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Look Here (songbook)
1968, Harmony Music
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With a foreword by erstwhile collaborator Stephen Sedley,
this is Leon’s second songbook and includes some 50 titles, together with
illustrations by Rufus Segar. Many of the songs are introduced with comments
from Leon.
The title of the book is pulled from the song, "She Was Crazy, He Was Mad", whose verses begin “Look here...” – and indeed, lyrics from the song are scrawled across the front and back covers.
Every self-penned track in Leon’s recorded discography to date is included in this anthology, along with several which were not available as recordings until later on (eg, “Invisible Married Breakfast Blues”, not released on vinyl until 1977). It contains all the songs previously published in Songs for City Squares and Sceptical Circles bar the unrecorded "Talking Sir Alec Blues", and therefore supplants that songbook as definitive for its time. But of particular interest are eight compositions which have never been released on vinyl or CD, and are otherwise almost unknown.
This book was reprinted with revisions in 1977, in an identical cover.
The title of the book is pulled from the song, "She Was Crazy, He Was Mad", whose verses begin “Look here...” – and indeed, lyrics from the song are scrawled across the front and back covers.
Every self-penned track in Leon’s recorded discography to date is included in this anthology, along with several which were not available as recordings until later on (eg, “Invisible Married Breakfast Blues”, not released on vinyl until 1977). It contains all the songs previously published in Songs for City Squares and Sceptical Circles bar the unrecorded "Talking Sir Alec Blues", and therefore supplants that songbook as definitive for its time. But of particular interest are eight compositions which have never been released on vinyl or CD, and are otherwise almost unknown.
This book was reprinted with revisions in 1977, in an identical cover.
"Because these songs are more carefully constructed musically and verbally than most others, they are able to stand up independently of their author. That in itself is a good enough reason for making them available in print. And this book serves the additional purpose of spreading on the printed page a mass of words and music which are made by Rosselson's own downbeat performances to sound deceptively simple. In fact most of the songs have a degree of structuring and subtlety which only becomes apparent when you see them displayed on paper. They repay attentive reading, both for their own intrinsic merits and for the object-lesson many of them provide in the art of songmaking. Of course an unsung song is a dead thing, and these songs are not an exception; but more than most others they show their strengths in print." - Stephen Sedley, foreword to book
Song list
New songs, at the time of publication
1. Ballad Of The Gentleman And The Docker
2. Cashiered John Profumo
3. Coming Home To You
4. Garden Of Love, The (Words by William Blake)
5. Invisible Married Breakfast Blues
6. Kangaroos Like To Hop
7. Man Is Just A Man, A
8. Never Mind The Slugs
9. Oh! What A Fool!
10. Song Of The Free Press
11. Three And A Half Per Cent
12. Topside Down Party
13. Two Hearts
14. View From The One-Night Stands, A
15. W C Tearjerker
16. Why Does It Have To Be Me?
2. Cashiered John Profumo
3. Coming Home To You
4. Garden Of Love, The (Words by William Blake)
5. Invisible Married Breakfast Blues
6. Kangaroos Like To Hop
7. Man Is Just A Man, A
8. Never Mind The Slugs
9. Oh! What A Fool!
10. Song Of The Free Press
11. Three And A Half Per Cent
12. Topside Down Party
13. Two Hearts
14. View From The One-Night Stands, A
15. W C Tearjerker
16. Why Does It Have To Be Me?
Other songs
17. Across The Hills
18. Away From It All
19. Bachelor's Complaint, The
20. Battle Hymn Of The New Socialist Party
21. Brass Band Music
22. Dead Men Never Die
23. Dear John Profumo
24. Do You Remember?
25. Down The Drain
26. Fifteen Million Plastic Bags (Words by Adrian Mitchell)
27. Flower Power = Bread
28. Go And Catch A Falling Star (Words by John Donne)
29. H-A-N-G-O
30. Hangover
31. History Lesson
32. I Dreamed I Was Walking Alone
33. It's A Vile Violation
34. Judgements
35. Jumbo The Elephant
36. Liberal Party Revival Song
37. Once When I Was Young
38. P-A-L (Words by Adrian Mitchell)
39. Palaces Of Gold
40. Procreation
41. Rules Of The Game, The
42. Saint, The
43. She Was Crazy, He Was Mad
44. Single In Spring
45. Stand Firm
46. Thank You Very Much, Sir
47. There's Gonna Come A Morning
48. Tim McGuire
49. Tourist's Complaint, The
50. Ugly Ones, The
18. Away From It All
19. Bachelor's Complaint, The
20. Battle Hymn Of The New Socialist Party
21. Brass Band Music
22. Dead Men Never Die
23. Dear John Profumo
24. Do You Remember?
25. Down The Drain
26. Fifteen Million Plastic Bags (Words by Adrian Mitchell)
27. Flower Power = Bread
28. Go And Catch A Falling Star (Words by John Donne)
29. H-A-N-G-O
30. Hangover
31. History Lesson
32. I Dreamed I Was Walking Alone
33. It's A Vile Violation
34. Judgements
35. Jumbo The Elephant
36. Liberal Party Revival Song
37. Once When I Was Young
38. P-A-L (Words by Adrian Mitchell)
39. Palaces Of Gold
40. Procreation
41. Rules Of The Game, The
42. Saint, The
43. She Was Crazy, He Was Mad
44. Single In Spring
45. Stand Firm
46. Thank You Very Much, Sir
47. There's Gonna Come A Morning
48. Tim McGuire
49. Tourist's Complaint, The
50. Ugly Ones, The
