For a' that

An old song. Written by Robert burns in 1795. Recorded by my old acoustic band, The Early Puritans in Sweden 1984 on a radio/cassette player with built in microphones. One take. Found the tape in the woodshed this summer. Lo fi.

The tape contained 14 folk songs. Scottish, Irish and English. All recorded straight off in under and hour. When it was time for a solo you moved closer to the cassette player On the other side were recordings of all the Fats Domino EPs I had. 24 years they've been there. I'd forgotten it existed.
"A mans a man for a' that" we loved fot its egalitarian sentiments. Rabbie (Burns) was a firm supporter of the French Revolution.

(Get Flash to see the track player.)
posted by jan murray (7 comments total)

Wow, nice. I really love the sound of it and, really, who doesn't like Bobby.
posted by sleepy pete at 4:38 PM on September 20, 2008

oh, and i know the official nickname is "robbie" so don't go breaking my heart, ok?
posted by sleepy pete at 4:40 PM on September 20, 2008

That's beautiful.
I love that you re-discovered it in the woodshed.
Pretty kickass sound for a 24 year-old woodshed tape recorded on a boombox.
posted by chococat at 10:13 PM on September 20, 2008

This is great! I want to hear the rest of the songs. I am a sucker for folk songs + harmony. A big sucker for it.
posted by that girl at 8:43 AM on September 21, 2008

Can't believe this song is over 200 years old, shows that good music is timeless. I'm with that girl, I'd like to hear what else you got on that tape now.
posted by BrnP84 at 3:29 PM on September 21, 2008

so freaking lovely! I've got a soft spot for lo-fi folk/country (Carter Family/ Lomax's recordings) -- and you guys really delivered the goods with this performance and recording. I could listen to this all night and day.
posted by February28 at 4:48 PM on September 21, 2008

w00t!

(title's A man's a man..)

This song is one of the top contenders for Scottish National Anthem when we become independent. I am a huge supporter. How awesome would that be?
posted by By The Grace of God at 9:29 AM on September 25, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]