Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: Brian Peters
Date: 20 May 20 - 07:52 AM

Good comment by Steve about Fred Jordan, to which I would add that he had of course been an actual farm labourer for a good many years before the folkies discovered him, and the outfit he wore dated back to that period of farm work from the late 1930s onwards, thus appearing anachronistic and quaint to his audiences from the late 50s onwards. Not that he didn't milk it! There's an amusing anecdote from Reg Hall in the 'Shropshire Lad' CD liner notes to the effect that Fred was extremely unimpressed by the 'country bumpkin' fact of Cyril Philips when they met at a festival in 1959. Fred certainly thought hard about the way he presented himself.

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: GUEST,Starship
Date: 20 May 20 - 09:25 AM

Vic, I was trying to help, not 'correct' you. Have a good day.

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: GUEST,Mike Yates
Date: 20 May 20 - 09:37 AM

Re Vic Smith's comment:

'peter kwennedy not collecting bob blake because he learned songs from 'books'
'Kennedy (I presume you mean him) never met Bob Blake. You probably mean Mike Yates.'

Reading the above you would think that I never recorded Bob Blake 'because he learned songs from books'. This is incorrect. I recorded Bob's singing, but it was only after his death that I learnt that he had got some of his songs from books. I have also said, on a number of occasions that I was surprised to discover a copy of Lucy Broadwood's 'English County Songs' in Fred Jordan's house. But this did not stop me from recording songs from Fred.

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: The Sandman
Date: 20 May 20 - 09:49 AM

no, i did not mean you mike
i meant kennedys comment about bob blake [which i read somewhere possibly musical tradtions], that he was not all that he presented himself to be[ in coded language he was not a genuine trad singer] because he learned songs from books, which presumably explains why he kennedy did not collect from him. personally i think alfred williams agenda of collecting everything was a better one
my criticism was of kennedy not mike yates

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: The Sandman
Date: 20 May 20 - 09:52 AM

i knew perfectly well that you had collected songs from bob blake and i never mentioned your name ,so no need to be defensive, i mentioned kennedys name and why he DID NOT colLect from him, Is that crystal clear

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: Vic Smith
Date: 20 May 20 - 09:54 AM

I knew Cyril well and thought he was a wonderful man. He was a regular at our folk club in Lewes and his stories and antics between his songs were hilarious. He was also one of the finest singers amongst that group of his traditional singer peers. He was an old-fashioned village entertainer. At agricultural shows, village fairs, harvest suppers etc. he would appear with his fold-away gate to lean over whilst he regaled his audience with jokes, patter, stories, monologues and songs. One of his regular gigs was huge beer tent at the South of England show at Ardingly. I remember seeing him there and thought that he was mesmerising. In his old-fashioned smock, he had his natural audience in stitches. Sometimes he took Bob Lewis along as his partner and Bob would sing a few songs whilst Cyril took a break. The greatest audience for those "Country Bumpkin" songs written for the urban Music Hall was found in rural areas and many of the old Sussex singers that I knew had some of these songs in their repertoire. Cyril's house was like a museum of old agricultural implements and he would explain how they were used to his visitors. His musical parties were always memorable.   I have very little problem with the public personae of Cyril Phillips as a performer; much less cringe-worthy than the tales that I have heard from famed traditional singers about them or their fathers blacking up to sing in n****r minstrel shows.
I could tell you dozens of stories about Cyril and his escapades - but perhaps this thread is not the place.

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: Vic Smith
Date: 20 May 20 - 09:59 AM

no, i did not mean you mike
i meant kennedys comment about bob blake [which i read somewhere possibly musical tradtions]

I would really like to see the reference to this comment. Would you please post it when you find it?

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: GUEST,Mike Yates
Date: 20 May 20 - 10:04 AM

Sandman (& Vic Smith).

