TalkAwhile - The Folk Corporation Forum

I couldn't add to the earlier topic, so apparently had to make a new one.
The Simon Nicol & Ric Sanders Greetings From Grolloo 2003 live album has arrived here in Zaandam NL! And indeed very pleased with how they look and sound. Sleevenotes are by Simon.
Its online visibility wont be big, yet, because I want to present the three Greetings From Grolloo albums (together, the Folk Grolloo Festival, 1 March 2003 - my first gig venture) as one whole - not as a 'box set', they are available seperately … but they ARE connected - in place, in time and in artwork.

So this one is here as of last week, and can be obtained (PayPal) at 15 Euro plus 9 Euro shipping worldwide (3.50 Euro shipping within Netherlands). However, shipping is considerably less per item when sent together with 1-2 additional. Should you want all three (or just two) I suggest to wait a bit. It saves some dosh. A direct bank transfer (IBAN) is possible too.

Interested: please email info@radzrecords.com. I don't know yet what shipping of all three would be, as I don't know the third album's weight (a double with booklet), but … shipping for two 1CD albums is also 9 Euro total ... I do know that.

The second Greetings From Grolloo album is currently being manufactured and is by Iain Matthews & Ad Vanderveen, with a guest appearance by Ric Sanders, and a sleevenote by Iain. I expect several boxes filled with 'em here 7 May.

The third 1 March 2003 album is a double, by Little Johnny England, and we're currently working on it. I aim for it to be ready 25 May, so it reaches the merch table at the 100th (!) Roots aan de Zaan gig in Zaandam (by the Conservatoire Folk Ensemble). Sleevenotes will be by PJ Wright and this one most likely has a 12-page (or so) booklet.
I am biased, but I think it's one helluva folkROCK album. And certainly a tribute to Gareth Turner, who shone. Mark Stevens (latterday LJE drummer, not on this, where Edd Frost drums) has done some wonders on the sound. It is a folkrock belter.

Anyway. In short, online visibility not big yet, a website will follow (summer, likely), my Discogs seller status is 'pending'. In the meantime I have an avalanche of ideas and material for future Radz Records albums. But first must try and actually sell of what I have and what's coming.

So - interested, see you at info@radzrecords.com :-)

Sounds fantastic, Koen.  I'm definitely interested, but will probably hold off till all three are avaiable to see the shipping costs.

Well done for seeing this through this far!

That absolutely does make sense. The CDs won't run away :-)

Fab - I think I'll probably do the same as Will. :)

Same as Will and David. Chapeau, Koen!

And another "pre=order" for all three.....brilliant news.
Thanks Koen.

The second one, is now here, fresh from the manufacturor.
Number three, the Little Johnny England double CD, will complete the set (completes the day's events, 1 March 2003).
Likely here by late May or early June!

Why image 2 and 3 end up so small, I don't know. You get the drift, I am not very tech.

Hi Koen. I guess the Little Johnny England CD isn't ready yet?

It is now. As of today!

So - you can order at info@radzrecords.com (I'll send a PayPal invoice), the Simon/Ric and Iain/Ad CDs are 15 Euro each, the Little Johnny England 2CD is 22 Euro, the latter has a 16-page booklet, it's very much a trio of albums (I contemplated, but opted against slipcasing them. I would personally file them quite apart from each other at the respective acts' sections in my CD collection).
Postage for all three worldwide is 11 Euro, payment via PayPal. Online visibility will eventually grow, I really waited for the trio of albums to be ready. Of course they can be ordered seperately, too, in which case postage is a little less.
I hear Ric, very pleased with the album, is mentioning the Simon/Ric CD in the Cropredy program. Or planning to, anyway!
Only 700 are made of the two single CDs, and 500 of the LJE double.
I'm very pleased with the result!

Thanks Koen!

Duly emailed my order a few minutes ago.

Thanks Koen!

My order went in today as well.
The collection hardly needs any endorsement. However, when I bumped into PJ a couple of weeks ago, he mentioned how very pleased he was with the LJE  album.

Thanks for the first 3-album-set orders! For completeness' sake, enclosed are the full covers and track lists all together.

Ric Sanders wrote the other day after receiving his copy: "It may have taken 21 years but it was worth the wait! I think it sounds fab & Si & I were on great form. Some of that stuff, like the Bach, I can’t play any more, but I’m practicing it again!".
Also, there is a good chance he'll give it a mention in the Cropredy programme.

A review of the Simon/Ric album courtesy of Marius Roeting has been posted here: https://www.newfolksounds.nl/simon-nicol-ric-sanders-greetings-from-grolloo/recensies/2024?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1A5Do3BsV6kVjet4qZch3yMUJaLlTmVXXpIyzfws7WeENbf2XfZYYhcH8_aem_ARXz5m9jUFpr2o8AgI_lab4Mh8Zrgt9AWLuCCxSfpkTcFYSEe2pqsZ5r25qhiW2XDPe4YQd-H4v058bWzn525FMC, and a (Google generated) translation is:

