It may just be my imagination but I could have sworn Tom Paxton made what was supposed to be his last appearance on a Scottish stage some years ago.
It's no problem if he didn't because there's also no reason why, at 75, he should be considering such possibilities.
His voice may be a little careworn and perhaps not as supple as it once was, but he can still sing songs of sharp social observation with a quiet potency.
Judging from the ones he previewed from an album projected for recording later this year, he has lost none of his skill for a companionable verse, refrain and melody.
In two years, Paxton will celebrate the 50th anniversary of his first trip to Edinburgh, made at the behest of Matt McGinn, as he recalled here. A couple of years before that, he'd plucked up the courage to sing Ramblin' Man to Pete Seeger and was rewarded by Seeger singing it with the Weavers at Carnegie Hall two weeks later.
Such memories are gold dust and Paxton shared a few others, including the time his daughter thanked a pub singer in St Andrews for singing her dad's song, only to be told The Last Thing on My Mind was a Scottish folk song.
So, with his accompanist, Robin Bullock, adding extra colour on mandolin and guitar, there were songs Paxton did write and some he might have written – he added with a wink – over two sets that addressed civil rights, the battle of the sexes, dementia, ecology and pesky skeeters, all delivered with the warmth, wit and personality of a practised troubadour.
HHH
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