Betjeman's Banana Blush - Sir John Betjeman

Vinyl L.P - Charisma Records - CAS 1086.

1974 - U.K.

Sleeve design: HIPGNOSIS.

Cover photography: John Garrett.

Back cover

Labels

Reissue with credit for Hipgnosis on the back cover:

Charisma Recrds CHC 26

Back cover (detail)

John Betjeman

1906 - 1984

Sir John Betjeman & Jim Parker

      About the artist and the album:

Sir John Betjeman (1906–1984) was an influential British poet, writer, and broadcaster who served as Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1972 until his death. He is remembered as one of the most beloved literary figures of his time for his accessible, humorous, and deeply nostalgic style regarding English life and identity. He was a pioneer in the use of television to communicate cultural and preservation issues to the general public, becoming a media celebrity.

He was a student of T.S. Eliot at school and later studied at Oxford University, where he was tutored by C.S. Lewis (with whom he had a mutually unfriendly relationship).

He died in Cornwall in 1984 after suffering from Parkinson's disease for a decade. He is buried in St. Enodoc Church, Trebetherick.

Betjeman's Banana Blush is a cult album released in 1974 by Britain's then poet laureate, Sir John Betjeman. In this work, Betjeman recites his poems over a musical accompaniment composed and conducted by Jim Parker, achieving an unusual blend of literature and music that made him an unlikely "pop star" at the age of 67.

It was produced by Hugh Murphy (known for his later work with Gerry Rafferty) and originally released on the progressive rock label Charisma Records.

The success of this collaboration led Parker and Betjeman to record three more similar albums: Late Flowering Love (1974), Sir John Betjeman's Britain (1977), and Varsity Rag (1981).

Although Betjeman himself initially described it humorously as a "record of vulgar pop songs," the album became a classic championed by figures such as John Peel, Jarvis Cocker (Pulp), and Suggs (of the band Madness).