0:00:02 > 0:00:06Nic Jones is a legendary figure in British music.
0:00:06 > 0:00:10His 1980 album Penguin Eggs is regarded as one of the best
0:00:10 > 0:00:12acoustic records ever produced
0:00:12 > 0:00:15Unfortunately, it was to be his last.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18I was at a Virgin Megastore in Birmingham
0:00:18 > 0:00:21and this record came on - I had never heard anything like it.
0:00:21 > 0:00:23And I got home and absolutely loved it.
0:00:23 > 0:00:27But if I had known it was folk music, I probably wouldn't have bought it.
0:00:28 > 0:00:32It's a really great album to hear as your first folk album.
0:00:32 > 0:00:34In fact, the problem with Penguin Eggs,
0:00:34 > 0:00:39it sets the bar rather high for the rest of your life.
0:00:39 > 0:00:41The Observer, a few years ago,
0:00:41 > 0:00:45had a poll about the greatest records of all time
0:00:45 > 0:00:48Number 78 was Let It Bleed by The Rolling Stones.
0:00:48 > 0:00:52Number 80 was Station to Station by David Bowie.
0:00:52 > 0:00:55At number 79 was Penguin Eggs by Nic Jones.
0:00:57 > 0:01:00There is no doubt that Nic Jones was headed for international greatness,
0:01:00 > 0:01:04but his career was about to suffer a severe setback.
0:01:04 > 0:01:08CAR HORN BEEPS
0:01:11 > 0:01:15# Sally where are you going that you do look so gay...? #
0:01:15 > 0:01:17He came home and said, "Oh, it's a great car."
0:01:17 > 0:01:21A year old, I think it was, this Volkswagen - immaculate.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24Took me up to the showroom to sign off the papers
0:01:24 > 0:01:25and all this sort of thing,
0:01:25 > 0:01:28and I took one look at it and took an instant dislike to it.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34Nic was a busy artist, playing to sell out audiences
0:01:34 > 0:01:37with his unique guitar and fiddle playing.
0:01:37 > 0:01:39He had to drive all over Britain.
0:01:41 > 0:01:44But it all ended one night in a near fatal crash,
0:01:44 > 0:01:47which would change his life forever.
0:01:52 > 0:01:56Nic's new car collided with a brick lorry.
0:01:56 > 0:01:59Almost every bone in his body was broken.
0:01:59 > 0:02:01With serious neurological damage,
0:02:01 > 0:02:03it was thought he would never perform again.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09While Nic still had an unquenchable desire to communicate
0:02:09 > 0:02:10through his music,
0:02:10 > 0:02:15his long suffering family tried to rebuild their lives around him.
0:02:15 > 0:02:17The accident happened when...
0:02:17 > 0:02:19When I was five.
0:02:20 > 0:02:24So, the only things I really remember are just vague images,
0:02:24 > 0:02:27and it was nothing to do with playing or singing,
0:02:27 > 0:02:29and one of them was remembering him
0:02:29 > 0:02:33being able to kick a football really, really high.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36And the other one was he could throw a Frisbee,
0:02:36 > 0:02:37and it was a white Frisbee,
0:02:37 > 0:02:39and I remember it cos it had little red and blue in the centre,
0:02:39 > 0:02:42and he could throw it up in the air and make it come back to him.
0:02:44 > 0:02:45Ladies and gentlemen,
0:02:45 > 0:02:49please welcome a legend in his own lifetime, Nic Jones.
0:02:49 > 0:02:50APPLAUSE
0:02:52 > 0:02:56Last summer, Nic emerged from obscurity and returned to the stage.
0:02:58 > 0:03:00For many in this audience,
0:03:00 > 0:03:03Penguin Eggs is the only evidence they have of his legendary status.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08This is the story of Nic's determination to sing again.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14The first time I met him, I didn't even know he was Nic Jones.
0:03:14 > 0:03:17And I was telling him what to do, telling him what chords to play.
0:03:17 > 0:03:19I was sort of saying, "Look, you can do what you like,
0:03:19 > 0:03:22"but I'm going to go to this chord here."
0:03:22 > 0:03:25And this guy was going, "Yeah, we could do that."
0:03:25 > 0:03:28And it was only that evening that somebody said,
0:03:28 > 0:03:32"Oh, you were getting on well with Nic Jones this afternoon."
0:03:32 > 0:03:35I had no idea who he was.
0:03:35 > 0:03:39When I used to do DJing and I'd play pop records at the time,
0:03:39 > 0:03:41but I'd just put that on.
0:03:41 > 0:03:43It felt as if it was just part of the stuff to me.
0:03:43 > 0:03:45It wasn't like, "Oh, this is some weird bit.
0:03:45 > 0:03:47"Now you're going to have a bit of folk."
0:03:47 > 0:03:50This was really sort of cutting stuff to me.
0:03:54 > 0:03:58Nic Jones' "cutting stuff" crossed musical boundaries and has become
0:03:58 > 0:04:02an inspiration to young acoustic guitar players the world over.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09I grew up with a complete set of Nic Jones records.
0:04:09 > 0:04:13From the time I started playing guitar, when I was 11 or 12,
0:04:13 > 0:04:15my dad dug out the vinyl and said,
0:04:15 > 0:04:19"This is what you want to listen to. This is what you want to play."
0:04:30 > 0:04:32Recorded pretty much live over a couple of days
0:04:32 > 0:04:35in-between his busy touring schedule,
0:04:35 > 0:04:38Nic Jones' Penguin Eggs became an instant classic.
0:04:40 > 0:04:44It was essentially a folk record but it continues to resonate with
0:04:44 > 0:04:47a much wider audience than anyone could have imagined.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50# Your jacket shall be blue
0:04:50 > 0:04:58# And you'll see that seaport town called Canadee-i-o... #
0:04:59 > 0:05:01Hang on a second, Nic. That's going great.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08It's early summer, 2012.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11Nic Jones has assembled a trio to rehearse for his upcoming concerts.
0:05:14 > 0:05:17The new arrangements they are working on will have to
0:05:17 > 0:05:20satisfy the fans eager to hear Nic's iconic repertoire again.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24Together, the Nic Jones trio will try to uncover
0:05:24 > 0:05:25the essence of Nic's music.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36Part of Nic's musical DNA was formed in his childhood
0:05:36 > 0:05:39when he heard singers like Ray Charles on the radio.
0:05:40 > 0:05:42# ..jacket shall by blue... #
0:05:42 > 0:05:47And like many other teenagers in the '60s, he was inspired to pick up
0:05:47 > 0:05:50the guitar by one of the forefathers of British rock and roll.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54I wanted to be Hank Marvin of The Shadows.
0:05:54 > 0:05:59And there's a chap who I knew at school, Nigel Patterson he was,
0:05:59 > 0:06:01and he asked me if I'd join The Halliard
0:06:01 > 0:06:03so I bought an acoustic guitar.
0:06:03 > 0:06:07All the while, I still wanted to be Hank Marvin.
0:06:07 > 0:06:12When we were at school, he was the only friend I had
0:06:12 > 0:06:15when I was being really, really badly bullied.
0:06:15 > 0:06:19Nic said, "It's about time you left Nigel alone."
0:06:19 > 0:06:24A second afterwards, I can remember seeing Nic literally spitting
0:06:24 > 0:06:28broken teeth out onto the floor.
0:06:28 > 0:06:30Everybody else was absolutely terrified of this person -
0:06:30 > 0:06:33they wouldn't go near him -
0:06:33 > 0:06:35but Nic stood up for me.
0:06:35 > 0:06:40Dave Moran was the driving force and he had this little trio.
0:06:40 > 0:06:42Little trio? Had this trio
0:06:42 > 0:06:44and that was the first I knew of Nic.
0:06:44 > 0:06:46We rehearsed with him every other day
0:06:46 > 0:06:48cos I think he was a lifeguard
0:06:48 > 0:06:50at the swimming pool,
0:06:50 > 0:06:52so he had a lot of free time.
