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Product Description
Product Description
Devised by Ewan MacColl, radio producer Charles Parker and Peggy Seeger, the Radio-Ballads set out to crystallise in words and music the experience of different ways of life - the words being supplied not by actors but by the real occupants of those lives and jobs, whether miners, fishermen, boxers or teenagers. The eight programmes were first broadcast by the BBC between 1958 and 1964. Immediately after The Ballad of John Axon was first broadcast, letters started arriving at the BBC requesting that the programme be repeated. The programme was described by Adrian Clancy in the Daily Mail as "ruthlessly realistic... it is the strongest radio profile of a hero I have ever heard". Tom Driberg, in an uncharacteristic congratulatory piece in the New Statesman, concluded, "A generation from now, listeners will surely still be moved by the recording of The Ballad of John Axon".
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Audio CD
I listened to this since the original LP release until my Dad's copy became so scratched and battered it was impossible to play on the turntable. The songs which I remember have since become absorbed into the folk psyche and I heard a couple at a festival years later, and thought "Yes I remember that!" I am so pleased to get a new pristine copy. The sound is great and I am very glad Topic are releasing all the radio ballards. I shall be purchasing all of these to see what I have missed.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By Mr. I. Sharp
Format:Audio CD
The ballad of john axon evokes the rich textures of the lives of the men of the railways in the 1950's. I remember hearing a recording of this in my childhood and the rhythms and images have stayed since. It shows the qualities and values that were required to "keep the engines rolling". The whimsical beauty of the "countryside at dawn" is contrasted with the tons of unstoppable steel crushing the lives of two men whilst celebrating their indomitable spirit. It invokes a time when there was a pride in the skills and abilities of people with real jobs and simpler and truer pleasures; even within the constraints of an unequal society. The words of the men, interspersed with the sounds of the engine sheds and celebrated with songs and music, creates a vibrant tapestry of an age lost. It is a masterful work from Ewan McColl, Charles Parker and Peggy Seeger who have ensured that the focus remains true to the men of the railways.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Audio CD
~Essential Listening for Social Historians and folk music lovers Wonderfully weaving sound effects, witness recordings (actuality) and folk music, this is a beautiful evocation of the lives of the railwaymen in the 1~ by Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger including such classics as "The Manchester Rambler" and "Song of the Iron Road", recorded in the studio along to tape recorders and record players for the "actuality" and
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
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The story of John Axon
Amazing representation of a steam engine travelling at various speeds. It's the story of a run away engine and the driver's afforts to stop it - to no avail and he is killed in... Read more
Published 7 months ago by 135853
5.0 out of 5 stars
The ballad of John Axon
Having bought the above CD ,I am completely satisfied with the product as my family are connected with the the Family of John Axon and it is a valuable piece to fit into my... Read more
Published on 11 Jan 2010 by K. Axon
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