British Folk (and Revival)

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.

feel like a terrible curmudgeon not being 100% yay! about it though tbh

i think that's ok, its shortcomings - bits i saw whilst attending to kids, will catch up on iPlayer when i've got some alone time - are really the result of a career cut cruelly short

was pretty good i thought

made me want to pick up penguin eggs

not a sentence i thought i'd ever say

in the absence of footage from the era

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2PxsHBv0ps

so good

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

The unavailability of Nic Jones, Bright Phoebus and quite a few others seems to be down to the late Dave Bulmer who owned the copyright on them and for reasons best known to himself never released them properly. Doesn't seem to have been any discussion on this thread about this situation. More here:

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/oct/10/bright-phoebus-waterson-toured-hawley-cocker-album

a brief nod to this story from mike a couple of years ago

I saw Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick last week. First set a bit doddery, second set AMAZING. My partner asked Carthy about the "lost" 1972 Lal & Mike Waterson album Bright Phoebus, which also features Carthy, Maddy Prior, Tim Hart & Norma Waterson - there was a BBC Radio 4 doc about it the other week. Carthy told him that the reissue rights had been acquired by a "bastard", from whom no artist royalties flow. His advice: grab a free copy. So we did:

http://witchseason.blogspot.com/2007/06/cheap-red-wine-in-my-drunken-brain.html

It's a superb record.

― mike t-diva, Tuesday, 13 September 2011 11:18 (2 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I have a copy of that lp that was doing the rounds about 10 years ago. I think it's on cdr but has an official looking sleeve. Not looked at it recently but did burn it to hard drive a few months ago so that i could listen to it through my computer. has some great stuff on it definitely.

That Robin and Barry Dransfield album is great.

I love the title track, I forget what I thought when I finally heard the whole album. (No I don't listen to much of this stuff, but I have listened to more in the past.)

rout of the blues <3

Saw 'Bright Phoebus Revisited' last night at the Barb. It was v. uneven but there was more than enough mesmerizing brilliance on show to make up for the dud moments. I wish I could afford to see them again in Bristol at the end of the tour, when they will nail it.

Have been indulging in some epic dithering about whether to go and see that tour or not. Don't think we get Jarvis Cocker here, and much as I like him as a character and a performer, I could probably do without his presence overshadowing the songs. How was his turn?

He did two proper songs (The Scarecrow and The Beast), and a kind of cameo as the Magical Man. He seemed to change his mind about where to pitch The Scarecrow after the first verse, so it went from spooky and deep, but only marginally tuneful, to much lighter and more musical but without the weird edge - I'd be interested to see which he goes with next time. The Beast was really good, really drew you in. It's hard to convey the contrast between Cocker and the pro folk singers - it's not like they can't do expressive, intimate or scary/vulnerable, because by damn they can. But there's something about Jarvis that sets him apart.

So, I thought he added something v.v. interesting without overshadowing anything, tho putting the poor chap in a chorus line for the big closing numbers was an odd thing to do. The awkwardness and intensity that makes him so compelling when he's up there on his own becomes discomfiting when his voice is inaudible and he's standing in a row with a load of Waterson/Carthys. He looked like a beardy alien. <3

i fell out of respect with J Cocker a long time ago and am kinda sad that he has any presence in this thing amongst some of my fave writers and performers so i'm afraid i'm out

nose/face

he's not on stage for most of it and you will miss out on astonishing harmonies from Eliza, Marry and Kima, pshaw

Looks like my copy of Bright Phoebus came out on a label called Trailer sometime around 2000. Seemed to be an official release a t the time but the company was pretty small so was doing cdrs instead of actual cds. I think that was somewhat common at the time among labels doing small pressings, is it still? Don't think there was as much digital d/ld presence at the time, or if there was it seemed to be strictly mp3.

Got the lp lined up to play next after a '75 Rahsaan Roland Kirk live set.

http://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/music/bright-phoebus-revisited-barbican--music-review-8878576.html

"Jarvis Cocker of novelty band Pulp" ??

LOL

Went and saw the Bright Phoebus thing last night, have never seen any of the Waterson/Carthy tribe live before so it was great to see those people. Eliza Carthy especially did a great job, I think maybe the whole performance would have struggled without her - definitely the person who seemed to be having the most fun on stage and her voice is terrific. Norma too actually, but obviously she's getting on so was a bit less active. No Jarvis here, so it was a slightly creepy young guy called John Smith who sang The Scarecrow, but he did exactly the same gruff voice in the first and last verses that Zora described, gave it a slight Playaway/Worzel Gummidge let's-pretend-to-be-scarecrows vibe. Kind of a shame, it's my favourite song on the album - lyrically it's a pretty heavy meditation on mortality and generational succession, but it's also the difference in delivery between that and the likes of Rubber Band and Magical Man that make it hit so hard, like a raw winter wind tearing through to your bones. Richard Hawley turned Danny Rose into a bit of a Ringo number, but also told a good story - he was wondering about the mystical side of some of Lal's songs, so over a cup of tea one day he asked Norma whether Lal had ever taken any magic mushrooms. The reply was 'no, but she did eat a lot of pickled onions'. Also bloody hell, aside from her dad's red hair does Kamila Thompson (Dickie & Linda's daughter) look like her mother or what?

worth checking out if you're into this stuff! http://landless.bandcamp.com/

...and likewise, the new Lutine album is great. Quite sparse sounding but very soft and delicate. Love this song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9bhdCftGNA

http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/11705184.Sussex_Folk_legend_commemorated_in_with_ale_created_by_Harveys_Brewery_in_his_name/

https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/10922837_888522107846526_7811329269237289520_n.jpg?oh=5d74d3e4dbdff0b1cf9b90385eae8fe4&oe=552F1DA3&__gda__=1433372187_74fb11aebbd6d053600006f528577da3

some great names in that lineup. didn't know oak had reformed!

