Humblebums - Please Sing A Song For Us- The Complete Humblebums, 1969-70. Dble CD. (Castle - CMDDD1211) The entire recorded output of this Scots act anthologised on 2CDs, also featuring nine unreleased bonus tracks from a Peel session. The 'Bums are of course of major interest to many people because they were the band in which superstar comedian and actor Billy Connolly made his first impact, and of course as his introductions got longer and the time devoted to Gerry Rafferty and Tam Harvey's compositions (both walked out in succession between 1970 and 1971) got shorter, it became obvious that comedy rather than music was going to be the Yin's path. What makes these recordings so interesting is the synthesis and juxtaposition between ribald comedy, traditional Scots folk and finely crafted Beatlesque pop, something that Rafferty would go on to perfect with Stealers Wheel and eventually on his million-selling 'City To City' album. It's as fascinating to hear Connolly playing it straight in places (as, to give him credit, he did on early solo albums) as it is to hear Rafferty coping with comedy, and in songs such as 'Saltcoats At The Fair' 'Partick' 'Silk Pyjamas' 'Open Up The Door' and 'Her Father Didn't Like Me Anyway' they just about manage to pull the two genres as close together as they ever have been. Outtakes from their unfinished third album are also included- get RIGHT intae it!!

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