Paradise & Thorns

Two CDs. In 1987 Ashley Hutchings released By Gloucester Docks I Sat Down and Wept, an album that told a very personal love story. It was unusual in that the story was not told from a 'looking back' perspective, Ashley had written the songs, the poems and letters as the story itself was unfolding. Only later did he realise that all those fragments could come together to tell some of the story. But it was an unfinished symphony - there was more to tell and there was no real end as Hutchings was to discover many years later when he finally re-established contact with the heroine of the tale. Paradise and Thorns is all about love and it's consequences. Disc One - 'Gloucester Docks Revisited' - adds more detail to the unfolding relationship Hutchings depicted in the original album and brings into focus other scenes not previously described. Disc Two is Hutchings' personal selection of love songs and stories demonstrating the many faces and types of love and what it means in different contexts. 'And Other Tales of Love' - illustrates the inevitable unfolding path of a love affair.