British Folk (and Revival)

On the other end of that spectrum, Delius' 'Brigg Fair' is sheer bliss to me.

new book i wanna read --
https://www.facebook.com/FolkInCornwall

ok question -- has this band been covered itt? i turned on the radio to wash the dishes, heard a clip of them and was like whaaaaa how come no one has ever told me about this or if they did, why did i not listen?! anyway their sound is so cool, i love it.

The English trio S.O.S. — saxophonists John Surman, Mike Osborne and Alan Skidmore — was formed in 1973, and made only one LP for the Ogun label a couple years later. They didn't last long, but they were the first of many horn choirs born in the '70s and '80s, mostly saxophone quartets. S.O.S.'s trio voicings sometimes eerily anticipate the World Saxophone Quartet that came along a bit later.

The trio was tight and maneuverable, changing direction as one like birds in flight. That precision stemmed from extensive rehearsing, close listening on the bandstand and playing a little Bach. S.O.S. might sound like more than three players by moving the voices around, even when two reeds are riffing behind the other.

Tenor player Alan Skidmore is a Londoner, the son of a jazz saxophonist, while altoist Mike Osborne and multi-instrumentalist John Surman grew up closer to the countryside. There was always a strong whiff of agrarian roots and the English folk revival about S.O.S. They might literally break into an Irish jig. Their theme "Country Dance" was perfect for a romp around the maypole. A lot of '60s and '70s English jazz has that bagpipey energy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhrP9OT7FU4

Heard of them but never associated them with folk music!

they are so good! i love what i've heard so far -- there's definitely a droney folk quality in there, like david munrow crumhorn/EMC/the voice of jantina noorman but then they totally flip out with improvisational stuff too. i love them!

http://www.npr.org/2013/08/20/198076754/looking-for-the-next-one-reveals-an-underappreciated-sax-trio

yup i learned this from npr

(xp)
Never heard of them before today when I noticed the thing on NPR about them before coming to this thread.

spooky

when i turned on the radio and heard them i thought there was something wrong with the radio, it was awesome

also can someone please elaborate on this within the context of british folk?
They didn't last long, but they were the first of many horn choirs born in the '70s and '80s, mostly saxophone quartets. S.O.S.'s trio voicings sometimes eerily anticipate the World Saxophone Quartet that came along a bit later.

Not a lot of chatter on this thread about the Albion Band, which is a shame as Rise Up Like The Sun is top 5 Brit electric folk for me. The interesting thing about that album is that there wasn't as much Ashley Hutchings on it as on other Albions records, it was more down to John Tams who I see hasn't been mentioned once here but is imo a totally unsung hero of Brit folk. After that album he went on to form Home Service which really took up where Rise Up left off, their Alright Jack album is stunning. They spent a lot of time doing stage work like The Mysteries at the National Theatre in the 80s and are thankfully now on the comeback trail.

I have a late period robin Williamson album on ECM called skirting the river road of which John surman is a big component. That's been my only exposure to him (amazing record) but I think he has also done some mystic-improv John Dowland stuff for ECM too?

i have that robin williamson album too! i could never really connect with it but maybe that's because i wasn't trying very hard.

they were the first of many horn choirs born in the '70s and '80s,

First I've heard!

... in the context of folk that is

i think a committee should be formed to investigate this matter
many horn choirs sounds v interesting

Xxp I connect with that record best by just having it on and doing other stuff tbh. It's more of a mood piece than a moment by moment ride like isb.

surman has def made a number of recs for ecm and others that incorporate 'british' choral/classical music of varying traditions, inc. folk - but i have never found them v. compelling, i'm afraid, despite jack dejohnette being involved w/ some of them.

rightly or wrongly i think of alan skidmore as a bit of a brit journeyman - a player, a pro, cld be wild, but fundamentally a jazz musician, def not a folkie per se

the mike osborne stuff i know best is his pretty free/fiery post-ornette alto jazz stuff - his debut rec Outback is a scorcher

marcello cld tell us all a lot more, i'm sure

surman has def made a number of recs for ecm and others that incorporate 'british' choral/classical music of varying traditions, inc. folk - but i have never found them v. compelling, i'm afraid, despite jack dejohnette being involved w/ some of them.

titles? recommendations for the most formal and folky?

L L, i wld just be copying titles from his wiki entry - i used to work in a jazz rec shop and prob heard most of his ecm titles at some point or other, as i said they didn't make a huge impression

in fact the surman/ecm appearance i like best is thimar, by the Tunisian oud player anouar brahem - a different kind of folk music

That oud player is great, gotta check that out.

oh ok
i'll look around

s.o.s. band seems more like terry riley than folk

albion band rules

just picked up an old copy of steve ashley's stroll on, highly recommended to albion band fans

but don't take it from me, the album cover sells it!

