RobertSwale at 14:29, 13 March 2026

2026-03-13T14:29:07Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Infobox musical artist 
| name = Hamish Imlach
| image =
| image_size =
| landscape =
| caption =
| background = solo_singer
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1940|2|10|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Kolkata|Calcutta]], [[British Raj|British India]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1996|01|1|1940|2|10}}
| death_place = [[Motherwell]], [[Scotland]]
| genre = [[Folk music|Folk]]
| occupation = Musician, songwriter
| instrument = Guitar
| years_active =
| label =
| associated_acts =
| website =
}}

'''Hamish Imlach''' (10 February 1940 – 1 January 1996) was a Scottish [[Folk music|folk singer]].<ref name="Larkin">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]|editor=Colin Larkin|editor-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|publisher=[[Virgin Books]]|date=1997|edition=Concise|isbn=1-85227-745-9|page=641}}</ref> Imlach was born in [[Kolkata|Calcutta]] to Scottish parents,<ref name="Larkin"/> although he claimed to have been conceived in [[Glasgow]], [[Scotland]]. His commercial success was limited, but he influenced many other artists, including most notably [[John Martyn (singer)|John Martyn]], [[Billy Connolly]], and [[Christy Moore]]. In Central and Northern Europe Imlach enjoyed a strong reputation as a vivid live artist.

==Career==
He had his biggest hit in the late 1960s with ''[[Cod Liver Oil and the Orange Juice]]'', a scurrilous and hilarious take on the American [[gospel music|gospel]] standard "Virgin Mary Had a Little Baby" written by Ron Clark and Carl MacDougall. The song was, for a time, banned by the [[BBC]] as it was assumed to be full of double meanings, but at one point became the most requested song on British Forces Radio.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}

In the late 1960s whilst performing at the [[Manchester Sports Guild]], Imlach struck up a conversation with a then little known [[Christy Moore]] after noticing their guitar case in the queue outside the venue, which was an uncommon sight in those days, inviting him into the venue as his guest. This encounter lead to a long-time friendship.{{sfn|Moore|2000|p=18}} Whilst touring together for many years after, the pair were heavy drinkers and users of [[cannabis]], Imlach smoking it but Moore only chewing it.{{sfn|Moore|2000|p=18}}

He was described by Ewan McVicar, the Scottish storyteller and singer, as ''"a raconteur who taught [[Billy Connolly]], a singer who taught [[Christy Moore]], a blues guitarist who taught [[John Martyn (singer)|John Martyn]]."'' Imlach was invited to join the Irish trad and folk group [[The Dubliners]].<ref name=obituary>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-hamish-imlach-1322328.html|title=OBITUARY: Hamish Imlach|date=4 January 1996|website=Independent.co.uk|accessdate=25 November 2017}}</ref> He was also an early anti-nuclear protester,<ref name="Larkin"/> and wrote and performed protest songs as well as comic ones.

After recovering from a serious illness in the 1970s he regularly toured with Iain MacKintosh as well as doing solo tours. For the last 18 months of his professional life, his stage partner was Kate Kramer, a Canadian fiddle player and singer who lived in Scotland, with whom he recorded his last CD, ''More and Merrier'' (1996).{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}

==Personal life==
Hamish Imlach was married to Wilma Dundas, who died on 10 March 2019 and had four children named Mairead, Fiona, Jim and Vhari.

Imlach's health deteriorated again towards the latter part of his life with bronchial troubles and obesity, and he died on 1 January 1996, six weeks short of his 56th birthday. In his 1992 autobiography, ''Cod Liver Oil and the Orange Juice'', co-written with Ewan McVicar, Imlach jested "When I die I want everything to be knackered!"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/folk/2010/08/remembering-hamish-imlach.html|title=BBC - Folk: Remembering Hamish Imlach|website=Bbc.co.uk|accessdate=25 November 2017}}</ref><ref name="obituary" />

==Discography==
* ''Hamish Imlach'' (XTRA, 1966)
* ''Before and After'' (XTRA, 1967)
* ''Live'' (XTRA, 1967)
* ''The Two Sides of Hamish Imlach'' (XTRA, 1968)
* ''Ballads of Booze'' (XTRA, 1969)
* ''Old Rarity'' (XTRA, 1971)
* ''Fine Old English Tory Times'' (XTRA, 1972)
* ''Murdered Ballads'' (XTRA, 1973)
* ''Scottish Sabbath'' (Autogram, 1976)
* ''A Man's a Man'' (Autogram, 1978) with Iain MacKintosh
* ''The Sporting Life'' (Musikiste, 1981)
* ''Sonny's Dream'' (Lismor, 1985)
* ''Portrait'' (Musikiste, 1989)
* ''I Was Born in Glasgow'' (Gallus Music, 1991)
* ''Two's Company'' (Vindaloo Music, 1993) with [[Muriel Graves]]
* ''More and Merrier'' (Lochshore, 1995) with Muriel Graves and Kate Kramer

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
{{cite book |last1=Moore |first1=Christy |editor1-link=Christy Moore |title=One Voice: My Life in Song |date=2000 |publisher=[[Hodder & Stoughton]] |location=[[London]] |isbn=978-0-340-76840-2 |edition=1st |url=https://archive.org/details/onevoicemylifein0000chri/mode/2up |access-date=12 March 2026 |language=en}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Imlach}}
[[Category:Scottish folk singers]]
[[Category:20th-century Scottish male singers]]
[[Category:1940 births]]
[[Category:1996 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Scottish musicians]]
[[Category:Transatlantic Records artists]]

Hamish Imlach - Revision history

RobertSwale at 14:29, 13 March 2026