On The Road With Blind Jack

by Tim Hunter

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1.	On The Road Overture 02:29	info	buy track
2.	On The Road 00:39	lyrics	buy track
On The Road (Lyrics & Music: Tim Hunter) The light has gone from my life Seems like music is my only friend Won’t you join me on the road Join me to the end When I’ll see the light again Won’t you join me on the road my friend When I’ll see the light again
3.	Jack Fights Back 02:57	lyrics	buy track
Jack Fights Back (Lyrics & Music: Tim Hunter) Jack fights back, Jack fights back I’ve got an inner light that shines the way, that lets me fight another day That turns my night into day Jack fights back I won’t give in to adversity Jack fights back Won’t let it disadvantage me Jack fights back, Jack fights back Wine , Women and song is what keeps me strong; Wine, Women and song is what keeps me going on. Join me on the road, Join me my friend Join me till the end when I see the light again Jack fights back, Jack fights back Jack fights back I won’t give in to adversity Jack fights back Won’t let it disadvantage me Won’t you join me on the road Join me to the end When I’ll see the light again Won’t you join me on the road my friend Join me on the Road
4.	How Do You Do It 03:18	lyrics	buy track
How Do You Do It? (Lyrics & Music: Tim Hunter) Bill: You win again Jack, how do you do it? Jack: That would be telling. Do you want another game? You can ride your horse like the wind You’re the King of Violin I wanna know just one thing Maybe Mother Shipton cast her spell on you Down at the Dropping Well? Please tell me true How do you do it? I wanna know How do you do it? How do you do the things you do? I guess your music gets you through the day, Maybe that’s how you do it. Your unseeing eyes seem to hypnotize You gamble and you womanize What’s the secret? I can only theorize Maybe you’re some kind of Superman How do you do it? I wanna know How do you do it? How do you do the things you do? I guess your music gets you through the day, Maybe that’s how you do it. Music gets us through the day Music gets us through the day Music gets us through the day Music gets us through the day How do you do it? I wanna know How do you do it? I wanna know the secrets of your mind, How do you do it? I wanna know, How do you do it?
5.	I Remember The Blue Skies 03:26	lyrics	buy track
I Remember The Blue Skies (Lyrics & Music: Tim Hunter) I remember the blue skies and the golden sunrise, Please don’t be blind to the beauty before your eyes I remember when I was young I remember the light of the sun Now I can only feel its warmth on my face As I sit in the market place I remember the blue skies and the golden sunrise, Please don’t be blind to the beauty before your eyes I can still smell the fragrance of the lilac trees, I can hear the sounds of the summer breeze, When I play my violin, somehow it sets me free, Sometimes I still think, if only I could see But aren’t we all blind to our feelings? Blind to all that is around Let’s not close our ears to the beautiful sounds. I remember the blue skies and the golden sunrise, Please don’t be blind to the beauty before your eyes
6.	Tales Of Fell and Dales 04:04	lyrics	buy track
Tales of Fell and Dales (Lyrics & Music: Tim Hunter) And we tell the tales of Fell and Dales Sat in the Taverns while we’re drinking the beautiful ales The Nidd winds its lonely way Through fields of golden hay Down through the Dales Till it reaches Knaresborough Where we tell the tales of Fell and Dales Sat in the Taverns while we’re drinking the beautiful ales The magic river keeps on flowing And the nature all round keeps growing Down through the hills the river flows The Green Man is still the one who knows The secrets of the forests and moors And the secrets of Nidd Gorge And we tell the tales of Fell and Dales Sat in the Taverns while we’re drinking the beautiful ales And we tell the tales of Fell and Dales Sat in the Taverns while we’re drinking the beautiful ales The beautiful ale Tales of Fell and Dales When the day is done Tales of Fell and Dales An the Harvest's in Tales of Fell and Dales Sitting in the setting Sun Tales of Fell and Dales Waitin’ for the next day to begin Sat in the tavern waitin’ for the next day to begin and drinking And we tell the Tales of Fell and Dales Bill: Lets have another ale! Jack: Good Idea! Dolly ‘I thought I’d find you in here! John - you’re coming home with me’
7.	Love Is Blind 03:19	lyrics	buy track
Love Is Blind (Lyrics & Music: Tim Hunter) All your drinking and your gambling Don’t think that I can take any more All the worry, that you cause me When you’re walking out the door So many tears, so many concerns But I fear I’ll just never learn ‘Cos Love Is Blind Love Is Blind I must be out of my mind When you go on your adventures Far away from home People ask how do I cope Why did I elope? Just to end up all alone I say I know you’ll come home safely to me And there's so many things that you cannot see No matter what people say But love will find a way ‘Cos Love Is Blind Love Is Blind I must be out of my mind I say I know you’ll come home safely to me And there's so many things that you cannot see ‘Cos Love Is Blind Love Is Blind I must be out of my mind Love Is Blind Love Is Blind
