Richard Ellin – What It All Was Worth

“I always thought that ‘The Bonny Bonny Broom’ was a Scottish tune but after digging around it seems it could be English. I don’t think we will ever know for certain.

A reference to the song first appears in Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy in 1538 and the first notation of the tune appears in 1651 in Playford’s Dance Master , London. It is reckoned that the gipsy singer Alice Boyce sang it for Queen Elizabeth 1^st.

The first appearance in a Scottish collection was seventy five years after Playford. I have always doubted that many people could follow the meaning of the original words . A heavy dialect shot through with melancholia had lost some relevance, the melody was perfect for the voice of Ina Williams and I felt it could use a new text………

The new single from is fFeaturing the voice of Ina Williams

Written by Richard Ellin -- String arrangements by Harvey Summers

Recorded at Red Kite Studio -- Engineered by Martin Levan

And Did Those Feet were formed in 1995 as a vehicle for the songs of Richard Ellin which are esoteric and spiritual in nature. Since its formation there have been six albums and several singles with a few live concerts on the BBC and various cd launch events. They are currently working on their seventh album to be called ‘I AM God of Einstein.’

The last four releases have featured Ina Williams as principal singer with Harvey Summers taking more responsibility in the arranger role. Tracks have been licensed by Time Warner and Readers Digest Europe with videos played on Classic FM TV.

The name of the band is taken from the Blake/Parry song ‘Jerusalem’ and reflects aspects of the unseen and sometimes difficult to fathom side of the English and British nature. Ellin was envious that Woody Guthrie had ‘This Machine Kills Fascists’ written on his guitar so he had a young girl photographed with a guitar that said ‘ This machine goes one way but not the other’ and was the cover of their 5^th album called ‘We are Just Beginning.’ One reviewer noted that the key to this band is Dreaming, not in the way of fantasising but in the Albion equivalent of aboriginal dream time. And Did Those Feet walks that very thin line between the two.  

About Ina Williams:

Ina Williams is a Welsh singer trained in Carmarthen and highly popular within the Welsh speaking communities of West and North Wales where her performances are in great demand. Rightly regarded by many as one of the great Welsh voices of our time she has won several Blue Ribbons at Eisteddfod over the years and recorded her first Welsh language album for Fflach in 2001. Her work with ‘And Did Those Feet’ represents her first recording in English and she has been featured on the last four releases. A couple of Ellin’s songs have been translated into Welsh specifically for her to perform.    

About Harvey Summers: 

Harvey Summers is an English composer, producer and sound engineer with over thirty years experience. As a composer he is known for his ambient/world/new-age albums which have sold over two million copies and his most recent work, "Moon" has seen him compared to the likes of Vangelis and Hans Zimmer. As a producer and engineer he has worked with countless artists across a wide variety of genres. Based in East Sussex, he has been operating from his Broadoak Studios facility for the last twenty years."