John Wilson continues with his fifth series of Mastertapes, in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. 

Programme 6 (B-side): Having discussed the making of 'Handsworth Revolution' (in the A-side of the programme, broadcast on Monday 4th January and available online), David Hind and Selwyn Brown respond to questions from the audience and perform exclusive live acoustic versions of some of the key tracks from the album. 

Producer: Paul Kobrak. Published on January 5, 2016.

Steel Pulse (the B-Side)

John Wilson continues with the fifth series of Mastertapes, the programme in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. 

Programme 7. DONOVAN talks to John Wilson about 'Sunshine Superman', which according to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame "ignited the psychedelic revolution virtually single-handedly" when it was released in the summer of 1966.

'Sunshine Superman' is Donovan's breakthrough third album and a radical departure from his previous work. Born in Glasgow, Donovan Phillips Leitch grew up listening to his father reading him poetry and his family singing Scots Irish folk music. He began playing guitar when he was 14 and was 18 when he had his first hit, 'Catch the Wind'. A year later he began work on the album that first introduced meditation, Celtic mythology and Flower Power to the world.

Creating a unique fusion of classical, jazz, folk, pop, Celtic, Latin and Indian music, the album veered from the LA-influenced 'The Trip' and 'The Fat Angel' (written for Mama Cass) to the medieval tinged 'Guinevere' and 'Legend of a Girl Child Linda' (written for Brian Jones' ex-girlfriend Linda Lawrence who became Donovan's life-long muse and wife). Linda is also the Sunshine Super-Girl of the song 'Sunshine Superman' which topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic and featured a young Jimmy Page on lead guitar.

The B-side of the programme, where it's the turn of the audience to ask the questions, can be heard on Tuesday 12th January at 3.30pm.

Producer: Clare Walker. Published on January 11, 2016.

Donovan (the A-Side)

John Wilson continues with his fifth series of Mastertapes, in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. 

Programme 6 (B-side): Having discussed the making of 'Sunshine Superman' (in the A-side of the programme, broadcast on Monday 11th January and available online), Donovan responds to questions from the audience and performs exclusive live acoustic versions of some of the key tracks from the album. 

Producer:. Published on January 12, 2016.

Donovan (the B-Side)

John Wilson continues with his new series in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. 

Programme 9. 'Hedonism' by Bellowhead, released in 2010 and still the best selling independent folk album of all time.

The idea for Bellowhead came to John Spiers and Jon Boden when they were caught in a traffic jam on tour. The longer they were stuck in the car, the more names of friends they came up with of whom to invite - initially settling on a 'modest' line-up of 10 which then grew to an even sillier 11-piece after the recording of their first EP. 

In June 2015, they announced that the band would be calling it a day on May 1st 2016, and exactly two weeks after the twelfth anniversary of their first ever gig in Oxford Town Hall they will finish their farewell tour with an intimate final show in the very same venue. The tickets for this gig sold out in two minutes. 

Their most commercially successful album, Hedonism was recorded in Abbey Road Studios and released in October 2010. Produced by John Leckie, it served up a further mix of shanties, folk songs and dance tunes, arranged in an eclectic mix of musical styles and influences. The album includes rousing versions of 'Cold Blow The Wind', 'New York Girls' and the Jacques Brel song 'Amsterdam'

The B-side of the programme, where it's the turn of the audience to ask the questions, can be heard on Tuesday 19th January 2016 at 3.30pm.

Producer: Paul Kobrak. Published on January 18, 2016.

Bellowhead (the A-Side)

John Wilson continues with his fifth series of Mastertapes, in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. 



Programme 10 (B-side): Having discussed the making of 'Hedonism' (in the A-side of the programme, broadcast on Monday 18th January and available online), Bellowhead respond to questions from the audience and performs exclusive live acoustic versions of some to the key tracks from the album. 



Producer: Paul Kobrak. Published on January 19, 2016.

Bellowhead (the B-side)

On the eve of the sixth series of Mastertapes (which features the likes of Laura Marling, Graham Nash and Shirley Collins) there is another chance to hear the Mastertapes special, in which Paul McCartney joins John Wilson. Recorded in the iconic BBC Maida Vale studios, they discuss songwriting, Paul's solo career in the years immediately after The Beatles, his recent collaborations with Kanye West, and working with the likes of George Martin, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson and - obviously - John Lennon. He also takes questions from an audience that includes Paul Weller, Noel Gallagher and Brad Pitt.

Producer Paul Kobrak. Published on May 28, 2016.

Paul McCartney

John Wilson interviews leading musicians about the creation of an album they feel is one of their most significant of their career.

BBC Radio 4: Mastertapes

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