8.	Yorkshire Blues 02:43	lyrics	buy track
Yorkshire Blues (Lyrics & Music: Tim Hunter) Jack: Will join The Yorkshire Blues? Youre country needs you. Bill: Of course Jack, you know I’d follow you to the World’s End! I have come here today and I’ve just one thing to say: Join me as a Yorkshire Blue We’re recruiting men to go to Culloden To fight the Jacobite in the fields and the glens Defend your country, defend your sovereignty Join me as a Yorkshire Blue Will you Stand up for the Crown and Fight for the King? Don’t let us down we have to do something I have come here today and I’ve just one thing to say: Join me as a Yorkshire Blue Stand up for the Crown and Fight for the King? Don’t let us down we have to do something I have come here today and I’ve just one thing to say: Join me as a Yorkshire Blue
9.	On My Way Back To Knaresborough 03:16	lyrics	buy track
On My Way Back To Knaresborough (Lyrics & Music: Tim Hunter) Jacobite Officer: I think we’ve caught an English spy! In the name of the Jacobite Army I arrest you. You’ll be Court Martialled in the morning. Jacobean Officer: State your name, rank and intention Jack: My name is John Metcalf. I’m not a soldier, sir. I have no weapon, just my violin. I’m here to offer my musical services to you. Jacobean Officer: Hah! Play us your Violin then, Metcalf! [Jack plays some violin] Jacobean Officer: Good! You’re free to gang, you’re nae threat to us Close call, now I know why they built Hadrian’s Wall Close shave, I was captured I had to be brave But the Lord he saved me, he made sure I went free Now I’m on my way, yes I’m on my way, On my way back to Knaresborough Out of jail, somehow I lived to tell the tale Scot free, I managed to restore my dignity But, the Lord he saved me, he made sure I went free Now I’m on my way, yes I’m on my way, back to Knaresborough On my way back to Knaresborough On my way back to Knaresborough Take us home Jack! On my way back to Knaresborough
10.	The Road To Your Heart 03:11	lyrics	buy track
The Road To Your Heart (Lyrics & Music: Tim Hunter) Dolly: John, I’m so glad you made it back safely. Jack: I could have made it back in half the time if we had decent roads! That’s my next task, Dolly. I'm gonna build roads! Dolly: You’re going to build roads? [Dolly] You are a kind man, But you are a Blind Man. How will you build roads? I don’t understand [Jack] I’ve got the vision I’ll make it my mission To build all the routes that end isolation Like the road I built from the start The Road To Your Heart I made sure we’d not be apart With a Road To Your Heart Didn’t I build that road? A Road to your Heart Didn’t I build that road? A Road to your Heart [Dolly] You’ve got the ambition so maybe you really can, build the roads to connect Northern England [Jack] Yes, I’ll employ men and I’ll direct them I will measure and design from start to end Like the road I built from the start The Road To Your Heart I made sure we’d not be apart With a Road To Your Heart Didn't I build that Road? [Dolly] Yes you built that road, The Road To My Heart. Like the road you built from the start The Road To My Heart You made sure we’d not be apart With a Road To My Heart [Jack] I built that road The Road to your Heart.
11.	Here Lies John Metcalfe 03:18	lyrics	buy track
Here Lies John Metcalf (Lyrics based on John Metcalfe’s Epitaph & Music: Tim Hunter) "Here lies John Metcalf, one whose infant sight Felt the dark pressure of an endless night; Yet such the fervour of his dauntless mind, His limbs full strung, his spirits unconfined, Here lies John Metcalf, Here lies John Metcalf That, long ere yet life’s bolder years began, The sightless efforts mark’d th’ aspiring man; Nor mark’d in vain—high deeds his manhood dared, And commerce, travel, both his ardour shared. ’Twas his a guide’s unerring aid to lend— O’er trackless wastes to bid new roads extend; Here lies John Metcalf, Here lies John Metcalf And, when rebellion reared her giant size, ’Twas his to burn with patriot enterprise; For parting wife and babes, one pang to feel, Then welcome danger for his country’s weal. Reader, like him, exert thy utmost talent given! Reader, like him, adore the bounteous hand of Heaven. Here lies John Metcalf, Here lies John Metcalf Here lies John Metcalf, Here lies John Metcalf Bill: Jack was our inspiration, The Inspiration to win.
12.	Blind Jack (The Inspiration To Win) 02:32	lyrics	buy track
Blind Jack (The inspiration to win) (Lyrics & Music: Tim Hunter) Blind Jack laid the tracks That showed the way for roads That we’d find hard to build today Blind Jack was another character From Old Knaresborough He was an entrepreneur And he’d sing and play the violin Walking into battle, only he could bring The Inspiration to win Determination don’t give in Inspire us all to achieve Take it higher and let’s all believe in Blind Jack, Blind Jack, Blind Jack Blind Jack, always achieving He never stopped believing He could do anything He just kept working And he’d sing and play the violin Walking into battle, only he could bring Blind Jack, Blind Jack The Inspiration to win

