― Amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 8 January 2003 18:49 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 22 January 2003 04:45 (twenty-one years ago) link
Shirley is I think my favorite singer and performer of all time. A better scholar than I should really take up the task of assessing her life's work. One fascinating thing about it is the way she combines an intense respect for and understanding of sundry traditional styles (ballad singing, "early music," art song) but combines these styles in such a way that is absolutely sui generis. It is a very selfconscious appropriation and mixture of different aspects of British musical heritage, but it works beautifully through the force of Shirley's taste and talent and that of her collaborators -- foremost among them Dolly Collins, but also including David Munrow (R.I.P.) and the London Early Music Consort, whose own records (there are many) are worth seeking out (=gross understatement).
I might have mentioned this above but one of Dolly's common arrangement techniques--setting a rich polyharmonic arrangment in counterpoint to an almost perversely uninflected ballad reading by Shirley--reminds me of some of Britten's folksong settings, including my favorite, "O Waly, Waly," where the piano part is basically continually unfolding variations on being several beats behind the very foursquare vocal line, resolving into a standard meter only after the singer has finished. it's devastating (i hope I described it OK, obviously it's not technically correct as I am musically illiterate but perhaps it conveys some sense of the music).
i always picture shirley standing stock-still, hands folded into one another, as if in a formal recital, framed against a wall with a rich cover of green vines, undulating in continually shifting patterns of shadow and reflected light. like shirley is maintaining a sort of tableau-like rigidity and dignity amidst an effusion of intense emotion. it's like all this history and heartbreak and tragedy (personal and political and both at once) is suggested but cannot quite be contained by the strictures of a great tradition.
ok i need to go to bed now.
― amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 10 July 2003 06:01 (twenty-one years ago) link
*for a good example--and I do actually mean "good" as in worth hearing--of the sort of folksong presentation both were running from, see the records of Richard Dyer-Bennett.
― amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 10 July 2003 06:18 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Dadaismus (Dada), Thursday, 10 July 2003 11:21 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Pashmina (Pashmina), Thursday, 10 July 2003 11:27 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Dadaismus (Dada), Thursday, 10 July 2003 11:29 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Dr. C (Dr. C), Thursday, 10 July 2003 11:58 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Pashmina (Pashmina), Thursday, 10 July 2003 12:02 (twenty-one years ago) link
One hates to be dreary and pedantic about these things but I neither liked nor disliked Shirley Collins straightaway. As it is, I love her albums but I find it difficult to listen to her voice over an entire album - I think it's the fact that she sings slightly out of tune all the time.
― Dadaismus (Dada), Thursday, 10 July 2003 13:08 (twenty-one years ago) link
― amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 10 July 2003 13:42 (twenty-one years ago) link
― amateurist (amateurist), Friday, 11 July 2003 18:46 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Pashmina (Pashmina), Friday, 11 July 2003 22:13 (twenty-one years ago) link
i think i've come around to thinking that the first side of "anthems in eden" is her best work overall. though there are things on "power of the true love knot," "adieu to old england" (this is the one that no one ever seems to mention), and "for as many as will" (and several others, though not the first two 59/60 lps) that are magnificent.
― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 18 May 2004 05:53 (twenty years ago) link
― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 18 May 2004 05:57 (twenty years ago) link
A heart-rending emotional journey into the cultural roots of traditional American Music with legendary archivist Alan Lomax. Highly respected English folk singer Shirley Collins describes her year long stint as Lomax's assistant and their diligent work uncovering the traditional music of America's heartland. They covered Virginia, Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas and Georgia - along the way encountering Mississippi Fred McDowell, Muddy Waters and many others.
― NickB (NickB), Tuesday, 18 May 2004 07:49 (twenty years ago) link
i wish she'd write about her own music and her relationship to traditional english music and its various revivals. that interests me as much if not more (if only because the america stuff has been covered so well by so many).
ok i have a noisy cat begging for my attention...be back later.
― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 18 May 2004 08:08 (twenty years ago) link
― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 18 May 2004 08:17 (twenty years ago) link
― NickB (NickB), Tuesday, 18 May 2004 08:25 (twenty years ago) link
― de, Tuesday, 18 May 2004 12:34 (twenty years ago) link
― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 18 May 2004 12:36 (twenty years ago) link
― de, Tuesday, 18 May 2004 12:41 (twenty years ago) link
― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 18 May 2004 12:42 (twenty years ago) link
― de, Tuesday, 18 May 2004 12:44 (twenty years ago) link
"dada is correct abt "rise up like the sun". "poor old horse" is probably worth the price of the album on its own.
― Pashmina (Pashmina), Tuesday, 18 May 2004 12:47 (twenty years ago) link
― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 18 May 2004 12:50 (twenty years ago) link
did i say that? i dunno.
i don't like shirley with drums really. i don't like "amaranth" much, largely because of the echoey production.
i like shirley with dolly's arrangements, basically.
― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 18 May 2004 15:57 (twenty years ago) link
Amaranth is probably the worst (read least great) shirley collins music I have. I like the folk-rock arrangements on "no roses" tons, but I think it's probably enough of shirley w/that type of sound. Have you got the "etchingham steam band" cd amateurist? That's kind of...interesting, but not great.
― Pashmina (Pashmina), Tuesday, 18 May 2004 16:03 (twenty years ago) link
― de, Tuesday, 18 May 2004 16:19 (twenty years ago) link
― amateur!st (amateurist), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 21:58 (twenty years ago) link
you know i'm sort of suspicious of english folk-rock (i've really lost the taste for fairport/sandy denny/et al) in part because it's admirers don't seem to be critical at all; i've hardly read a bad review of a british folk-rock album. it doesn't seem like a world that encourages really serious musical experimentation, as opposed to kitschy "ambitious" stabs (like peter bellamy's "transports," arr. dolly collins, which i'm really NOT getting into).
all this to say that "no roses" sounds like a failure to me, in fact it almost pains me to listen to. but damned if i can find a single negative review of it.
i really don't think shirley has the audience she deserves.
― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Tuesday, 18 January 2005 21:28 (nineteen years ago) link
Have you read the (rather lengthy) interview she did Johan @ perfect sound forever? real interesting read. i want to hear more of her albums. we had a copy of anthems in eden at the store and it was great. the only one i own is power of the true love knot. greaaat stuff. i wanna read her book, also.
― electro-acoustic lycanthrope (orion), Thursday, 27 April 2006 00:19 (eighteen years ago) link
ha, try criticizing Steely Dan or Tusk on here and let the hate roll down on you. Also, post thompson/denny Fairport gets lots of criticism, especially from the 80s on (and most of it is deserved)I think part of the reason it gets a free pass to the extent that it does is because it's so small & insular a scene, I mean I don't care for polka, but I'm not going to spray hate on amazon reviews and such. If Brit folk-rock had ever broken in a big way, non-believers would go out of their way to take it down. This music really just appeals to a small section of the public, those who get it love it, those who don't pay it little mind.
it doesn't seem like a world that encourages really serious musical experimentation, as opposed to kitschy "ambitious" stabs (like peter bellamy's "transports," arr. dolly collins, which i'm really NOT getting into).
well it is FOLK music, to an extent, the "bold" experimentation was to deviate from the acoustic norm and dip into the "tainted" rock scene. Trad based things are rarely open to too much tinkering, part of the weakness, also part of the charm.
Well the Murder of Maria Marten is anything but a failure, it is just a MONSTER track. The rest doesn't quite excite as much, but it is certainly above average folk-rock.
― timmy tannin (pompous), Thursday, 27 April 2006 02:17 (eighteen years ago) link
Sounds like it's not that you're "suspicious" of English folk rock so much as you just don't like it!
you know i'm sort of suspicious of english folk-rock in part because it's admirers don't seem to be critical at all
I think a lot of people who discovered it (esp. outside the UK) and were just extremely enthusiastic about it and some of their critical faculties may have gone out the window temporarily
― Kids Will Eat Them Till the Cows Come Home (Dada), Thursday, 27 April 2006 09:38 (eighteen years ago) link
― Raw Patrick (Raw Patrick), Thursday, 27 April 2006 10:27 (eighteen years ago) link
― joan vich (joan vich), Monday, 18 September 2006 14:01 (eighteen years ago) link
had never heard her, but picked up the new Harvest Years comp as an introduction...have to admit, took a little while to "adjust" my ears (some of this stuff is so archaic as to make Fairport Convention sound like dubstep..I know, I know: what did I expect?), but now that I'm into it, I'm into it!...(she was quite the looker, too)...
― henry s, Monday, 27 October 2008 19:34 (fifteen years ago) link
Yeah I don't know how that comp is sequenced (or what exactly is on it) but I could see some of her stuff being a bit "unadorned" for ears trained by folk rock. I have almost every album (not the boxed set though.) Love, Death & The Lady is my favorite, probably.
― Alex in SF, Monday, 27 October 2008 20:13 (fifteen years ago) link
Happy birthday Shirley! 75 today.
― an outlet to express the dark invocations of (La Lechera), Monday, 5 July 2010 13:38 (fourteen years ago) link
Happy birthday Shirley!
― Fa la la (La Lechera), Tuesday, 5 July 2011 18:59 (thirteen years ago) link
Tomorrow is Shirley's birthday!!
