| AdminHistory | 'The Ballad of John Axon' was the first Radio Ballad. John Axon was an engine driver from Stockport, who was posthumously awarded the George Cross after he was killed in a train crash. When his train's steam brake pipe fractured and he lost control, he told his fireman, Ron Scanlon, to jump to safety and stayed on the train to warn workers further down the line. This warning enabled a signalman to move a diesel to safety before Axon's train crashed into a freight train, killing him and the guard of the train.
The lyrics and music were by Ewan MacColl, the programme was produced by Charles Parker, and the musical arrangements were by Peggy Seeger. The programme was broadcast on 2 July 1958. The original programme was 45 minutes long; a longer version, which was 60 minutes long, was broadcast on 11 June 1963.
Technical Direction was by John Bower. The vocalists were Ewan MacColl, A.L. Lloyd, Isla Cameron, Dominic Behan, Stan Kelly, Dick Loveless, Charles Mayo, and Colin Dunn. The instrumentalists were Peggy Seeger (banjo); Bruce Turner (clarinet); Fitzroy Coleman (guitar); Bryan Daley (guitar); Terry Brown (trumpet); Bobby Mickleburgh (trombone); Billy Lock (drums); Jim Bray (bass); Alf Edward (English concertina); John Cole (harmonica); Ralph Rinzler (mandolin); and Bob Clark (fiddle).
The principal speakers were: Mrs Gladys Axon; Ronald Scanlon, past fireman; Jack Pickford, driver; Alec Watts, foreman cleaner; Jim Howarth, driver; Kenneth Pearson, past fireman; and Alfred Ball, guard.
The programme was the BBC's entry for the 1958 Italia Prize for radio documentaries.
See http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/radioballads/original/johnaxon.shtml |