about

This album features a series of songs which are inspired by the life of John Metcalf (1717–1810), also known as Blind Jack of Knaresborough, who was born in 1717 in Knaresborough, in a thatched cottage near the Parish church. ‘On The Road with Blind Jack’ is a personal view of Blind Jack’s life told in song, and was released in 2017 to coincide with the Tricentenery of Jack’s birth on 15th August 2017.

Metcalf led a hugely varied and colourful life, which included working as a professional musician and also as a pioneering road builder. Metcalf designed and helped to build around 180 miles of road across Yorkshire, Lancashire and Derbyshire. Many of his routes still survive today, for example as parts of the A59 and the A61.

At the age of six John lost his sight after a smallpox infection; he was given fiddle lessons as a way of making provision for him to earn a living later in life. He became an accomplished fiddler and made this his
livelihood in his early adult years. Though blind, he refused to let his disability limit his activities.

He enjoyed life to the full and was a ‘bon vivant’. He took up swimming and diving, fighting cocks, playing cards, reputedly enjoying drinking, riding and even hunting. He knew his local area so well he was paid to work as a guide to visitors. In his youth, Metcalf also eloped with Dolly Benson, the daughter of the landlord of the Royal Oak in Knaresborough. They married and had four children.

In 1745 Jack help recruit men for the ‘Yorkshire Blues’, a 64-man militia raised in the district by Captain Thornton to fight Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobite rebels. He led the ‘Yorkshire Blues’ into battle and was present at the Battle of Culloden, which saw the decisive defeat of the Jacobite rising by the Duke of Cumberland. In Scotland, Jack had a narrow escape after being captured by the Jacobites. The long hard journey back to Knaresborough, on appalling local roads, gave Jack some ideas for the future.

By 1752, Jack was operating a stagecoach company between York and Knaresborough and realised he had to do something to overcome the limitations of local roads. Soon after a new Turnpike Act in 1752, the
enterprising Metcalf took up the challenge and moved into Road Building. He obtained a contract for building a three-mile stretch of road between Ferrensby and Minskip with his gang of workmen. This would begin Jack’s successful career of professional road construction.

Competition from canals eventually cut into his profits and Jack retired to Spofforth, where he died in 1810. Blind Jack’s epitaph (set to music on this album) is on his headstone in the churchyard of All Saints Church, Spofforth. His life is an example to us all in how to overcome adversity, and the story of his life deserves to be more widely known.

credits

released June 18, 2017

Musicians:

Tim Hunter: Lead and Backing Vocals, Guitars, Synthesiser,
Keyboards, Sequencing, Drums.
Lead Vocals: Jasmine Isa Butterworth (7,10); Eddie Lawler (4,11)
Backing Vocals: Jasmine Isa Butterworth (3,4,6,9,11); Sarah Marie Gayle (6)
Drums: Dan Mizen (12)

Cast:
Tim Hunter is John Metcalfe
Jasmine Isa Butterworth is Dolly Metcalfe
Phil Jackson is The Jacobite Officer
Eddie Lawler is Bill (Jack’s friend)

Recorded, Produced and Mastered at
Northern Soundscapes Studios,
Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, UK
Additional Vocal Recording (Track 6):
Smokehouse Studios , Shadwell, London
(Engineer: Rohan Budd)
Additional Recording: Active Audio Studios,Harrogate (Track 12)
Cover Artwork: Simon Goodway
Booklet design: Tim Hunter.

For details of sound effects used visit:
timmusicworld.com

Copyright © 2017 Tim Hunter.
All rights reserved. This work is registered with the UK Copyright Service: Registration No:284704936

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about

Tim Hunter Knaresborough, UK

'Through his musical albums, Knaresborough composer Tim Hunter helps bring to life the stories and legends of Yorkshire's rich heritage.' Yorkshire Post 1st May 2020.
Tim Hunter is a singer/songwriter/producer. His musical compositions range from pop ballads through to classic rock and have been enjoyed by audiences both in Europe and the United States. ... more

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