The Watersons – "The Watersons" (Topic Records – 12T142) 1966

1966, a fine year indeed, England won the world cup with a dodgy goal that pissed the Krauts off double LOL!,and The Watersons released their second album on Topic.

No selling out for The Waterson family,still banging out the ,largely,unaccompanied traditional songs mostly from East Yorkshire and the lovely city of Hull,with a swarthy gypsy's religious Zeal.No Aryans allowed here thanks.

Their enviable,it says on the sleeve-notes, combination of dark good looks, ringing voices, abundant charm and immense vitality earned them a kind of star status within the UK folk song revival which was usually reserved for them silly pop singers. With unpretentious zestfulness for their craft they had little or no interest in the glamorous sewer of showbiz,and doubtless, showbiz had little interest in them? Unless they changed them into The Hollies or some 60's dross like that,and send the ladies to Mary Quant for a vast makeover.They luckily escaped this humiliation,unlike some of their fellow travellers,such as Sandy Denny who was made to go and get glammed up for David Bailey to take some of his shite photo's of her for that big push for stardom....which of course went very tits up indeed!

Tracklist:

A1 Dido Bendigo 2:53
A2 The North Country Maid 2:31
A3 Brave Wolfe 4:27
A4 The Jolly Waggoners 2:53
A5 I Am A Rover 4:59
B1 Fathom The Bowl 2:52
B2 The Thirty-Foot Trailer 3:30
B3 The Holmfirth Anthem 1:58
B4 Twanky-Dillo 3:38
B5 The White Hare Of Howden 1:59
B6 The Plains Of Mexico 1:49
B7 All For Me Grog 2:39

DOWNLOAD by the watersons HERE!

The Watersons – "Frost And Fire: A Calendar Of Ritual And Magical Songs" (Topic Records – 12T136) 1965

Hull,the home of Britain's longest road bridge,and due to its close proximity to the former Soviet Union,was chosen as the site for Britain's early warning system and listening stations pointing towards Moscow.Only been to Hull once,when I went a wassailing with a nice young lady I conversed with in the early days of the internet.She hadn't heard of the Watersons,or The Housemartins, but boy could she wassail.....and other things too (nudge nudge).Sadly I have forgotten her name,but she did have a interesting fantasy to be tied to a tree naked,taken advantage of, and left there!? The great conversationalist that I am,I asked her what she did for a living(no,not while tied to a tree....pleeeze!),which she wasn't at liberty to disclose because she had signed the Official Secrets Act"!? Hmmmm?

So, can we all name five famous people from Kingston upon Hull?.....er,as previously mentioned....there's that bloke from The Housemartins......er....ummm...oh yeah;and, of course, The four Watersons in The Waterson's, Folk's version of Crass.

They dressed in various shades of grey,had poker straight black hair,class war politics,and drank copious amounts of northern ale. Which for the female members of the group,including Norma, Martin Carthy's future wife, was shocking behaviour for the early sixties.

They performed mainly traditional songs with little or no accompaniment, and banged out the tunes with their distinctive close harmonies,and proud Hull accents, across the pubs and clubs of northern England,kick starting the UK Folk revival with an almost religious zeal. They had a great spartan image too, which is always a plus.

Crass at the Waterson themed Anarchy center fancy dress party 1977....Rimbaud is top left.

This debut on the legendary Topic Records was voted Melody Maker album of the year,which considering what it was up against (Bobby Dylan etc..) is a mildly impressive achievement.

Opening with what is something of a theme tune in "Here We Come A-Wassailing", this record was the benchmark for how to do contemporary versions of traditional song forms.

What the fuck is Wassailing anyway you may ask? Good question...well instead of asking your mates if they fancy a pint later,try asking them if they want to come A-Wassailing, which basically means are you coming tut pub to get wasted th'neet?

There's plenty of similarly themed tunes celebrating the simple things in life,and includes the definitive version of "Hal-An-Tow, the pagan anthem for the rebirth of summer.Which in Hull lasts approximately a wet fortnight in august.

One simply couldn't get further away from commercialism or the musick biz as this.

