In this glorious 2 DVD set, Britain's finest living songwriters are captured live (on tour in Berkeley, CA), presenting two nights of their original songs, words, and inimitable performance. Turning Silence into Song (Disc One) showcases a pair of career-spanning "greatest hits," with a suitable sprinkling of new and previously unreleased material. All introduced and contextualized with a large helping of trademark wit and dry irony. The Liberty Tree (Disc Two) tells the story of Tom Paine's extraordinary life, interweaving Paine's own words, from his letters and the pamphlets which made him o... View More...
“For my parents and grandparents, Jewish identity, in religion, culture and language, was a given. Not so for me. I’m not religious, not a Zionist, so in what consists my Jewishness? Is a love of chopped liver and a belief that chicken soup cures all ills enough? And does it matter? This is the story of my search for answers. It is an argument with myself, with song lyrics to embellish the argument.”Like so many of those others in Britain of Jewish lineage, songwriter and award-winning folk singer Leon Rosselson is descended from antecedents who fled pogroms in eastern Europe... View More...
"When the rich plunder the poor of his rights, it becomes an example to the poor to plunder the rich of his property." -Thomas PaineThe Liberty Tree tells the story of Tom Paine's extraordinary life, interweaving Paine's own words, from his letters and the pamphlets which made him one of the most influential and dangerous writers of his age, with extracts from newspaper reports, diaries, letters and other documents of the times. The songs of Robb Johnson and Leon Rosselson add another dimension to the story, reflecting Paine's radical ideas and evaluating them in the context of the 21st centur... View More...
The life and times of England's greatest living songwriter are captured in a deluxe box set. Over 72 songs on 4 CDs with an 80-page book."The songs on these CDs span 5 decades, from the sparky sixties to the curdled present, and encompass a wide variety of song subjects and song forms. They have been written out of hope, anger, love, scorn, laughter and despair. The tracks I have selected are, I believe, sturdily built and quite capable of standing up for themselves. And, because they have something to say about the times in which they were written, there are copious notes on the political and... View More...
"And that's it. At eighty-one, after some sixty years of songwriting, trying to find the story, to avoid the obvious, to shun the predictable, after hundreds of songs, numerous records and CDs, this is my final recording." -Leon Rosselson View More...
Fierce and funny, this memoir in essay and song is full of wonderful tales of art and protest. Leon Rosselson's Where Are the Elephants? is a rare behind-the-scenes look at the life and times of one of England's foremost songwriters. This clear-eyed portrait of a creative activist who never gave up and whose talent, wit, and verve brought the world into finer focus provides a model for a whole new generation of radicals. Filled with glimpses of the stories and events that inspired his songs, Rosselson's story of becoming a modern troubadour up against the barricades is a tale for the ages. The... View More...
