Leon Rosselson
Encyclopedia
Leon Rosselson is an English
songwriter
and writer of children's books. After his early involvement in the folk music
revival in Britain, he came to prominence, singing his own satirical songs, in the BBC's topical TV programme of the early 1960s, That Was The Week That Was
. He toured Britain and abroad, singing mainly his own songs and accompanying himself with complex arrangements for acoustic guitar.
In later years, he has published 17 children's books, the first of which, Rosa's Singing Grandfather, was shortlisted in 1991 for the Carnegie Medal
.
He continues to write and perform his own songs, and to collaborate with other musicians and performers. Most of his material includes some sort of satirical content or elements of radical politics.
and attended school in Highgate Road, adjacent to Parliament Hill Fields. His Jewish parents came to England as refugees from Tsarist Russia.
He joined the London Youth Choir, formed by John Hasted and Eric Winter, which went to a number of World Youth Festivals in the 1950s. At the end of that decade, two Scotsmen, Robin Hall
(1936–1998) and Jimmie MacGregor
(b. 1930), came to London and performed in folk clubs and then on prime time television. They teamed up with Shirley Bland (Jimmie's wife) and Leon Rosselson to form a quartet called The Galliards. Rosselson played 5 string banjo
and guitar
and did most of the arrangements. Their repertoire consisted of folk songs from the British Isles and from around the world. They were regulars on BBC
radio programmes and made an EP and two LPs for Decca
('Scottish Choice' and 'A-Roving') and one LP for the American label, Monitor
. They also made a single for Topic
of the Dave Arkin/Earl Robinson
song 'The Ink Is Black'. The group broke up in 1963 though Robin Hall and Jimmie MacGregor continued to perform as a duo into the 1970s. In 1964 Rosselson joined Marian Mackenzie, Ralph Trainer and Martin Carthy
(later replaced by Roy Bailey
) in a group called The Three City Four. They concentrated on contemporary songs, including some of Rosselson's own, and made two LPs for Decca and for CBS
.
began on 24 November 1962 with the debut of a late-night Saturday television series called That Was The Week That Was
, hosted by David Frost
. It had a huge cast of writers and featured some of Rosselson's early satirical songs. The Profumo scandal had just broken and establishment figures were fair game. The program ran until 1963.
.
His song 'Tim McGuire' (who loved to play with fire), written during this period, became very popular and was the subject of a complaint from the Chairman of Staffordshire
Fire Brigades when it was played a number of times on BBC
radio. The BBC, however, refused to ban the song, despite the protests, because (they said) the pyromaniac does get caught in the end. An earlier recording, though, the Topic EP 'Songs for City Squares', was banned (or rather labelled 'for restricted listening only') by the BBC.
His experience of the folk club circuit is captured light-heartedly in the 1966 song 'A View from the One-Night Stands', about which Rosselson said: 'I enjoy singing in folk clubs (most of them). The audiences are alive (most of them) which is more than can be said of the towns. But somebody really ought to launch a campaign to improve pub lavatories.'
'. Two other collaborations followed, 'Love, Loneliness and Laundry' (1977) and 'If I Knew Who the Enemy Was' (1979). Rosselson also scripted two shows for performance with Roy Bailey and Frankie Armstrong
: the anti-nuclear 'No Cause for Alarm' and 'Love Loneliness and Laundry', about personal politics. Rosselson and Bailey performed two other shows during the 1980s, one about Tom Paine
, the other about the Spanish Civil War
.
Billy Bragg
took "The World Turned Upside Down" into the charts in 1985. Dick Gaughan
has also covered Mr Rosselson's music ("The World Turned Upside Down" and "Stand Up for Judas").
declared that Peter Wright
's book 'Spycatcher
' could not be published in Britain nor could any of it be quoted in the media. Taking his defiance to the limit, Rosselson set out to break the law. He spent two days reading it, then encapsulated it and quoted from it in a specially written song, Ballad of a Spycatcher which was published in the British weekly New Statesman
. A single of it, with backing from Billy Bragg
and the Oyster Band, was released and started to get radio play, including by Simon Bates
on the BBC pop music channel Radio 1
. He appeared to expect a police raid or court order. In the event, nothing happened. In Rosselson's words: "So much for subversive intentions..." It even reached number 7 in the NME
indie singles charts.
, Liz Mansfield and Fiz Shapur. The box set Carthy Chronicles included 4 songs by Rosselson, including Palaces of Gold which originally appeared on Carthy's Crown of Horn (1976).