Tracklist:

A1 Here We Come A-Wassailing
A2 The Derby Ram
A3 Jolly Old Hawk
A4 Pace-Egging Song
A5 Seven Virgins Or The Leaves Of Life
A6 The Holly Bears A Berry
A7 Hal-An-Tow
B1 Earsdon Sword Dance Song
B2 John Barleycorn
B3 Harvest Song: We Gets Up In The Morn
B4 Souling Song
B5 Christmas Is Now Drawing Near At Hand
B6 Herod And The Cock
B7 Wassail Song

DOWNLOAD to come a digital wasailing HERE!

Barry Dransfield – "Bowin' And Scrapin' " ~~(Topic Records – 12TS386) 1978

Rumour has it that Barry Dransfield's fiddle bow was beefed up by strands of Barry's own eyebrow hair liberated by some handy wire-cutters,which adds that extra raspiness so characteristic of Barry's solo fiddle style. I suspect that Dave Swarbrick did the same thing, but this time using his ample sideburn hair.?

All the secret age old techniques of Folk music are being brought into the light here, so one must curtail these revelations pronto or risk a visit from a fuming Green Man with wood on,looking for sexual recompense of the type as described in "Recitation Upon A Gentleman Sitting On A Cremona Violin".

Although Barry's youthful looks as pictured on his first solo album had waned somewhat by 1978.This has to be the best album cover in the vast Topic Records catalogue. Which isn't saying too much,as most of 'em are bloody terrible.Here we have a police helicopters view of Barry's piercing eyes framed by the famed eyebrows,handling that fiddle like a freshly sheered sheep's arse.

The back cover has our second favorite fiddler doffing his cap in an unsettlingly Russell Brand-like pose,but with a better hairstyle than the self-styled Che Guevara of Hampstead,or Citizen Smith of Beverly Hills when he's on set in Hollywood.

But when Barry's a-fiddling he, the hideous spectre of ex-junkie stand up joker Brand,disappears like a mirage in a desert of forgotten folk reissues. 

Tracklist:

A1 Rattling Roaring Willie / Metal Man 3:18
A2 Fiddler's Progress 2:29
A3 Who Know Where The Time Goes / My Lagan Love 4:15
A4 Sheffield Hornpipe / Pet Of The Pipers 2:18
A5 Up The Aisle Medley: Swedish Wedding March - Wedding Song - Bridie's Wedding - Norwegian Wedding March - Wedding Morris 6:35
B1 Sandy Bell's 1:19
B2 Obliged To Fiddle / Planxty Davy / Spanish Cloak 4:32
B3 Bushes And Briars / Swedish Air 2:45
B4 O'Carolan's Concerto 3:42
B5 Recitation Upon A Gentleman Sitting On A Cremona Violin 6:19
B6 Sally Gardens / Clonmel Races 2:06

DOWNLOAD without blowin' and crappin' HERE!

Frankie Armstrong – "Lovely On The Water" (Topic Records – 12TS216) 1972

"No no no! Heavens to murgatroyd Frankie, the water' s down there,that's the sky you're looking at!? Sheech!

They're not the sharpest tools in the box thems countryside folk, but when it comes to minimally accompanied singing of the old tunes they can make the most complicated of emotions seem explicable,and pop singers seem like the talentless dicks they undoubtedly are.

Apparently,now blind,which would explain a multitude of things,except that Frankie, isn't a bloke, and she comes from one of those places that no-one can find or escape from,namely, Workington...the clues in the name.A industrial town in the gloriously savage slate grey wilderness of Cumbria,the most radioactive place in England,which sits on the coast next to the most radioactive sea in Europe,The Irish Sea. Cumbria being the home to the first Nuclear Reactor in the western world at Windscale.

So the combination of Coal dust, Steel plant pollution, and radioactivity makes for a heady cocktail that produces the kind of strangeness that manifests itself in English Folk Culture,so Obviously there's gonna be a Folk singer or two that comes from Workington isn't there?

The issues in these songs are as old as the human race.The Brown Girl especially being an early example of Black Lives Matter,or rather Brown Lives matter ,even though the Brown Girl in question does actually survive.

Things never change do they? 

"The Young Girl Cut Down In Her Prime" is a two hundred year old version of the recent anti-male protests in the UK.