0:06:52 > 0:06:56We began to acquire a reputation within Essex
0:06:56 > 0:06:59and that started to spread,
0:06:59 > 0:07:03and it was becoming increasingly difficult to hold down a day job
0:07:03 > 0:07:04and do the gigs at night.
0:07:04 > 0:07:08We were doing barmy things like driving to Mansfield
0:07:08 > 0:07:10and back in one night,
0:07:10 > 0:07:13and getting back at five o'clock in the morning,
0:07:13 > 0:07:15expecting to get up and go to work.
0:07:20 > 0:07:25We had this glorious boom time in the 1960s
0:07:25 > 0:07:28where people were young and they were energetic,
0:07:28 > 0:07:32and the audience and the performers and the club organisers were all
0:07:32 > 0:07:35the same age - in their late teens and early 20s -
0:07:35 > 0:07:37and you get that kind of youthful energy.
0:07:38 > 0:07:43By the mid 1970s, it had split really very widely.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48There were clubs which considered themselves to be proper
0:07:48 > 0:07:49traditional folk clubs
0:07:49 > 0:07:53where you weren't even allowed to take guitars in, in some cases.
0:07:53 > 0:07:55They were very, very hard line.
0:07:58 > 0:08:03# And did those feet in ancient time
0:08:05 > 0:08:10# Walk up on England's mountains... #
0:08:11 > 0:08:14I wanted to play traditional English music on guitar
0:08:14 > 0:08:16and there are no role models.
0:08:16 > 0:08:19What there are, one or two fiddle players,
0:08:19 > 0:08:22but there's melodeon players and concertina players,
0:08:22 > 0:08:25so what I wanted to do was to try and...
0:08:26 > 0:08:29..steal from them where I could.
0:08:29 > 0:08:33# And did the Countenance Divine...? #
0:08:35 > 0:08:39The main players on the folk scene of that late '60s began to
0:08:39 > 0:08:42seek the true archaeology of Britain's early popular culture.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47In the library of Cecil Sharp House in north London,
0:08:47 > 0:08:49they found the broadsheets and songs of ordinary people,
0:08:49 > 0:08:53and hit on a rich seem of material.
0:08:53 > 0:08:58# Among these dark Satanic Mills... #
0:09:00 > 0:09:03It was the only place to come.
0:09:03 > 0:09:07In Cecil Sharp House, we have the originals of these manuscripts
0:09:07 > 0:09:08and these field recordings,
0:09:08 > 0:09:11and you can actually hear and see
0:09:11 > 0:09:14what those authentic voices were.
0:09:14 > 0:09:18# ..she was in her tender care... #
0:09:18 > 0:09:22And I think that's what the people like Martin Carthy, Shirley Collins
0:09:22 > 0:09:25and Nic were looking for.
0:09:25 > 0:09:27# ..she loved him well... #
0:09:27 > 0:09:30I've often like the lyric side of songs rather than the tunes.
0:09:30 > 0:09:31And the lyrics...
0:09:31 > 0:09:35There's a lot of people that don't listen to the lyrics.
0:09:39 > 0:09:40# ..but she longed to see... #
0:09:40 > 0:09:44Actually, one of the reasons why a lot of these songs survive is
0:09:44 > 0:09:46because the life within them doesn't change.
0:09:46 > 0:09:50Love, sex, death, trickery, wars - all those things -
0:09:50 > 0:09:52they're all there.
0:09:52 > 0:09:53There was nowhere it didn't go -
0:09:53 > 0:09:59incest, jealousy, murder, betrayal, just plain happiness, sex -
0:09:59 > 0:10:01just everything.
0:10:01 > 0:10:04It went everywhere and, as Bob Copper used to say,
0:10:04 > 0:10:08"Folk music is the music that was there before music was invented."
0:10:13 > 0:10:15# Oh dear, rue the day I ever married... #
0:10:15 > 0:10:19With Joe Jones playing guitar, father and son are trying to
0:10:19 > 0:10:23reacquaint themselves with the songs that Nic played when he went solo.
0:10:23 > 0:10:27# Weeping and wailing and rocking the cradle
0:10:28 > 0:10:31# And rocking a baby...
0:10:31 > 0:10:34# That's none of my own... #
0:10:34 > 0:10:37BOTH LAUGH
0:10:37 > 0:10:40The Halliard would do songs about Napoleon and those sort of people,
0:10:40 > 0:10:43and he suddenly realised that he's an Essex boy
0:10:43 > 0:10:45and he had no relevance to Napoleon.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48He said, "Look, I never knew Napoleon -
0:10:48 > 0:10:50"I don't know what he was like."
0:10:50 > 0:10:53By 1968, the Halliard were splitting up
0:10:53 > 0:10:57and Nic's eclectic musical tastes would soon be given free reign.
0:10:57 > 0:11:01When you're living cheek by jowl with two other guys for that
0:11:01 > 0:11:03length of time...
0:11:03 > 0:11:06We'd just had enough of each other.
0:11:06 > 0:11:08It was a terrible, terrible shame.
0:11:08 > 0:11:12And when we broke up, I lost all contact with him.
0:11:12 > 0:11:16I actually didn't see him...
0:11:16 > 0:11:18during the whole of his solo career.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28The Halliard broke up and he was out on the road on his own,
0:11:28 > 0:11:32and was doing gigs around South Yorkshire, around Rotherham.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35And there was a lass who ran a club there and she said,
0:11:35 > 0:11:39"Have you heard Nic?" I said, "Well, I know him from the Halliard."
0:11:39 > 0:11:41And she played me some of his stuff.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44# There were seven gypsies and all in a row
0:11:44 > 0:11:47# And they sang neat and... #
0:11:48 > 0:11:53His playing was much more poised, it was much more relaxed.
0:11:56 > 0:11:59He had a particular swing about his playing
0:11:59 > 0:12:02that developed in a really interesting way.
0:12:03 > 0:12:05Of course, he was a beautiful singer.
0:12:05 > 0:12:06He had a big range.
0:12:06 > 0:12:10He could really push himself at the top and down the bottom.
0:12:10 > 0:12:12He was...
0:12:12 > 0:12:14He was good.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20# The servant's down on his knees and said... #
0:12:20 > 0:12:23He did the research, like everybody else, at Cecil Sharp House,
0:12:23 > 0:12:25pouring over the old books,
0:12:25 > 0:12:29getting the stories and the tunes and the songs,
0:12:29 > 0:12:32but he had no compunction about changing them around.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35I wanted to be a contemporary guitarist rather than
0:12:35 > 0:12:37a traditional guitarist.
0:12:37 > 0:12:41I like to sing songs about now, not about then.
0:12:41 > 0:12:45# But she longed to see that seaport town... #
0:12:45 > 0:12:46Nic took these ancient songs
0:12:46 > 0:12:49and breathed new life into their melodies,
0:12:49 > 0:12:51making them palatable to a much wider audience.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58He was finding the bones of songs and rewriting them,
0:12:58 > 0:13:00and turning them into something of his own.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03Filling in holes in the lyrics, or taking bits from here
0:13:03 > 0:13:04and there and putting them together.
0:13:04 > 0:13:09And, in an essence, turning them into...new songs.
0:13:11 > 0:13:13I actually got quite irritated with him one of the times
0:13:13 > 0:13:16cos he'd pick up a book, he'd just look at it and play the guitar,
0:13:16 > 0:13:20sing a few words, read the music.
0:13:20 > 0:13:24And I thought, "What a fantastic accompaniment that is."
0:13:24 > 0:13:28And he'd say, "No. I'll have to do more with that."
0:13:28 > 0:13:30And he was... You had to stop him.
0:13:32 > 0:13:35When you've got...particularly Penguin Eggs on,
0:13:35 > 0:13:40people go, "What's this?" And they are surprised they don't know it.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43But what is interesting over the years is running into other people
0:13:43 > 0:13:45that already know about his stuff,
0:13:45 > 0:13:47like John Hegley, for example, the poet and comedian.
0:13:47 > 0:13:49I was at John Hegley's flat once
0:13:49 > 0:13:53and some tracks from Penguin Eggs came on that he's just put on,
0:13:53 > 0:13:58and it was so great to meet someone that knew about it.
