The Old Grey Whistle Test has now been synonymous with quality music for 40 years. Although possibly best know as a show for rock music the show maintained an amazing variety when it came to choosing its artists, it really only had two criteria, 1, that the artists had released an album and 2 that they produced great music. Over the years the show featured artists as diverse as Gram Parsons, Bill Withers, Jethro Tull, Emmylou Harris and Muddy Waters. With this in mind September the 5th sees the release of the first 5 genre based releases in a series of many. Other releases in this series include Prog Rock, Country, Soul and Blues. The albums will mostly feature artists that appeared on the show but also include artists who for whatever reason didn’t or couldn’t appear on the show.. but should have. All the albums have been lovingly compiled by Mr OGWT. Bob Harris OBE .The Folk album features the likes of Tim Buckley, Gerry Rafferty, Loudon Wainwright and John Martyn
The Old Grey Whistle Test could not have a higher profile than it does at present with the success of the current 40th Anniversary album as well as the forthcoming Radio Two series. The series run from August 24th for 16 weeks, with each show dedicated to a year in the life of the Whistle Test. The shows will be presented by Bob Harris and will feature interviews, classic performances as well as new performances; all will be recorded at London’s iconic Maida Vale studios.