Info on Ned Adams

Subject: Info on Ned Adams
From: GUEST,Laura
Date: 22 Nov 10 - 11:31 AM

Hello,

I'm researching a particular recording of The Bold Princess Royal, made in September of 1952 by Ned Adams.

I'm looking for information on the life of Ned Adams as well as his musical background and various influences.

All that I have been able to find is that his nickname is Ned "Wintry" Adams, and that he did a recording of the same song for Bob Copper in 1954 in Hastings, and, according to this forum, that it was 'the only song he knew incidentally, but it's fairly awash with salt water and atmosphere.'(see http://dev.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=25091&page=2&desc=yes)

Does anyone have any more information about the life and music tradition of Mr. Adams? Or anything to confirm the above quote, that it was 'the only song he knew?'

His rendition is such a good one, it would be a shame not to know anything about him.

Thanks,

Laura

Subject: RE: Info on Ned Adams
From: RTim
Date: 22 Nov 10 - 11:54 AM

Laura,

There is a whole lot of Info. on The Adams Family of Hastings in Bob Copper's book:
- Songs & Southern Breezes.
My hardcopy addition has info. on pages 57 & 58 about George Adams, and more about younger brother Ned on pages 60 to 66. There is also a photo of Ned, with a child holding a dog, in the book.

Tim Radford

Subject: RE: Info on Ned Adams
From: GUEST
Date: 22 Nov 10 - 03:51 PM

Tim,

Thank you very much. This is extremely helpful.

Cheers,

Laura

Subject: RE: Info on Ned Adams
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 23 Nov 10 - 04:23 AM

This, from the BBC index of folk songs
The index credits him with only two songs, Bold Princess Royal and The Girl Raking Hay, though it's always been my opinion that a singer of such calibre must have known more but, due to the 'headhunting' nature of the BBC's mopping up campaign, they never spent enough time with him to find out what he knew.
Jim Carroll

"ADAMS, Ned ('Wintry')
Singer. Old Town, Hastings, Sussex. 13.11.54 and March 1962.
Edward Frederick Adams, born 19.2.02. Has been all his life a fisherman and for a number of years coxswain of the local lifeboat. Inherits a true traditional style of ballad singing from father and grandfather. Learned 'The Bold Princess Royal' from an old fisherman called 'Doctor' Gallop, with whom he went-to sea at the end of the First World War. Since recording he has gone to live with a married daughter in Australia. The collector, Bob Copper, gives a lively account of finding him and persuading him to sing in Copper: Songs and Southern Breezes, pp. 60-66."

Subject: RE: Info on Ned Adams
From: Brian Peters
Date: 23 Nov 10 - 05:22 AM

Bob Copper told me in person the colourful tale of his recording 'The Bold Princess Royal' from Ned Adams, describing the substantial quantites of ale required to loosen the tongue of a rather cantankerous chap, and the fact that the recording level needle on his tape recorder shot stright into the red, the moment Mr. Adams let rip. No doubt the account in the book is along similar lines.

Bob also mentioned that Mr. Adams knew just the one song (though Jim now has evidence of another). This was a puzzle to me, too, given the man's strong delivery and striking sense of style, although it did make a bit more sense when, in the course of a recent interview I conducted with Will Noble, Will mentioned that some of the singers at the hunt meetings he attended as a young man knew only a single song - which was why the concept of 'song ownership' was so important in those singing sessions. However, I know nothing of the social setting in which Ned Adams sang, and it may well be that Jim has it right and it's simply a matter or insufficient research that any additional repertoire is not recorded (though why did Bob Copper believe he sang only that song?).

It seems that the song was recorded twice from Mr. Adams - in 1954 and was it 1952 or 1962? Which one appeared on the Caedmon 'Folk Songs of Britain' LPs (a recording I've used often in singing style workshops)? I'd be interested to hear the other, to compare the vocal decoration for a start.