0:13:58 > 0:14:00You do feel a bit lonely.
0:14:00 > 0:14:04# Buchan, it's bonny, oh and there lives my love
0:14:04 > 0:14:06# My heart it lies on him
0:14:06 > 0:14:10# It will not remove, remove... #
0:14:10 > 0:14:13I can never work out where it's supposed to be going.
0:14:13 > 0:14:18# Buchan, it's bonny, oh and there lives my love
0:14:18 > 0:14:20# My heart it lies on him
0:14:20 > 0:14:23# It will not remove
0:14:23 > 0:14:25# It will not remove
0:14:25 > 0:14:28# Will not remove. #
0:14:28 > 0:14:30Yeah. I'll leave it to Nic Jones to do it.
0:14:32 > 0:14:34# It will not remove
0:14:34 > 0:14:37# It will not remove
0:14:37 > 0:14:41# For all that I have done
0:14:41 > 0:14:46# Never will I forget my love... #
0:14:47 > 0:14:51Well, it's about arranged marriage and...
0:14:52 > 0:14:56Jeanie, the woman in the song, is saying, "I don't want this."
0:14:56 > 0:14:58And there's no way out, really, for her.
0:14:59 > 0:15:01And...
0:15:03 > 0:15:07She just dies of a broken heart for the one she truly loves...
0:15:07 > 0:15:11and then he comes home to find her.
0:15:11 > 0:15:17# Never will I forget my love Annachie
0:15:20 > 0:15:25# Down came her father and he's standing on the floor
0:15:25 > 0:15:29# Saying, Jeannie... #
0:15:32 > 0:15:34When you go down to Cecil Sharp House and
0:15:34 > 0:15:39when you go through the library and you're confronted with these huge
0:15:39 > 0:15:43tons of unintelligible dialect stuff,
0:15:43 > 0:15:47whether it be Old English or Old Scots dialect,
0:15:47 > 0:15:51all that kind of stuff, it can seem like a bit of a task to...
0:15:51 > 0:15:55To bring that out of the page and actually bring it alive.
0:15:55 > 0:16:00Now, I think there are very few people who communicate that
0:16:00 > 0:16:04as well as somebody like Nic.
0:16:04 > 0:16:08And that has certainly been passed on to somebody like Jim Moray
0:16:08 > 0:16:11who is able to communicate a massive story like that.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31# Sally where are you going that you do look so gay?
0:16:31 > 0:16:35# I know that I've not asked you to take a walk today
0:16:35 > 0:16:38# You have not asked me well indeed
0:16:38 > 0:16:40# It's a tiny cheek of you
0:16:40 > 0:16:42# Do you think that there are no more young chaps?
0:16:42 > 0:16:45# I've got a dozen or two... #
0:16:45 > 0:16:48I've taken so much directly, technically, from Nic
0:16:48 > 0:16:50in terms of actual things that I play,
0:16:50 > 0:16:53but also in terms of the spirit of it.
0:16:55 > 0:16:59# So young women take a warning from me
0:16:59 > 0:17:02# Never love a soldier or sit all on his knee... #
0:17:12 > 0:17:15A guitar is a beautiful instrument and, in normal tuning,
0:17:15 > 0:17:17it's an orchestra.
0:17:17 > 0:17:20And a guitar can do almost anything.
0:17:26 > 0:17:28A lot of songs in the British isles
0:17:28 > 0:17:32don't sit well with chord progressions. There's...
0:17:35 > 0:17:38There's a flexibility that's not there...
0:17:38 > 0:17:42with normal tuning, and that's its bottom string.
0:17:43 > 0:17:49That's mine. These little guitars love being tuned down that low.
0:18:00 > 0:18:02Nic needed a guitar that could cope
0:18:02 > 0:18:05with his unconventional tunings and English style.
0:18:07 > 0:18:10Roger Bucknall, his friend and master guitar maker,
0:18:10 > 0:18:12came up with the instruments he needed.
0:18:14 > 0:18:16When I met Nic I was making this,
0:18:16 > 0:18:19it's a small guitar but with a wide fingerboard,
0:18:19 > 0:18:22and it suited all the English players, particularly Nic,
0:18:22 > 0:18:25who wanted a bit more room on the fingerboard to
0:18:25 > 0:18:28get his fingers in to play individual notes rather than chords.
0:18:28 > 0:18:31There's a short-ish scale, so to get stretches when he needed.
0:18:38 > 0:18:42And then Nic had some sort of epiphany or crossroads moment.
0:18:42 > 0:18:44I think he sold his soul at some point
0:18:44 > 0:18:46and changed his guitar style quite a lot,
0:18:46 > 0:18:48and it came out on the Penguin Eggs album,
0:18:48 > 0:18:51and on that album, he used the Orsino.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54A cedar top and a mahogany back and sides,
0:18:54 > 0:18:57which is about the lightest combination you can get,
0:18:57 > 0:18:59so it's very resonant and very responsive.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02And it really suited Nic's style, which he was developing then,
0:19:02 > 0:19:06of sliding on the bass strings and playing the melody on the top.
0:19:14 > 0:19:16Nic always tuned a tone down anyway,
0:19:16 > 0:19:19so rather than being E, it was D to D,
0:19:19 > 0:19:23and he did that, he says, to avoid breaking strings.
0:19:23 > 0:19:25In actual fact, it was a rock and roll trick.
0:19:25 > 0:19:27It was used quite a lot, going down a semi tone.
0:19:30 > 0:19:34With this, it's going down even further than that to...
0:19:34 > 0:19:36To B flat, which is super low
0:19:36 > 0:19:39and it means that the guitar kind of...
0:19:39 > 0:19:41You can hear that it's...
0:19:43 > 0:19:46I'm getting buzzes. I'm getting this kind of...
0:19:46 > 0:19:49This kind of snappy sound quite readily.
0:19:49 > 0:19:52If you were doing that kind of thing in standard tuning,
0:19:52 > 0:19:55it would hurt and it wouldn't have the same kind of tone to it.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58But he developed a style to take account of the fact
0:19:58 > 0:20:01the strings were very slack, so playing it very gently,
0:20:01 > 0:20:04and with the flesh of his fingers rather than the nail,
0:20:04 > 0:20:06he learned a style of sliding up
0:20:06 > 0:20:09and down the strings without allowing the strings to buzz and rattle,
0:20:09 > 0:20:13which would have happened otherwise if he hadn't been quite so careful.
0:20:13 > 0:20:14It was...at the time, unique,
0:20:14 > 0:20:17and the only people that do it now are copying Nic's style,
0:20:17 > 0:20:19but it's still a fantastic style of playing.
0:20:30 > 0:20:37# I went unto my love's chamber door
0:20:37 > 0:20:41# Where I never had been before... #
0:20:41 > 0:20:47I was on YouTube and I was looking at a few traditional songs,
0:20:47 > 0:20:50and then this one with quite a few views came up.
0:20:50 > 0:20:54And, immediately, I just went, "That was so good."
0:20:54 > 0:20:57It was his guitar playing that got me,
0:20:57 > 0:21:00but he has a voice that I really appreciate because it's really true,
0:21:00 > 0:21:01and it's kind of...
0:21:02 > 0:21:05It just suits the traditional material so well
0:21:05 > 0:21:08and it made it sound cool, yet relevant.
0:21:10 > 0:21:16# Just to let her know unto Flandyke Shore... #
0:21:17 > 0:21:20One day, I stumbled on Flandyke Shore -
0:21:20 > 0:21:22it was in the Folk Song Journal.
0:21:22 > 0:21:25It was what you would call a fragment.
0:21:25 > 0:21:29It was only three verses, but so poetic, so beautiful.
0:21:29 > 0:21:34And sometimes, when you just have a few verses and lots missing,
0:21:34 > 0:21:36you can fill in the gaps yourself.
0:21:36 > 0:21:40But I just kind of put it away on the side - that was a big mistake
0:21:40 > 0:21:45Because shortly after that I heard that Nic had recorded it,
0:21:45 > 0:21:48so he had discovered that song as well,
0:21:48 > 0:21:52and it was a discovery because it wasn't in an obvious book.
