Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Brown Ale Cowboys Play A Bit
2. Enter Captain Paralytic
3. Brum And A Giant Tortoise
4. These Are My Uncles
5. Nab 'Nited Song
6. The Rosy Cheeked Girls
7. The Upper Echelon
8. Bloody, Bloody, Bloody, Bloody
9. The Old Green Iron Lamp

Disc 2:

1. Egremont - Gateway To Obl
2. Mr. Fat Edgar
3. Horizontal Lil
4. Akroyd's Funeral
5. Captain Paralytic's Polka
6. The Pishenstein Waltz
7. Sonny's Pain
8. Manuel
9. PBI.NKD.NP.BAGA
10. Lochdale Ploughboy
11. BAC's Play A Bit More!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10338 in Music
• Released on: 2005-08-08
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: .25 pounds

Customer Reviews

Vintage but slightly corked
Mike Harding was at his prime when this was recorded and the title alone has expectations. This was however, the start of the end in terms of his mass popularity.

His earlier work was from folk clubs and the music showed this, hence his popularity was from that audience as well as those who enjoyed his unique brand of comedy. When touring and recording this album however, his music moved away from raw folk, and lost its cutting edge. So did the comedy.

There are some excellent "vintage" monologues such as Ackroyds Funeral and Bring on the Rosy Cheeked Girls, but most of the material is more predictable and not so funny for it.

The songs are OK, but you get so used to hearing Mike Harding accompany himself on guitar, that the full band playing a more jazz (even country & western) accompaniment makes songs sound like background music in a restaurant. Sad, as risqué songs such as The Upper Echelon and These are my Uncles have some wonderful one liners...

If you wnat to complete a Harding collection, it is well worth it. If you want to have a laugh in general, buy it. But don't expect the earlier style of wonderful music based on traditional folk and don't expect the comedy to hit you like it did in the '70s.

Vintage Comedy Genius
The first time I heard this was about 25yrs ago and I would have been about 8yrs old at the time. It was 'Bloody, Bloody, Bloody, Bloody' that caught my attention in particular, not just because repeated use of the word Bloody is highly amusing to an innocent child anyway but also because the story was so bloody, bloody funny and told so vividly. Over the years I began to understand more of the material on the album and I've now heard it so many times I could probably recite the entire show - but it still makes me laugh everytime I hear it. Even the songs, such as The Man 'Nited Song & The Upper Echelon are great and I usually avoid musical comedy. If you like your comedy full of gratuitous effing and blinding then this may not be to your taste - but if you like great stories told with an air of authenticity and naive charm then you need to click 'add to basket' now!

But it's not all fun
The real stand out track on this great album for me is "The Old Green Iron Lamp", a truely beautiful and poignant song showing the side of Harding that "Bombers Moon" was to bring even more to the fore.