Current page: Notice Board
Current page: Notice Board
Magna Carta's classic album Midnight Blue (originally released in 1982 on vinyl) will be re-released on cd in October 2010.
The album has been remastered and will contain bonus tracks. Midnight Blue will be released on AngelAir Records.
Linda Simpson's first solo cd has just been released.
The album Moving On has been released on Mama Dont Records and can be ordered here www.mamadont.co.uk. [opens in a new window].
Linda writes about Making the CD
I’ve been working on this whole concept now for almost two years and it has changed considerably over that time.
My first idea was to have a band on board and take them down to London, playing gigs along the way but, as soon as I started living on the boat, I realised that that was going to be a no-no. .. not enough space.
So, a major re-think later, the plan is to try to open venues and arrange events for acoustic musicians. It all sounds like great fun, but it’s not possible to live on fresh air, and so I had to find some way of earning money at the same time.
There are a couple of other ideas, that might come into play as this project goes forward, but the most obvious thing to do is to sell music at these events. To that end I have put together a CD of my own material, some from my time with Magna Carta and 4 new tracks recorded since I left the band.
To have a CD, you need a record company and so Mama Don’t Records was born.
Future CDs will feature the best musicians and writers that I come across as I work but there had to be a starting point and I don’t apologise for using my own material as I need to lift my own profile and let people know that I’m doing this as a musician, for musicians.
It had to be mastered before it could go into production and so I got in touch with Digital Audio in Skipton. They had done a few CDs for us and the quality could not be faulted and so I felt confident of a good result.
The art work can be a massive headache. I had no idea what I wanted – other than it had to be fun, so I asked Walter Goyen if he could help me. I don’t know where he finds his patience but he said yes and came up with a great idea. We put the lyrics in and I had the idea of a booklet that could be reversed and become a hand-out so that the CD and the project could advertise each other. Emails – so many emails, poor Walter was flooded with them, but eventually it all started to come together.
A trip to Skipton sorted out the mastering but ‘Only Road Home’ wasn’t sitting properly. I had chosen the very first version that was ever recorded, as that was the one that had the impact on my Mum. I will never forget her sitting there, listening to the song. She had tears in her eyes and that was when I knew she understood why I lived for my music.
I asked Chris if we had any other versions that might fit the CD better and he found one that slotted in perfectly. He offered to sort it out and even went to Digital Audio to master it for me, which was very nice of him….but then he’s good at that sort of thing and I hope he enjoyed the process.
When everything was almost ready I received a list of ‘got to do this lot first’ … blimey it was quite a list and I thought I’d never get there but, eventually, all was in order and the CD was in production.
Two days ago it all paid off and the CDs arrived. For the first time I had in my hands a CD that was all mine. I don’t think it has sunk in yet.
Now I’m working on the web site to get a shop set up to sell them – I can’t live on fresh air and there’s still a long way to go…
Love, Linda Simpson
Chris Simpson and Nic Hall will embark on a South African tour in September and November 2010.
All tourdates are to be found at the Calendar.
The first Magna Carta LP will be released on cd by Repertoire Records shortly.
Please check out Repertoire Records' website [opens in a new window]. Here you can see all Magna Carta releases on the label and those of the many other artists and bands featured on Repertoire Records.
Below you can already read the new sleeve notes for the first album by the best rock journalist ever - Chris Welch (Ex-editor Melody Maker and books on Jimi Hendrix). Below are also Danny Thompson's original notes.
‘Magna Carta’, ‘This Is Magna Carta’ or ‘Times Of Change’ - whatever the title, this remains a splendid piece of work from one of Europe’s most popular acoustic music groups. Magna Carta was founded by singer, guitarist and composer Chris Simpson way back in 1969, when this debut album was first released on the Vertigo label. It features a range of beautiful compositions by Mr. Simpson, who was joined in his endeavours by Lyell Tranter (guitar, vocals) and Glen Stuart (vocals) whose sensitive vocal harmonies and gentle guitar rhythms help establish a refreshingly romantic tone.
Melody Maker once described Magna Carta as ‘The ultimate English folk rock outfit’. When you listen to such songs as ‘Times Of Change’, ‘Mid Winter’ and Shades of Grey’, you can understand how they gained such rapid public and critical acclaim and the praise of fellow musicians. The group made many more albums over the decades to come, but this is where it all began.
Chris Simpson is a remarkable man with a life time of experience. He had already enjoyed many adventures even before he’d embarked on his career in music.
