I came across this birdsong album in my family home lately. As will become clear, I can’t find out much about it online, but I felt that the aesthetic of the album was worth capturing. And it is somewhat sobering to be able to listen to birdsong from over half a century ago.
I can’t find that much online about John Kirby, who recorded this as one of a series of birdsong albums released as “Listen the birds / Hoor de vogels” in, I think, the early 1960s.
There is this oral history interview with him, which is “accessible for UK Higher Education and Further Education institutions only.” although the terseness of this summary of the interview has its own kind of poetry:
Making his own tape recorder from a kit. Recording first bird song in May 1951. Building own portable battery recorder. In 1953 BBC accepted his recording of Whooper Swan and subsequent recordings. Contributing to the Sound programme. Buying electric tape recorder in 1959. Pioneering use of filters. Meeting Ludwig Koch. Publication of commercial discs. Difficulties of mass production.
Neither can I find out much online about the Europese Fono Club AKA European Phono Club the Dutch label this record came out on.
So here is Listen The Birds 8 / Hoor de Vogels 8 <a href="http://https://www.discogs.com/No-Artist-Listen-The-Birds-8-Hoor-De-Vogels-8/release/3149525“>This has the same tracklisting but a different cover :
Séamus Sweeney 