This is a project of preservation, celebration and remuneration for Dick Gaughan, one of the folk music giants of the late 20th century: (1) to preserve, polish and present a remarkable body of work from 1969\u201383 (most of it previously unreleased); (2) to celebrate Dick\u2019s incredible artistry once again, years after he and much of his recorded work have faded from view; and (3) to remunerate Dick fairly and squarely for that work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 7CD+DVD box set in preparation will include over 9 hours of music and around 90 minutes of film. It\u2019s being created by a crack team of professionals: Colin Harper<\/strong> (audio\/film research, compiling, project managing); Graeme Thomson<\/strong> (booklet author); Cormac O\u2019Kane <\/strong>(audio mastering); Eroc<\/strong> (film restoration\/mastering); Mark Case<\/strong> (design); and cheerleading from trad torchbearers Karine Polwart<\/strong>, Barbara Dickson<\/strong>, Steve Byrne <\/strong>and Robin Dransfield<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Does Dick approve? Yes. Will Dick get 100% of the revenue after costs? Yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Background:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Dick Gaughan was a towering figure in folk music \u2013 a singer of rare quality, a peerless guitar stylist, a charismatic performer and a champion of compassion and social justice. He was a light in the darkness for decades. His performances brought together music of blistering righteousness with sharp wit and implausible cheeriness in the introductions. He was a man of the people \u2013 a tsunami of positive energy and optimism. His career began in the late 60s folk clubs of Edinburgh and ended with a stroke in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is all past tense \u2013 but Dick Gaughan is alive and well, up to a point. He can no longer play guitar and is legally blind, but his optimism remains. He lives totally \u2018off the grid\u2019 in terms of internet presence and together with very little activity around his back catalogue (explained below), there is a danger that the memory of Dick Gaughan \u2013 and the music<\/em> of Dick Gaughan \u2013 is fading from view, his pre-90s career of 20 years boiled down to periodic reissues of one album, Handful of Earth <\/em>(1981).<\/p>\n\n\n\n These were the thoughts that crossed Colin Harper\u2019s<\/strong> mind one day in 2024. Colin had seen Gaughan many times in the 80s and 90s, until life got in the way and he lost track of Dick\u2019s career after Outlaws and Dreamers<\/em> (2001). He later heard, with sadness, of the stroke that ended Dick\u2019s public performances. Fast forward to 2024, and Colin \u2013 by this point a very experienced \u2018curator\u2019 in the world of archival projects around vintage folk, jazz and rock \u2013 found himself taking a phone call from Robin Dransfield<\/strong>, veteran folk legend (retired) and Cornwall recluse, whose phone book more of less consists of two numbers: Dick Gaughan\u2019s and Colin Harper\u2019s. Robin happened to mention Dick, and a pebble started rolling down a mountain\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Colin found himself listening to Gaughan\u2019s music for the first time in a while and thinking, \u2018This man was a genius. Why have I neglected this music for so long? Why don\u2019t we hear anything about Dick Gaughan these days?\u2019 Indeed, to adapt some notorious graffiti on Slade back in the day, \u2018Whatever happened to Dick Gaughan?\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Colin decided to use his skills and his contacts to do something about this \u2013 to create a product that would draw attention to Gaughan once again, to retrieve his artistry from Gaughan\u2019s reissue \u2018dead zone\u2019 of the 70s, to allow old fans to engage anew with his artistry and to allow new people to maybe hear something about him \u2013 and hear something by <\/em>him \u2013 for the first time. Crucially, it would also allow Dick \u2013 if he was willing to let the idea proceed \u2013 to make some money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Colin created a 12-disc set on paper. Robin Dransfield phoned Dick. He was potentially interested. He spoke to Colin and he became enthusiastically interested. Unfortunately, Colin\u2019s record industry contacts were not interested. Colin honed down the set to its essentials, phoned fellow Gaughanite Karine Polwart for moral support and started putting the costs together. We would do it ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n FIND OUT MORE<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/i.kickstarter.com\/assets\/048\/555\/139\/d384fb1d6c2761a1dbc1b5cfa7080bbe_original.jpg?fit=scale-down&origin=ugc&q=92&v=1742221709&width=680&sig=TzPwVev5UZQVfBxLvAxO3XwKnHMwGm2GdFakbSitBNo%3D\")