Jul 5th * �7.00 * SHIRLEY COLLINS' BIRTHDAY PARTY
Now here is something really special!In the first half, Shirley will be presenting a shortened version of her latest multi-media show, You Never Heard So Sweet.In the second half she will introducing performances by friends including some of the best known names on the folk scene:-THE COPPER FAMILYMARTYN WYNDHAM-READ & IRIS BISHOPRATTLE ON THE STOVEPIPENAOMI BEDFORD & PAUL SIMMONDSIAN KEAREY & DAN QUINN (of DUCK SOUP)
Happy happy happy happy birthday, Shirley!
― nicest bitch of poster (La Lechera), Wednesday, 4 July 2012 19:30 (twelve years ago) link
Oh shit, that's my friend Ian. Whereabouts is this thing happening?
― gonna send him to outer space, to hug another face (NickB), Wednesday, 4 July 2012 21:11 (twelve years ago) link
ROYAL OAK3 Station Street,LewesBN7 2DA
If you go, please tell Shirley happy birthday for me!
― nicest bitch of poster (La Lechera), Wednesday, 4 July 2012 23:38 (twelve years ago) link
listening to love, death & the lady: happy birthday shirley collins and may there be many more!
― no lime tangier, Thursday, 5 July 2012 01:27 (twelve years ago) link
That venue is only about 3 miles away from where I'm sat right now, which makes me feel all the more lame for inevitably not going.
― gonna send him to outer space, to hug another face (NickB), Thursday, 5 July 2012 09:46 (twelve years ago) link
When I lived in Brighton I used to go there quite a lot for the folk nights with Shirley, the Copper Family, Martin Carthy and so on. Great little place.
― my father will guide me up the stairs to bed (anagram), Thursday, 5 July 2012 09:49 (twelve years ago) link
Never been! The thought of bowling up by myself to that sort of cosy, intimate space gives me the willies.
― gonna send him to outer space, to hug another face (NickB), Thursday, 5 July 2012 09:56 (twelve years ago) link
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~tinvic/intro.jpg
"Here, budge up a bit Norma would you..."
I only ever went on my own, primarily because no-one else would go with me...
― my father will guide me up the stairs to bed (anagram), Thursday, 5 July 2012 09:58 (twelve years ago) link
Damn, you should've given me a shout.
― gonna send him to outer space, to hug another face (NickB), Thursday, 5 July 2012 10:02 (twelve years ago) link
It is.
― Is Lou Reed a Good Singer? (Tom D.), Monday, 25 May 2020 20:25 (four years ago) link
I've not bought Lodestar because I worry her voice isn't up to it.
― Duke, Monday, 25 May 2020 22:23 (four years ago) link
New album:
.@shirleyeCollins announces new album, Heart’s Ease – watch a video for the song, "Wondrous Love"https://t.co/rZSOIr0i9o— Uncut Magazine (@uncutmagazine) May 27, 2020
― Boris the Spreader (NickB), Wednesday, 27 May 2020 10:09 (four years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwLrUuGT288
― Boris the Spreader (NickB), Wednesday, 27 May 2020 10:11 (four years ago) link
Not wild about the video but lovely to hear her in fine fettle.
― Vanishing Point (Chinaski), Wednesday, 27 May 2020 10:17 (four years ago) link
Yes, she sounds great! Looking forward to hearing her sing Canadee-i-o
― Boris the Spreader (NickB), Wednesday, 27 May 2020 10:18 (four years ago) link
love it — i think her voice sounds great now. obviously lower range, but it's still unmistakably Shirley.
― tylerw, Wednesday, 27 May 2020 14:57 (four years ago) link
So there's at least one song on the new album about Paddington then?
― avellano medio inglés (f. hazel), Wednesday, 27 May 2020 15:53 (four years ago) link
i thought this was fantastic, apparently written in the 60s by her first husband, rediscovered on some ancient tape of her and Davy Graham and rerecorded with Nathan Salsburg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aa2oIMUKIPM
― JoeStork, Friday, 3 July 2020 15:56 (four years ago) link
interview / favourite albums thing in the quietus:
https://thequietus.com/articles/28545-shirley-collins-interview-favourite-music?page=1
― Boris the Spreader (NickB), Wednesday, 8 July 2020 12:35 (four years ago) link
Awesome.
― The Fields o' Fat Henry (Tom D.), Wednesday, 8 July 2020 12:49 (four years ago) link
One of the many awesome things about that interview is that a couple of the albums she picks have album covers so awful or generic yet I still want to hear them all right now. Can't judge a book, etc. http://s3.amazonaws.com/quietus_production/images/articles/28545/i__1594058957_resize_460x400.jpg
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 8 July 2020 13:12 (four years ago) link
lol i have that cd but i never added it to my collection in discogs because my god it's ugly (just like 95% of folk cds tbh). nic jones is super great though
― Boris the Spreader (NickB), Wednesday, 8 July 2020 13:17 (four years ago) link
She's a treasure <3
Can vouch for Lankum's Between The Earth And Sky being really great, dark and droney. As for the rest (apart from Vaughn Williams) I've no idea but am ready to be surprised.
