A radio-ballad about the building of the M1 Motorway by Ewan MacColl, Charles Parker & Peggy Seeger
The second of the remarkable Radio Ballads Song of a Road tells the story of the making of the M1, Britain’s first motorway. The road building was a suitably iconic and newsworthy project for Parker, MacColl and Seeger to develop their ground-breaking radio techniques. Among the songs MacColl created for this radio-ballad was Hot Asphalt.
1 Introduction
2 We usually finish the shift in the pub…
3 I think it’s the soil…
4 We are the consulting engineers…
5 We were in a great rush when we did this …
6 My name is …
7 During that time, a survey has been made…
8 It would take quite a lot of men to do the job of one of those machines…
9 Come all you gallant drivers…
10 I’m a roving rambler…
11 Deep and straight and low…
12 Sixty tons of steel…
13 What made you come into this game?
14 Just a road…
15 Oh well that’s just the way it is…
16 When the muck has all been shifted…
17 Bring up your black squad…
18 Been on the road so long…
19 You can talk about your concrete …
20 The motorway is on the final lap …
21 We needed a way cut through the land…
Script: Ewan MacColl and Charles Parker.
Song lyrics and music: Ewan MacColl
Orchestration and musical direction: Peggy Seeger
Actuality recording: Ewan MacColl and Charles Parker
Production: Charles Parker
Singers:
Isla Cameron, John Clarence, Seamus Ennis, Lou Killen, A.L. Lloyd, Ewan MacColl, Jimmy Macgregor, Francis McPeake, Isabel Sutherland, Cyril Tawney, William V. Thomas
Instrumentalists:
John Armitage drums – Jim Bray bass – John Chilton trumpet – Fitzroy Coleman guitar – Alf Edwards concertina, ocarina – Francis McPeake uillean pipes – Bobby Mickleburgh trombone – Peggy Seeger autoharp, banjo – Bruce Turner clarinet
This title is now deleted.
