Chris Cox

I have long wanted to try this on the mandolin - the first of JS Bach's famous Preludes and Fuges for keyboard (in C Major). It's less than 90 seconds long but as a collection of notes and chords represents musical perfection (IMHO Bach had one of the most remarkable musical minds ever). I offer this in hope that this crazy time will soon pass....

‘Cowboy Boots ’ is a tribute to the Flying Pig - a wonderful music venue in Cambridge that we played at many times in pre-Covid lockdown days. Landlady Justine has been unfailingly supportive of local live music and we fervently hope that when this madness is over we’ll play there again. Oh and there’s those boots....

Sometime back in the Era 1 BC (Before Corona) four chaps from Oxford went into a studio - all at the same time, together with an engineer and wearing no facemasks (GASP! - I know this is now hard to imagine) - and recorded the following tunes, 'Cruising' and 'On the Hook', playing simultaneously with minimal social distancing and minimal post production. The noises we made are hereby offered as light relief in these uncertain times. Enjoy....

I've been asked to upload this tune - from the archives of the Telephone Bill days. An old pop - soul song of mine, here beautifully sung by Steve Reynolds who was in the band at the time. Steve still sings with bands in Cambridge and is in as good a voice as ever. Enjoy, and a Happy Christmas to all

"To be or not to be" is kind of a companion piece to"Frozen in Motion" - uploaded earlier this year - in that they bookend a life between them. "Once upon a time" is in one of the classic American Songbook formats - a single verse beginning and ending the tune with a mandolin instrumental sandwich filling (that perhaps rather less classic!). Polymath Jazz pianist Kenny Hung does the honors on the keyboard chops here. Feedback as ever welcome!

In celebration of the 200,00 N1M plays milestone being reached today - March 9th (really?) - I have uploaded another acoustic guitar/mandolin based tune - 'I-Spy'. The inspiration for this lullaby (also the muse behind the instrumental 'Rosie') recently also reached milestone of her own - 21 years old. How 'Time Flies'. Keep listening. Chris

'Judgement Day' is arguably seasonally appropriate. Performed here some years ago now by 'Telephone Bill' (with lead vocal from Gerry Hale who also played fiddle on an earlier instrumental upload 'Hard Drive') reflects a level of religious ambiguity I have never really shaken off. 'Obvious' is from a much later collection of tunes - (Even the Willows are Weeping) - and fantasises encouragement I sometimes wish I could have had. Thank you to all for your kind comments this last year and for listening to these compositions. Best wishes, Chris

It's been a while since I uploaded anything onto NM1 - so here are some more tunes. A mandolin instrumental, Mystique, as these seem to go down well. 'Don't want to lose your love' is a nod towards the classic Great American Songbook style (I think) but with mandolin decoration and lots of vocals. 'China' is an altogether different animal, played grittily by The Missing Persians. Hope you enjoy, let me know what you think. Best wishes to all, Chris

Hello N1M subscribers all! Thanks for your interest and support this last year.

I’ve just added another miscellaneous selection of compositions to the collection on this site. ‘Old Man’s Shoes’ is from my current band ‘The Missing Persians’. ‘Just For a Moment’ is played by ‘Telephone Bill and the Smooth Operators’ from - ahem - some while ago now. (Strings arranged by Harvey Brough who currently puts on epic shows in London) - while ‘Surgical Spirit’ is a piece of instrumental indulgence from the collection ‘Moments of Mandolin Madness. Madness indeed! Enjoy. Chris

A couple of new tracks: 'After the Bullfight' is an angsty little tale of Iberian paranoia. The bull comes off badly (as usual in these situations) but the matador gets his come-uppance in the last verse! Played by 'The Missing Persians'. 'Michael' is an old song of mine, performed here live by Telephone Bill and the Smooth Operators (lead vocal by Anne Baker) back in the last century at a club in Bristol.

A few years ago I was in a studio that had an improbably large collection of vintage Hammond Organs in various states of disrepair - the lyrics for 'God loves the Hammond Organ' almost wrote themselves while waiting to be called for overdubs! 'Cole in the Hole' is a plea from The Missing Persians - and Almendro is from a collection of mandolin tunes from my 'String Theory' side project. Enjoy!

The mandolin instrumentals were accompanied on rhythm guitar by my old school friend Mick Audsley who also wrote the lyrics for '3rd of November'. An aluminus from Telephone Bill, the very talented Gerry Hale, submitted the wonderful fiddle and Dobro tracks on 'Hard Drive' (by cassette would you believe) all the way from Australia, in a great example of intercontinental collaboration. The backing on the Acoustic Rock tracks, ('3rd Nov', 'Hole in My Heart', 'Time Flies', 'Every Now and Then') were provided by 'The Missing Persians' my lovely band in Oxford. 'Cactus Dreaming', 'Mr Wilson' and 'Coming of Age' were ably backed by Telephone Bill and the Smooth Operators. All the other noises and all the compositions I have to take full responsibility for. Chris Cox