John Aldington

Bio:

A review posted at itunes for'Songs from the garden'

'John Aldington has been one of the great (mostly) undiscovered talents of out times. Hopefully that will change with this release. His voice while remaining pure has aged with tinges of regret. His songs often from the standpoint of a third party observer are reflective and resonate.

As a youngster John once shared a stage with David Bowie - he must wonder at the different paths they led after that. I for one am pleased because these songs come from a life I can relate to. 'Tomorrow's Saturday' and 'Growing Pains' (a song to a teenage daughter) mean much more to me than the songs from a life in a bubble of fame.......' The Dolphin Post, April 2009

Review from Leonardslair.wordpress.com

Never having been a follower of singer-songwriters such as James Taylor and Cat Stevens, there was a danger I could have overlooked the first album from John Aldington, a modern day solo artist who is compared to those early-70’s stalwarts. However, having been enchanted by his contributions on Sitting Target label’s ‘The Germinal Disc’ compilation, I have been looking forward to listening to his works again. Like a cross between the starry-eyed romance of Gilbert O’Sullivan and the gritty intimacy of The Montgolfier Brothers’ Roger Quigley, there is something magical about the songs of Aldington which transcend nostalgia and sound fresh and alive. Aldington is a narrator of romantic tales; one such story is ‘It’s Too Late’ where “hearts get broken” and the gentleman at the centre of a love triangle has “got a woman at home”. It’s a simple subject but one where Aldington’s old-fashioned style of songwriting works extremely well. Indeed, by voicing third-person disapproval in his lovely, haunting tones and employing addictive key changes, this song and most of the album are elevated to something special. Not many artists could get away with “Looking back through the years of that endless summer” and “some dreams get lost along the way” (as on ‘Looking Back’) but Aldington’s performance in front of the mic seems so pure and unsullied that the innocence is captured perfectly; the fact that he accompanies it with a fine piece of jangly guitar certainly helps too. Similarly, the beautiful ‘Growing Pains’ aches with melancholy and is another stunning track. Whilst listening to his songs, I can almost visualise Aldington sitting on a sturdy tree branch and observing another failed love affair from afar. He shakes his head sadly and then is inspired to write a new tune about what he has just witnessed. My overactive imagination aside though, ‘Songs From The Garden’ proves that Aldington is not only a fine vocalist and tunesmith but he has also captured that lost art of storytelling. More of the same next time please.

Item 19 on the player interview on Echo FM plus live performance.

Out in March 2009 'Songs from the garden' An album of acoustic songs beautifully produced by Martin Colley -on Sitting target.

contact: info@sittingtarget.net A preview of the album is available on the player below.

Album available from the sittingtarget shop at www.sittingtarget.net £8 including p&p -also available to download at itunes.

A review from toxicpete. www.toxicpete.co.uk

Acoustic folkster John Aldington's new album 'Songs From The Garden' is an airy but vibrant offering in that quite typical, eloquent and graceful British style.

Aldington's music is all clean-lined, unplugged and refreshingly optimistic sounding. Aldington's guitar style is one of relentless, crisp, clean picking and punctuative strumming whilst his vocals are lightly weighted but cleverly assertive - Aldington's voice cuts through and across his busy but descriptive guitar work resulting in a joyfully vibrant but workmanlike and mood-enhancing vibe. Aldington certainly knows how to deliver his poetic ramblings; his style can be boldly rhythmic and wordy or sparsely augmented and concise - whatever, whichever, Aldington definitely gets his music across and certainly begs to be heard.

'Songs From The Garden' is almost a step back in time; it's open but expressive simplicity reminiscent of Sarstedt, Donovan, McLean and Rose. But, Aldington's very much on-the-money here with his wonderfully honest acoustic wares that also blend in the nuances of Fretwell, Rice and Young to result in a warmly enticing sound that's musically rich in emotion and loaded with meaningful lyrics - pretty cool stuff all-in-all!

John Aldington's 'Songs From The Garden' pretty much takes acoustic music back to basics; just voice and wonderfully executed but restrained guitar delivering Aldington's open but enticing musical poems. It's simple but it's pretty compelling. Maybe not quite having the commercial appeal of albums such as 'O' or 'Magpie' by the aforementioned but possibly just as worthy and equally 'timeless'. 'Songs From The Garden' by John Aldington is a pretty cool and sophisticated album of ezy 'folk' songs that offers a bit of respite from some of the more overly-produced works of late - 'Songs From The Garden' benefits from its inherent accessibility brought about through its totally stripped-down approach and equally simplistic but deferential production.

