Author Description

Busking is connected to an ancient historical tradition. The travelling minstrels, and the song guardians of First Nations Peoples started the traditions of taking songs to the people. These ancient songsters and musicians expressed the aspirations, customs, history, spirituality, lore, joy, sadness, birth, death, love, hate, passions, etc. of their cultures. The music and lyrics changed and evolved over millennia.Recorded commercial consumer music of the last 150 years, is only a recent technological phenomenon.In 2007, Paul Kelly gathered together a collective of musicians and songwriters to record some of the songs I had written. These were artists I have listened to, respected and admired for years.The result was an album called Cannot Buy My Soul.In 2009 they came together on stage to perform their unique versions of these songs in three concerts.Both their recordings and performances showed me how I could have done it. The number of different genres and musical styles amazed and inspired me.Their example convinced me to return to the studio after a long absence, and once again record songs I had never recorded, dating back to 1967.Taking the example of these elite musicians and songwriters we can utilize these songs as a basis and put our unique interpretation on them musically.Included in this songbook is a poem Comrade Jesus Christ, that The Herd arranged musically. We have left it without musical notation so people can set their own music to it.