0:21:52 > 0:21:56But, of course, it was wonderful, his version...did it all.
0:21:57 > 0:22:04# There I saw a light springing from her clothes
0:22:04 > 0:22:08# Springing from her clothes... #
0:22:08 > 0:22:12I spoke to Dad quite a lot, mainly about inane things -
0:22:12 > 0:22:17football, work that I wasn't actually doing. Sorry.
0:22:17 > 0:22:19But, yeah, I think I rang him up and said,
0:22:19 > 0:22:22"Have you heard of a guy called Nic Jones?"
0:22:22 > 0:22:24And I think he just laughed and said,
0:22:24 > 0:22:26"Yes, I've heard of Nic Jones - he's fantastic."
0:22:26 > 0:22:29Well, you know, I laughed.
0:22:29 > 0:22:32My first reaction was just to laugh because I'd not only met him,
0:22:32 > 0:22:34I'd worked with him.
0:22:34 > 0:22:38It was so nice that Blair discovered him by himself.
0:22:38 > 0:22:41That it wasn't Dad saying, "You've got to go and listen to this guy
0:22:41 > 0:22:43"because he was very important."
0:22:45 > 0:22:48# On to fairing England's shore
0:22:48 > 0:22:52# On to fairing England's shore
0:22:52 > 0:22:55# Just where I thought that... #
0:22:56 > 0:22:59But the accuracy in which he was playing,
0:22:59 > 0:23:03and I think when I really appreciated that was when I could
0:23:03 > 0:23:05go and have a little play on the guitar,
0:23:05 > 0:23:07and I tried to work it out.
0:23:07 > 0:23:10And it was literally like, woosh, straight over my head.
0:23:10 > 0:23:14I'd been playing for quite a while and I still couldn't get it.
0:23:17 > 0:23:21# The king sits in Dunfermline town... #
0:23:21 > 0:23:24It was Nic's unique style of singing over his rhythmical
0:23:24 > 0:23:27and percussive playing that made him so special.
0:23:28 > 0:23:31He developed the almost ambidextrous ability to
0:23:31 > 0:23:33sing across different bass and melody lines.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38He would set up a really steady groove,
0:23:38 > 0:23:45so it would be absolutely rocking along in a very English way indeed,
0:23:45 > 0:23:48but then he'd move the voice all over the place.
0:23:48 > 0:23:51# But the very next line that Patrick he read
0:23:51 > 0:23:53# The salt tear blinded his eye
0:23:53 > 0:23:55# Oh who is him that's done this deed?
0:23:55 > 0:23:58# Told the king on me to send me out this time of year... #
0:23:58 > 0:24:01It was actually better to try to separate
0:24:01 > 0:24:03the singing from the guitar playing,
0:24:03 > 0:24:05so that the guitar playing became automatic.
0:24:09 > 0:24:10# I fear a... #
0:24:10 > 0:24:14One way I learned to do this was to argue with my wife Julia.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17I'd play the guitar and I'd talk to her,
0:24:17 > 0:24:19and I'd talk at rhythm.
0:24:24 > 0:24:29When you've got a song that's this long with eight million versus,
0:24:29 > 0:24:31and a repeated melody,
0:24:31 > 0:24:36anything you can do to hook the listener is a good thing to do.
0:24:36 > 0:24:38And so, I think that moving...
0:24:38 > 0:24:43Moving the vocal about on top of the accompaniment is very effective.
0:24:48 > 0:24:50# Here I stand
0:24:50 > 0:24:52# Lost in the wind... #
0:24:52 > 0:24:56Nic has always had a broad pallet of interests that continue to
0:24:56 > 0:24:57influence his music.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02He listens to anything from The Eagles to Bob Marley.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05At the moment, Radiohead are a favourite.
0:25:07 > 0:25:12The main sort of music I like to listen was reggae.
0:25:12 > 0:25:16I love reggae cos certain beats are different from the normal way.
0:25:16 > 0:25:19We play one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four,
0:25:19 > 0:25:22but the reggae was one, TWO, three, four, one, TWO, three, four,
0:25:22 > 0:25:26one, TWO, three, four. Or one, two, THREE, four.
0:25:26 > 0:25:29It was emphasised in a different place.
0:25:29 > 0:25:32# So far away... #
0:25:32 > 0:25:37The simple thing was that he got out more, musically and thinking wise,
0:25:37 > 0:25:40than people who went to their local folk club every week
0:25:40 > 0:25:42and didn't listen to anything else,
0:25:42 > 0:25:44and didn't think very much about why they like the music.
0:25:44 > 0:25:45He was a thinking man.
0:25:45 > 0:25:48I mean, I guess that went with his chess playing
0:25:48 > 0:25:49and stuff like that as well.
0:25:57 > 0:26:01By the mid-'70s, Nic's albums were moving away from records that
0:26:01 > 0:26:04simply represented his solo club performances.
0:26:06 > 0:26:09When he made Noah's Ark Trap,
0:26:09 > 0:26:11that's a moment...
0:26:11 > 0:26:13I would say it's a moment in recording history, actually.
0:26:15 > 0:26:19It's an important record, and Devil to a Stranger likewise.
0:26:21 > 0:26:24He's absorbed everything he needed to absorb,
0:26:24 > 0:26:28and he'd gone off and became his own guy.
0:26:28 > 0:26:31And it was a massive jump, really quite impressive.
0:26:31 > 0:26:36But that should be the goal for every musician, is to be yourself,
0:26:36 > 0:26:38otherwise what's the point?
0:26:44 > 0:26:46Nic's music had spread beyond Britain.
0:26:46 > 0:26:50Singer-songwriters like American Anais Mitchell cite him
0:26:50 > 0:26:51a major influence.
0:26:54 > 0:26:56Even Bob Dylan covered Canadee-I-O
0:26:56 > 0:26:59from Nic's iconic record Penguin Eggs.
0:27:03 > 0:27:07Penguin Eggs is nine perfectly sequenced tracks.
0:27:07 > 0:27:09Running at less than 45 minutes,
0:27:09 > 0:27:13the record is a mixture of contemporary and traditional folk.
0:27:13 > 0:27:16It remains one of Topic Records' bestsellers to this day.
0:27:18 > 0:27:20It's a very good sleeve, actually for it
0:27:20 > 0:27:22because it's not got a drawing on of anything.
0:27:22 > 0:27:24It's not in a place.
0:27:24 > 0:27:26It just sort of presents itself
0:27:26 > 0:27:29and asks you to make of it what you will.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32The combination of songs was magic.
0:27:32 > 0:27:34It was just a great...great set of songs,
0:27:34 > 0:27:36well played, well recorded.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39The Humpback Whale song, I mean, it's just...
0:27:39 > 0:27:44It's one of the most exciting recordings you ever hear, I think.
0:27:50 > 0:27:53In Australia, they were kind of almost bitter about Nic,
0:27:53 > 0:27:56Nic's performances, because Harry Robertson wrote them
0:27:56 > 0:28:02and sang them as very gritty, bitter songs about the lifestyle
0:28:02 > 0:28:06of the whalers, about the hardships they had.
0:28:06 > 0:28:09And Nic's version of Humpback Whale was almost
0:28:09 > 0:28:10seen as a glorification of it.
0:28:10 > 0:28:12He sort of sang in this uplifting way.
0:28:12 > 0:28:17# Oh you trawler men come on
0:28:17 > 0:28:20# Get your snapper and your prawn
0:28:20 > 0:28:22# For it's out of Ballina we'll sail... #
0:28:22 > 0:28:26Until I had fallen deeply in love with the song and learned it,
0:28:26 > 0:28:27and then I thought,
0:28:27 > 0:28:30"What does it mean to be singing this whaling song?"
0:28:30 > 0:28:33But, for me, it's a story
0:28:33 > 0:28:37and it's a real human story about what these guys' lives were like.
0:28:39 > 0:28:41# A harpoon whaling gun
0:28:41 > 0:28:44# Oh you trawler men, come on
0:28:44 > 0:28:50# Forget your snapper and your prawn... #
0:28:50 > 0:28:53It's such an unusual subject matter
0:28:53 > 0:28:56but it's dealt with in this very specific way.
