Dick Gaughan

Dick Gaughan is a Scottish singer-songwriter.

Richard Peter Gaughan was born on 17 May 1948 in Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire, where his father was temporarily working as an engine driver. One and a half years later the whole family moved to Leith, a port on the outskirts of Edinburgh. He has never returned to Rutherglen. Richard's mother was from Lochaber, and was a native speaker of Gaelic. As a child in the 1930s she won a silver medal at the Gaelic Mod. His father was an Irish speaker from Mayo, who played the fiddle. He was the eldest of three children. Dick Gaughan took up the guitar at the age of 7. Although he later sang in Scots Gaelic it remained a foreign tongue to him, an echo of a distant past, with only the occasional word or phrase having meaning. He sang in Edinburgh folk clubs and became professional in 1970.

He made one solo album No More Forever before joining Boys of the Lough. He sang and played guitar on their debut album (1972) then left. Seeking more opportunities for singing he was a guest of the High Level Ranters when they recorded The Bonnie Pit Laddie in 1975. There then followed a hectic period of his life pursuing two careers - one as a member of Five Hand Reel (3 albums 1976 - 1978) and one as a soloist (4 albums in the same period). It was a time of hard-drinking, travelling in vans, and seeing very little of his wife and daughter. The crisis came when his daughter was knocked down by a car while he was away. The daughter survived but Dick had to take stock of his life and re-prioritise things.

At long last he taught himself to read and write music. He reviewed for the only national folk music paper, Folk Review. He also saw more of his family. He joined the agitprop theatre group called 7:84. He appeared to be consciously following in the footsteps of another socialist theatre-director-singer Ewan MacColl, even recording a tribute album to him in 1978. Dick has also taken part in a tribute to Woody Guthrie. In the early 1980s he campaigned vigorously for an organisation called Perform, to unite professional and amateur folk performers into a body to negotiate fees, distribution rights, and to retain artistic control. He was the chair for two years.

His solo albums tackled big ballads (The Muckle Sangs) as well as his own ambitious songs. He challenged prevailing assumptions presented by politicians, that Russians are all war-mongers. He did this in a heart-felt way, without satire, in a thick Leith accent and insistently percussive guitar. A Handful of Earth (1981) and A Different Kind of Love Song (1983) are among his best albums. He has strong opinions on many things including the Internet. While recovering from voice problems he took a course on computing in 1984 and is one of the few professional singers who could easily get a job as a webmaster. He designs and maintains his own website.

His songs have been recorded by Billy Bragg, Mary Black and Capercaillie. In his guitar playing you can detect the influence of Big Bill Broonzy. He has recorded extensively as a session musician. Dick Gaughan joined Davy Steele of the Battlefield Band, together with other musicians to form Clan Alba. They released one self-titled album in 1995. Although he used electric guitar with Five Hand Reel, he now plays mainly acoustic guitar, plus other fretted instruments. To enjoy the best of his instrumental work, listen to Coppers and Brass (1977).

A recent album, Redwood Cathedral (1999) has been widely acclaimed. Prentice Piece (2004) is a thirty-year retrospective of his career.