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jan/25/ten-thousand-times-adieu-review-bob-copper-cecil-sharp-house-folk

a shirley collins/linda thompson duet of a blind willie johnson song?!

blimey

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v472/birdnestsoup/shirleyamplinda.jpg

more info on the shirley collins movie facebook page btw, which was where that photo is from

From Rolling Reissues 2015:

Bridget St John has a 4cd set of her 3 Dandelion lps & some BBC sessions released in February. I know there were individual releases of the lps about a decade back. I'm not sure if these are those masters or not. The set is listed on the Cherry Red site at £13.95 and may be cheaper elsewhere.
Her voice has been likened to Nico and she mined a similar individualistic semiacoustic quasi-folk area to people like Nick Drake, John Martyn, Duncan Browne, Shelagh McDonald etc.

― Stevolende, Sunday, January 25, 2015 3:10 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

only know the 1st st. john album which i seem to recall features john martyn's slide playing on a couple of tracks (long time since i last played it)

xpost: nice photo and according to the facebook page, that's the very excellent john kirkpatrick way at the end there!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06mfqc8

Maddy Prior has been the lead singer of Steeleye Span since they first began in 1969. Since then the band has had dozens of members, some have left for good, some have left and re-joined, Maddy herself, who is still with Steeleye, describes it as a 'bus' with people jumping on and off.

In the first of two programmes Maddy and her daughter Rose Kemp discuss how music has taken them in different directions.

Whereas Maddy is at the very heart of the folk and traditional music establishment, Rose is a major artist in the doom and drone metal scene, the slower heavier take on heavy metal. Together Maddy and Rose discuss their music and how it was they have followed such different musical paths.

As part of this two part series Rose and Maddy have composed and recorded brand new, original songs alongside artists, especially selected by the other.

Rose has linked up with Bellowhead front man John Boden to record a song she has written to explore the difficult subject of rape in marriage while Maddy has been paired with Dylan Carlson, part of the Seattle music scene and head of the metal band Earth. Long standing fans of Maddy's and Steeleye will definitely be surprised at the way she uses her famous voice to fit the guitars of Carlson's arrangement.

Along the way, Rose and Maddy come together to discuss the world of folk and metal music, feminism and misogyny in the folk world, spirituality, and how they view the world and their relationship through their entirely different musical styles.

this sounds really cool although whoever wrote ^that up has either never heard Earth or Rose Kemp's music, or is wilfully exaggerating the degree of contrast to make it seem more striking

Interesting, Maddy is my favourite UK female folk singer (and, yes, that includes Sandy Denny and Shirley Collins).

whoa that is really cool, although yeah, they're all folk artists really, even ol' dylan

thought rose kemp had retired! her final album was flat-out incredible

Anybody hear that show? Was it good?

Bright Phoebus reissue on the way:

http://www.dominorecordco.com/uk/news/31-05-17/bright-phoebus-euro--songs-by-lal-and-mike-waterson-remastered-and-reissued-by-domino/

damnnnn, excited for that. such an amazing record (and so hard to come by!). glad it is finally getting the treatment it deserves.

My copy of Bright Phoebus arrived today. Haven't had a chance to listen yet, looks good, but that's pretty early, right? I thought it was supposed to be early August...

i'm enjoying the newest album from this Sharron Kraus project https://rusalnaia.bandcamp.com/album/time-takes-away

xp yeah, been seeing that people are getting that Phoebus reissue! jealous ... going off to order it now.

Strange stuff. Eliza Carthy just tweeted that the Bright Phoebus copyright holders (who haven't been paying any royalties, as I understand it) took Domino to court over the reissue and won, the Domino reissue being essentially unauthorised. The album has now disappeared from the Domino website.

Not good from Domino.

Jeepers, I actually know the copyright holder IRL, we drink in the same bars. He's inherited the rights from his late dad. I knew he was massively pissed off about the Domino reissue, but the release that his dad was flogging was a vinyl rip to CD - he never had the master tape, whereas Domino did get hold of it. I also remember Martin Carthy advising me to download a bootleg copy from an MP3 blog instead of buying the vinyl rip CD, as none of the musicians got royalties from it.

Damn that super sucks. Such a great album and I’d never even heard of it til this year.

so weird! domino did an amazing job w/ the reissue — totally definitive ... wonder how they would've gone along that far w/o actually getting the rights. i assume they were paying royalties to the performers?

Glad I saw this bump, just ordered a copy of the vinyl