It all started way back in the late sixties; when free gigs frequently took place in parks in and around London and were used by local singers and bands to showcase their work and create a fan-base. It was at one of these events in Bromley Gardens, south-east London, where my band Maya was playing on the same bill as local pop star David Bowie, who was the headlining act. I was only 16 and still at school but the band already had an enthusiastic local following.

Anyway, we were just finishing our set when David Bowie appeared on the stage with some friends in tow and after introducing himself to the crowd, turned to us and shouted: “Do you guys know ‘I’m so glad’ by The Cream?” We nodded nervously and before we knew it we were accompanying him.

That was the start of a 30 year journey down a long road of performing, recording and writing.

A few years later, while Bowie’s music was dominating the charts in both Europe and the US, Maya was regularly headlining every Sunday night at the Arts Lab held at the Three Tuns pub in Beckenham, Kent – a night that Bowie had actually started many years before. We were essentially a folk-group; my younger sister Rita and I were on main vocals, I played the guitar and we were joined by Steve Horn on bass and Mike Short playing keyboards.

Even though the band was successful locally and performing whenever we could; I was also attending Ravensbourne College of Art studying TV and Film. This is where I met Martin Colley who is now a freelance record producer and engineer - I didn’t know it at the time but this was start of a musical partnership that I would still have today. Together we recorded many demos and produced them ourselves; it was our ideal to sign to a record label that would allow us total control over our sound, production and writing. Unfortunately, in those days home-recording was not what the big record companies wanted.

When Martin began recording and producing an album for a group of musicians collectively called Reflection, entitled Sounds of Salvation, Maya became involved in playing a lot of the music for the record and I also contributed two songs. Many years later I discovered that this album is extremely collectable and popular in the US. There was a lot of discussion about a re- release five years ago, including extra tracks but unfortunately the parties involved got hindered by copyright.

I continued to perform and record with Maya and on solo material for some years but became increasingly frustrated by the lack of interest from the record industry. Having passed my TV and Film course many years before, I worked behind the camera for over 30 years - well I had no luck trying to get in front of it!

There were many moments during this period and in the years that followed, where I had ‘musical moments’ and sometimes it looked like they may have been life changing…

Not so long ago, on a warm July evening, a friend had a garden party and everyone who attended had to be prepared to play an instrument, sing a song, or both. I didn’t want to go - who would listen to me now? Well, they did listen and now I’m right back on that road I left behind… Check out www.sittingtarget.net

.. MySpace layout created at Hypergurl

First eleven songs on player from forthcoming album 'Songs from the garden'. The next three songs are from 'Comeback years ' no longer available.

Last four songs Maya

Lead vocals, acoustic and electric guitars John Aldington.

All songs by John Aldington

Recorded and produced by Martin Colley.

Member Since:

September 05, 2008

Influences:

With an unabashed nod to the past, John’s songs join hands with some of the classic Transatlantic singer-songwriters from the late-60s and early-70s like James Taylor, Cat Stevens, Graham Nash and Paul Simon. There’s even a touch of Peter Sarstedt’s Continental chic in the opener, Tomorrow’s Saturday! When was the last time you saw his name in a press release, eh?

At first glance, there’s an almost pastoral beauty to his music – incredible, flat-picked acoustic guitar dancing effortlessly across heartfelt vocals – but it’s not too long before you start to notice the scratches, scabs and scars that tell the real story. Not that Songs From The Garden ever wallows in its sadness. The dogged determination of John’s lyrics – just listen to ‘Get Back Home’ – and the prickling energy of that gorgeous guitar never stop pushing the songs forward.

You’ve probably heard lots of debut albums from guitar-playing singer-songwriters… but we think it’s a long time since you’ll have heard anything like John Aldington.

Looking Back from Tony Cox on Vimeo.

Kiss and tell
Arthur Lee,David Ackles,Tim Buckley,Scott Walker,
Incredible String Band,Gilbert O'Sullivan,

Tim Rose,Neil Young,Fairport Convention,Jackson Browne,

Rodney Crowell,Paul Buchanan,Elliott Smith,

..

Heron,Kevin Tihsta,Mark Mulcahy,Ray Davies,Richmond Fontaine,Todd Rundgren,

Tom Waits,Van Morrison,XTC,Tim Rose.

Thanks Dave and Vanessa, Neil for the photo and the Davestock crowd.

None of this would have happened with out the love and support of Jenny,Amy,Lucy and Eve Aldington. Thank you Martin Colley for your encouragement and belief in me. The Colemans Martin and Graham, Annie Aldington, Rita and John Kedge, Mum and finally S.W. ALDINGTON -'I'll buy the next round' John

Sounds Like:

SITTING TARGET says: A classic folk tinged singer-songwriter with a breathtaking voice and emotive flatpicking acoustic guitar style.

Record Label:

sitting target