The article you mention is probably one that I wrote some years ago for Musical Traditions. It is article 184, 'Bob Blake and the Reinvented Self'. The article is still available on-line. The reference to Kennedy is this short passage: 'On one occasion I mentioned to Peter Kennedy that I knew Bob and was surprised to find that Peter did not share my enthusiasm for Bob's singing. It never entered my mind that Peter may have known something about Bob that was unknown to me.'

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: The Sandman
Date: 20 May 20 - 10:13 AM

at no time was i referring to mike yates i had read his article about bob blake and was aware that he had collected from bob. i have[ in 1987] recorded a song from the repertopire of bob blake and was well aware he was not tradtional singer, however he was a very good singer.
the point i was making was that i judge singers on their singing abilty not their label clearly mike yates does too.
i do not believe peter kennedy did. and that was based on the fact that somewhere i read that kennedy had made a comment that blake was not all that he appeared to be.
i was aware of bob blake long before mike yates published his article in musical tradtions,
i learned songs from his repertoire back in the 80s and i have recordings to prove it.

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: The Sandman
Date: 20 May 20 - 10:24 AM

vic, my point was related to the pecuilarity of the uk folk revival, that source singers have to be treated differently from revival singers i compared jeanie robertsons version of a song with macColls
now if there had not been a folk revival in the uk there would be no need for the differntation of labels or categories such as source and revival singers, you described this as arrant nonsense, but it is a fact.
if you go to ireland, where there was no need for a revival the term is not used at all. these are facts not nonsense.
you are getting very close to stalking me.

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: Vic Smith
Date: 20 May 20 - 10:58 AM

Please, please do not misrepresent me.

You wrote - 20 May 20 - 10:24 AM
now if there had not been a folk revival in the uk there would be no need for the differntation of labels or categories such as source and revival singers, you described this as arrant nonsense, but it is a fact.
Sadly, this distorts the truth because...
You wrote - 19 May 20 - 11:27 AM
it is an affectation of the uk folk revival because everywhere else there was no need for a folk revival
This was the statement that I quoted and described as arrant nonsense and I went on to list folk revivals around the world.
<><><><><><><>
I am sorry that everyone else has to read this tiresome stuff but it irks me to read lies about myself. If Dick wants to take this further, could I suggest that he uses PM and we can thrash it out there.

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: GUEST,Starship
Date: 20 May 20 - 11:16 AM

Jim Carroll, you may wish to see the new thread posted by Richard Mellish: "Obit: Nora Butler"

Sorry, buddy.

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 20 May 20 - 11:23 AM

"if you go to ireland, where there was no need for a revival"
Sorry Dick you are wrong - Ireland has experienced numerous revivals - the present 'renaissance' being the last
When we stared coming here it was called 'The Ballad Boom'
I answered this earlier - 19 May 20 - 12:44 PM
One of the most significant revivals was the re-finding or, in some cases, invention of a 'Celtic' culture in the drive for Independence after the Famine - wonderfully conered in 'The Prose Literature of the Gaelic Revival 1881-1921 by Philip O'Leary [1948] - Daniel Corker's 'The Hidden Ireland goes back even further
Floklore was a major part of all these movements
Jim

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 20 May 20 - 11:24 AM

Saw it as it disappeared
Should read 'Daniel Corkery'
Jim

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: Brian Peters
Date: 20 May 20 - 11:59 AM

Vic, thanks for the info about Cyril Phillips (a 'foldaway gate', no less!). I was making no judgement on him, just pointing out what some might see as the irony in Fred Jordan disapproving of another singer hamming up an agricultural persona. My present line of research concerns the thorny question of 'authenticity' in regards to the Folk Revival, so questions over the self-conscious or even self-parodic performance styles of some traditional singers are of great interest. As is the development of the style of an influential revival singer like Ewan MacColl.

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: The Sandman
Date: 20 May 20 - 12:02 PM

nobody in ireland refers to source singers or revival singers that i have ever heard of or differentioated between them the term has never been used in my presence sorry jim, furthermore unlike the uk folk revival there is no circuit of folk clubs

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: The Sandman
Date: 20 May 20 - 12:08 PM

there is no folk club circuit in ireland i have never heard anyone use the term revival singers for singers in ireland

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 20 May 20 - 12:16 PM

I think folk clubs were primarily an English construct in the 1950/60s, Dick. But I could be wrong.