Rosselson has also performed two shows with socialist magician Ian Saville
: A Dinosaur in My Shoe, for children, and Look at it This Way, for adults (the Independent on Sunday reviewer who attended the premiere at the Edinburgh Festival
described this as "an evening of gently dialectical delights offered by two lovely gentlemen with the worst haircuts in Scotland").
Rosselson has toured North America, appearing frequently at the Vancouver Folk Festival, the Netherlands
, Belgium
, Switzerland
and Australia
.
He has written songs for a stage production at the Crucible Theatre
, Sheffield
, of They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
, was shortlisted in 1991 for the Carnegie Medal
. A cassette version of the book was also published.
In his most recent novel, Home is a Place Called Nowhere (OUP
), Rosselson writes with feeling about the experience of being a refugee. His story The Greatest Drummer in the World was adapted for the stage by Elizabeth Mansfield, premiered at The Drill Hall
, London in 2002 and subsequently toured the country.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
and writer of children's books. After his early involvement in the folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
revival in Britain, he came to prominence, singing his own satirical songs, in the BBC's topical TV programme of the early 1960s, That Was The Week That Was
That Was The Week That Was
That Was The Week That Was, also known as TW3, is a satirical television comedy programme that was shown on BBC Television in 1962 and 1963. It was devised, produced and directed by Ned Sherrin and presented by David Frost...
. He toured Britain and abroad, singing mainly his own songs and accompanying himself with complex arrangements for acoustic guitar.
In later years, he has published 17 children's books, the first of which, Rosa's Singing Grandfather, was shortlisted in 1991 for the Carnegie Medal
Carnegie Medal
The Carnegie Medal is a literary award established in 1936 in honour of Scottish philanthropist Andrew Carnegie and given annually to an outstanding book for children and young adults. It is awarded by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals...
.
He continues to write and perform his own songs, and to collaborate with other musicians and performers. Most of his material includes some sort of satirical content or elements of radical politics.
The folk years
Leon Rosselson was born and brought up in North London, lived in Tufnell ParkTufnell Park
Tufnell Park is an area of north London, England which straddles the border of the London Borough of Islington and the London Borough of Camden.-Origins:...
and attended school in Highgate Road, adjacent to Parliament Hill Fields. His Jewish parents came to England as refugees from Tsarist Russia.
He joined the London Youth Choir, formed by John Hasted and Eric Winter, which went to a number of World Youth Festivals in the 1950s. At the end of that decade, two Scotsmen, Robin Hall
Robin Hall
Robin Hall was a Scottish folksinger.He was born in Edinburgh but spent his childhood years in Glasgow. After studying at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, he briefly became an actor....
(1936–1998) and Jimmie MacGregor
Jimmie MacGregor
Jimmie Macgregor is a Scottish folksinger and broadcaster.He was born in Glasgow and studied at Glasgow School of Art, becoming a potter and teacher....
(b. 1930), came to London and performed in folk clubs and then on prime time television. They teamed up with Shirley Bland (Jimmie's wife) and Leon Rosselson to form a quartet called The Galliards. Rosselson played 5 string banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
and guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
and did most of the arrangements. Their repertoire consisted of folk songs from the British Isles and from around the world. They were regulars on BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
radio programmes and made an EP and two LPs for Decca
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
('Scottish Choice' and 'A-Roving') and one LP for the American label, Monitor
Monitor Records
Monitor Records is a Hong Kong-based music shop selling various rare and alternative CDs and music items. Monitor Records is also a distributor of Hong Kong indie bands and independent musicians such as the Pancake, Elf Fatima and Alok...
. They also made a single for Topic
Topic Records
Topic Records is a British folk music label, which played a major role in the second British folk revival. It began as an offshoot of the Workers' Music Association in 1939, making it the oldest independent record label in the world.-History:...
of the Dave Arkin/Earl Robinson
Earl Robinson
Earl Hawley Robinson was a singer-songwriter and composer from Seattle, Washington. Robinson is probably as well remembered for his left-leaning political views as he is for his music, including the songs "Joe Hill", "Black and White", and the cantata "Ballad for Americans"...
song 'The Ink Is Black'. The group broke up in 1963 though Robin Hall and Jimmie MacGregor continued to perform as a duo into the 1970s. In 1964 Rosselson joined Marian Mackenzie, Ralph Trainer and Martin Carthy
Martin Carthy
Martin Carthy MBE is an English folk singer and guitarist who has remained one of the most influential figures in British traditional music, inspiring contemporaries such as Bob Dylan and Paul Simon and later artists such as Richard Thompson since he emerged as a young musician in the early days...
