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50445338444107,"sku":"2203694","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/6aee8dd4-0ef4-baa3-fec6-ee4b90081ea9_e411e080_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727036675"},{"product_id":"tony-skinner-s-lad-blue-light-on-a-red-brick-wall","title":"Tony Skinner's Lad \/ Blue Light on a Red Brick Wall","description":"\u003cp\u003eLast year Robb Johnson's cheery tribute to veteran MP Dennis Skinner, \u003ci\u003eTony Skinner's Lad\u003c\/i\u003e, topped the download chart for a week, staying above Kylie Minogue and the new Bruce Springsteen single too. The song has Dennis Skinner's approval, and its success gathered national media interest. B side \u003ci\u003eRed Light on a Red Brick Wall\u003c\/i\u003e is a moody northern noir, that ought to be the soundtrack for a film starring Maxine Peake that no-one's yet thought of making. . Robb is backed by John Forrester on double bass, Arvin Johnson on drums and the sublime Fae Simon on vocals. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Irregular Records","offers":[{"title":"Red | 7\"","offer_id":50504978170187,"sku":"1115408","price":8.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/eb6e6efe-d5b3-4413-8028-539477bf2768_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727812225"},{"product_id":"your-affectionate-son","title":"Your Affectionate Son","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn 2019, Robb was commissioned by Hartlepool Folk Festival to write a set of songs for their featured concert \u003ci\u003eYour Affectionate Son\u003c\/i\u003e. The concert was based upon a collection of First World War letters home written by Hartlepool resident Private George Gower. Performed by Damien Barber, Eliza Carthy, Luke Daniels, John Hegley, The Durham Miners’ Association Brass Band, Robb, Jack Worth, Jackie Oates, Mike Wilson \u0026amp; the Wilsons, the evening was a resounding triumph. Although it was not possible to record fully the event, the festival were very happy when Robb decided to record the songs that he had written. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the concert programme, Robb wrote: “When I first read through these letters, I wasn’t sure what I could do with them. There’s George, in the middle of the most cataclysmic conflict in Europe in recent history \u0026amp; all he seems to worry about is the price of eggs. It was only when the letters stopped that I realised that George’s story isn’t contained at all in the cheerful chat, but in what George doesn’t say.” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGeorge doesn’t write about what happened to his regiment at Poelkappelle, doesn’t write about the gas attack at Ypres that killed him 20 years later, and doesn’t write about his sexuality. The songs use George’s words, corroborated by some contemporary documents and background research, and George’s silences, to tell the story of one particular everyman’s experience of the War To End All Wars. The songs reflect upon the processes of historical change, \u0026amp; for all those awful silences. the songs are about how we love each other, nonetheless. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRather than attempt to recreate the instrumentation of the concert how do you record a brass band during a pandemic anyway? – Robb decided to record this album live in the studio, accompanied only by the breathtakingly beautiful piano accompaniment of Jenny Carr, and let the songs speak for themselves. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Irregular Records","offers":[{"title":"Black | LP","offer_id":50505233105227,"sku":"1132012","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/a660d76b-44f6-413b-87de-677847ef5028_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727813750"},{"product_id":"minimum-wages","title":"Minimum Wages","description":"\u003cp\u003e Possibly the most accessible “folkish” album Robb has released this century, Minimum Wages is an album of acoustic guitar-based songs, with guest musicians adding some very lovely deft acoustic embellishments too. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe album features songs about the 2020 Tolpuddle Festival, Hartlepool ASDA, the battle of Orgreave, Robb’s mum’s care worker, Robb’s bolshie great-aunt Gladys, the state of the nation, foxes, love - \u003ci\u003eMy Quiet Flame\u003c\/i\u003e surely one of Robb’s finest straightforward no-nonsense love songs - and friendship. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBoff Whalley, Fae Simon and John Forrester add beautiful vocal harmonies, Jude Abbott provides trumpet \/ flugelhorn magic, Jason Pegg on accordion and Jenny Carr on piano add some more perfect moments, Ali Gavan contributes supporting tasteful samples. The cover photo is of Lorraine Tillbrook at last year’s Tolpuddle Festival, you can hear her leading the procession of 6 local key workers, at the end of the first track \u003ci\u003eFiddler in the Rain.\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Irregular Records","offers":[{"title":"Black | LP","offer_id":50505234776395,"sku":"1132013","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/a21bc67e-7861-4118-b037-c52d43470d3d_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727813775"},{"product_id":"minimum-wages-bodger-my-part-in-his-downfall","title":"Minimum Wages \/ Bodger: My Part In His Downfall","description":"\u003cp\u003eLast year Robb released the vinyl-only album \u003ci\u003eMinimum Wages\u003c\/i\u003e, 9 songs performed on acoustic guitar, with guest appearances from Boff Whalley, Fae Simon \u0026amp; John Forrester on vocals, Jude Abbott on brass, Jason Pegg on accordion \u0026amp; Jenny Carr on piano. The album was very well-received; “a timeless album for the times” (****RNR), Folk Radio UK named it as one of their top 10 albums of the year, \u0026amp; Ian Anderson said it would have been one of Podwireless’s CDs of the year – if it had been on CD. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe album has its CD release as part of a double album with \u003ci\u003eBodger: My Part In His Downfall\u003c\/i\u003e, a collection of 20 songs chronicling the events of the last three years – “the worst of possible times to have the worst of governments too.” There are voice \u0026amp; acoustic guitar based tracks, 2 ukulele songs, \u0026amp; various contributions from Irregulars Sian Allen (trumpet), John Forrester (bass), Ali Gavan (drums), Arvin Johnson (drums), Linze Maesterosa (clarinet), Fae Simon (b\/vox, lead vocal on track 190, \u0026amp; from Irregular Records recording artiste \u0026amp; award-winning poet Roger Stevens (piano). The recording of the album’s last track “Goodbye” was finished on July 6th - \u0026amp; the following day the Prime Minister resigned. Irregular Records decided to release the album to celebrate the departure of this most murderously lazy, corrupt, mendacious \u0026amp; incompetent of Prime Ministers. The double album includes a 12 page booklet with notes for all the songs.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Irregular Records","offers":[{"title":"CD | x2","offer_id":50508205261131,"sku":"1169818","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/840cb342-3f7e-4f72-b453-6c5657edffe5_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727857021"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/robb-johnson.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}