The Courtyard Music Group (CMG) began life as a changing group of kids who wanted to play music, under the encouraging eye of Richard Jones, woodwork teacher at Kilquhanity House School in Galloway, southern Scotland (a free school founded and run by John Aitkenhead and his wife Morag: it was a boarding school with a few day-kids). Musical influences ranged from baroque to rock n’ roll (baroque n’ roll?) via folk, blues and freeform jamming. A first LP, Killy Country, emerged out of this creative hotbed:  a homemade effort in which all elements were produced by kids at the school, including lino-printing the cover. From this initial and varying group of players came CMG: Richard, Frank Swales, Howard Bradley, Bridgie Bailey, Annie Vickerstaff, Mary Cartwright and Paddy Gill, ranging in age from 14 to 29.

 

CMG essayed a second LP, the now highly-collectable “Chan Eíl Ann Seo Ach Cuíd Dha’r Dũ Rachd Dhuít” (It’s Just Our Way of Saying Hello). Richard’s room was swathed in black fabric to become the recording studio and a collection of miscellaneous equipment was drawn together from hither and yon, including Lauriston Hall, a nearby commune, and Fred Kent at the School of Scottish Studies, who also gave advice. Someone donated an old Ferrograph tape-recorder and all was ready for our second album. New songs were written, old ones rearranged and one, Jam and Gipsy Cream, seemed to evolve out of the collective subconscious (and yes, it is named after a favourite variety of biscuit).

 

Recording took place from the 1st to the 18th July 1974, with guests violinist Cheryl Bradley and electric guitarist Fergus Lamont (ex-pupil) bringing a new dimension to the music, while Mat Negus took on the role of sound engineer, sitting out in the chilly hallway beside the loo for many a long hour. Technical assistants Stephen Bateman and Chris Mayer also helped out.

 

Instruments include: Fender bass, acoustic guitar, Fender Stratocaster, Mollenhauer descant and treble recorders, accordion, piano, glockenspiel, harmonica, various percussive items and bells. These either belonged to band members or were part of Richard’s collection.

 

The first song to be recorded was Song for Claire, which took 29 takes over two days. This helped us to really play together and become part of a greater whole rather than just a collection of individuals. The process culminated in Jam and Gipsy Cream, which was never the same twice running; the final take was recorded in the wee small hours, after the younger members of the group had gained special permission from house-parents to stay up late.

 

The master disc was made by Deroy Studios in Carnforth, Lancashire and they arranged the pressing of the 100 LPs (record number Der 1098). We used two Reslo RB ribbon microphones, one Reslo RV and one B&O dynamic microphone, the latter being fed through a tape loop (B&O beocord) to produce a small amount of echo. These were fed through a Vortexion four channel mixer to a Ferrograph series 3 tape-recorder.

 

Inserts

There are two: one is a straightforward lyric sheet illustrated by Annie, the other is a larger threefold piece with Annie’s Wordworm on one side (incorporating the names of all the band members) and acknowledgements and individual written pieces from band members on the other. The calligraphy for these was done by several kids: Roderick Lawrie, Sam Booth, Matt Green, Patrick McGhie, Benédicte Bosteels, Margot Cox and also Richard Jones. The non-calligraphy was by Annie. The smaller insert was printed by Dinwiddie of Dumfries, the larger one was silkscreened by kids at the school.

 

Cover

Frank Swales drew the picture of the front of the school, while Kirsty McGhie added the figure of Richard leaning against the railings. The title was created using Letraset. The photo on the back was taken by John Crallen, John & Morag’s son-in-law. It includes all band members except Paddy (Annie’s hat is visible between Cheryl and Bridgie). It was taken in the courtyard outside Richard’s room. The little animal drawings in the four corners were done by Bridgie. The cover was silkscreened by kids as per the Wordworm. The title is Gaelic and comes from one of the school’s weekly council meetings ( which everyone attended) on an occasion when Iain Hastie had been mentioned due to his habit of coming up behind people and punching them playfully on the arm. Headmaster John commented, “It’s just his way of saying hello”.

 

Special effects

At the beginning of The Seasons you can hear birdsong, Annie’s voice calling “Are you ready yet?” and Mat Negus’ response “Hang on!” This is followed by the sound of the school pony, Bronwen, trotting down the road (ridden by Nicola Riley). All this came about because as Mat was outside the recording room, we couldn’t see what he was doing. So we had to keep shouting to asking him if he was ready to start recording. His frequent reply was in the negative. The birdsong was recorded first, at 6.30am and we finished at 8am, when you can faintly hear the getting-up bell being rung. Bronwen was a Welsh pony and therefore innately musical. Elsewhere on the LP is the sound of Kehaar, a tame jackdaw who insisted on contributing some vocals.

 

Miscellaneous

Side one, 3a and 3b: Haggis and Sandlemac were guinea-pigs owned by Bridgie and Annie respectively.

 

Side One

1, The Seasons: P McLean, E Booth & group. 2, Anti-Glock Shoppe: Vickerstaff, Swales & group. 3a, Haggis’ Tune: B Bailey; 3b, Sandlemac: A Vickerstaff. 4, The Bonny labouring Boy: trad arr group. 5, Bridges: B Bailey, R Jones. 6, Alki Blues: F Swales. 7, 2074: F Swales

 

Side Two

1 Song for Claire: Swales, Bradley. 2 Jam and Gipsy Cream (The Magician): Bailey, H & C Bradley, Swales, Jones. 3 Petronella: trad arr group. Goodbye: R Jones.