Tracklist:

A1 Tarry Trousers
A2 The Green Valley
A3 Low Down On The Broom
A4 The Cruel Mother
A5 The Crafty Maid’s Policy
A6 The Maid On The Shore
A7 The Frog And The Mouse
B1 Lovely On The Water
B2 The Brown Girl
B3 The Young Girl Cut Down In Her Prime

B4 The Unquiet Grave
B5 The Saucy Sailor
B6 The Two Sisters

DOWNLOAD lovelier on your computer HERE!

A. L. Lloyd, Anne Briggs, Frankie Armstrong with Alf Edwards and Dave Swarbrick – "The Bird In The Bush (Traditional Erotic Songs)" (Topic Records – 12T135) 1966

Phwooooaaaar, Fnar Fnar, Kyuk Kyuk,,Titter Titter, them rude Folk Singers Folks eh?

If you've ever wanted a semi-boner caused by a 17th century song full of sexual references as sung by a fusty old bloke called Bert,accompanied by another old duffer called Alf on the squeeze box, then this is the album for you.

Luckily, we also have the lovely,and apparently sober but sexually liberated goer, Anne Briggs , to achieve the same effect rather more easily;depending on your sexual orientation of course.Then again there's also Frankie Armstrong, who, as fate would have it,isn't a beered up old bloke,but turns out to be another fair folk maiden with at least a couple of admirable qualities.

Yes it's true, country folk from the olden days had a sex life,and what's more, they sang about it.Although I guess there weren't many songs about Homosexual love affairs.....but I wouldn't put it past 'em.Seems like the country folk were far ahead of those urban dwellers on most issues at the time.I guess it depends on the person singing,as is the tradition of Folk singing,that you can adapt the words to fit your own personal leanings?So if you were a Gay Shepard,you can adapt any of these tunes to be about that tempestuous affair you had with young Billy Biddlesthwaite round the back of the grain silo in the silage pit (Snigger!). Or, knowing some farmer boys, that troublesome evening in the hay with Susan the transvestite Ram treating him like the lady he wished he were.

We also have a pre-Fairport Dave Swarbrick on the fiddling...Fnar Fnaaar,Kyuk Kyuk!

Tracklist:

A1 A. L. Lloyd– The Two Magicians 4:41
A2 Frankie Armstrong– The Old Man From Over The Sea 2:49
A3 A. L. Lloyd– The Wanton Seed 1:30
A4 Anne Briggs– Gathering Rushes In The Month Of May 4:46
A5 A. L. Lloyd– The Bonny Black Hare 2:54
A6 Anne Briggs– The Whirly Whorl 1:12
A7 A. L. Lloyd– Pretty Polly 1:27
B1 A. L. Lloyd– The Old Bachelor 3:42
B2 Anne Briggs– The Stonecutter Boy 1:53
B3 A. L. Lloyd– The Mower 1:57
B4 Frankie Armstrong– The Bird In The Bush 2:55
B5 A. L. Lloyd– The Pegging Awl 2:46
B6 Anne Briggs– Martinmas Time 4:50
B7 A. L. Lloyd– The Widow Of Westmoreland's Daughter 2:15

DOWNLOAD into the birds bush HERE!Kyuk Kyuk!

Various Artists – "The Iron Muse (A Panorama Of Industrial Folk Music)" (Topic Records – 12T86) 1964

Nooooooo, this isn't an album by Current 93,Coil, or any of the other ,so-called privately educated Industrial folkers .This was made by people who actually worked for a living. And they didn't live anywhere like the tastefully paved avenues and nooks of Hampstead either.They endured the rough end of the Industrial revolution that made the various Polytechnics and Art schools that Throbbing Gristle attended look like fluffy pink kindergartens, and trod the grimy cobbled  slipways to an early death in the ,to quote Pere Ubu, Dub Housing of the Industrial north,where the sun literally never shone. The only way out for these slaves was ,hopefully, a rampant case of emphysema.A disease which Ironically,did for Genesis P.Orridge look alikey, fiddling folk legend Dave Swarbrick in the end,after his double lung transplant......but his was due to chain smoking rather than breathing in coal dust for 40 years.

