Today’s song with words is a lovely celebration of daybreak on “the spine of England”.
Its image comes from “the roof of the world”, where even flat, “low” places are several thousand metres higher than England’s Pennine Hills.
(photo is copyright Doug Spencer, taken at 7.47 am, 16 October 2019, from just above a Tibetan Plateau backroad, between Nangchen/Nangqian and Yushu)
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Steve Tilston (born 1950) is one of the finer English songsters, and an excellent guitarist.
He lives high up in the Pennines, “over a thousand feet above sea level”.
His 2011 album The Reckoning begins with This is the Dawn.
Steve Tilston sings his own words, with wordless vocals from the local dawn chorus – “the wild birds of Oxenhope”:
As it happens, today’s second musical selection was composed and played by two late-greats.
Neither is a stranger to Pelican Yoga, and Steve knew (and sometimes played with) both of them.
This duo performance by John Renbourn (bearded) and Bert Jansch of their composition First Light was filmed for Acoustic Routes, a1992 documentary about Bert Jansch:
The entire doco is worth seeing; if ever there was a shy, self-effacing genius, one always eager to credit those who had influenced him… (most of whom did appear in Acoustic Routes)
If only the same were true of everyone upon whom Bert Jansch was a key influence!
Acoustic Routes was warmly and sincerely hosted by one of his more famous fans.
I think Bert was too polite to correct his Scottish compatriot Billy Connolly’s pronunciation; Bert himself said his surname with the “j” as in “jar”. (although Bert’s Austrian ancestors doubtless would have said the “j” as if it were the “y” in “yard”)
Here is the entire documentary: