More about John Watt and Davey Stewart

After rediscovering the parody of Jennifer Juniper mentioned in the previous post, I looked around to see what else could be found out about its perpetrators, John Watt and Davey Stewart, on the internet, and tried to recall more about the concert in which they featured at the McLellan Galleries in Glasgow around 1976.


Jennifer - I mean, Annabelle Rosabelle - was sung acapella by Davey Stewart at the gig, as far as I recall, though written by Watt; it had quite an effect because there was no preamble, no coy reference to its origins: we were suddenly hit with it - I recall Davey Stewart being very close to the audience - and it spoke for itself, with no need for hammy facial contortions or gestures to reinforce the comic aspect. Stewart lived in the 60s in Maryhill, where Donovan spent his earliest days, so there is a logic to his singing it. As far as I know Donovan's publishing company never pressed for compensation, which I'd like to think was a conscious choice by Mr Leitch. Assuming he even knew about it.


I think the pair's first song at the McLellan Galleries, however, was what I now know to have been entitled Talkin' DJ Blues, delivered by Watt himself; a contributer to the Hands Up For Trad forum recalls being was approached "to provide some 12 bar blues backing" for a song of this title at St Andrews Folk Festival in 1979. I can't recall the lyrics, only the agreeably bitter tone about the superficiality of such individuals. Pittenween Jo, one of Watt's best-known songs, was also sung, and I daresay the Kelty Clippie, though I can't actually recall that for sure. At some point in an aside between songs, I recall a dig at the Spinners, then on TV a lot, for their homogenisation of folk styles.

In addition to the 1976 album mentioned in the previous post, you can find on youtube a clip of John Watt and Davey Stewart singing The Celty Clippie, I think from 2010. There is an added poignancy to what is a comic number as Watt was elderly by then and appears frail; the verses are shared between them and at the end Stewart makes a kind gesture of triumph or relief that they have finished with honour.




Watt was a big name on the Scottish folk club scene though he didn't do much recording; Rab Noakes, one of the people he encouraged, prevailed on him to make another album, Heroes, in 2000 but Songs of the Forth is certainly an enjoyable listen with its mix of serious and comic songs - some really off the wall; details in the previous post. Heroes was produced by Rab Noakes and you can listen to the tracks and pick up a copy of the CD fairly cheaply on his Bandcamp page here.

You can listen to an interview with Davey Stewart here, and there is a seven part interview with John Watt on youtube which begins here.