Born Christopher John Simpson in Harrogate (July 13th, 1942), he grew up in the Yorkshire Dales. He resided in London for many years during the heyday of Magna Carta and has since lived and worked abroad from South Africa to the Middle East, before returning to his beloved English countryside.
Before Simpson embarked on the road as a songwriter with Magna Carta, he had quite a few unusual ‘day jobs’, including working as a post mortem assistant - which involved some indescribably grisly activities later commemorated in his song ‘The Sad Fate Of Francis Alabadalejo’. He also worked as a traffic engineer and even gained a degree in theology and qualified to become a Church of England priest.
Explains Chris: “I got my degree, but the guitar and music pulled me in a different direction.” Inspired by his favourite pop artists, from Elvis to Paul Simon, he began recording as a solo artist, often under different names and for a variety of labels. His first break came when met bandleader Cyril Stapleton, who organised a talent search with Geoffrey Everett, the head of Radio Luxembourg. One of the groups they found was The Chosen Few from Newcastle, with Alan Hull, who was later the singer with Lindisfarne. Chris: “I was singing with a guy called Forbes Bainbridge. Because of the success of Peter & Gordon, we became Chris & Forbes and along with The Chosen Few, we won the contest.”
Chris & Forbes did two singles for Fontana, then in 1966 Simpson signed to Decca and released a single ‘Virgin Sunrise’, under the name of Christopher Colt. It was time for another name change when his latest outfit was booked to support Cream at Sussex University. Chris: “We were called The Paul Stewart Movement and arrived in a furniture van with our Vox AC 30 amps only to find huge Marshall Stacks and a double drum kit set up on stage. I was told it belonged to some outfit called Cream. Their totally stoned roadie came over and asked us if we had any spare guitar picks we could lend to Eric Clapton. I gave him a handful of picks and he said ‘Thanks man.’ Then Clapton came over and he looked great in his long sideburns, just like he did on the John Mayall Bluesbreakers album cover. Cream was wonderful - but I never met Eric again!”
‘Paul Stewart’ went the way of ‘Christopher Colt’ and with so much heavy rock group competition, the world of folk music beckoned. Chris Simpson was keen to find the right environment to develop as a singer/songwriter.
He formed Magna Carta in May 10, 1969, with himself on guitar, vocals, harmonica, supported by Lyell Tranter (guitar, vocals), a classically trained musician from Australia. “Lyell came to a party in my Hampstead flat and he noticed a guitar in the corner. I wasn’t there at the time, but he left his name and address. He later came round to see me and it turned out he could read music. He was also a beautiful guitar player and I was an Elvis inspired rocker who also loved the Carter family! So there were a whole lot of things going on. I was quite a good rhythm player and I’d started to write a lot of songs. So it all started with Lyell coming round to play my stuff. Then Mary, my girlfriend at the time, started singing with us. She was like an up market Sandie Shaw.”
Chris feels the true origins of the group came when he and Lyell visited the London folk venue Les Cousins one night and were blown away by a bill that included the Strawbs, Mike Chapman and Ralph McTell. “I listened to all these artists and I just crept out and didn’t play a note. But that all changed later when we formed Magna Carta. We were different from any other group around, but we were essentially English, with a lot of American feeling.”
Simpson recalls they famously signed their record deal on the back of a beer mat in a pub. “An A&R man from Mercury Records called Brian Shepherd came to hear us. I had known him as a tape operator at Radio Luxembourg and he wanted to hear some of our stuff.”
Folk rock was booming with acts like Donovan and Pentangle. “We played my songs for Brian and at the end of the session he said ‘I think we’ve got a deal.’ I picked up a beer mat in the pub during a break and said ‘Would you sign this?’ Sadly, I’ve lost the beer mat since, but he signed it and I said ‘That constitutes a contract’.”
After a false start with the Johnny Arthy orchestra backing some tracks, they began work on their debut album in the Phonogram studio. It was then singer Glen Stuart joined the putative group to replace Mary. Simpson: “Mary looked gorgeous, but did tend to sing under the note. So Mary left and we got in Glen Stuart, who was always an uneasy bedfellow in musical terms.
Lyell and myself had advertised in Melody Maker for another member to complete the group and that’s how we ended up with Glen. This curly headed thing came through the door, wearing a sheepskin coat and smelling strongly of patchouli oil.”
The leader had wanted to call the group Village, but Brian Shepherd thought there was a blues band with the same name. They were advised to think up some more titles in the vein of Procol Harum and Jethro Tull. Ironically Simpson came up with ‘Genesis’, because of his background in theology. But their producer complained: ‘Genesis? Too Biblical.’ (Brian later became head of EMI).