0:28:56 > 0:28:59You know, "A tractor for a whale winch."
0:28:59 > 0:29:01# A tractor for a whale winch
0:29:01 > 0:29:04# And the ships in old... #
0:29:04 > 0:29:08"And the ships in old fair my." I love those old details.
0:29:08 > 0:29:11# She'll whale in a fine old style
0:29:11 > 0:29:14# Oh, you trawler men.... #
0:29:14 > 0:29:18I think it's just the feeling of that recording that he made of that song,
0:29:18 > 0:29:20it just kind of soars.
0:29:20 > 0:29:24# For it's out of Ballina we'll sail
0:29:24 > 0:29:27# Fishing for the humpback whale... #
0:29:29 > 0:29:32I'm working on a collection of songs right now
0:29:32 > 0:29:36and one of the songs that we're doing is Clyde Waters
0:29:36 > 0:29:38or The Drowned Lovers and,
0:29:38 > 0:29:40literally, the reason we're doing it is
0:29:40 > 0:29:43because of the Nic Jones version on Unearthed.
0:29:43 > 0:29:47I remember I had it on my iPod and I was jogging.
0:29:47 > 0:29:51And I don't usually jog to folk music - it usually doesn't work.
0:29:51 > 0:29:54But with Nic Jones, for some reason...
0:29:54 > 0:29:55And that song came on and I thought,
0:29:55 > 0:29:58"We've got to do this. We've got to record this one."
0:29:58 > 0:30:01# Willie sits in his stable door
0:30:01 > 0:30:04# And he's combing his coal black steed
0:30:04 > 0:30:07# He's doubting on fair Margaret's love
0:30:07 > 0:30:09# And his hear began to bleed... #
0:30:10 > 0:30:15To hear a solo performer, if it's good, I think it really...
0:30:15 > 0:30:20It reaches out and grabs you in an emotional way.
0:30:20 > 0:30:25That kind of vulnerability really makes for a sort
0:30:25 > 0:30:29of conversation between the audience and the performer.
0:30:32 > 0:30:34If you want to earn a living being a performer,
0:30:34 > 0:30:36you've got to fill a hole. And how do you fill a hole?
0:30:36 > 0:30:39You make a big sound. How do you make a big sound?
0:30:39 > 0:30:41You get a drummer...
0:30:41 > 0:30:44and Stone Henge-size amps...
0:30:44 > 0:30:50which then knocks on with the need to relook at your music.
0:30:50 > 0:30:54He was relooking at his music but not with that intention.
0:30:54 > 0:30:57He was in the communication business at a personal level
0:30:57 > 0:31:01and I think that always shows. The way that he...
0:31:01 > 0:31:04He sings and the sort of songs he chooses,
0:31:04 > 0:31:07it shows that he's talking to you...
0:31:07 > 0:31:10rather than you, out there, you folks.
0:31:10 > 0:31:12My public.
0:31:14 > 0:31:18One day in February, 1982, Nic drove the two-and-a-half hour journey
0:31:18 > 0:31:22from his how near Cambridge to play a gig in Gloucester, Derbyshire.
0:31:23 > 0:31:27His fee was £50, in those days, a worthwhile payday.
0:31:47 > 0:31:50When I first started out, the life of a folk club performer was
0:31:50 > 0:31:54still very much the same as it had been in the '60s and '70s.
0:31:54 > 0:31:56That is, you get in your car with your instrument
0:31:56 > 0:31:58and you drive to where you're going,
0:31:58 > 0:32:01and you do your gig, and then go to the your B&B,
0:32:01 > 0:32:03and then you get up the next day.
0:32:03 > 0:32:05I think the service stations have got better.
0:32:06 > 0:32:08I think...
0:32:08 > 0:32:12Yeah. Without wanting to advertise one particular place over another,
0:32:12 > 0:32:16you know, Marks & Spencer's Simply Food really did change my life.
0:32:20 > 0:32:26He had some extremely long drives and pretty lonely.
0:32:26 > 0:32:30I can see why he would phone me, and possibly other people,
0:32:30 > 0:32:33and say, "I'm travelling around. Do you want to come?"
0:32:33 > 0:32:36And it was great for me because he'd say,
0:32:36 > 0:32:39"I've got a friend here who would like a floor spot."
0:32:39 > 0:32:43No matter how bad I was, the organisers always said, "Yes."
0:32:46 > 0:32:50Well, I was a huge fan of Nic and I was doing floor spots at the time.
0:32:50 > 0:32:52And if you went to see Nic,
0:32:52 > 0:32:54you could be sure there would be a good audience,
0:32:54 > 0:32:56and I was trying to get established as well.
0:32:56 > 0:32:58And there was three of us
0:32:58 > 0:33:01who had these badges made by a leather makers at the time,
0:33:01 > 0:33:04George Butterworth, and, basically, we did it to annoy Nic
0:33:04 > 0:33:06because we knew it would.
0:33:07 > 0:33:15# You maidens and widows I pray give attention... #
0:33:15 > 0:33:20He was tall and dark and quite good looking,
0:33:20 > 0:33:22and he was just good.
0:33:22 > 0:33:25He just sort of had this aura about him.
0:33:25 > 0:33:33# Well here's a maid in distraction who she's now going to wander... #
0:33:34 > 0:33:37If we was on, folk clubs were full.
0:33:37 > 0:33:40People were ticketing them.
0:33:40 > 0:33:45He had a huge following. He was sort of almost a cult figure.
0:33:45 > 0:33:50# Broken-hearted I'll wander
0:33:51 > 0:33:56# For the loss of my lover
0:33:57 > 0:34:02# He's the bonny light horseman in the wars he was slain... #
0:34:02 > 0:34:06There was a lot of people here and it got very hot,
0:34:06 > 0:34:09and I do remember we were getting Nic pints of water
0:34:09 > 0:34:11to take on stage with him.
0:34:11 > 0:34:16# And when he's mounted on the horseback
0:34:16 > 0:34:22# Oh so gallant and brave... #
0:34:22 > 0:34:26And Nic would do his two sets, and then he would sell some LPs,
0:34:26 > 0:34:31pack up, load his car up and then go off.
0:34:31 > 0:34:34And we helped him down the stairs with his stuff,
0:34:34 > 0:34:38and then just waved him off and said, "Drive safely. See you next time."
0:34:38 > 0:34:48# He's the bonny light horseman in the wars he was slain... #
0:34:48 > 0:34:52I did the sort of classic folk club scene with Nancy Kerr.
0:34:52 > 0:34:55Me and Nancy Kerry, just driving around, just the two of us.
0:34:57 > 0:35:02We set off at midnight, got as far as Junction 34
0:35:02 > 0:35:09and woke up still doing 90 miles an hour in the back of a Toyota.
0:35:09 > 0:35:14I guess I was 19 when that happened and it certainly does pull you up.
0:35:15 > 0:35:17My dad has always done it on the trains.
0:35:17 > 0:35:19I have these visions of him
0:35:19 > 0:35:23through the ages with different rucksacks on his back.
0:35:23 > 0:35:24But, yeah, just him and his two guitars.
0:35:24 > 0:35:28And he's never learned to drive, and I understand why.
0:35:28 > 0:35:30I understand why he's never done that
0:35:30 > 0:35:32cos it takes it out of you.
0:35:32 > 0:35:36At least on the train you can do the crossword, watch the world go by.
0:35:52 > 0:35:55# Shotover river
0:35:55 > 0:35:57# Your gold it's waning... #
0:35:58 > 0:36:05I think he decided that he needed to get home more often and...
0:36:05 > 0:36:09So, it was trying to get home as often as possible,
0:36:09 > 0:36:11I think that was why he did it.
0:36:16 > 0:36:17CAR HORN BEEPS
0:36:20 > 0:36:25At about two o'clock, the dog and I were up, restless.
0:36:29 > 0:36:31Erm... And it was freezing cold
0:36:31 > 0:36:35and I remember I had my dressing gown and Nic's,
0:36:35 > 0:36:39and then the knock at the door came, which didn't surprise me at all.
