JEZ LOWE - THE BALLAD BEYOND – Tantobie Records - TTRCD 113 15 new songs from North East England singer songwriter Jez Lowe, his first new album for four years. Many of these songs were among more than SIXTY new compositions written by Jez between 2006 and 2014 for the award-winning BBC Radio Two series, THE RADIO BALLADS. Some are presented here as written for broadcast, while others have been further developed beyond their original Radio Ballads role. Also included here are songs unconnected with THE RADIO BALLADS, and are merely things that have been recently added to Jez’s concert repertoire. All titles are newly recorded at Anomaly Studio in Newcastle upon Tyne in 2014, with accompaniment from the members of Jez’s long-time band The Bad Pennies, along with some special guests who bring a new style of instrumentation to these songs. Jez has chosen to group the songs in themed sections, to reflect their varying origins. THE SONGS – PART ONE – “GREATS AND GOODS” 1 - THE LAZARUS DANCE – The album begins in a dream, the sort where all the dear-departed heroes, friends and legends come together for a knees-up and a sing-song, Geordie-Irish style. Like many of the songs here, this one began its life under the Radio Ballads umbrella, before being given a new spirit for this collection. 2 - TETHER’S END – A cliché from a classic blues song leads off into a protest song for modern political cynics everywhere. 3 - THE PITMEN POETS – Many of North East England’s celebrated mining ballads were written by the miners themselves, and this salute to them was written for the occasional musical combo that shares this name, and of which Jez is a member. PART TWO – “TRACKS AND FIELDS” 4 - BERLIN – From the BBC Ballad of The Olympics series, and the first of two that harks back to the 1936 games. 5 - JESSE OWENS SHOES – The hero of 1936, with four gold medals for the USA, started life as a child working in a shoemaker’s shop in Ohio, and was later the first athlete to be sponsored by Adidas running shoes. 6 - THE BALLAD OF DORANDO AND JOHNNY – Italy’s Pietri Dorando came first in the marathon at the 1908 London Olympics, but the gold went to Johnny Hayes of the USA, after an objection was lodged. Dorando remained the “people’s winner” and was much celebrated. Hayes faded into relative obscurity, until now. 7 - THE MORPETH OLYMPICS – A song commissioned by the Morpeth Gathering Music Festival in Northumberland, this celebrates the popular sports event of this name that ran from Victorian times until 1958, where crowds of up to 15,000 watched “boxing, wrestling and pedestrianism” by athletes from all around the world. PART THREE – “WRITES AND WRONGS” 8 - UNPROTECTED – From the 2006 Radio Ballad, “The Enemy Within”, which dealt with the curse of the AIDS virus. 9 - CANDLES – Inspired by boyhood memories that were brought into harsh focus half a century later. 10 - AUSTERITY ALPHABET – Another Radio Ballads song that has been re-written in an attempt to make a point beyond its original context. Updates may be forthcoming. PART FOUR – “BILLYS AND TOMMYS” 11 - THE TOWN HALL YARD – The BBC series The Ballad of the Great War is yet to be broadcast as this album is being recorded, so it isn’t clear whether or not these songs will be included in the final production. First up is this tribute to those who were cruelly branded deserters and cowards inspired by a visit to the courtyard of the Town Hall in Poperinge in Flanders, a hundred years later. 12 - THE WRONG BUS – It was apparently the idea of an officer on the Western Front called Winston Churchill to transport the troops to the trenches using a fleet of London buses, ferried across the channel especially for the task. 13 - NAMES – Confronted by the rows of anonymous white headstones at Tyne Cott cemetery near Ypres, this simple and somewhat indignant song was a spontaneous reaction in the drizzle of an Autumn day. PART FIVE – “BUFFS AND BLUES” 14 - BOTHER AT THE HOPPINS – Another re-working of a Radio Ballads song, this time from the 2006 Swings and Roundabouts programme, which brought back vivid memories of annual trips as a teenager, to the Tyneside fairground known as The Hoppins. 15 - LASS OF HEXHAMSHIRE – Finally, a tribute to the late Judy Dinning, a superlative singer from Hexham, Northumberland, whom I was lucky to have as a member of my band for many years. This is based on a well-known traditional song, to which I’ve adapted new lyrics. All songs by Jez Lowe, published by Lowe Life Music Produced and recorded by David de La Haye THE MUSICIANS - Jez Lowe – Vocals, guitar, mandolin, harmonica, cittern Andy May – Irish Pipes, Northumbrian Pipes, accordion Kate Bramley – Violin, vocals. David De La Haye – Electric bass Kari MacLeod – Violin Laura Bell – Soprano and alto saxophone Ian Thompson – Double Bass Rod Clements – Slide guitar Maggie Holland – 5-string banjo, vocals Christine Stockton – Vocals. Paul Stockton – Vocals Martin Douglas – Percussion