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Colin Harper

Colin Harper

Colin Harper contributed regularly, as a professional writer, to the Irish News, Irish Times, The Independent, Q and Mojo, and periodically also to Folk Roots, Record Collector, The Guitar Magazine and other titles, between 1993-2001, specialising in folk music and 60s/70s rock.

His biography Dazzling Stranger: Bert Jansch and the British folk and blues revival (Bloomsbury, 2000) has been widely acclaimed, being republished in revised form in both 2006 and 2012. A themed, expanded collection of journalism, Irish Folk, Trad & Blues: A Secret History (Collins Press, 2004), was co-authored with blues journalist Trevor Hodgett. His writing since 2001 has tended to be for sizeable CD sleevenote histories rather than magazines, often spanning a series of releases, on neglected artists such as Quintessence, Duffy Power and Atomic Rooster.

As a musician, Colin has been privileged to have recorded with artists including Jan Akkerman, Brooks Williams, Martin Hayes and Bert Jansch. Since 2007 he has released three albums of his own music, including Titanium Flag (2010), an instrumental set inspired by the books The Ice Museum by Joanna Kavenna and True North: Travels In The European Arctic by Gavin Francis. Yes, a concept album. He was heavily involved in the partial reunion of Quintessence at Glastonbury 2010, 40 years after they had opened the first festival, chronicled on Rebirth (Hux, 2011); and was instrumental in – and on – the release of Tigers (Market Square, 2012), the first new Duffy Power album in 39 years.

Echoes from Then, Colin's biography of John McLaughlin, was published in 2017.

Colin Harper online

58 articles

List of articles in the library

By date | By artist | Most recently added

David Gray

Interview by Colin Harper, Folk Roots, March 1995

"THE REASON," says David Gray, at the end of our interview, "that journalism doesn't work most of the time is 'cos the artist isn't there ...

Jethro Tull: Roots To Branches

Review and Interview by Colin Harper, MOJO, October 1995

ONE CAN NEVER SPEAK with confidence for the entirety of Jethro Tull's following — and certainly not for the Ian-is-God element — but speaking as ...

Miles Davis, Mahavishnu Orchestra, John McLaughlin: John McLaughlin: God of Fusion

Retrospective and Interview by Colin Harper, unpublished, 1996

Author’s note: I reviewed John’s Cork Jazz Festival gig circa January 1996, and then interviewed him in London shortly after that. Features based on the ...

John McLaughlin (1996)

Interview by Colin Harper, Rock's Backpages audio, 17 January 1996

The fleet-fingered jazz-rocker looks back to the '60s, through his time with the Mahavishnu Orchestra and Shakti, and fondly remembers his time with Miles Davis, and playing with the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck and more.

File format: mp3; file size: 52.3mb, interview length: 57' 09" sound quality: ***

Focus, Jan Akkerman: Phone Home: Jan Akkerman

Interview by Colin Harper, MOJO, July 1996

"AFTER FOCUS I MADE a record called Eli and toured Britain. The record was a success but the tour was a disaster. I did one ...

Peter Green: Things are rosier for Peter Green, but does he still have the blues?

Report and Interview by Colin Harper, The Scotsman, 5 May 1997

"I JUST took too many LSD trips," says Peter Green. "I couldn't get back from it – I didn't want to get back ... I ...

Henry McCullough, Wings: Hello, Goodbye: Henry McCullough & Wings

Interview by Colin Harper, MOJO, September 1997

Author's Note: Both Trevor Hodgett and myself wrote a fair amount about local guitar legend Henry McCullough during the '90s. Indeed, Trevor still does. When ...

Fairport Convention 30th Anniversary: Cropredy Festival, Oxfordshire

Review by Colin Harper, MOJO, October 1997

IF SOMEBODY back in the "summer of love" had told Ashley Hutchings, Richard Thompson and Judy Dyble – members of North London's premier Jefferson Airplane ...

Jan Akkerman

Interview by Colin Harper, The Guitar, November 1997

ALL OVER the world there are individuals trading copies of grainy videos from European television, cassettes of horrendously obscure old records by people with unpronounceable ...

Richard Thompson: Waterfront Hall, Belfast

Live Review by Colin Harper, The Independent, 21 January 1998

BELFAST'S WATERFRONT Hall embodies all the characteristics of a provincial Barbican – a kind of clinical, beige Gormenghast of a place where corridors lead to ...