<IMG SRC="http://www.recordsale.de/cdpix/s/steve_ashley-stroll_on.jpg";>

http://www.recordsale.de/cdpix/s/steve_ashley-stroll_on.jpg

i guess i'm talking about stuff like this that (imo) straddles the line between formal classical performance/early music and folk melodies? like anthems in eden.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRUkWm1jcSU

xp that is a super cool album cover

La Lachera, you might like this, though it has more folk appeal in feel than in any more definable connection maybe (though Dave's bass intro does seem to briefly quote the song I know as "Birmingham Sunday"; seems like Richard Farina might've set it to an older tune). From 1973 the title track of Conference of the Birds (most of the rest of the album is pretty freaky, though I learned to love it, for sure). A string band I used to know in the 70s covered this, in between Grisman and some Irish trad. Anyway: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2uoLafv5c0

1965 The Watersons - Frost & Fire
1966 Incredible String Band - s/t
1969 Ralph McTell - My Side of Your Window
1969 Al Stewart - Love Chronicles
1970 Robin & Barry Dransfield - The Rout of the Blues
1970 Mr Fox - s/t
1971 Dave Burland - A Dalesman's Litany
1971 Steeleye Span - Please To See The King
1971 Robin & Barry Dransfield - Lord of All I Behold
1972 Dick Gaughan - No More Forever
1974 Jack the Lad - The Old Straight Track
1975 The Watersons - For Pence and Spicy Ale
1976 Five Hand Reel - s/t
1977 Peter Bellamy - The Transports
1978 Paul Brady - Welcome Here Kind Stranger
1979 Cilla Fisher and Artie Trezise - Cilla & Artie
1980 Nic Jones - Penguin Eggs
1981 Dick Gaughan - Handful of Earth
1983 Andy M. Stewart - By The Hush

^ A list of records that people on the internet claim were once the Melody Maker Folk Album of The Year

(obviously they can't all be right unless this wasn't an award as such, but just a phrase used in reviews)

Don't know all of those but can't argue with the ones I do know, not many people seem to know about "No More Forever" but it's probably my favourite Dick Gaughan album.

I don't know that one. Sure is a grim and grimey picture on the cover.

The only one I know of these is Al Stewart but it's a great album.

the Nic Jones is classic but all of Nic Jones's are classic imo

wish all of the Nic Jones albs were still in print, not just Penguin Eggs

i've got the s/t on mp3 and a live one ripped from a library copy, it's ridiculous he's not more available

Was listening to Penguin Eggs this morning actually, excellent record. Nothing fancy about it really, just boom - great singing, great guitar playing.

That Robin and Barry Dransfield album is great. I need to track down a copy, haven't heard it in years. (My parents have it, played it a lot when I was growing up.)

Rout of the Blues, I mean -- I'm not sure I've heard the other one.

xxp that sums up his appeal to me i think, his voice especially is beautiful and less mannered than a lot of straight folk peoples'

Where's Shirley?

Bright Phoebus seems like a glaring omission here

There's no Shirley but Dolly arranged all the music on the Peter Bellamy album on that list.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDCj-5uBXQI

^ this is a song off it with Norma Waterson singing, it's lovely

DID she? I'll have to look that up!! Her arrangements are the best.

The Transports was a folk-opera written by Peter Bellamy and released on Free Reed Records in 1977. It is often cited as Bellamy's greatest achievement. It featured many artists from the 1970s English folk revival, including The Watersons, Martin Carthy, Nic Jones, A. L. Lloyd, June Tabor, Cyril Tawney and Dave Swarbrick. The orchestral arrangements were by Dolly Collins.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Transports

I've got that, some, uhhhhhhhhh, challenging vocals on that one.

Sure is a grim and grimey picture on the cover.

LOL, yeah, really selling it

Just seen that this is on BBC4 tonight -> The Enigma of Nic Jones: Return of Britain's Lost Folk Hero

yeah was gonna flag that. assume it's new?

cool, i've watched a clip of it, but didn't know if it was going to be shown or had even been completed.
http://vimeo.com/71491414

first time it's aired afaik

Think I read something on the programme a while back so assumed it must have been a repeat. Can't think when I read it or where though. Helpful. Did either Mojo or Uncut run something on him a while back with something on it? Or failing that the Observer?

gotta say i'm not mad nuts about programmes so heavily dependent on talking heads, but where so little archive footage exists it was always going to be the case here. that said, it was really good seeing nic soldiering on with that aura of peace and jolliness about him, though he does seem scarily frail for someone in their mid 60s; techy guitar bits were interesting, though i'm sure they'd mean more to tyler than they did to me; martin carthy was as good value as ever. that bit about them having to retrieve nic's teeth from his lungs after the car crash was plain O_O.