by Manila #7

Christy Moore "Prosperous" 1972




















Manila said...
Whenever I look at the cover of this album I think of an old friend of mine - the late, great Geoff Harden. Journalist, broadcaster, folk club organiser and occasional performer ('The Vicar And The Frog' always went down well!) Geoff was an all round lovely bloke. When I knew him he was running a folk club in Kent, England (he later moved to Ireland), plus writing a folk column for the local paper, plus a hundred other things. Every performer at Geoff's club was recorded on an old reel-to-reel tape machine, and there is now an incredible sound archive, which should (if I'm not mistaken) include Martin Carthy, Cold Iron, The Natural Acoustic Band, Ron Geesin, Richard and Linda Thompson, The Woods Band, Davy Graham, Andy Roberts & Adrian Henri... You name it, Geoff recorded them. The C.O.B. Live recording on this very blog was taped at Geoff's club, probably by Geoff himself. John Martyn has also released an album from the same source. I hope more CDs are on their way.
And the Christy Moore connection? A friend of mine is writing a book on Folk music in Kent and Geoff was kind enough to lend him his scrap books. Among the set-lists and posters was a letter to him from Christy, enthusing about the new group he was forming - called Planxty.
I've wanted to say something about Geoff since I heard the sad news of his passing. Excuse me if I use this opportunity to do so. He did as much to promote folk music, in all its forms, as anyone I know. A fabulous man.