St Andrews Folk Club with Jolie Blon 03-06-73 (full concert)

Q: Who are/were JOLIE BLON? A: Probably the finest group to appear on the Scottish folk scene in 1973. This West of Scotland group first played the St Andrews Folk Club on the 3rd of June of that year and returned to the club again in September and December. They also played at St Andrews FC’s sister club at RAF Leuchars and the St Andrews University Students Union in October ‘73. ....... As I carried my trusty but rather bulky and heavy tape recorder along to their first appearance I had no idea if they would allow recording but the group was happy oblige (although I don’t think I managed to tap into their sound system). This recording is the result - perhaps not perfect - but giving a great flavour of the night. Information about the group is sketchy and is reliant on my memory of events over fifty years ago - Google having let me down on this occasion. I believe the group were from the area around Airdrie in Lanarkshire and they had only been fully formed around a month before playing this gig. The female vocalist, I remember as being called Jacinta Boyce (or possibly Boyse) a singer with a fantastic voice. Her vocal range, diction and memory for words superb. Her ability to be note perfect, pitch perfect and timing equally so. I believe the groups multi-instrumentalist music director, arranger and second vocalist was John Giblin. (this is more than likely the John Giblin - later to play as session mus ician with Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins and Kate Bush and to record and play live concerts with John Martyn, Elkie Brooks, Annie Lennox and Manfred Mann's Earth Band. If so he also became a member of Simple Minds from ‘85 to ‘88 and sadly died in 2023). The arrangements of the music played on that first night in St Andrews certainly points to someone of that level of talent. Even less is known of the other instrumentalists although all contributed significantly to the great sound of the group. As anyone who listens closely will discover the electric bass was played by Alistair (?) and acoustic guitar and other instruments by Ian (?). This gig made me enthusiastic to record the groups further club gigs at St Andrews and Leuchars - these recordings are still deep in the recesses of my storage loft but I feel one of them may have been recorded from the groups PA so watch this space as the recording is likely to be even better. Anyone who can correct or expand on this please attach a comment to this video - I for one would love to know more!!! (AW)