Introducing Tony's Songbook

I'm starting a new Substack, where - once a week - I'll post songs by my late father

As many readers will know, two years ago my father passed away, and this summer I was finally able to go to the UK and say goodbye at the cemetery, having been unable to travel internationally due to the Covid restrictions. Afterwards I spent some time going through his things, and - after clearing it up - went through his music room, a space he had carved out at the back of the garage, where he used to listen to his old records, read up on the blues (he was a lifelong fan), and jam with my uncle (also a blues player) when he was visiting. After picking out a few albums to bring home, I came across a couple of his old notebooks, which I discovered contained 50 or so songs he wrote over decades, from growing up in London to living in Hong Kong.

Almost straightaway I knew what I wanted to do with them: share them with you. That’s why I’ve started a new Substack called Tony’s Songbook (you can subscribe above). It’s a simple idea: once a week I’ll be posting the lyrics from one of his songs. Given that there are 52 weeks in a year, that means it’ll be a new song once a week.

Mostly it’s lyrics, some have noted annotations (I’ll be including photos of his written pages). I make no promises about the quality - though I think you’ll enjoy them - but they’ll likely reflect my dad’s journey over many years, and perhaps give you (and me) a little more insight into his life. If you’re of a musical bent, I’d love for you to put his words to music, and if you send a video or audio file to me I’ll add them to the post. If the lyrics strike a particular chord with you, please do consider leaving a comment.

1. Freedom

The first song is online now. A tune he wrote in November 1971 called Freedom. If you’d like to see it, click on the link here or above. And if you’d like to receive a new song once a week, you can subscribe here. So I hope you enjoy Tony’s Songbook. It’s going to be an interesting musical journey, and one I hope you decide to join me on.