Album of the Week – Dick Gaughan ‘Live at the BBC 1972–79

Written by celtic music radio on October 11, 2025

He is folk music royalty and widely regarded as one of Scotland’s leading songwriters with many protest songs featuring in a distinguished career.

Dick Gaughan’s limited issue album, Live at the BBC 1972–79, contains ten songs from the box set R/evolution: 1969–83, which is due for release in January.

The songs have been drawn from archive performances at BBC Sessions and cover the ‘lost period’, where Dick’s historically and culturally significant early albums – No More Forever, Kist O’ Gold, and Songs of Ewan MacColl – are missing due to disputed rights.

Dick suffered a stroke in 2016 which forced him to retire.

Enter Colin Harper, a music biographer and journalist, who launched a Crowdfunder to raise enough money to produce the box set.

It was a huge success, breaching its initial target in less than a week and raised over £84,000. Colin was then able to expand the content and to make a substantial donation to Dick.

A second Crowdfunder has raised the legal fees to help Dick reclaim his music from decades of legal limbo.

Hugh Taylor caught up with Dick Gaughan, outside a busy café in Edinburgh.

Hugh (left) and Dick talking music

They sat and blethered in the rain, under a wee canopy, with the sound of traffic, people walking past and the odd police siren in the background.

They talked about their first meeting nearly fifty years ago, Dick’s musical journey from his family’s Irish musical heritage, via Buddy Holly and The Beatles and onwards to becoming a full-time musician, and one of the most respected folk singers in the country.

As well as lots of interesting stories you can listen to nine of Dick’s songs from the record on our Album of the Week Show today at midday.

• ALBUM OF THE WEEK SHOW – Hugh Taylor in conversation with Dick Gaughan – Saturday, October 11, 2025 – midday.