(later replaced by Roy Bailey
Roy Bailey (folk singer)
Roy Bailey MBE , is a British socialist folk singer. Roy began his singing career in a skiffle group in 1958.Colin Irwin from the music magazine Mojo said Bailey represents "the very soul of folk's working class ideals.....
) in a group called The Three City Four. They concentrated on contemporary songs, including some of Rosselson's own, and made two LPs for Decca and for CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
.
That Was The Week That Was
Britain's satire boomSatire boom
The satire boom is a general term to describe the emergence of a generation of English satirical writers, journalists and performers at the end of the 1950s. The satire boom is often regarded as having begun with the first performance of Beyond the Fringe on 22 August 1960 and ending around...
began on 24 November 1962 with the debut of a late-night Saturday television series called That Was The Week That Was
That Was The Week That Was
That Was The Week That Was, also known as TW3, is a satirical television comedy programme that was shown on BBC Television in 1962 and 1963. It was devised, produced and directed by Ned Sherrin and presented by David Frost...
, hosted by David Frost
David Frost
Sir David Frost is a British broadcaster.David Frost may also refer to:*David Frost , South African golfer*David Frost , classical record producer*David Frost *Dave Frost, baseball pitcher...
. It had a huge cast of writers and featured some of Rosselson's early satirical songs. The Profumo scandal had just broken and establishment figures were fair game. The program ran until 1963.
Folk club singer
In the 1960s, Rosselson travelled widely in Britain, appearing in folk clubs and concert venues, singing his own songs, some satirical, others showing the influence of French realist song. It was a period of prolific song-writing, and some of the best songs from this period appeared on the album 'Songs for Sceptical Circles' and on 'A Laugh, a Song and a Hand Grenade', which was a live recording of Rosselson's songs interspersed with the poems of Adrian MitchellAdrian Mitchell
Adrian Mitchell FRSL was an English poet, novelist and playwright. A former journalist, he became a noted figure on the British anti-authoritarian Left. For almost half a century he was the foremost poet of the country's anti-Bomb movement...
.
His song 'Tim McGuire' (who loved to play with fire), written during this period, became very popular and was the subject of a complaint from the Chairman of Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
Fire Brigades when it was played a number of times on BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
radio. The BBC, however, refused to ban the song, despite the protests, because (they said) the pyromaniac does get caught in the end. An earlier recording, though, the Topic EP 'Songs for City Squares', was banned (or rather labelled 'for restricted listening only') by the BBC.
His experience of the folk club circuit is captured light-heartedly in the 1966 song 'A View from the One-Night Stands', about which Rosselson said: 'I enjoy singing in folk clubs (most of them). The audiences are alive (most of them) which is more than can be said of the towns. But somebody really ought to launch a campaign to improve pub lavatories.'
With Roy Bailey
'Hugga Mugga' was released on the Leader label in 1971. Roy Bailey and Rosselson recorded 'That's Not The Way It's Got To Be' in 1975, including one of Rosselson's best-known songs 'The World Turned Upside DownDiggers' Song
The "Diggers' Song" is a 17th century ballad, in terms of content a protest song concerned with land rights, inspired by the Diggers movement, composed by Gerrard Winstanley. The lyrics were published in 1894 by the Camden Society...
'. Two other collaborations followed, 'Love, Loneliness and Laundry' (1977) and 'If I Knew Who the Enemy Was' (1979). Rosselson also scripted two shows for performance with Roy Bailey and Frankie Armstrong
Frankie Armstrong
Frankie Armstrong is a singer and voice teacher.She has worked as a singer in the folk scene and the women's movement and as a trainer in social and youth work...
: the anti-nuclear 'No Cause for Alarm' and 'Love Loneliness and Laundry', about personal politics. Rosselson and Bailey performed two other shows during the 1980s, one about Tom Paine
Thomas Paine
Thomas "Tom" Paine was an English author, pamphleteer, radical, inventor, intellectual, revolutionary, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States...
, the other about the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
.
Billy Bragg
Billy Bragg
Stephen William Bragg , better known as Billy Bragg, is an English alternative rock musician and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, and his lyrics mostly deal with political or romantic themes...
took "The World Turned Upside Down" into the charts in 1985. Dick Gaughan
Dick Gaughan
Richard Peter Gaughan usually known as Dick Gaughan is a Scottish musician, singer, and songwriter, particularly of folk and social protest songs.-Early years:...
has also covered Mr Rosselson's music ("The World Turned Upside Down" and "Stand Up for Judas").