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 20 May 20 - 12:27 PM

"nobody in ireland refers to source singers or revival singers t"
No theey don't - they refer to them as Sean Nós (old sty;e) singers
It used to refer to Irish language singers - nowadays its all the source singers
"there is no folk club circuit in ireland "
I thought that was true but it's not strictly accurate
There were clubs - years ago we went (with Bob Blair) to see Peggy Seeger in one of the older ones in Athlone
Dublin had a magnificent one in Caple Street - 'The Tradition Club'
I now know there were others
The Goílin in Dublin says it isn't restricted ut it is overwhelmingly folk and the newest 'The Night Before Larry Got Stretched', in The Cobblestone is almost exclusively folk
The Singing Circles have taken the place of the old clubs - most 'anything goes' but some heavily folk oriented - depends on who turns up.
I know there are several in the N.E. Counties
The reson you haven't heard the tem revival is probably because there's a finer distinction between the two here largely because of the continuation of the music
Jim

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: The Sandman
Date: 20 May 20 - 12:51 PM

exactly, it did not have to be revived the music in the uk in england inparticular accoringto maccoll and lloyd and others needed revivng. most of the singers clubs are unaccompanied singing and they are few and far between one in cork city two in dublin, maybe one or two others

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 20 May 20 - 02:27 PM

Hi Brian
Sounds like an interesting project. I think just about everyone who has ever performed in front of an audience has consciously or in some cases unconsciously changed their persona in some way. It almost goes with the job as it were, wearing of seamen's caps, Arran sweaters, old-fashioned waistcoats, adopting a different accent, changing your voice in some way, playing up to audience perception, altering your chorus or speed of singing to accord with audience, the list is endless. Other genres perhaps even moreso, cowboy hats, dress suits, gypsy costume, gaiters, garish t-shirts, Hawaiian shirts etc. The dancers and mummers have always done it, so why not the singers?

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: GUEST
Date: 20 May 20 - 02:50 PM

do you mean adapting your 'product' to suit the audience- does that include your repertoire?- with all his faults MacColl would never have done that.

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: GUEST,big al whittle
Date: 20 May 20 - 03:04 PM

what is to be gained by putting Ewan's singing under the microscope.

he did his best to perform and present songs.

I suppose if anything , he sounds very determinedly to be virile - which in totality comes over as a bit butch - but he was a theatrical remember, so that was okay. Its how that generation did Shakespeare.

No Derek Jacobi, or Simon Russell Beale in those days.

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: GUEST,kenny
Date: 20 May 20 - 03:41 PM

Sorry to be pedantic Steve, but "Aran" sweaters, from the Aran islands in Ireland, not Arran, in Scotland. A common mistake.
Carry on.

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: The Sandman
Date: 20 May 20 - 04:05 PM

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: Dave the Gnome - PM
Date: 20 May 20 - 12:16 PM

I think folk clubs were primarily an English construct in the 1950/60s, Dick. But I could be wrong. exactly my point where there was no revival it is not needed to use the term revival ,furthermore people judge the singing on their merits just as you do if you do not like a revival singer or a source singer that is your prerogative.
why should source singers be judged differntly.
in ireland people just judge the singer on their merit not on their label. this is a music forum it is good to be able to discuss music during the lockdown here is shoals of herring
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ov81aogaxg

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: GUEST,Big Al Whittle
Date: 20 May 20 - 04:05 PM

My sister knitted me an Arran sweater and she's from St Helens.