Simon Nicol formed a duo with Fairport Convention fiddler Dave Swarbrick for many years. Later in his career he also went out with his successor Ric Sanders, although less frequently and for a longer period of time. For that reason, this live recording of a concert on March 1, 2003 in Grolloo, Drenthe, is already a special event. Grolloo? That was the place of blues singer Harry Muskee and his Blizzards, right? Who once made a memorable Dutch blues rock record entitled Greetings from Grolloo . I like that hidden humor…
And if this recording is not only historical - as far as we know, the only existing one of the duo - it is also more than worthwhile, you're in the right place. You have to be quick, because the edition is only 700 pieces. But why Grolloo? At the time, that was the place from which Koen Hottentot managed a music club. And Hottentot is now the programmer of Roots aan de Zaan and now also 'record boss' of Radz Records. More about that in an article to be published later.
Back to the album. Of course you get a selection of well-known songs and tunes that the pair also plays/played with Fairport Convention, supplemented with a number of less frequently performed works. The duo clearly enjoys performing these stripped versions and sometimes these 'naked' versions are preferable to the studio versions with the entire formation. Take, for example, the beautifully and intimately performed "Hiring Fair", which is combined with Gershwin's "Summertime". The transition to the second part is difficult and somewhat forced, but the first part is to treat your ears.
This also applies to one of the most beautiful songs ever in the Nicol/Fairport repertoire, namely Huw Williams' "Rosemary's Ssister". Nicol is often underestimated as a guitarist. Strange, because former colleagues like to have him in their own formations (Hutching's Albion Band, Richard Thompson Band). He proves to be an excellent guitarist, who is great by not standing out too much. Listen to his excellent accompaniment with quickly successive jazzy chords in the Hot Club de France-like "Woodworm Swing", or Bach's double violin concerto by the classical composer, but excellently arranged a la folky by Sanders.
His skills are well known, but I was often bothered by his excessive use of reverb and other technical aids. He uses it very sparingly on these recordings, which I think benefits his playing. A good example can be found in the self-composed and excellently performed "Portmeiron", a dreamy melody that brightens up completely in this stripped version.
The almost 80-minute CD contains both the introductions and the false starts of the songs played. That just makes it more lively. "Greetings from Grolloo" is absolutely not yet another unnecessary 'yet another live recording' release, but a first valuable release in a new series. Unfortunately no images of this concert: that would have been the pinnacle…

So in short.
Website to follow at some stage.
Online visibility too. Review copies should be sent soon (again, I waited for this third one to be finalized).
Simon/Ric CD and Iain/Ad CD are 15 Euro each (700 each are made), the LJE 2CD is 22 Euro (includes 16-page booklet too; 500 each are made). Postage worldwide is 11 Euro for all three, also if you just buy 2. Postage for just 1 CD is 9 Euro. These rates (the latter especially) are madness these days (been a while since I sold CDs!) but there you go. If buying all 3 it's per item way more affordable. Within Netherlands postage is 3.70 Euro (be it for one or for all three, doesn't matter). Postage rates will go up soon here in NL though so I might have to raise that a notch.
Payment via PayPal or bank. Or at Roots aan de Zaan gigs, but the next is 19 Oct (The Magpies) so that's for those within NL with patience!

Contact: info@radzrecords.com

Package posted on 28th June in Netherlands, dropped through my letterbox this morning!
Truly excellent service from the postal services, and, of course huge thanks to Koen.

Mine landed too.  Sadly I will not be able to repeat my feat of getting all the artists involved to autograph them as I managed with my original double CD.

I am mightily impressed by how fast (some) arrive. When I buy from the UK it literally takes weeks. But it might differ per destination because some time ago something I sent also took weeks. Anyway, enjoy (I hope!).

Exciting!  I hope mine will arrive in the next day or two before I take off for for'n parts for a few weeks.  Looks as if my Pallas boxset will arrive after I've left, despite my pre-ordering it a while ago.

I am very happy (and somewhat relieved) to say that the Greetings From Grolloo albums will be for sale at Cropredy.
Talking Elephant has them. Initially a drag to try and get them sent (mental note: never use UPS again), DHL came to the rescue and swiftly transported the box safely into Norfolk.
They will be at Talking Elephant's stall, which if I am correct is not on the field, but in the village market.

Well, I'll be buying them then!

I hope there's some left on Saturday... maybe I should just order online

I did. They arrived very promptly.

Ric just emailed me to say:

Hi Koen - thanks for getting this all together. I love the CD with me & Si. I think the best live CDs are when you don’t know you’re being recorded! I’ve given it a big plug in the Crop prog. Please send me your phone number so I can say thanks in real time! Love, Ric x

We aim to have available at Cropredy (via Talking Elephant):
200x Simon/Ric
150x Iain/Ad
200x Little Johnny England

Should Talking Elephant sell out by the end of Cropredy, I will definetely still have left here in NL. So no immediate worry there!

They're well worth buying.

I've just ordered the Simon & Ric album

Tracks popped up on the US WBRS Radio - and presenter/compiler Andy Nagy wrote about it:

Founding member Simon Nicol, singer and guitarist, had had an acoustic duo off and on with original fiddler Dave Swarbrick, and there are several superb recorded testaments to that partnership. Much less known, at least for me it was a revelation, was the duo of Simon with Ric Sanders, who has played with Fairport since Swarb left, and previously had been with The Albion Band and The Soft Machine. Their set makes up the first album of the trilogy. The next is a duo with early Fairport singer Iain Matthews and Dutch singer and guitarist Ad Vanderveen (aka The Iain AdVenture!). And the final act that night was the blistering electric folk rock act Little Johnny England, who also have some direct connections with the band sometimes referred to as The Fairport Confusion! This final album is actually a double cd, covering the entirety of their two set closing performance.
All three cds are absolute treasures, recorded from the soundboard and released with full permission of the artists, who indeed wrote the liner notes for each. If you needed more than just my say-so, we fully demonstrate that, by hearing a pair of songs from each of them, finishing with an extended improvisation on the Gershwin classic “Summertime” preceded by Ralph McTell’s gorgeous ballad “The Hiring Fair.” Simon and Ric in top form, as indeed all involved are.

Just sayin'. As said, available at Cropredy (Talking Elephant) - a 2nd box is sent there this week. But also of course directly available via info@radzrecords.com … it's starting to pop up online here and there, too. I hear it eventually will be at the UK Amazon, too, but, erm, everyone earns least in that case … so rather buy direct be it from Radz Records or (and in the UK this absolutely makes more sense) Talking Elephant.