Between the Orange Tree and the Lime

Between the Orange Tree and the Lime (2017) is a short film by artist Duncan Whitley, dedicated to the memory of flamenco singer and tabernero José Pérez Blanco, also known as Pepe Peregil. The film forms part of the Duncan Whitley Collection [BL REF C1338], which documents Seville’s Easter Week…

Recording of the week: Parsnip wine and an electric organ

This week’s selection comes from Tom Bench, Data Protection Rights Clearance Officer for Unlocking our Sound Heritage. This recording features Don Prior, who was interviewed for Down To Earth, an oral history project about British horticulture. Like most of the interviews in this collection, the interviewer talks Don through his…

Recording of the week: Elvis on our minds for half a century

This week’s selection comes from Sarah Kirk-Browne, Cataloguer (Digital Multimedia Collections). ’45 RPM Elvis Presley Separate Ways b/w Always On My Mind’ by A.Currell. Creative Commons attribution CC BY-NC 2.0. Fifty years ago, on 29 March 1972, Elvis Presley recorded the single Always On My Mind. Despite only reaching number…

Recording of the week: Virginia Woolf’s voice

This week’s selection comes from Sarah O’Reilly, oral historian and interviewer for National Life Stories on the Authors’ Lives project. Enter the Sir John Ritblat Treasures Gallery on the upper ground floor of the British Library in London and on your left you’ll find a pair of headphones. Through it…

Recording of the week: George V in 1933

This week’s selection comes from Steve Cleary, Lead Curator, Literary and Creative Recordings. As a curator in the British Library’s sound archive, members of the public often contact me about records or tapes that they might want to donate to the national collection. Often, we will already have a copy…