Occasional Albums Thing 039 - Harvey Andrews “Writer Of Songs”

As you know, I have a record shop…some people come into the shop just to say hello and have a chat. They’re never going to buy anything they’re just friendly faces you see occasionally, we talk about music or the matters of the day or whatever and then they wander off until next time. One day a few years ago one of those people entered my life, an older gentleman, mid 70’s I’d have guessed at the time (turns out I was right), he had a look around and started chatting. We talked about music, he was a big Buddy Holly fan, and we discovered we were both lifelong supporters of Birmingham City Football Club. As he was about to leave he said it had been a pleasure meeting me and “my name is Harvey…Harvey Andrews” to which my only possible response was “THE Harvey Andrews ?” to which this Harvey Andrews replied “that depends who you think THE Harvey Andrews is”…Well…

Back in the late 90’s Cherry Red Records (better known to me for releases by the Dead Kennedys, The Misunderstood and Everything But The Girl amongst many others) put out a series of themed CD collections, the theme being football clubs. They produced compilations of songs related to Aberdeen, Sunderland, Crystal Palace, Sheffield Wednesday, Liverpool, West Ham, loads of teams. Obviously there was one dedicated to Birmingham City, titled “Keep Right On: Birmingham City FC & Supporters”, and on that collection, nestled amongst some real stinkers I have to tell you, were 3 proper songs, “Home And Away”, “Good Old Brummagem” and “When The Blues Win The Cup” (we’re still waiting BTW), by Harvey Andrews…and it turns out that yes this Harvey Andrews was THE Harvey Andrews and here he was standing in my shop.

Turns out Harvey had been through a number of jobs while he tried to find his way as a professional musician. One of these had been running the club shop at Birmingham City’s home ground, St Andrews (a job he was so successful at he was later headhunted and poached by the Wolves !). During this period the Blues were looking for some ideas for halftime entertainment and Harvey, as a songwriter, offered to write some songs and perform them on the pitch, and that’s how you get the 3 songs included on the Cherry Red compilation.

Harvey finally made it as a professional musician, being much respected in the folk world of the late 60’s and early 70’s, releasing his first EP on famed UK Folk imprint Transatlantic in 1966 and his first album for Decca in 1970. “Writer OF Songs” was Harvey’s 2nd album released in 1972 on Cube Records, an offshoot of Fly Records who had recently had big hits with T.Rex. There are some heavy hitters of the English folk world supporting Harvey on this record, Ralph McTell plays some guitar, Cozy Powell on the Drums, there’s Pentangle’s Danny Thompson on bass, the Fairport’s rhythm section of Dave’s Mattacks and Pegg, Rick Wakeman on piano…so it seems Cube Records had high hopes for Harvey and this record.

“Hey! Sandy” kicks things off, a song about Sandra “Sandy” Scheuer whose name may not be familiar to you but who was an innocent victim in the Kent State Massacre when Ohio National Guardsmen opened fire on unarmed students protesting the Vietnam war at Kent State University on May 4th 1970. Sandy was not involved in the protest, she was crossing the college green between classes when she was shot in he neck by Guardsmen who opened fire on the protestors on the green from over 100 yards away. She was one of four unarmed students killed that day. Have a listen down below.

“Boothferry Bridge” is, in reality, a somewhat ugly bridge that spans the River Ouse in Yorkshire, but Harvey manages to turn the name into a beautiful ballad. It’s a homecoming song by a man who has spent time looking for a better life far from home but relishes returning.

“Unaccompanied” is exactly that, just Harvey singing what feels like a traditional Folk song but is something he wrote himself. An angry rant by an ordinary working man…

They built a special factory for work again
Said "It's a great job for you, don't shirk again"
I stand around and tighten screws
And dream about a glass of booze
Whichever way you turn, you lose
A berk again

“Soldier”, the song that closes out side 1, is certainly Harvey’s most controversial song. It tells of a British soldier in Northern Ireland who helps clear an area where a bomb has been planted and then throws himself on the explosive to shield others from its blast. It’s become a much misunderstood song, the BBC for many years wouldn’t play it, many saw it as a pro-Loyalist song (a shop on the Shankhill Road played it over a loudspeaker, and sold 5000 copies), some saw it as glorifying the heroism of the British military in Ireland. Harvey meant it as neither, saying later “A song I had originally intended to once again mirror man's inhumanity to man has somehow become a vehicle for more of the same, something I regret”. Naive it may be but it was written with the best of intentions.

Harvey sings all these songs in a high, keening and beautifully enunciated voice. This one might not be for everyone but I’ll treasure it, and my occasional chats about BCFC’s fortunes with a delightful fella it’s a pleasure to know.

Hey! Sandy - https://youtu.be/b6PKf8QLaAQ?si=azovIRDhOms_7H8h