0:36:39 > 0:36:41I just knew then.
0:36:43 > 0:36:45The car was a complete write off.
0:36:45 > 0:36:49There was bits of the radio, apparently, in the boot and stuff.
0:36:49 > 0:36:52So...
0:36:52 > 0:36:56And, obviously, Nic was a complete and utter mess.
0:36:56 > 0:37:01When Nic was unconscious, right from the outset,
0:37:01 > 0:37:05even the very first visit, they said, "Just talk to him."
0:37:05 > 0:37:06I made some tapes.
0:37:06 > 0:37:09I made tapes of the children talking and singing to him,
0:37:09 > 0:37:12even of the dog barking,
0:37:12 > 0:37:14and then I asked people if they'd got any tapes
0:37:14 > 0:37:19because we were terrible for having tapes and stuff in the house.
0:37:19 > 0:37:23I mean, you know, he didn't even have his own record sort of thing.
0:37:23 > 0:37:26So, people then started sending tapes to jog his memory,
0:37:26 > 0:37:27music tapes, any tapes.
0:37:34 > 0:37:37The first thing I remember was swear words.
0:37:37 > 0:37:40With the nurses, they realised the F-ing and blinding,
0:37:40 > 0:37:43they knew that I was coming back to life again.
0:37:43 > 0:37:46You know like adolescents kind of like to swear?
0:37:46 > 0:37:51And like to play and swear and see the reaction that they'll get.
0:37:51 > 0:37:54Well, Nic seemed to be going through an awful lot of that at the time,
0:37:54 > 0:37:56which was kind of embarrassing
0:37:56 > 0:38:00when you were in the restaurant at the BBC and stuff,
0:38:00 > 0:38:04and he's coming out with all these phrases and stuff.
0:38:04 > 0:38:05But, yeah, that was the...
0:38:05 > 0:38:09That was the first time that I realised he wouldn't be...
0:38:09 > 0:38:12Wouldn't be quite the same Nic.
0:38:12 > 0:38:14Shit.
0:38:15 > 0:38:17I did care...
0:38:17 > 0:38:19because...
0:38:21 > 0:38:23..it's another voice that's gone.
0:38:30 > 0:38:33It sort of heaps more responsibility on you.
0:38:33 > 0:38:38You know, you've now got to pay attention, and try and get it right,
0:38:38 > 0:38:41cos this is important stuff.
0:38:41 > 0:38:43Erm...
0:38:43 > 0:38:45I mean, it's only music -
0:38:45 > 0:38:46ho-ho-ho -
0:38:46 > 0:38:49but music's important.
0:38:52 > 0:38:57At the age of 35, Nic began the long road to some kind of recovery.
0:38:58 > 0:39:01Almost every bone in his body was broken.
0:39:01 > 0:39:04Some of his teeth were found in his lungs
0:39:04 > 0:39:07and he nearly lost the sight in his right eye.
0:39:07 > 0:39:10His guitar, too, was almost beyond repair.
0:39:11 > 0:39:14We sent it off to Roger Bucknall.
0:39:14 > 0:39:18I don't know exactly what he did, but he replaced the bridge and the neck.
0:39:19 > 0:39:21The neck was really badly broken
0:39:21 > 0:39:23so I fitted a new neck onto the remains of the old one.
0:39:23 > 0:39:26The sides were very badly smashed around here in particular.
0:39:26 > 0:39:28But all that was crushed and collapsed.
0:39:28 > 0:39:30The guitar had basically been crushed.
0:39:30 > 0:39:34The neck had given in and the sides had collapsed in there.
0:39:34 > 0:39:36But because he was a friend,
0:39:36 > 0:39:40I wanted to get this guitar back to him so to start playing again.
0:39:40 > 0:39:44And he phone me up after he got better, a year or 18 months later,
0:39:44 > 0:39:47and he didn't remember me.
0:39:47 > 0:39:48We didn't really give him any quarter.
0:39:48 > 0:39:51I mean, people probably thought we were a bit hard with him
0:39:51 > 0:39:55but we didn't allow him to wallow.
0:39:55 > 0:39:57Well, everything was smashed...
0:39:57 > 0:40:00apart from the spine. The spine was OK.
0:40:00 > 0:40:02Shoulders were bust, elbows bust, wrists were bust
0:40:02 > 0:40:04and my fingers were bust. Everything was bust,
0:40:04 > 0:40:08so I had to relearn how to play a rhythm with that hand.
0:40:08 > 0:40:12The left hand could do it but the right hand couldn't get it right.
0:40:20 > 0:40:23I mean, he's going to play it no matter what.
0:40:23 > 0:40:26Whether it sounds like the dog's dinner, he's going to play it
0:40:26 > 0:40:28because he loves doing it. He gets frustrated with it,
0:40:28 > 0:40:31you hear a few swear words coming down the corridor,
0:40:31 > 0:40:33but he's going to play it anyway.
0:40:40 > 0:40:45I came home one day and then, all of a sudden, I heard this...
0:40:45 > 0:40:49sound and I thought, "Nic's suddenly got it back."
0:40:49 > 0:40:51I went upstairs and it was Joe.
0:40:51 > 0:40:53"When did you learn to play the guitar?"
0:40:55 > 0:40:58Joe Jones learned to play the guitar at university.
0:40:58 > 0:41:00At home in Skipton,
0:41:00 > 0:41:04he works in IT and is a bass player in a spoof heavy metal band.
0:41:04 > 0:41:06Cos I'm left-handed and Dad being right-handed,
0:41:06 > 0:41:08I couldn't ever really play it properly.
0:41:08 > 0:41:10But then when I was like, "I need another guitar.
0:41:10 > 0:41:12"Tell you what we could do, we could get Dad's."
0:41:12 > 0:41:14Swapped to a left-hander that was it.
0:41:14 > 0:41:16It was like, "That's what we're doing."
0:41:16 > 0:41:19Whether I need to or not, that's what's going to happen.
0:41:19 > 0:41:21So, I was quite vehement in the fact that
0:41:21 > 0:41:24I was going to get to play Dad's guitar.
0:41:27 > 0:41:30Warwick Festival would be the first time that Nic's old guitar has been
0:41:30 > 0:41:34played in front of an audience since the night of the accident.
0:41:38 > 0:41:41I'll have it down a little bit more, Graham, please.
0:41:41 > 0:41:43I'd like to be slightly back in relation to...
0:41:43 > 0:41:45He was slightly forward because...
0:41:45 > 0:41:48So I can see him easily without turning my head too much.
0:41:48 > 0:41:51Belinda O'Hooley of critically acclaimed duo O'Hooley and Tidow
0:41:51 > 0:41:54will accompany Nic and his son Joe.
0:41:58 > 0:42:03Bearing in mind Joe has never played in front of an audience,
0:42:03 > 0:42:05other than his friends' weddings,
0:42:05 > 0:42:07and Nic hadn't sung solo, we were more nervous.
0:42:07 > 0:42:10Well, all credit to Joe,
0:42:10 > 0:42:13even though he was a bundle of nerves beforehand.
0:42:13 > 0:42:15And Nic, he just takes it in his stride.
0:42:15 > 0:42:19Because on the night, Nic just seems to go to a different level.
0:42:19 > 0:42:22You hear him here and you think, "It's going to be awful",
0:42:22 > 0:42:24and then he just rises to the occasion.
0:42:24 > 0:42:28APPLAUSE
0:42:44 > 0:42:46This is my son, Joe.
0:43:06 > 0:43:09# There was seven yellow gypsies all in a row
0:43:09 > 0:43:12# And they sang neat and bonny-O
0:43:12 > 0:43:17# Sang so neat and they're so complete
0:43:17 > 0:43:21# They stole the heart of a lady... #
0:43:31 > 0:43:35Well, he really looks like Nic used to look...
0:43:35 > 0:43:37and he's full of energy as well.
