An old friend of an old friend, Pete Evans; Mancunian, but long-since Metro-dweller in London; is a great songwriter, there's no question about that. His canon may be small, but to write one great song is sufficient for anyone, and Pete wrote rather more than one great song, at least one of which should be recorded in the annals of British folk music. He really is that good; and in 1996, following in the wake of his recording an album of his songs at Stiwdio Les in Bethesda, North Wales, a large number of his musician friends produced the album pictured above: "Pete Sounds". The referent of the title itself indicates the respect that his mates and fellow musicians had for him and his writing, and whilst Pete's songwriting is the absolute backbone of the album, the kaleidoscope of interpretations of his work on the record really is truly impressive.
I would urge anyone to listen to and love this album, but sadly it's not available online or in physical form to all but a very few: I have the late Al Moores' CD copy, which he lent me many years before he died; a bit late now for reparation, methinks, but the disc is at least in good hands for the moment. I'd love to disseminate not just this album of covers of Pete's songs, but his originals and chord/sheet music to boot: he deserves recognition for contributing to the folk canon. For a living musician, that puts him on a par with the likes of Richard Thompson in my book. His song 'Second World War' really is a great folk song and should be in the repertoire. I would like to be able to spread the word more widely, but it's up to the man himself, who is notably reticent in matters such as these. We'll see...
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