This album was recorded live in 1967, and is compiled
from performances at the University
of Bradford and the University
of Lancaster. Like Leon’s
debut EP, also consisting of live performance, it was recorded by Bill Leader.
The LP is not so much a collaboration with poet Adrian Mitchell, as a shared platform. Both contribute their own individual material, Mitchell’s in the form of spoken pieces, Rosselson’s as solo guitar/vocal tracks. “History Lesson” appears as a solo recording, following its group treatment on the earlier LP, The Three City Four; the rest of Rosselson’s material is new.
The LP is not so much a collaboration with poet Adrian Mitchell, as a shared platform. Both contribute their own individual material, Mitchell’s in the form of spoken pieces, Rosselson’s as solo guitar/vocal tracks. “History Lesson” appears as a solo recording, following its group treatment on the earlier LP, The Three City Four; the rest of Rosselson’s material is new.
"Leon Rosselson, with as great integrity, re-invents the forms of popular sung poetry in a modern urban style close to Brassens. Here he joins Adrian Mitchell for 45 minutes of contemporary poetry, half to the guitar, half to a renegade jazz instrument, Mitchell's voice. This is poetry for the ear more than for the page: the timing, delivery and (in Rosselson’s case) the excellent guitar accompaniments are part of the pleasure. The performance is as good as the material, but the material has a wider value than this performance alone." – Aisnia Cswica, Gramophone, December 1968
“‘A Laugh a Song and a Hand-grenade’ was a mix of my songs and Adrian Mitchell’s poems and garnered a rave review in the hippie newspaper ‘The International Times’ by someone who wrote under the unlikely name of John Peel. We launched it at the Wigmore Hall and it would be hard to find a more inappropriate venue than this staid classical music concert hall.” - LR (sleevenotes to The World Turned Upside Down (CD box set), p10-12)
“‘A Laugh a Song and a Hand-grenade’ was a mix of my songs and Adrian Mitchell’s poems and garnered a rave review in the hippie newspaper ‘The International Times’ by someone who wrote under the unlikely name of John Peel. We launched it at the Wigmore Hall and it would be hard to find a more inappropriate venue than this staid classical music concert hall.” - LR (sleevenotes to The World Turned Upside Down (CD box set), p10-12)
Thumbnails (click to enlarge)
Song list
1. Flower Power = Bread
2. Take Stalk Between Teeth, Pull Stalk From Blossom, Throw Blossom Over Arm Towards Enemy, Lie Flat And Await Explosion (Adrian Mitchell)
3. She Was Crazy, He Was Mad
4. A Party Political Broadcast on Behalf of the Burial Party (Adrian Mitchell)
5. Judgements
6. An Oxford Hysteria of English Poetry (Adrian Mitchell)
7. The Whom It May Concern (Adrian Mitchell)
8. Jumbo the Elephant
9. Ode to an Assassination of President Johnson (Adrian Mitchell)
10. History Lesson Second version
11. Vroomph (Adrian Mitchell)
12. Palaces of Gold
13. To You (Adrian Mitchell)
14. The Rules of the Game
2. Take Stalk Between Teeth, Pull Stalk From Blossom, Throw Blossom Over Arm Towards Enemy, Lie Flat And Await Explosion (Adrian Mitchell)
3. She Was Crazy, He Was Mad
4. A Party Political Broadcast on Behalf of the Burial Party (Adrian Mitchell)
5. Judgements
6. An Oxford Hysteria of English Poetry (Adrian Mitchell)
7. The Whom It May Concern (Adrian Mitchell)
8. Jumbo the Elephant
9. Ode to an Assassination of President Johnson (Adrian Mitchell)
10. History Lesson Second version
11. Vroomph (Adrian Mitchell)
12. Palaces of Gold
13. To You (Adrian Mitchell)
14. The Rules of the Game