Magna Carta was the next name on Chris’ list and this seemed acceptable, but now confesses: “I can’t stand the bloody name, actually. But we got stuck with Magna Carta!”
The production was somewhat rushed, with cries of ‘Next!’ from the control box echoing around the studio after each ‘take’. Nevertheless, the band’s debut is full of distinctive performances and they were pleased to obtain the services of bassist Danny Thompson from Pentangle. “Danny came along and really liked what we were doing. To be honest, I don’t really listen to this album much today, as the production is non-existent. But there are some good songs like ‘Mid Winter’ that I like. ‘Romeo Jack’ was about a rake - who was me. ‘The Spinning Wheels Of Time’ was a tragedy, because it could have been a hit single, but it wasn’t.”
In the years that followed, Magna Carta released many more fine albums, including ‘Songs From Wasties Orchard’ (1971), that has been acclaimed by critics as their ‘magnum opus’. Simpson: “By the time we got to ‘Wasties Orchard’, Lyell had gone back to Australia and the great Davey Johnstone came in.”
This fine young guitarist had played on previous album ‘Seasons’ and was invited to record the whole of ‘Songs From Wasties Orchard’ with the group. Chris recalls that he first he saw Davey Johnstone in action was while performing ‘12 Street Rag’ on a mandolin upside down and behind his head on a wet morning at the Cambridge Folk Festival. “He was one helluva dude! He is one of the greatest musicians I have ever known.”
After Davey Johnstone made his contribution to ‘Wasties’ and ‘In Concert’ (1971), he left Magna Carta to forge a career with Elton John and Kiki Dee. The band continued with various personnel changes over the years and carried on rocking into the Eighties, when Chris Simpson teamed up with singer Linda Taylor, who performed on his solo album ‘Listen To The Man’. The couple subsequently travelled to the Middle East to run a music club. Says Chris: “By 1981, just when I thought it was all over, I was invited to play in the Middle East if I could bring a girl singer with me. I knew Linda Taylor, who had been singing on sessions with us. Suddenly it changed from being a rock band, to going back to where we started with a lady singer.”
By 1986 Chris and Linda were back in the UK reviving Magna Carta. In 1988 they released ‘One To One’, and then in 1990 Chris and Linda married and continued the group as a duo, expanding the line up as necessary for various tours. In 2002 a new Magna Carta album ‘Seasons In The Tide’ was released.
In 2009 Magna Carta played a farewell concert in Holland, but the name is still alive and in 2010 Chris Simpson was planning a trip to South Africa. Looking back, was Chris satisfied with Magna Carta’s career? “Oh yes, I was satisfied with what we achieved. Were we robbed and ripped off along the way? Yes we were. But there was so much great music created and there is more that we can do. When I finally stop playing and can’t play anymore I’ll concentrate on writing books. I’ve written two already!” CHRIS WELCH, London, England, May 2010
Further Reading: ‘The Complete Works Of Magna Carta’ (Chris Simpson)
Original Sleeve Notes to the 1969 album release
Producer: Brian Shepherd Engineer: Dave Forde String arrangements: Spike Heatley (Danny’s friend and enemy) Percussion: Tony Carr and Frank Hodges Flute: Harold McNair And our special thanks to Danny Thompson for not only playing great bass but actually writing the sleeve notes on time. Sleeve Design: Linda Glover Photography: Peter Knab
The History
The Magna Carta was signed by Mercury Records on the 3rd May 1968. Historical fact, right? Which proved to be a shrewd move for both parties, another historical fact, right?
Since the group have been working like maniacs all over the country and through the official folk grape-vine, I have heard they are going down a bomb, so much so that many clubs are booking them five months in advance by reputation alone.
The group:
Chris Simpson: Has a unique gift for lyrics which is something I have always envied. Chris writes all the group’s material, plays steel-string, sings and is a Bachelor of Divinity. Lyell Tranter: Hooray Australian who besides coming over here and nicking our birds plays very sensitive and complimentary lines throughout; musician of the group. Glen Stuart: Associated with the entertainment business from the age of three, covering every aspect from singing to acting (Avengers, Z Cars). His job in the group is creating harmony, in more ways than one. Listen.
The numbers:
As this is only a 12” record there isn’t enough space to mention all the songs but there are a few I particularly like.
Romeo Jack: Simple ballad about a rake who exhausted himself before the age of 25, Simpson perhaps; would you believe Tranter? Nice flute by Harold.