0:43:37 > 0:43:40# He's ridden o'er the high, high hills
0:43:40 > 0:43:43# Till he come to the morning
0:43:43 > 0:43:46# And there he's found his own dear wife... #
0:43:46 > 0:43:51Big nose, dark hair, bushy eyebrows, yeah, that about sums me
0:43:51 > 0:43:53and my dad up from a physical point of view.
0:43:59 > 0:44:05He's so good on the guitar and he plays so sensitively, I think,
0:44:05 > 0:44:07but he's very modest.
0:44:07 > 0:44:09He doesn't really rate himself
0:44:09 > 0:44:11and he's much better than he thinks he is.
0:44:14 > 0:44:18Obviously, listening to some of the stuff he played and thinking,
0:44:18 > 0:44:19"What's he doing there?"
0:44:19 > 0:44:23And then you suddenly realise, yeah, it's a lot more difficult than...
0:44:26 > 0:44:29Than he makes it look and sound.
0:44:35 > 0:44:38APPLAUSE
0:44:44 > 0:44:48So, after his accident, he spent a lot of time in hospital.
0:44:50 > 0:44:52Lovely place. Lovely place.
0:44:53 > 0:44:57Some of that was obviously getting better and recuperating,
0:44:57 > 0:44:59but the general feeling was that most of it was
0:44:59 > 0:45:02because he quite liked the nurses.
0:45:02 > 0:45:04They're angels. They're angels.
0:45:04 > 0:45:06Are there any female nurses here tonight?
0:45:06 > 0:45:08- AUDIENCE:- Yeah.- Yeah?
0:45:10 > 0:45:12I'd stay away from back stage if I was you.
0:45:12 > 0:45:16LAUGHTER
0:45:20 > 0:45:24I don't remember an old Nic and a present day Nic,
0:45:24 > 0:45:27do you know what I mean? That's not how it is.
0:45:27 > 0:45:30He's just Dad. How he is is how he is.
0:45:30 > 0:45:33That probably made it a lot easier for me to deal with.
0:45:35 > 0:45:41# Here I stand lost in the wind
0:45:41 > 0:45:45# Round in circles sailing... #
0:45:45 > 0:45:49I was nervous the whole way through, knowing what the songs were
0:45:49 > 0:45:51and how they should be.
0:45:51 > 0:45:53Dad tends to sing behind the beat,
0:45:53 > 0:45:55so every time he was coming in a bit late you'd think,
0:45:55 > 0:45:56"Oh, no, he's forgotten."
0:45:56 > 0:45:59You know, it was that sort of anxiety all the way through,
0:45:59 > 0:46:00listening to it.
0:46:02 > 0:46:04# Good man
0:46:04 > 0:46:07# Sing a sad song for me... #
0:46:07 > 0:46:11Helen was a daddy's girl and loved him dearly,
0:46:11 > 0:46:16but when she got to her teenage years, in her mind,
0:46:16 > 0:46:19she'd lost the father she'd had.
0:46:19 > 0:46:23In some ways, possibly, in relationships,
0:46:23 > 0:46:25she's always been looking for...
0:46:26 > 0:46:30..in her relationships, Nic.
0:46:30 > 0:46:35# Here I stand alone on the plain... #
0:46:35 > 0:46:40It's that fear of, I think...
0:46:40 > 0:46:46I don't think I've ever been able to love someone as much as I loved Dad.
0:46:51 > 0:46:54And maybe because that's a fear of losing them.
0:47:12 > 0:47:17I was there with a friend who'd never seen Nic before,
0:47:17 > 0:47:18who never knew his old records,
0:47:18 > 0:47:22but took his performance entirely at face value,
0:47:22 > 0:47:24with no nostalgia involved,
0:47:24 > 0:47:30and she was completely bowled over. That, to me, was the test.
0:47:30 > 0:47:34It wasn't just a load of us being nostalgic because Nic was up there,
0:47:34 > 0:47:36it was actually musically very good.
0:47:36 > 0:47:41# How I wish I was single again
0:47:41 > 0:47:47# All this weeping and wailing and rocking the cradle... #
0:47:47 > 0:47:48It was fascinating that,
0:47:48 > 0:47:51when he actually stood up and sang with his son,
0:47:51 > 0:47:53it was electrifying.
0:47:54 > 0:47:58It really was an extraordinary moment.
0:47:58 > 0:48:02Hearing blood relatives sing together is a thrilling thing,
0:48:02 > 0:48:04I think, because they achieve a blend
0:48:04 > 0:48:07that normal human beings can't.
0:48:08 > 0:48:10# Rocking a cradle
0:48:10 > 0:48:15# Rocking a baby that's none of my own... #
0:48:19 > 0:48:21APPLAUSE
0:48:27 > 0:48:31He's stubborn and the annoying thing is, he's usually right.
0:48:31 > 0:48:35When we've been practising, "How about ending it this way?
0:48:35 > 0:48:38"I'm not too sure about that."
0:48:38 > 0:48:40And then you end up - he has this little suggestion.
0:48:40 > 0:48:42It's like, "Why are you changing it?"
0:48:42 > 0:48:44So then you'll do it anyway because he's persistent,
0:48:44 > 0:48:48and you end up changing it and you're like, "Yeah, he's right."
0:48:48 > 0:48:51Which is annoying from a father-son point of view,
0:48:51 > 0:48:56especially when you get a kick out of having a good old argument -
0:48:56 > 0:48:58in a nice way.
0:48:58 > 0:49:00But, yeah, he's invariably right.
0:49:00 > 0:49:10# Some time between ice ages was that they first appeared
0:49:10 > 0:49:18# Fell hungry on the beasts and the fish they speared
0:49:18 > 0:49:21# But all their bones... #
0:49:21 > 0:49:23I'm very taken by the whole theme of the song,
0:49:23 > 0:49:27which is about the fact that we all think we're really special
0:49:27 > 0:49:31and unique, but we're all going to die and one day we'll be ruins
0:49:31 > 0:49:35by the shore. And I've heard, both from Joe and Nic,
0:49:35 > 0:49:38that it was also inspired by Planet of the Apes.
0:49:42 > 0:49:45And the way Nic does it on recordings,
0:49:45 > 0:49:49he does a very intricate guitar part which was actually really
0:49:49 > 0:49:52difficult to work out how to plan on the piano.
0:49:55 > 0:49:59And both me and Joe are like, "How are we going to do this?"
0:49:59 > 0:50:02Because he is a law unto himself, is Nic,
0:50:02 > 0:50:05and he changes things to suit the melody
0:50:05 > 0:50:08and the way he's interpreting each verse,
0:50:08 > 0:50:10so each verse is different.
0:50:15 > 0:50:19# Some time between ice ages... #
0:50:19 > 0:50:22Belinda O'Hooley and Heidi Tidow
0:50:22 > 0:50:25have rearranged Nic's Ruins by the Shore.
0:50:25 > 0:50:28They're keen to add the song to their own repertoire.
0:50:30 > 0:50:33We thought we'd take it completely apart
0:50:33 > 0:50:38and keep one of the key guitar signature notes or motifs,
0:50:38 > 0:50:42but turn the song from a major song in a major key into
0:50:42 > 0:50:47a minor key, and sort of make it a little bit more dramatic.
0:50:47 > 0:50:49And use two voices,
0:50:49 > 0:50:54so have a counter point going on and then lots of harmonies.
0:50:54 > 0:50:57And... I hope we've done a good job of it.
0:50:57 > 0:51:00Nic hasn't actually heard it yet, so we'll see.
0:51:00 > 0:51:11# But now the spiders nest the tombs wherein they lie... #
0:51:11 > 0:51:20# But all their bones are blackened and their faces are no more
0:51:20 > 0:51:23# As we walk among... #
0:51:23 > 0:51:26Although not one for nostalgia about his past,
0:51:26 > 0:51:29after 40 years, Nic and his old Halliard
0:51:29 > 0:51:31band mates got together for a reunion.
0:51:33 > 0:51:37I have most of his albums and have listened to them,
0:51:37 > 0:51:42and just sat back in awe.
0:51:42 > 0:51:47I don't like the expression about owning a song but, by golly,
0:51:47 > 0:51:50he owned the songs that he sang.
