Mike Hart & Comrades: Nell's Song

Taken from the album ‘Basher, Chalky, Pongo & Me’ 1972 on Dandelion Records. Written by Mike Hart. John Peel’s legendary Dandelion Records is peppered with brilliant records by the likes of Bridget St. John and Kevin Coyne, and who can forget Bill Oddie’s single ‘On Ilkla Moor Baht’at’ (really, the birdwatchers single is something to behold!), and then there’s Gene Vincent’s somewhat ill-advised comeback album, but in amongst them all are two strikingly pure albums by a man called Mike Hart. Born on the Wirral to a sailmaker and educated at Birkenhead School, Hart had formed a band in 1962 called The Roadrunners. They did the usual rounds in Liverpool, playing the Hope Hall (now the Everyman Theatre) mostly, where they became fast friends with Liverpool based beat poets like Adrian Henri and Roger McGough, but they were going places on the Liverpool Beat Scene themselves, going as far as to support The Beatles on many occasions, one of which was their final Cavern performance ever. After seeing The Rolling Stones, George Harrison went on to say they were almost as good as The Roadrunners, which goes to show you how much respect The Fab Four had for The Roadrunners brand of R&B! They were not the only ones either…after playing an R&B festival in Birmingham, where they were billed alongside acts like The Yardbirds, Long John Baldly and Spencer Davis, the organiser and impresario Giorgio Gomelsky (who went on to manage and produce The Yardbirds, as well as form the excellent Marmalade records) offered them a contract which would’ve involved signing with Fontana Records, but the often dismissive Hart was having none of it and took flight. He then joined The Liverpool Scene with the aforementioned Henri and Andy Roberts and appears on their first album, ‘The Incredible Adventures of…’, as well as writing their incredible first single ’Son, Son’ released in 1968. Hart again became unhappy with the confines of a band and left to pursue a solo career, signing with Dandelion Records and releasing the aptly titled ‘Mike Hart Bleeds’ in 1969. It’s apt for two reasons: It’s caustic humour and the fact that his heart truly was bleeding somewhere, bordering on hilarious sarcasm one minute and bitter and dark the next! The cover depicts himself, with the burns from cigarette stubbing on his face, and a Belgian lady he’d met whom is treated to droppings of his blood!?! Hart moved to Edinburgh and recorded his second album for Dandelion Records, ‘Basher, Chalky, Pongo & Me’ under the moniker Mike Hart & Comrades with Vivian Stanshall and actor Anthony Haygarth, and shows even more signs of depth than his previous outing...Hart's 'If You've Ever Been In Love Before You'll Know There Are Bad Times Along With The Good (For Prince Muishkin, The Idiot)' is beyond hilarity, and it includes the song which you have here, ‘Nell’s Song’, an ode to the playwright of some of my favourite 60’s works including ’Up The Junction’ and ‘Poor Cow’, with whom it appears he had a brief affair that ended abruptly. He clearly had something going on, but it appears it was something he was somewhat unwilling to share, and many of his later works went either unrecorded or unreleased and he, terribly sadly, lost his memory due to continuous drinking and drug abuse, dying in an Edinburgh nursing home midway through 2016 and leaving behind a trail of brilliant songs for us all to enjoy. I’m actually fair surprised at his lack of presence on YouTube, but here goes with my addition!!! I do not own,or claim to own any copyright regarding this recording. All rights to the owners.