Charles Parker Day 2006

Gillian Reynolds opened proceedings with an over-view of the Charles Parker Archive Trust and its work, followed by Sian Roberts, who gave an exciting presentation about the development of the Connecting Histories project. BBC producer Kate MCall talked about Norman Corwin, the veteran American producer, whose programme, The Lonesome Train had influenced Parker in terms of style, and Graeme Miles brought the spirit of Charles himself to life in a moving and amusing talk in which he painted a vivid picture of working on some of the programmes which followed The Radio Ballads. Ken Hall, from the University of Teeside provided valuable discussion relating to Parker’s work beyond the Radio Ballads, while Seán Street discussed vernacular radio and community, with special reference to CBC Radio’s Newfoundland-based Fisheries Broadcast.

A central part of the afternoon – and a highlight of the day – was a two-handed presentation by Sara Parker and John Tams, in which they talked through the making of the six new Radio Ballads, recently broadcast on Radio 2. The sense of reflection by practitioners on a process on which – in John Tams’ words “the ink was barely dry”, made for fascinating insights. Andy Cartwright of Soundscape Productions took delegates through the process of his innovative radio feature, Then – Now, broadcast in January; this carried the spirit of Charles Parker’s “gathering” into a new age – the recording of a single agreed minute by more than 100 recordists all over Britain, to create a sound poem made up of a murmur of voices – “people greeting people who they’ll never, ever know.”