How Green Is the Valley

How Green Is the Valley is the second studio album of The Men They Couldn't Hang. It was released in 1986 after the band were signed to MCA Records following the success of their previous album Night of a Thousand Candles. It is the last album to feature co-founder Shanne Bradley on bass guitar.

YouTube Encyclopedic

1/3
Views:
1 705 976
264 074
50 031

Transcription

Singles

Three singles were released from the album: "Gold Rush", which included "Gold Strike" on the 12" version, "Ghosts of Cable Street" and "Shirt of Blue". "Ghosts of Cable Street", a song detailing the battle of Cable Street in 1936, used actual recordings of mounted police which could be heard outside the Wapping studios as it was during the time of the Wapping Printers Strike.^[1] "Shirt of Blue" was another song, typical of The Men They Couldn't Hang writing material on British history, was the subject of the UK miners' strike (1984–1985). The video features press footage of the conflict between striking miners and the police.^[2] The cassette version is the only one to feature additional tracks which were recorded during a live performance at the Electric Ballroom in London's Camden Town.

Personnel

Credits adapted from AllMusic.^[3]

The Men They Couldn't Hang

Shanne Bradley - bass guitar
Stefan Cush (a.k.a. Cush) – vocals, guitar, horn
Jon Odgers – drums, percussion
Philip Odgers (a.k.a. Swill) – vocals, guitar, tinwhistle, melodica, recorder
Paul Simmonds - guitar, bouzuki, mandolin, lute, biscuits

Additional musicians

Lindsey Lowe – trumpet
Bobby Valentino – Violin

Additional personnel

Mick Glossop – production and engineering
Richard Haughton – album artwork
Paul Cox – photography

Track listing

Original Side 1
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"Gold Strike"	Paul Simmonds	Instrumental	1:20
2.	"Gold Rush"	Paul Simmonds	Swill, Cush	2:03
3.	"Ghosts of Cable Street"	Paul Simmonds	Swill, Cush	3:59
4.	"Dancing on the Pier"	Paul Simmonds	Cush	2:20
5.	"The Bells"	Paul Simmonds	Cush	3:15
6.	"Wishing Well"	Nick Lowe	Cush	2:54

Original Side 2
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
7.	"Going Back to Coventry"	Paul Simmonds	Cush	3:15
8.	"Shirt of Blue"	Paul Simmonds	Cush	4:27
9.	"Rabid Underdog"	Stefan Cush	Cush	2:12
10.	"Tiny Soldiers"	Philip Odgers	Swill	3:41
11.	"The Parade"	Paul Simmonds	Instrumental	2:12
12.	"Parted From You"	Philip Odgers	Swill	4:12

Additional Tracks on cassette version
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
13.	"Whiskey with me Giro (live)"	Unknown	Cush
14.	"Scarlet Ribbons (live)"	Paul Simmonds	Cush

References

^ A Bag of Songs, Paul Simmonds, ISBN 9781447537274
^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Shirt of Blue. YouTube.
^ "How Green is the Valley - the Men They Couldn't Hang | Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic.

This page was last edited on 18 April 2022, at 06:38