― Scampidocio (Le Bateau Ivre), Wednesday, 8 July 2020 13:18 (four years ago) link
her new 2020 song came up recently in Discovery and blew me away, now I forget the name of course
― sleeve, Wednesday, 8 July 2020 14:17 (four years ago) link
great interview!!! classic shirley <3 <3 <3 https://toneglow.substack.com/p/022-shirley-collins
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Monday, 13 July 2020 16:06 (four years ago) link
really nice interview, still so classic. new album is great!
― tylerw, Monday, 13 July 2020 16:57 (four years ago) link
i liked the part about how she and her sister used to sleep in the metal box to protect themselves from air raidspoignant and gnarly, just like a good folk song!!
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Monday, 13 July 2020 18:12 (four years ago) link
I was just totally bowled over by Heart's Ease, and I've never really listened to much Collins before. I think I've heard No Roses and maybe one Shirley & Dolly one? -- looking forward to exploring more. I suppose I was poised to be emotionally moved by the fact that on the cover she looks quite a bit like my late grandmother, but there's definitely something special about hearing an octogenarian sing these old songs right now, or any songs maybe (I also like the new Dylan much more than I expected to). Enjoying that interview now, thanks LL!
― rob, Sunday, 26 July 2020 15:24 (four years ago) link
yes this is really really nice, RIYL other recent "nu-trad-folk" releases like Lankum (unsurprising but cool to learn she's a fan), BLH or some Unthanks. it's been said but she really does sound amazing for her age.
― the quar on drugs (Simon H.), Monday, 27 July 2020 15:38 (four years ago) link
public service announcement - she's doing a concert at the barbican next weekend, which you can watch via a paid livestream:
https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2021/event/shirley-collins-the-lodestar-band-live-from-the-barbican
― building a hole (NickB), Friday, 14 May 2021 09:54 (three years ago) link
Ooooooh! Thanks for the alert!
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Friday, 14 May 2021 12:51 (three years ago) link
Wowza
― tylerw, Friday, 14 May 2021 13:58 (three years ago) link
been rinsing this one lately
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Sn3ZgtIsFw
― rob, Sunday, 13 March 2022 15:10 (two years ago) link
Usual stab of anxiety whenever this thread gets bumped? CHECK!
But aye, what a glorious album.
― Vanishing Point (Chinaski), Sunday, 13 March 2022 15:29 (two years ago) link
sorry Chinaski, but she has a new album coming out in May!
https://shirleycollins.bandcamp.com/album/archangel-hill
One of the most important voices in British folk music Shirley Collins returns with Archangel Hill, her third album for Domino. Due for release on May 26th, it showcases another peerless collection of songs chosen by Collins, some from traditional sources but others from favourite writers of hers.Produced by Ian Kearey - Shirley Collins’ musical director - the arrangements were shared between Collins, Kearey, Pip Barnes, as well as Dave Arthur and Pete Cooper, players from The Lodestar Band.All of the songs on Archangel Hill were recorded last year except for “Hand And Heart”, which was taken from a live performance at the Sydney Opera House in 1980 and features an arrangement by Shirley’s beloved and talented sister Dolly Collins.
Produced by Ian Kearey - Shirley Collins’ musical director - the arrangements were shared between Collins, Kearey, Pip Barnes, as well as Dave Arthur and Pete Cooper, players from The Lodestar Band.
All of the songs on Archangel Hill were recorded last year except for “Hand And Heart”, which was taken from a live performance at the Sydney Opera House in 1980 and features an arrangement by Shirley’s beloved and talented sister Dolly Collins.
― rob, Tuesday, 4 April 2023 12:41 (one year ago) link
Hooray! Go Shirley!
― SQUIRREL MEAT!! (Capitaine Jay Vee), Tuesday, 4 April 2023 13:19 (one year ago) link
yay. had somehow not noticed dave arthur played on the last two albums.
also just learned that there's been a new & updated iteration of the electric muse book/comp including the circa folk roots/new routes track that i think only came as a bonus on the deluxe version of heart's ease.
― no lime tangier, Tuesday, 4 April 2023 14:00 (one year ago) link
https://www.discogs.com/release/19452991-Various-The-Electric-Muse-Revisited-The-Story-Of-Folk-Into-Rock-And-Beyond
― no lime tangier, Tuesday, 4 April 2023 14:01 (one year ago) link
Yaaaaay get it Shirley!!
― Piggy Lepton (La Lechera), Tuesday, 4 April 2023 14:07 (one year ago) link
― broken breakbeat (sleeve), Friday, 26 May 2023 17:48 (one year ago) link
nobody? very good record imho
― out-of-print LaserDisc edition (sleeve), Sunday, 30 July 2023 19:59 (one year ago) link