Sea and Sand: Written by Chris on an island called Pabay near Skye. The lyrics catch the tranquillity and remoteness that we sometimes dream about. All our thanks to Len and Margaret Whatley for letting him stay there and write this.
The Sad Fate Of Francis Alabadalejo: One I could never pronounce and Spike Heatley couldn’t do any better. True story from Chris’s time as a Post Mortem assistant, which hits me hard as I had a similar gig in a hospital. Not to be heard by persons under the age of sixteen! Hammer Films please note.
Mid Winter: The group’s first single (c/w Spinning Wheels Of Time*) Refections of a Northern winter. Note consistency of Lyell’s harmonics. Young guitarists please listen and practice for two hours.
I Am No More: Powerful song about the Industrial Revolution which produced great prosperity but also great misery. This song is an indictment of Industry and its soul destroying world.
Daughter, Daughter, Old John Parker and Emily Thru’ The Window Pane: These could be the sister, father and mother of Romeo Jack. The first is condemnation of the nouveau-riche. The other two about the simplicity and peace of rural life and the dignity of elderly people.
Times Of Change: The tearing down of things we love to be replaced by nothing, or worse, plastic sugar boxes. Unfortunately people suffer in silence but we’re with you John Betjeman.
Seven O’clock Hymn: The group-finishing number on all their gigs. A lovely Simpson poem which you can only fully appreciate in the early hours of morning, which for us is always. A song with that knock-out dawn feeling.
“Yeah, you know it’s only a 12” cover but I had to mention all, alright?”
The Record:
This is the group’s first LP, obviously not the last. The professional quality of the arrangements and harmonies make it seem as though the group had been together for years. In fact Glen joined the group on the first day of recording. I personally enjoyed every minute of the sessions and would like to wish them luck with this their first album. You can help by buying it but if you’ve read this far, you must have bought it already. Danny Thompson
* Influenced by the Mystic writings of St.John and the book of Revelations.
A message from Linda
You may or may not know that, since leaving Magna Carta, I have been working towards putting together a musical project.
This weekend I will be setting off, on my narrow boat, to get out there and do all I can to make it happen.
The website is www.mamadont.co.uk. [opens in a new window].
If you're interested in where I am, and what I'm doing, there is a blog attached.
Love,
Linda, May 14th, 2010.
Chris Simpson writes
For some time now you must have all thought I was either well and truly retired; asleep or dead. Not really the case but I do realise that it has been quiet for some time now.
It took a long time for the multiple effects of the Carré to sink in. Like was that really the end? If so I then had to reflect on the title of a double anthology of ours,’Where to Now’, so very apt as it turns out.
Some of me wanted to say goodbye to the road forever and get down to the serious business of getting all those wonderful stories down on paper, then hey-ho, Linda, Matt and I performed again at the Canterbury Festival in Ontario, Canada. It was a lovely concert(s) and I think the three of us enjoyed doing it and I became seriously hooked on maple syrup. Then came South Africa.
Through the Summer, Tom (Hoy) and I worked on a live set for the shows. He was, as ever, professional, and spared no efforts in getting things tight. It had been a 15 year lay-off for him and the road does not get any easier.
Every Wednesday we’d meet up at his cottage near to the Bridge at Knaresborough town, quite often with the world’s most famous black Labrador in tow, as he was staying with Cathy and I whilst Linda awaited completion on her boat, which I may tell you is one lovely piece of kit. Tom always made sure he had a supply of ‘what Labradors like best’ (anything) and one afternoon it was hot in the study up under the roof, we were singing harmonies and Harvey howled in either unison or protest, we could never figure which, but I suspect the latter.
I should add that I have loved boats since I read my first Arthur Ransome book and bought an old Narrowboat and re-christened it ‘Seasons.’ It is on an exquisite mooring on the edge of the dales, at East Marton near Skipton, and Ivan and I sailed her 105 miles across the North Of England, West to East. We love her and she will be for hire in the Summer to a limited clientele.
It was then some 10,000 miles to Jo’burg and from then onwards through the wonderful South African panoramas from concert to concert, many of them sold out. It began to feel like a well oiled machine. Things happened, as they so often do. The very first gig, Simpson has no voice - what do you mean, thank the Lord for that - it was laryngitis. Then Tom got himself a chest infection that dogged him through most of the tour. But it was wonderful. Wild elephants up in the Kruger Park to start with then tame elephants on the way down the garden Coast.