Big Red Songs
The original Big Red Songbook, a collection of socialist songs, came out in 1977, compiled by Mal Collins, David Harker and Geoff White. Leon Rosselson produced a new collection The New Big Red Songbook in 2003.Spycatcher
In 1987 three Law LordsJudicial functions of the House of Lords
The House of Lords, in addition to having a legislative function, historically also had a judicial function. It functioned as a court of first instance for the trials of peers, for impeachment cases, and as a court of last resort within the United Kingdom. In the latter case the House's...
declared that Peter Wright
Peter Wright
Peter Maurice Wright was an English scientist and former MI5 counterintelligence officer, noted for writing the controversial book Spycatcher, which became an international bestseller with sales of over two million copies...
's book 'Spycatcher
Spycatcher
Spycatcher: The Candid Autobiography of a Senior Intelligence Officer , is a book written by Peter Wright, former MI5 officer and Assistant Director, and co-author Paul Greengrass. It was published first in Australia...
' could not be published in Britain nor could any of it be quoted in the media. Taking his defiance to the limit, Rosselson set out to break the law. He spent two days reading it, then encapsulated it and quoted from it in a specially written song, Ballad of a Spycatcher which was published in the British weekly New Statesman
New Statesman
New Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
. A single of it, with backing from Billy Bragg
Billy Bragg
Stephen William Bragg , better known as Billy Bragg, is an English alternative rock musician and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, and his lyrics mostly deal with political or romantic themes...
and the Oyster Band, was released and started to get radio play, including by Simon Bates
Simon Bates
Simon Bates is a UK disc jockey and radio presenter. Between 1976 and 1993 he worked at BBC Radio 1, presenting the station's weekday mid-morning show for most of this period. He later became a regular presenter on Classic FM...
on the BBC pop music channel Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
. He appeared to expect a police raid or court order. In the event, nothing happened. In Rosselson's words: "So much for subversive intentions..." It even reached number 7 in the NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
indie singles charts.
Later collaborations
Frequent collaborators on his later albums included Martin Carthy, Robb JohnsonRobb Johnson
Robb Jenner Johnson is a British musician and songwriter, who has been called "one of the last genuinely political songwriters", and is known for his mix of political satire and wit...
, Liz Mansfield and Fiz Shapur. The box set Carthy Chronicles included 4 songs by Rosselson, including Palaces of Gold which originally appeared on Carthy's Crown of Horn (1976).
Rosselson has also performed two shows with socialist magician Ian Saville
Ian Saville
Ian Saville is an English magician whose act incorporates ventriloquism and comedy. His performance is distinctive primarily for the fact that it is geared towards a comic form of socialist propaganda...
: A Dinosaur in My Shoe, for children, and Look at it This Way, for adults (the Independent on Sunday reviewer who attended the premiere at the Edinburgh Festival
Edinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
described this as "an evening of gently dialectical delights offered by two lovely gentlemen with the worst haircuts in Scotland").
Rosselson has toured North America, appearing frequently at the Vancouver Folk Festival, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
He has written songs for a stage production at the Crucible Theatre
Crucible Theatre
The Crucible Theatre is a theatre built in 1971 and located in the city centre of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. As well as theatrical performances, it is home to the most important event in professional snooker, the World Snooker Championship....
, Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
, of They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (novel)
They Shoot Horses, Don't They? is a novel written by Horace McCoy and first published in 1935. The story mainly concerns a dance marathon during the Great Depression...
A children's writer
Rosselson has published 17 children's books. His first book, Rosa's Singing Grandfather, published by PuffinPuffin Books
Puffin Books is the children's imprint of British publishers Penguin Books. Since the 1960s it has been the largest publisher of children's books in the UK and much of the English-speaking world.-Early history:...
, was shortlisted in 1991 for the Carnegie Medal
Carnegie Medal
The Carnegie Medal is a literary award established in 1936 in honour of Scottish philanthropist Andrew Carnegie and given annually to an outstanding book for children and young adults. It is awarded by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals...
. A cassette version of the book was also published.
In his most recent novel, Home is a Place Called Nowhere (OUP
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
), Rosselson writes with feeling about the experience of being a refugee. His story The Greatest Drummer in the World was adapted for the stage by Elizabeth Mansfield, premiered at The Drill Hall
The Drill Hall
The Drill Hall is a theatrical venue in Bloomsbury in the London Borough of Camden, just to the east of Tottenham Court Road. It contains rehearsal rooms and meeting rooms, and two small theatres - the 200-seat Drill Hall 1 and a 50-seat studio space, known as Drill Hall 2. Its name derives from...
