''Musical Tour of Scotland'' is a collection of traditional and original songs and tunes which accompanied Billy Connolly's 1994 television series '' World Tour of Scotland''. It was released in 1995. Connolly provides vocals on "The Waltzing Fool", "I Wish I Was in Glasgow" and " Irish Heartbeat". Ralph McTell, meanwhile, sings on " Will Ye Go", "The Islands", " Tangle of the Isles" and " Flower of Scotland". The remaining ten songs are instrumentals. The musical nature of this album is notable as Connolly, who had been a folk musician in the 1960s and early 70s, and who included musical interludes in his comedy albums and performances up until 1983, had mostly phased music out of his performances by the late 1980s. "I Wish I Was in Glasgow" was written by Connolly in 1983 and released on his album ''A Change Is As Good As Arrest''. With the lines "I would take you there and show you, but they've pulled the building down" and "they bulldozed it all to make a road", he laments that the section of Dover Street, between Breadalbane and Claremont Streets, on which he was born was demolished around a decade earlier. This version omits the first verse: ''Oh I wish I was in Glasgow / With some good old friends of mine / Some good old rough companions / And some good old smooth red wine / We could talk about the old days / And the shipyard's sad decline / And drink to the boys on the road''. Also, on the rare occasions he performed the song live, prior to its inclusion here, ''friends'' became ''pals'', and ''and when I think about it'', became ''and any time it's in my mind''. "I was a bit depressed about Glasgow when I wrote it, but since then it has cheered up somewhat," Connolly said prior to a performance of the song in the late 1980s. In ''World Tour of Scotland'', he added, "It's as if someone worked out how to use lasgow's

skylight A skylight (sometimes called a rooflight) is a light-permitting structure or window, usually made of transparent or translucent glass, that forms all or part of the roof space of a building for daylighting and ventilation purposes. History Open ...

." All but the final song, a live cover of Van Morrison's "Irish Heartbeat", are studio recordings. "Barges" is an instrumental version of a McTell-penned song that originally appeared on his 1972 album '' Not till Tomorrow''. "Irish Heartbeat" was performed during Connolly's 1988 tour. Connolly, playing

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

, is joined on stage by female backing vocalist Julienne Taylor and, from the bridge onwards, by the College of Piping pipe band. The song was limited-released as a single.

Track listing

# "Banjo Land" (Trad. arr. Graham Preskett) # "The Islands Theme" (Ralph McTell) # "The Waltzing Fool" (

Lyle Lovett Lyle Pearce Lovett (born November 1, 1957) Lyle Lovett Pageat Allmusic – Lovett's Genre and Styles. Retrieved February 2, 2007 is an American singer, songwriter, actor and record producer. Active since 1980, he has recorded 13 albums and relea ...

; trad. arr. Billy Connolly) # " Tangle of the Isles Theme"† (Trad. arr. Graham Preskett) # "I Wish I Was in Glasgow" (Trad. arr. Billy Connolly) # " Flower of Scotland Theme" ( Roy Williamson) # "Campbell's Farewell" (Trad. arr. Billy Connolly) # " Will Ye Go" (Trad. arr Graham Preskett, performed by Ralph McTell) # "From Here to Claire" (Trad. arr. Graham Preskett) # "The Islands" (Ralph McTell/Martin Allcock, performed by Ralph McTell) # "Waltz of the Waves"†† (Trad. arr. Billy Connolly) # "Tangle of the Isles"† (Trad. arr. Graham Preskett, performed by Ralph McTell) # "Barges" (Ralph McTell) # "Flower of Scotland" (Roy Williamson, performed by Ralph McTell) # "Glasgow Theme" (Trad. arr. Billy Connolly) # "Will Ye Go Theme" (Trad. arr. Graham Preskett) # " Irish Heartbeat" ( Van Morrison, performed by Billy Connolly) †The original song is known as "The Road to the Isles". The line ''the tangle o' the isles'' appears in the song. This version omits the middle verse.
†† In 1998, Harvey Reid claimed ownership of this song in a letter to Connolly, a claim to which Connolly agreed. No royalty payments ever occurred, however.Hot news from Harvey Reid
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Musical credits

* Billy Connolly -

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

autoharp An autoharp or chord zither is a string instrument belonging to the zither family. It uses a series of bars individually configured to mute all strings other than those needed for the intended chord. The term ''autoharp'' was once a trademark of ...

, vocals * Ralph McTell - guitar, vocals * Graham Preskett - piano, violin,

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

Production credits

* Graham Preskett - Musical production * Cameron McBride - Recording engineer

References

{{Authority control 1995 albums Folk albums by Scottish artists Billy Connolly albums