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: GUEST
Date: 20 May 20 - 04:26 PM

she couldn't spell either

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: The Sandman
Date: 21 May 20 - 04:41 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlJ6P9EkoWw a great song well sung

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 21 May 20 - 08:40 AM

I would dearly loved to take part in discussion on both the Ewan and Bert threads, but as I have just learned that "Lloyd's singing, like MacColl's, is a matter of taste. But idiots like Jim Carroll get all peeved when people criticize them" according to a moderator, I feel that any serious discussion fro me is out of the question
I would like to set the record straight though
I loved Ewan's singing but that is my taste - I have never become "peeved" at criticism of his singing - I have merely stated my own feelings
I have become angry when I felt Ewan's character was being maligned, as all too often happens, and have said so in as many words
Ewan was a dear friend and to some degree a mentor who generously shared his knowledge and experience with me, Pat and many more lesser experienced and lesser talented younger singers

I have desperately been trying to get some of his ideas discussed rather than his politics, his name-change, his accent.... and all the other froth that prevents serious discussion of him as an artist - I was suspended for trying to do so not so long ago - people wanted to talk about his politics again

Ewan has been dead for more than three decades now and is no longer able to answer for himself, it is high time that that was remembered - as Peggy requested in a letter to 'The Living Tradition Magazine, it is time he was "allowed to rest in peace"
I was hoping to try once again to discuss Ewan as a theorist on this forum, but recent events make that unlikely
My feeling towards Bert's singing is mixed, but like Ewan's, I find his contribution to my life as a singer, an audience member, and a researcher immeasurable

Unless we are allowed to discuss singers such as these vigorously and fully without the threat of interventions such as suspensions and deletions hanging over us, I fear that will never be possible
I'll leave you to it for now and see what happens (or if this posting survives long enough for people to read it)
Keep safe all
Jim

---

Keep your personal shit out of the threads and talk about the subject of discussion, Jim. That's all we want you to do. Is that too much to ask? We want to talk about Ewan MacColl in this thread, not about Jim Carroll.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: The Sandman
Date: 21 May 20 - 09:44 AM

i understand that some of his ideas included preparing 0neself for performance an idea that other people also took seriously such as prof alexander. Ewan thought it was important to warm ones voice up with vocal exercises similiar to that which opera singers do, in my opinion this is a good idea this is something that i do because i wish to have a pleasant tone to my voice for as long as it is possible., and because i do not wish to damage my vocal chords.

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: GUEST,Starship
Date: 21 May 20 - 11:20 AM

I thought it was SOP to warm up one's voice before a performance. It seems to be common sense. If stage lights are involved in a performance, the stage area is made somewhat warmer by them, so often people will leave their stringed instruments in the area so as to acclimate the strings. Heat expands things and cold contracts them. Much the same with vocal cords (which are muscle tissue). It also prepares the voice to be agile without straining the cords. If one's cords are still stretching while one is singing, then note control becomes much more difficult and requires more 'push' from the chest area as opposed to the stomach area, so warm ups should be part of the pre-performance ritual. If there is no area/room for the singers to exercise their pipes, then use a bathroom. Besides, bathrooms make us all sound better ;-)

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: GUEST,big al whittle
Date: 21 May 20 - 07:03 PM

well, i for one, feel very sorry you feel like that Jim. You obviously know a lot about this subject.

I think we have to make allowances. Some people like these strong and vigorous discussions and say their bit however ignorant they are. i suppose they reason that they've got the vote and their opinion is as much value as anybody else.

What they forget is that they are talking about situations and people that some of us are intimately concerned with. They have no concept of the depth of the hurt they cause, and they will gird their loins in self righteousness to assert their right to insult and abuse.

Because - they are correct. they have a democratic right to make their statements , and the mods must preserve that.

Ewan MacColl made a huge impact on many of us who see ourselves part of the folk music world. Many people (particularly stateside) whom Ewan wouldn't really reckon to be folksingers. What I am saying is, that his legacy affects people who would never be body and soul disciples.

he was influential. he deserves your stewardship of his memory. try to see in context those who have awarded themselves a licence to talk tripe. try not to let it hurt you.

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 21 May 20 - 07:43 PM

Under the circumstances I've been apprised of, and which I thoroughly disapprove of, it could be a good idea not to address Jim just now. Cheers.