Wishbone Ash: Empire Music Hall, Belfast

Live Review by Colin Harper, The Independent, 10 February 1998

THERE WAS A TIME, as schoolboys of certain vintage will doubtless recall, when knowing the line-up details of the more venerable British rock bands really ...

Anne Briggs, Bert Jansch: Anne Briggs: In Search of the Wild Rover

Retrospective and Interview by Colin Harper, MOJO, March 1998

Richard Thompson wrote a song about her. Jimmy Page unplugged on her account. Singers from June Tabor to Kate Rusby revere her as the queen ...

Leo Kottke: An Interview

Interview by Colin Harper, The Irish News, 29 May 1998

Author's Note: I often had a chance to preview touring artists, soon to be playing in Northern Ireland, in the Irish News, a Belfast-based daily ...

Roy Harper: The Dream Society

Review by Colin Harper, MOJO, July 1998

THE SOPHISTICATED BEGGAR, the Valentine, the Loony On The Bus... Roy Harper has worn these and other Lifemasks for more than 30 years now and ...

Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill: Martin Hayes & Dennis Cahill: Cornmill Heritage Centre, Coalisland

Live Review by Colin Harper, The Irish Times, 4 August 1998

OVER THE PAST three years Hayes and Cahill have taken their remarkable, breathtakingly subtle artistry to some sizeable venues. Indeed, next year the plan is ...

Rory Gallagher: Ballad of a Thin Man

Retrospective by Colin Harper, MOJO, October 1998

"HE SUFFERED A LOT. His health was bad. He had a problem with drink. His relationships with women were all messed up because of his ...

Don McLean: Waterfront Hall, Belfast

Live Review by Colin Harper, The Irish Times, 30 October 1998

"PEOPLE ASK ME what 'American Pie' means" says Don, midway through his enviably well-attended show. "It means I don't have to work any more if ...

Roy Harper

Interview by Colin Harper, The Independent, 30 October 1998

CIRCA 1984, and during one of those latterday sojourns in the course of the once Old and Grey Whistle Test's sleepy history when it found ...

Wizz Jones, John Renbourn: John Renbourn & Wizz Jones: Famous Grouse House, Edinburgh

Live Review by Colin Harper, MOJO, November 1998

FOR SEASONED Renbourn watchers, there was little in the great man's own set tonight that surprised, but much that delighted. Booker T's 'Sweet Potato' has ...

The Divine Comedy: Ulster Hall, Belfast

Live Review by Colin Harper, The Irish Times, 9 December 1998

"WHAT A STRANGE looking person," said the young lady next to me as Neil Hannon arrived on the stage, to the fanfare of his conversely ...

Roy Harper: Vicar Street, Dublin

Live Review by Colin Harper, MOJO, January 1999

ROY ASSURES ME that it only happens in Liverpool, Belfast and Dublin. "It" being the verge-of-chaos spectator sport and crowd participation version of what would ...

Stereophonics: Ulster Hall, Belfast

Live Review by Colin Harper, The Irish Times, 10 May 1999

DEFINING THE phrase "meat and potatoes" rock in the grand tradition of, say, Rory Gallagher in the '70s, the most remarkable thing about this young ...

Capercaillie: West Belfast Festival

Live Review by Colin Harper, The Irish Times, 3 June 1999

THIS WAS THE Scots/Irish band's first time in Belfast in eight years, since when they've progressed from being a traditional music group to, well, something ...

Cliff Richard: King's Hall, Belfast

Live Review by Colin Harper, The Irish Times, 5 June 1999

ONE HAS TO respect Cliff's achievements: 40 years in a business increasingly designed for three year careers; number one hits in five different decades; recently ...

Bruce Cockburn: HQ, Dublin

Live Review by Colin Harper, The Independent, 5 August 1999

God plays a mean guitar ...

B.B. King: Waterfront Hall, Belfast

Live Review by Colin Harper, The Irish Times, 24 September 1999

CAREFULLY-PACED is the byword for the B.B. King show these days: he's 73, a little frail and vocally not as powerful as he once was. ...