0:51:51 > 0:51:54# And their faces are no more... #
0:51:54 > 0:52:00Finally, we did meet in 2005 at Nic's house.
0:52:00 > 0:52:06And Nic came over to me, and he sat opposite me at the table.
0:52:09 > 0:52:12He...took my hands...
0:52:13 > 0:52:16..and he sang to me.
0:52:16 > 0:52:20VOICE BREAKS: I can't remember the song that he sang.
0:52:20 > 0:52:27It was... It was a song about the now,
0:52:27 > 0:52:30was what was important...
0:52:30 > 0:52:34not tomorrow, not yesterday, but right now.
0:52:50 > 0:52:54# Be still somewhere... #
0:52:54 > 0:52:59Most of all, I've learned that there's beauty in imperfection.
0:52:59 > 0:53:04Over and over again in the rehearsals, I felt moved and felt
0:53:04 > 0:53:09quite emotional, and I know Heidi has as well.
0:53:09 > 0:53:15We've just felt the hairs go up on our arms as he's sung a song.
0:53:15 > 0:53:17And I've learned that you can't predict anything,
0:53:17 > 0:53:21cos I never predicted that I would be doing this.
0:53:21 > 0:53:23# We're here in the now... #
0:53:23 > 0:53:25It's about music.
0:53:25 > 0:53:28It's not, "I'll sing a song and you play an accompaniment" -
0:53:28 > 0:53:29it's not like that.
0:53:29 > 0:53:31It's like that.
0:53:33 > 0:53:37Nic Jones came out as a brilliant musician
0:53:37 > 0:53:41and I think he'll always be brilliant musician.
0:53:41 > 0:53:43A real musical head.
0:53:43 > 0:53:49# In the little dark engine room... #
0:53:49 > 0:53:52It sort of doesn't matter that he plays folk music -
0:53:52 > 0:53:53it transcends that.
0:53:56 > 0:53:57You can play it to people that don't
0:53:57 > 0:54:00have any history of listening to folk music
0:54:00 > 0:54:02and they're spellbound by it.
0:54:04 > 0:54:06It's sort of like when people say poetry -
0:54:06 > 0:54:08people won't like poetry -
0:54:08 > 0:54:10but poetry is something people ordinarily would love.
0:54:10 > 0:54:13It's a wonderful thing, as is folk music.
0:54:16 > 0:54:17If it's good...
0:54:19 > 0:54:21..and he's very good.
0:54:24 > 0:54:26Altogether!
0:54:26 > 0:54:30# In the little dark engine room... #
0:54:30 > 0:54:31There was a guy that came out,
0:54:31 > 0:54:34and he went up to Dad and he couldn't speak.
0:54:34 > 0:54:36He was just in tears.
0:54:36 > 0:54:38And... And that was lovely,
0:54:38 > 0:54:41and I was a little surprised that people were that emotional about it.
0:54:41 > 0:54:44I could understand me being emotional about it
0:54:44 > 0:54:48or family or anything, or people that knew him, but these people...
0:54:49 > 0:54:53You know, even young people who'd never seen him perform before.
0:54:55 > 0:54:59# That burned oily rags and coal. #
0:54:59 > 0:55:02Thanks a lot. Cheers.
0:55:02 > 0:55:06APPLAUSE
0:55:08 > 0:55:10Nic Jones!
0:55:13 > 0:55:15You could argue that maybe, if he hadn't had his accident,
0:55:15 > 0:55:17he wouldn't be as popular now.
0:55:17 > 0:55:20He might have just disappeared and nobody would have been interested,
0:55:20 > 0:55:24or he might have done something everyone hated. You know, so...
0:55:24 > 0:55:27Might have been a good career move.
0:55:27 > 0:55:30..for Belinda O'Hooley and Joe Jones.
0:55:30 > 0:55:33APPLAUSE
0:55:33 > 0:55:38# Buchan, it's bonny, oh and there lives my love
0:55:38 > 0:55:45# My heart it lies on him, it will not remove... #
0:55:45 > 0:55:47"An introduction to folk.
0:55:47 > 0:55:51"There are those who would have you keep folk songs for the sheep.
0:55:51 > 0:55:55"I shared such an aspersion until I heard a ballad
0:55:55 > 0:55:59"by the name of Annachie Gordon done by one Nic Jones.
0:55:59 > 0:56:03"John Peel it was who brought me to ken the lingering longing
0:56:03 > 0:56:06"and the wavering tones over intricate patters
0:56:06 > 0:56:08"of the fingering bones.
0:56:08 > 0:56:12"Since when, many folk songs have moistened my eye
0:56:12 > 0:56:17"and I can see why a Morris Dancer sports a spare hanky."
0:56:17 > 0:56:20# Won't you take me by the hand?
0:56:20 > 0:56:23# And won't you lead me to the chamber? #
0:56:23 > 0:56:27I like singing. I like singing - it's nice.
0:56:27 > 0:56:29It's a means of self expression.
0:56:30 > 0:56:33And I've always been a very egocentric person.
0:56:33 > 0:56:35I've always liked my own voice.
0:56:35 > 0:56:38# And he's dying in the chamber
0:56:38 > 0:56:41# Where his true love... #
0:56:41 > 0:56:44I was invited to go to a primary school by one of the teachers who
0:56:44 > 0:56:46had said, "Come and play for the kids
0:56:46 > 0:56:48"and we'll do a little workshop,
0:56:48 > 0:56:51"and you can tell them how to achieve their dreams",
0:56:51 > 0:56:54and things like that. And I thought, "I'll give it a go."
0:56:54 > 0:56:56I only just got out of school myself, but OK.
0:56:56 > 0:56:59Maybe they'll relate to me more cos I'm a bit younger.
0:56:59 > 0:57:02At the end, I said, "I'm going to do a ballad now",
0:57:02 > 0:57:04thinking the kids wouldn't really get it.
0:57:04 > 0:57:07It's about tradition and it's not what they hear on the radio.
0:57:07 > 0:57:10I said, "I'm going to do a ballad by a man called Nic Jones",
0:57:10 > 0:57:12and a few of them started looking at each other.
0:57:12 > 0:57:14I was like, "They can't know what this is."
0:57:14 > 0:57:16And I kid you not, they all started cheering.
0:57:16 > 0:57:19I started playing and they were singing along to it.
0:57:19 > 0:57:24And it's the clearest I've seen crossing the generations,
0:57:24 > 0:57:28and folk progressing and being handed down in the truest form.
0:57:28 > 0:57:30It's the clearest I've seen that ever,
0:57:30 > 0:57:32and it was like a beautiful moment.
0:57:33 > 0:57:37But, yeah, I'll not forget that and I wish Nic was there to see it.
0:57:37 > 0:57:40He would have really, really loved it. It was a good day.
0:57:42 > 0:57:45# Be still somewhere
0:57:45 > 0:57:47# Each moment aware
0:57:47 > 0:57:54# That the now is here, so simple and so clear... #
0:57:54 > 0:57:59It's very difficult to put your finger on what Nic's music is
0:57:59 > 0:58:02and why it appeals to so many people.
0:58:02 > 0:58:06I think it still has, apart from the obvious quality,
0:58:06 > 0:58:08it has a bit of a cool feel to it,
0:58:08 > 0:58:13a bit of a rock-y feel, certainly on the up-tempo numbers.
0:58:13 > 0:58:18And it seems to just come through the ages and still be available
0:58:18 > 0:58:20and relevant to people.
0:58:27 > 0:58:31# Sally where are you going that you do look so gay?
0:58:31 > 0:58:36# I know that I've not asked you to take a walk today
0:58:36 > 0:58:38# You have not asked me well indeed
0:58:38 > 0:58:40# It's a tiny cheek of you
0:58:40 > 0:58:43# For you think that there are no more young chaps
0:58:43 > 0:58:45# I've got a dozen or two
0:58:45 > 0:58:47# Billy don't you weep for me
0:58:47 > 0:58:51# I'm going to St James' Park my cousin Joe to see... #
0:58:51 > 0:58:54Subtitles By Red Bee Media Ltd