Having just watched 'Lindisfarne's Geordie Genius: The Alan Hull Story' on BBC4, I was keen to hear more him, other than the 'Pipedream' and 'Squire' solo albums and the complete Lindisfarne discography that I already have, and the documentary gave me some ideas about where to start. James Alan Hull was born on 20 February 1945 in Newcastle upon Tyne, and his musical education began with piano lessons at the age of nine, and guitar lessons two years later. He was given his first guitar at the age of twelve, writing his first song soon afterwards, and in 1962 he joined The Chosen Few, alongside Bumper Brown on bass, Rod Hudd on vocals, Tommy Jackman on drums, and Mickey Gallagher on keyboards. Their repertoire consisted of Tamla Motown covers, plus Hull's own compositions, and the band eventually moved to London, where they recorded four Hull-penned songs for release as two singles for the Pye label, which Hull has admitted were very Beatle-esque, and featured heavy Kinks overtones. He left The Chosen Few in 1965, and supported himself by working as a window cleaner, a nurse at a mental hospital, and as a driver for Newcastle Co-op TV Department, while appearing as a folk singer and guitarist in local clubs. In the meantime, The Chosen Few added Colin Gibson and John Turnbull (who were both later to play on Hull's 'Pipedream' album) and carried on for a short while. A year later, The Chosen Few morphed into Skip Bifferty, having lost Hudd and Brown, and during this transition period Hull recorded a couple of tracks with the new band. Following the release of his first solo single in 1969, which was later to be re-recorded by Lindisfarne, Hull joined Rod Clements, Ray Laidlaw, Simon Cowe, and Ray Jackson's band The Brethren in May 1970, performing variously as Alan Hull And Brethren, or Brethren With Alan Hull, before deciding on a complete change of name and becoming Lindisfarne in the summer of 1970.
As the group's most prolific songwriter and joint lead vocalist, Hull came to be regarded as its leader, and the band had some success with hit singles and albums in the early 70's, before Hull considered leaving after he became dissatisfied with the sound and critical reception of their third album 'Dingly Dell'. Instead, he and joint lead vocalist Ray Jackson formed a new six-piece Lindisfarne the following year, leaving the three other original members to form Jack The Lad. He also released his first solo album 'Pipedream' in 1973, and published a book of poems 'Mocking Horse' the same year, after which the new Lindisfarne disbanded. In 1974 he was offered the chance to act in an episode of the BBC's Second City Firsts drama series, entitled 'Squire', in which he pretty much played himself, and he felt that he should write a song for it, coming up with 'Squire', which then became the title of his second solo album in 1975. He formed the short-lived Radiator in 1977, which also included old band-mate Ray Laidlaw, and they released one album and one single, before breaking up. In 1979 he signed to Elton John's Rocket Records label and released the 'Phantoms' album, which consisted of re-recordings of a number of tracks from Radiator's 'Isn't It Strange' record, after which he took a break from recording for a few years, returning in 1983 with 'On The Other Side'. On the night of 17 November 1995, Hull suddenly collapsed at his home in North Shields and was pronounced dead on arrival at North Tyneside General Hospital. A post-mortem later revealed his death to be the result of a coronary thrombosis. He was just 50 years old. Hull was so loved in his hometown that in July 2012, following a public campaign led by Barry McKay, Lindisfarne's manager during the 1970's, an Alan Hull memorial plaque was unveiled on the front of Newcastle City Hall, at a ceremony attended by hundreds of fans, and broadcast by Sky and ITV Tyne Tees. This collection of early recordings and hard-to-find b-sides and demos, housed in a cover by Rene Magritte to complement his 'Pipedream' and 'Phantoms' albums, should go some way to show exactly why that was.
Track listing
01 I Won't Be Around You Any More (single by The Chosen Few 1965)
02 Big City (b-side of 'I Won't Be Around You Any More')
03 So Much To Look Forward To (single by The Chosen Few 1965)
04 Today, Tonight & Tomorrow (b-side of 'So Much To Look Forward To')
05 This We Shall Explore (with Skip Bifferty 1966)
06 Schizoid Revolution (with Skip Bifferty 1966)
07 Where Is My Sixpence? (demo 1969)
08 We Can Swing Together (single 1969)
09 Obidiah's Grave (b-side of 'We Can Swing Together')
10 Drinking Song (b-side of 'Numbers (Travelling Band)' 1973)
11 One Off Pat (b-side of 'Numbers (Travelling Band)' 1973)
12 Down On The Underground (BBC session for Bob Harris 1973)
13 Crazy Woman (single 1975)
14 Carousel (out-take 1975)
15 Angels At Eleven (session for Radio Clyde 1976)
16 Raw Bacon (demo 1975)
17 Evening (demo 1975)
