"To Produce ( v ) - 3) [in the media] - to have overall responsibility for the creation of a particular media product."

Ever since the first Fairport gig and album (for which he received the most composer credits!), Ashley has been the man behind an amazing number and astonishing variety of creations:   from songs to shows; written word to dance; huge bands to solo performances.

This CD focuses on two oft-overlooked aspects of Ashley's career, his work as a songwriter and as a producer. Certainly, the description "singer-songwriter " seems startling when applied to him in the Geoff Wall & Brian Hinton biography - yet it is totally valid. Many of his admirers cite By Gloucester Docks as his greatest single achievement, but they tend to sideline the fact that it is an album he both wrote and produced in its entirety.   When one considers other "rock operas ", none can make such a claim to singular authorship.

In recent years, Ashley has produced (in both senses!) whole albums of original songs on which he barely performs. While this might seem surprising, it merely continues a tradition of production of albums for himself, his bands and others, which dates back to the early 1970s. It places him in a tradition that stretches from Phil Spector to contemporary hip-hop producers, wherein to say a record is someone's album does not necessarily reflect any performance contribution. We end the CD, therefore, with a selection of tracks bearing Ashley's hallmark as a producer.

Guests on this CD include rarities, live cuts and long-lost LP classics from: Shirley Collins, Fairport , a wealth of Albions, Ashley's Dance Band, Ridgeriders , and some AH -produced titles featuring Martin Carthy, Keith Christmas, Judy Dunlop and Nasreen Shah :   sources include Ashley's Archive , Cambridge Festival, 50 th Birthday Bash rarities, - and selections from John Keats, Albion Heart, Street Cries, Demi Paradise and more!

But we start this album with yet another dimension of Ashley's talent ? his poetry.