The FIFE REIVERS Very Rare Orig 1969 UK Mono Columbia Folk Psych LP Laing Family

	£		37
	$		49

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The Fife Reivers

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Very Rare original UK LP released on Columbia Records in 1969. 1st UK Mono pressing on the Black and Silver Columbia label, the sleeve is laminated on the front with flipbacks on the rear.

Matrix No's

Side One - XAX 3952-1

Side Two - XAX 3953-1

The folk music revival occurred, with the setting up of singers clubs throughout the British Isles, during the 1960's.
I started the Muiredge Folk Club, at the Buck and Hind Roadhouse in Fife Scotland, in 1967.
Many of the talented stars of the folk scene played gigs here.
The original Fife Reivers, (Jim Laing, Bill Howieson and Davie Parker ), were joined by Maureen Laing and were stars in their own right before opening the club.
Due to the contact with performers attending our club and the many musical agents we now had to deal with, we started working clubs and venues all over Britain.
Whilst performing at The Elbow room in Kirkcaldy, we heard a young duo from Edinburgh and invited them to visit us at our club. They came and did a twenty minute set, had a disagreement and one left. The other, namely Davey Johnstone, stayed in the club and became a Reiver by the end of the evening. Davey was a remarkably talented instrumentalist, who contributed greatly to our
new sound, on banjo, mandolin and guitar.
At this time Russell, my elder son, was showing great promise with a mandolin and was a competent guitarist. Davey encouraged Russell during his time with us and he, Russell, frequently played with The Reivers.
Bill Howieson left the folk scene during this period.
Our increased club circuits included The Triangle Folk Club in Edinburgh, Davey's home base. We were approached whilst playing there, by Dennis Milne, a talented double bass player, who asked if he could play with us as he liked the new music and thought that his talent could improve the sound. He played the second set with us, giving a richness to our music that was loved from then onwards, wherever we played.
Sadly, Dave Parker had to leave us, due to the conflict with his work commitments and our own increased musical workload. We did several tours of Britain including a successful London tour in 1969. On returning home to Fife we decided to concentrate on our music and to hand the club over to a small committee and the landlord of the Buck & Hind. We were then able to perform short tours as well as long summer tours.
During one such tour we played two gigs in Liverpool where Davey Johnstone had well connected friends on the folk and pop scene. Shortly after our return to Fife, he told us he was leaving the band. He joined several other folk singers for short periods before becoming lead guitarist for Elton John.
At this point, with a full diary of gigs, one debut for Grampian television and a further T.V. appearance and radio show already arranged, it was quit or rearrange.
Two days after Davey left, we played Dunfermline Folk Club with Russell (aged 11) replacing him, to great acclaim.
We then played everywhere as a family band with Dennis playing bass for a time.
Dave Campbell, a very talented folk musician singer songwriter based in London, took a tape recording of my music and some traditional songs, with only the family playing to Judith Piepe. She was a personality, friend of the stars, and ran a lodging house for musicians and theatrical people.
She circulated the music on the tape to a host of people in London including Long John Baldry who in turn passed it on to Don Paul record producer for EMI.
Don Paul expressed great interest in the music to Judith Piepe who set up a London tour incorporating our existing gig for the folk music programme on the B.B.C. and also a demo recording at EMI.
Don recorded several of my songs and chose to make a single with 'Dry Leaves' as the A side and 'Spring' as the B side, this did very well and led to our LP album, 'The Fife Reivers', which recorded at the EMI studios in Edinburgh at the end of 1969. Dennis joined us for the recordings, as did our drummer friend Jim Hughes.
From then on we played solely as a family group eventually including Kevin, our younger son, on occassional gigs, playing trumpet and ultimately on drums.
A second album was planned in late 1970 and waxings were taken of more new songs but problems arose within the family and this record was not completed and the band ceased to exist.
My personal favourite as a musical composition is 'Reverie' but the sentiments expressed in 'The Goldfish' lyrics have been with me all my life and must be therefore more part of me than anything else I have written.

TRACKS ARE :-

Side One

1 Spring
2 Santa Fe Trail
3 Caravan
4 Summer's End
5 51st Division Marches
6 The Goldfish

Side Two

1 Dragonfly
2 The Value of Your Person
3 Mason's Apron
4 The Ballad of The Black Tooth Crow
5 Dry Leaves
6 Reverie
7 Lark In The Morning

• Released on Columbia Records in 1969

• Catalogue Number SX 6371

• Record is in Vg + condition (due to some light scuff marks at the start of side one rest is Ex)

• Sleeve is in Vg + condition (some shelf wear and wear to opening edge)

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