Ay Lad, life wir aaaaaard oop North,but down the ale houses and pubs.......(amazingly there were no,slash, Zero Wine Bars???.).....of the open cess-pits of northern England,in the absence of TV and Radio,the local singers entertained the cap doffing proletariat with some centuries old Folk songs,passed down purely by ear to mouth. One doubts very much,following the impending extinction events to come,that Aqua's 'Barbie Girl' would achieve the same distinction?.....maybe "The Final Countdown" has a chance, or the Crazy Frog?...But what is sure is that the songs from the English Civil War will still be sung in the crumbling bunkers of the near future.

Often, of an evening,after alighting the pit lift and a quick communal shower, it was down the local, to hear Old Bert sing unaccompanied songs about the Napoleonic Wars,unrequited Love,murder and suicide.....and every body knew the words and their harmony parts.

Thanks to Pete and Peggy Seeger and Ewan MacColl, there was a Folk revival going on on both sides of the Atlantic.Little did those kids listening to Leadbelly and their exotic American Blues heroes know,most of the songs they were singing were in fact Olde Folk tunes from the British Isles,that were just about to be claimed back.

1964 may have been the height of Beatlemania,but it was also the height of the UK Folk Boom when even records like this sold out like hot potatoes.....I say potatoes instead of Chips because the nouveaux Folkies were predominantly middle class and upwards....exceptions being the legendary Martin Carthy,Anne Briggs and the Watersons of course,but there was a fashion element included that some purists would find distasteful, especially head Folk bore and Kirsty's dad, Ewan MacColl.

Before Bob Dylan (BB),and to a greater extent Fairport (BF) this purist approach was all you got in the Folk Clubs,but this was the inspiration for the Folk Rockers of the late sixties.

I apologise for you having to endure several examples of the depressing Geordie accent on this record,but this is the stuff you would have had to listen in the Folk clubs of the north in the late fifties to mid-sixties.An honest excursion into epic story telling inside a couple of minutes.As Martin Carthy says; "It takes a couple of days to read a good book,an hour and a half to watch a decent movie, but a  song can get you to the same place in just five minutes".......unless it's "Barbie Girl" of course.

Another aspect of the 'Folk Revival' was its politicization.Naturally being working class music, it was hi-jacked by a champagne socialist agenda,leading to pink coloured overtly righteous bores like Billy Bragg!

Ironically it took Margaret Thatcher to liberate these people from the Mines and Factories,an act that in centuries to come will be called 'The Great Liberation'.Being very working class myself,and not Tory in the slightest,I took my chance to escape a lifetime of slavery, fueled by the DIY message of Punk Rock and indeed Thatcher herself, to achieve what most of us working class scummers wish to attain....yep....comfortable bourgeois status.The bleating pinko's and punko's were largely Bourgeois themselves,playing politics with the little people where the music came from,which had absolutely nothing to do with Political Dogma,and politics has nothing to do with freedom.

Nowadays the Iron Muse has been replaced by the Plasma widecreen Muse,or ,even more disturbing, the Social Media Muse.Woe betide all the musicologists of the future unearthing the folk music of today.....one assumes they will rebury it instantly,and create a 'Forbidden Zone' like the one in 'Planet Of The Apes'

Tracklist:

A1 The Celebrated Working Man's Band– Miners' Dance Tunes
A2 Bob Davenport– The Collier's Rant
A3 Anne Briggs– The Recruited Collier
A4 A. L. Lloyd– Pit Boots
A5 Louis Killen– The Banks Of The Dee
A6 Matt McGinn – The Donibristle Moss Moran Disaster
A7 Bob Davenport– The Durham Lockout
A8 Louis Killen– The Blackleg Miners
A9 A. L. Lloyd– The Celebrated Working Man
A10 Bob Davenport– The Row Between The Cages
A11 The Celebrated Working Man's Band– The Collier's Daughter
B1 The Celebrated Working Man's Band– The Weavers' March
B2 A. L. Lloyd– The Weaver And The Factory Maid
B3 Ray Fisher– The Spinner's Wedding
B4 A. L. Lloyd– The Poor Cotton Wayver
B5 Anne Briggs– The Doffing Mistress
B6 Matt McGinn – The Swan Necked Valve
B7 Ray Fisher– The Dundee Lassie
B8 Matt McGinn – The Foreman O'Rourke
B9 Louis Killen– Farewell To The Monty
B10 The Celebrated Working Man's Band– Miner's Dance Tunes

DOWNLOAD from the richest seam in the coal mine HERE!