Stunning vistas and everywhere kindhearted people. Suddenly it was the long haul home and two shattered guys. Wonderful to be met in at Manchester, and then the sleep to end all sleeps. Tom at least proved to himself it could be done. And it was. But the road takes no prisoners and he knew his commitments at home vetoed going out again. Pity. He was damn good.
Just time to fill my lungs with the heady scents of Autumn and find that Cathy had done wonderful things to the boat, and we were off again to Australia via Singapore. Wonderful,- and to meet up with old friend Tony Clifford from Abu Dhabi, and his Chinese wife, Jo. Around the harbour in a Junk, a sobering look at the site of Changi jail, then farewell but not before we’d had a night in the Raffles Hotel and I indulged my passion for oysters up to and beyond overkill.
Australia. The Great Barrier Reef; the Rain Forest and in the footsteps of one of the greatest mariners; sailors and cartographers ever, a Yorkshireman - Captain Cook. Eddie n’ Val - wonderful hosts - and fishing and soaking in a land that you can fit Europe into and have space left over.
Home, and Manchester in the Winter. Not so much as a culture shock more of a cold shower..
Oh, but I hate beyond belief some aspects of our modern world. Political Correctness for one, and Health and bloody Safety for another. Do you know that when you get to Manchester Airport, the swing doors advise you you are in a Health and Safety Zone and then apart from breathing ( and they’ll soon tax. that) you hit a list of, ‘can’t do…must not do,’ etc., etc. Home. Bed. Oblivion.
And on through Christmas. I was saddened to see just how much my mother had ‘failed’ but the brain was still as sharp as a razor and she revelled in the stories of our travels. Then came a fall….then another one and she was confined to bed. Dark winter days, and along with the rolling tide of events, I wonder again, so many times,’where to now’?
Suffice it to say, I sat sometimes in the winter twilight, holding Mum’s hand and just wondering where she was travelling. It was for sure some kind of journey. Sister Jane holding up the superstructure; carers and helpers, but it was clear it was time to move on.
She did on January 17th-18th 2010.
I had written some lines for her a few days before and include them in this letter only because so many people have asked me to. A funeral it was not. IT was a celebration of a magnificent life.
Ultimately you reel from the shock and things become a blur, but that is Nature’s way - and God’s way, one and the same thing - of not letting you take it on the chin at once. Days when suddenly a favourite piece of music, the way the winter sun shone down through Cathy’s apple tree onto the pond, a fragrance somewhere, as scents and smells do, sparking off a memory picture as sharp etched as glass. 60 years ago, and mother snoozing over her embroidery in the end room of the dales longhouse, and outside the scent of stocks and sweetpeas heavy on the slow moving evening breeze.. The battery radio and the voice of Bing Crosby ‘those far away places with the strange sounding names …calling… calling me.’ They did. And I have been out there ever since.
So we come to now. Spring around the corner, the upthrust of growing that, in my book, confounds the sceptic.
Suddenly I am being offered record deals. Linda is going great guns on her project for young hopefuls. Harvey is slightly winded, as the Captain, at the speed in which they (Linda and Tony) are travelling.
I have sorted out my office; started to push my songs and taken on board Nic Hall, a fantastic young guy, with a fair number of CD’s behind him, and a fine stage performer.
We are doing the Harrogate Fringe Festival in July, Ontario, Canada again; South Africa in September, Spain and China then Christmas. Somehow I have to slide the books in between.
Watch out for Angel - Air. They sound good and want an MC double with two albums you have not heard…
Mails full of sad Dutch folk wondering where THEIR band went. Worry not. It is but around the corner. Interested…. The road winds where it will…
Love,
Chris.
A message from Chris
My Mum, Alice Mary Simpson, the fountainhead of Magna Carta music, died last night at 10.30.
She was 98 years old and smarter than all of us put together.
A true star in the firmament, she will shine for evermore.
All of you who love the music, I think I was but a poor replica of the original.
With her there won't be 'tears in heaven'- only joy.
All of you - please wish her well on her journey to the stars.
I owe her so much - not least in putting up with her wayward son.
My love,
Chris, January 19th, 2010.
Links You can find other websites on Magna Carta in the Links section.
MAGNA CARTA'S Farewell Concert at the Carré, Amsterdam, May 11, 2009 You can see photographs of the Carré concert here [opens in a new window].
You can read what Chris, Linda and Matt wrote about the farewell concert at the Carré in 2009
Articles You can read various articles on Magna Carta in the Articles section (updated).
Notice Board for 2009
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