Harvey Andrews (born Harvey John Andrews, May 7, 1943 in Birmingham) is an English singer, songwriter, and poet. From 1964, Andrews supported his nascent career as a singer/songwriter by working as a schoolteacher, before becoming a full-time professional musician in 1966. Andrews has produced 15 successful albums singing his own songs, many of which have also been recorded by other artists. His emotive The Soldier transmits the same quiet desperation of a soldier about to die "in conflict" as Wilfred Owen's Dulce Et Decorum Est, though in a very different setting. In fact, the contrast of a battlefield to a commonplace urban setting and the proximity of children makes the situation even more poignant and the waste of a young life even more tragic. Hey Sandy on the album Writer of Songs is another description of the senseless loss of a young life in conflict. It is based on the death of a female student, Sandra Scheuer, who was shot by the Ohio National Guard at the Kent State University in the USA anti-war demonstration of 1970, although, unlike the Sandy of Andrews' song, the real student was not directly involved in the demonstration. The album version of the song is an unusual, but powerful, arrangement, in which the first verse is sung to the accompaniment of a solo double bass, played by Danny Thompson. The recording was never issued in America until Kent State University's commemorative cd released in 2005. It reached number 2 in the New Zealand chart in November 1972.In stark contrast, his Boothferry Bridge and Gift of a Brand New day reflect the contentment of the simple pleasures of everyday life. Many of Harvey's supposedly 'unavailable' Albums (like Writer of Songs) can actually be ordered directly from his web site (just follow the 'music' link) http://www.harveyandrews.com/ .. sadly some of them really are out of print.