Henry McCullough, John Fahey: John Fahey/Henry McCullough: Elmwood Hall, Belfast

Live Review by Colin Harper, MOJO, November 1999

McCullough set list: Medley: 'Irish Tune'/'House Of The Rising Sun' / 'Failed Christian' / 'Locked In' / 'All I Wanna Do' / 'Murder In My ...

Mellow Candle: Swaddling Songs (DERAM SDL7)

Retrospective and Interview by Colin Harper, unpublished, 2000

NOTE: This is a slightly longer edit of the piece as published in MOJO, sometime in the early 2000s. Since that time (in the early ...

Bert Jansch (2000)

Interview by Colin Harper, Rock's Backpages audio, 8 June 2000

The folk guitar wizard talks about being the subject of biography and documentary; the revival of interest in '60s folk; his most recent recordings and his upcoming planes.

File format: mp3; file size: 21.6mb, interview length: 23' 36" sound quality: ** (phoner)

Bert Jansch: The Dazzling Bert Jansch

Report and Interview by Colin Harper, The Independent, 23 June 2000

"MY INTEREST IN ALBUMS usually wanes around this point," says Bert Jansch, 57 this year and, for all the outward appearance of a man who ...

Bert Jansch, Davey Graham: Bert Jansch and Davey Graham

Retrospective and Interview by Colin Harper, MOJO, July 2000

NOTE: This piece was adapted and expanded, with additional material, from Dazzling Stranger: Bert Jansch And The British Folk & Blues Revival (Bloomsbury). It is ...

Andy Irvine: Andy Irvine: Stray Leaf Folk Club, Mullaghbane

Live Review by Colin Harper, unpublished, 4 July 2000

MOST ROLES and occupations in life are applied for, coveted, stolen or won; with others, the job is so novel it happens by stealth.  After ...

Bert Jansch: Bert and my Book

Comment by Colin Harper, The Irish Times, 1 September 2000

CURRENTLY HOT on the heels of Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix and Johnny Cash as an individualist icon of 20th Century music – name-dropped as an ...

Andy Irvine

Interview by Colin Harper, Folk Roots, October 2000

HAVING BEEN through the music business mill several times over the past thirty-five years, with spells in such legendary and pioneering Irish music ensembles as ...

Hubert Sumlin: Guinness Spot, Belfast Festival

Live Review by Colin Harper, unpublished, November 2000

HUBERT SUMLIN – best known as guitarist for the late Howlin' Wolf – is one of the bona fide legends of modern blues. At a ...

Horslips: Short Takes: Horslips

Retrospective and Interview by Colin Harper, Record Collector, November 2000

They've come a long way from Tipperary, and now the original Celt rockers have finally regained control of their back catalogue. Lyricist Eamon Carr talks ...

Roy Harper: Errigle Inn, Belfast

Live Review by Colin Harper, The Independent, 6 November 2000

RELEASING HIS THIRTY-SIXTH ALBUM, and still best-known to the world at large as a bloke who once sang on a Pink Floyd record ('Have A ...

Andy Williams: Andy Williams: Waterfront Hall, Belfast

Live Review by Colin Harper, The Irish Times, 18 January 2001

THOSE SURPRISED by the absence of 'Strawberry Fields Forever' from the recent Beatles 1 compilation should remember or learn that the '60s were not only ...

David Gray: David Gray Live

Review by Colin Harper, Record Collector, February 2001

DAVID GRAY BEGAN playing live around Ireland's small but discerning music pub circuit in 1993, shortly after the release of his debut album A Century ...

John Martyn: NTL Studio, Waterfront Hall, Belfast

Live Review by Colin Harper, The Irish Times, 28 February 2001

JOHN MARTYN MADE some very beautiful and distinctive acoustic-based records in the '70s, most notably Solid Air –reputedly a "chillout" fave for today's clubby types. ...

Ashley Hutchings

Report and Interview by Colin Harper, Record Collector, August 2001

WITH EXPANDED REISSUES of classic albums by himself and his various bands – including Fairport Convention's Leige & Leif and his own Compleat Dancing Master ...

Jukebox Heroes: An Interview With Producer Paul Pierrot

Report and Interview by Colin Harper, Record Collector, 2002

ON THE ONE HAND they welcomed all sorts of pop pioneers and future legends into the nation's living rooms… and then, on the other, they ...

