British Folk (and Revival)

Can you recommend some titles on CD? ie pre-1960s revival?

First, it really comes down to a question of taste, and for me, music is all about the arrangement. Ed (of this parish) recently copied me a bunch of Nu Folk - mainly Bellowhead and John & John. Predictably, I enjoyed the Bellowhead a great deal more, even though it covered a lot of the same material, (same songs in a couple of incidences) because I just enjoyed listened to an 11 piece band with multiple harmonies more than I enjoyed listening to just two blokes, with more limited arrangements.

But that brings back to the notion of "authenticity" and which is more "authentic" - listening to some "turn of the century crackly voiced bloke on an old record" and field recordings or listening to more modern people reinterpreting or "romanticising" it.

Well, folk has *always* been a participatory artform. It's not just about one bloke with a guitar, it's about everyone down the pub, or on the village green, or wherever, getting together to sing songs they all know. The second point I wanted to make is that folk has always been about co-opting traditional songs, changing them to suit your conditions or your needs - every person who performs a song adds something of their own to it. That's what the folk tradition is. Not slavishly recreating whatever someone else used to do.

Anyway, that's just my 2p. I should get my dad in here to comment further because he knows what he's talking about more than I do.

With regard to the vocal qualities of some of the old singers - the important thing was the songs they sang, not the singers... and anyway, I'd rather listen to an unpolished singer than some Radio Two-friendly 'folk' singer like... won't name any names.

Also, the only way to avoid refashioning the past (in the mistaken belief that you're doing something 'new' - i.e. Espers, Tunng, etc) -is to be aware of the past.

Exactly. So is it really necessary to listen to unaccompanied field-recordings?

Of course you don't HAVE TO listen to anything.

Were they really "aware" of that? Or were they just people who weren't very good singers?

I'm not a folk expert, but to my ears thier version of that song sounds very much like thier own. They claim to have lifted it right off of Jansch who lifted it right off of Clive Palmer. When you read interviews with those guys, they seem pretty deep into the traditions and roots off all sorts of music, espescially British folk. I'm going to listen to it now!

The problem I have is that this is like the Lomax blues recordings, where Lomax seemed to purposefully seek out amateurs and field-hands and whatever thru some notion that they were more "authentic" - adn in doing so produced a distorted picture of what was actually going on. Actually expression or "chops" play a pretty big part in living folk traditions

Definitely... take, for example, Roscoe Holcomb. Technically dazzling banjo playing. And Jeannie Robertson could have been an opera singer! I love them both - but not necessarily for their technical abilities - but for their abilities to make me feel things.

The best singers/musicians make it sound effortless, as the above-mentioned do. They're technically accomplished but not show-offy.

I've never really liked show-offs in any sphere.

And if they're doing a lot to make people source out their influences, than kudos to them.

You could maybe argue they belong to some sort of British pastoral tradition that includes poeple like Robert Wyatt, but I guess that's not as snappy as "nu-folk", "wyrd folk" or worse, "folktronica".

Or you could just dismiss them as an indie band with a Wicker Man fetish.

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/news/06-06/07.shtml

http://www.oldhamtinkers.com/index.html

This second Sweeney's Men record really is fucking fanTASTIC.

yeah, tracks of sweeney is some haunting stuff

anyone read this Electric Eden book (guess it is not out in the states yet)? Deals with "visionary British musicians" including a lot of british folk rockers. sounds like a good read anyway.

I raved about it in this thread:

Good books about music

oh cool -- looks like it is being published in the states this May ...

Reading it (v. slowly) at the moment. Makes me want to give Vashti Bunyan another chance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qs9PMky7Fj0

^ Fantastic clip of the Watersons singing 'Hal-An-Toe' in a pub in Hull in the mid-60's. Becoming slowly obsessed with this tune, gets me right in the guts every time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEwl_nvtt8A

^ And here's the Shirley Collins version with of course that great jews harp solo in it. It's the dulcimer that really gets me though.

ah that's great, thanks for posting (the watersons clip)

I've got this folky musician friend who's been struggling with really bad depression for the last couple of years. Couldn't work, couldn't play, was just virtually housebound for that whole time. Finally about six months ago he started gigging again and I went a long and he played that. And that whole theme of the summer finally coming after the winter... It's been on my mind a lot since then.

the recent album by jo bartlett (of yellow moon band/it's jo and danny) is wonderful folky stuff, v highly recommended

electric eden won't be released here til May :(

But you can get this now...

http://www.amazon.com/Seasons-They-Change-Story-Psychedelic/dp/1906002320

Looks great and there's definite crossover. Got my copy the other day.

I'm a couple of chapters into Electric Eden, need to hurry up if I'm ever to finish the thing.