, London in 2002 and subsequently toured the country.
The Galliards
- The Galliards (EP) (1960)
- Scottish Choice (1961)
- A-Rovin' (1961)
- Galliards (1962)
The Three City Four
- The Three City Four (1965)
- Smoke and Dust (1967)
- Smoke and Dust (CD) (Compilation of tracks from above two albums, released 2010)
Solo recordings
- Songs for City Squares (EP) (1962)
- Songs for Sceptical Circles (1967)
- A Laugh, a Song and a Hand Grenade (with Adrian MitchellAdrian MitchellAdrian Mitchell FRSL was an English poet, novelist and playwright. A former journalist, he became a noted figure on the British anti-authoritarian Left. For almost half a century he was the foremost poet of the country's anti-Bomb movement...
) (1968) - Word Is Hugga Mugga Chugga Lugga Hum Bugga Boom Chit (1971)
- Palaces of Gold (1975) FUSE CF 249
- That's Not the Way It's got to Be (with Roy Bailey) (1975) FUSE CF 251
- Love Loneliness and Laundry (with Roy Bailey) (1977) FUSE CF 271
- If I Knew Who the Enemy Was (with Roy Bailey) (1979) FUSE CF 284
- For the Good of the Nation (Live, 1981) FUSE CF 381
- Temporary Loss of Vision (1983) FUSE CF 384
- Bringing the News from Nowhere (1986) FUSE CF 390
- "Ballad Of A Spycatcher"/"Song Of The Free Press" (single with Billy Bragg and The Oyster Band) (1987)
- I Didn't Mean It (1988)
- Wo Sind Die Elefanten? (Where Are The Elephants?) (1991)
- Intruders (1995)
- Harry's Gone FishingHarry's Gone FishingHarry's Gone Fishing is a 1999 album by Leon Rosselson.It contains eleven songs, ten of which were original Rosselson compositions. The other, "You Noble Diggers All" was reissued from his 1979 album, If I Knew Who The Enemy Was...
(1999) - The Last Chance (EP: 4 song CD) (2002)
- A Proper State (2008)
- The Liberty Tree (with Robb Johnson) (2010)
Compilation albums
- Rosselsongs (1990)
- Guess What They're Selling at the Happiness Counter (1992)
- Perspectives (1997)
- Turning Silence into Song (2004)
- The Last Chance (extended edition of the 2002 EP of the same name) (2010)
- The World Turned Upside Down - Rosselsongs 1960-2010 (2011)
For children
- Questions: Songs and Stories for Children (1994) (Cassette only. Reissued on CD, 2006)
- Five Little Frogs (with Sandra KerrSandra KerrSandra Kerr is an English folk singer.Sandra Kerr was born in Plaistow, Newham, London. She was a member of The Critics Group from 1963 to 1972.She sings and plays English concertina, guitar, appalachian dulcimer and autoharp....
, Nancy Kerr and Kevin Graal) - Five Little Owls (with Sandra Kerr, Nancy Kerr and Kevin Graal)
- The Greatest Drummer In The World
Others
- Vote For Us (with numerous other) (1964)
- Nuclear Power No Thanks (with numerous others) (1981)
- And They All Sang Rosselsongs (sung by 15 other performers) (2005)
Some children's books
- Rosa's Singing Grandfather, Puffin (1991). ISBN 0-14-034587-6
- Rosa's Grandfather Sings Again, Viking Children's Books (1991). ISBN 0-670-83599-4
- Where's My Mum?, Walker Books (1994). ISBN 0-7445-4377-0
- I Thought I Heard a Goldfish Singing, Longman (1994). ISBN 0-582-12960-5
- Emma's Talking Rabbit, Collins (1996). ISBN 0-00-675206-3
- Pumpkin's Downfall, Collins (2000). ISBN 0-00-675472-4
- Home is a Place Called Nowhere, OUP (2002). ISBN 0-19-272586-6
Songbooks
- Look Here (1968)
- That's Not The Way It's Got To Be (1974)
- For the Good of the Nation (1981)
- Bringing the News from Nowhere (125 selected songs) (1993)
- Turning Silence into Song (2003)
External links
- Leon Rosselson Official Website
- Songs of Life from a Dying British Empire Album Details at Smithsonian FolkwaysSmithsonian FolkwaysSmithsonian Folkways is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution. It is a part of the Smithsonian's Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, located at Capital Gallery in downtown Washington, D.C. The label was founded in 1987 after the family of Moses Asch, founder of Folkways...
- Detailed discography