Julie Felix

Retrospective and Interview by Colin Harper, Record Collector, 2002

"HOW CAN WE explain the phenomenon of Julie Felix?" mused Karl Dallas, Melody Maker's titan of folk, in a December 1965 concert review. "Clearly anyone ...

Davey Graham: Davy Graham: The Guitar Player

Retrospective and Interview by Colin Harper, Record Collector, July 2003

LESS COMMERCIALLY successful than the Fairports, the Carthys and the Watersons of the British folk scene, Davy Graham remains something of a cult figure for ...

David Gray: An Introduction

Book Excerpt by Colin Harper, Irish Folk, Trad & Blues (Collins Press), 2004

Author's Note: There was at least one prepared but discarded chapter in my joint book with Trevor Hodgett, Irish Folk, Trad & Blues: A Secret ...

Duffy Power: People Power: The Remarkable Retrieval of the Duffy Power BBC Sessions

Retrospective by Colin Harper, Record Collector, 2004

Author's Note: the longed-for compilation of Duffy's Parlophone singles mentioned at the end of this piece did indeed (shortly after) come to pass, in the ...

Arthur Brown, Atomic Rooster, Dexys Midnight Runners: Vincent Crane

Retrospective and Interview by Colin Harper, unpublished, 2004

Author's Note: This was commissioned for Mojo but for reasons unclear to me never ran. It was during a period where a lot of writers ...

Wizz Jones

Retrospective and Interview by Colin Harper, Record Collector, 2004

"HARD TIMES IN NEWQUAY, If You've Got Long Hair" was the endearingly absurd refrain performed by that Zelig of British acoustic music, Raymond "Wizz" Jones, ...

Jethro Tull: Bursting Out/Stormwatch/A (EMI)

Review by Colin Harper, Record Collector, March 2004

Yet more remasters from 1978-80 ...

Leaf Hound: Growers Of Mushroom

Retrospective and Interview by Colin Harper, MOJO, May 2006

Horror stories, heavy riffs and heroic failure. ...

Duffy Power: Vampers and Champers (RPM)

Sleeve notes by Colin Harper, RPM, August 2006

AMONG ALL THE cases of stars who might have been, who had the magic but not the luck, the greatest is surely that of Duffy ...

The 50 Year Copyright Conundrum

Report and Interview by Colin Harper, unpublished, July 2007

IN SEPTEMBER 1959, an inmate of Mississippi State Penitentiary named James Carter led his fellows in singing a work song, 'Po' Lazarus', while chopping wood. ...

Brian Auger, Mahavishnu Orchestra, John McLaughlin: The Brian Auger Quintet & the Rick Laird Trio: Fleeting Moments in 1964

Book Excerpt by Colin Harper, (Jawbone Books), 2014

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Rick Laird, who died on 4 July 2021, very kindly talked to me for Bathed In Lightning: John McLaughlin, the 60s and the ...

Duffy Power, 1941-2014

Obituary by Colin Harper, The Guardian, 27 February 2014

Pop singer who found fame in the 1960s and became consumed by the blues, taking up Alexis Korner as an early mentor. ...

Quintessence: The Spirit Is Willing

Retrospective and Interview by Colin Harper, Record Collector, May 2014

SOME BANDS struggle for years for attention, but not Quintessence. Within weeks of forming, in April 1969, they were a word-of-mouth sensation. Chris Blackwell and ...

Séamus Ennis: "When Séamus Ennis played, it stood your hair on end"

Book Excerpt by Colin Harper, The Irish Times, 27 August 2015

"SÉAMUS ENNIS was unique," wrote Ciarán Mac Mathúna, about the singular piper, folklorist and broadcaster on his death in 1982. "Of course, every person in ...

Mike Westbrook: The First 50 Years

Retrospective and Interview by Colin Harper, Record Collector, October 2017

TAKE A TRIP around eBay and Discogs and you will conclude that Mike Westbrook is a man who makes rare records. Periodically, something from the ...

Dorris Henderson, John Renbourn: Tangled Up in Blues: John Renbourn & Dorris Henderson – the '60s

Film/DVD/TV Review by Colin Harper, The Guardian, October 2019

BY THE TIME of his fourth solo album, The Lady and the Unicorn (1970), John Renbourn was living in a thatched cottage in Hampshire and, ...

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