From the Bottom of an Old Grandfather Clock is a collection of demos and outtakes that Bill made while beginning to navigate the music business, writing and demoing endlessly to find what worked for him, and for Decca (where he’d signed to their Deram imprint), ahead of the release of his self-titled debut LP at the beginning of 1970.
Songs such as ‘Maudy La Lune’ were never released in any official capacity – Bill was confusingly embarrassed by the lyrics, they weren’t “meaningful” enough – yet it’s exactly the kind of song that stops anyone in their tracks, sounding as though it might be a long lost McCartney number. Across the 25 tracks is a snapshot of Bill as the promising songwriter, raw and explorative, bursting with the promise of something special.