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: The Sandman
Date: 22 May 20 - 01:11 AM

this is good not sure if the concertina player is alf or peggyhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxFiN30OI9Q ifind it intersting to compare it to this an example of songs evolving https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQLLRQNaVxg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQLLRQNaVxg

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: The Sandman
Date: 22 May 20 - 01:14 AM

it is peggy her touch is lighter but influenced by alf

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: RTim
Date: 22 May 20 - 11:04 AM

According to Mainly Norfolk - Sweet Kumadie is played by Alf Edwards..
Recording is on - English and Scottish Folk Ballads
A.L. Lloyd, Ewan MacColl

Topic Records 12T103 (LP, UK, 1964)

Tim Radford

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: The Sandman
Date: 23 May 20 - 03:20 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPaQDjmEwQ0 broomfield hill, i do not like the tone of his voice here.
cyril poacher version here i find reasier to understand possibly because i am used to suffolk accenthttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7PSNKX5g9o

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 23 May 20 - 04:07 AM

Mornin' all
Jim

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: Phillip
Date: 23 May 20 - 05:04 AM

Tangential to this thread, but some might find it interesting - a lecture by Jean Newlove

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMyqa-TI7I4

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: The Sandman
Date: 23 May 20 - 05:43 AM

welocme back. jim

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: The Sandman
Date: 23 May 20 - 11:44 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joNTYxROyGo good singing, diction and all the words clearand level of voice is higher than the accopaniment, as it should be perhaps too much instrumentation there was a high instrumrent i found annoying it was not the concertina

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: Phillip
Date: 23 May 20 - 11:49 AM

Dulcimer, I think

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 23 May 20 - 01:19 PM

A friend of ours who has just moved back to England (Sussex), has been in contact to ask advice on a book he is working on, 'Jimmy and Joan', an account of the work done by Ewan and Joan Littlewood
Jim

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: The Sandman
Date: 24 May 20 - 04:12 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eY0bJzKxA8

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: Phillip
Date: 24 May 20 - 05:32 AM

That youtube posting has a claim that the best version is by Colm Reagan and Kerry Sansom, which I cannot find online. I prefer the version by The Exiles, with its almost stentorian take on the song, which benefits from that lack of subtlety for me. It becomes, the singing that is, the aural equivalent of huge stage posters in a Brecht play.

There was also a contribution in this thread which implied that Brechtian thatre was a thing of the past, and that it was a bad thing. Not for me. I think it's still highly productive today even if its didacticism falls on cloth ears at times. Not is it out of fashion. In the past fice years perhaps I have seen productions of Arturo Ui, Mother Courage, The Threepenny Opera, The Good Person of Sezuan and The Caucasian Chalk Circle. From local thatres to The New Vic and the National Thatre, with no less than Fiona Shaw as Mother Courage.

The Exiles:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKVIQ_IXTO0

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 24 May 20 - 05:43 AM

Peggy alternated on auto-harp occasionally on Accounting (great song) - in my opinion, more effective
I agree about Brecht Phillip - I saw Arturo Ui performed at the Abbey in Dublin some years ago- still a theatrical fist in the face and still very apposite
Jim

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 24 May 20 - 05:48 AM

A Ewan translation
We used to do this along with The adult version of 'The Cruel Mother, the kids version, 'Weela, Weela. Walya - used to bring the house down
Jim

CONCERNING THE INFANTICIDE, MARIE FARRER by Bertolt Brecht
Marie Farrer, born in April,
No marks, a minor, rachitic, both parents dead,
Allegedly up to now without police record,
Committed infanticide, it is said,
As follows: in her second month, she says,
With the aid of a barmaid, she did her best
To get rid of her child with two douches,
Allegedly painful but without success.
But you, I beg you, check your wrath and scorn,
For man needs help from every creature born.

She then paid out, she says, what was agreed
And continued to lace herself up tight.
She also drank liquor with pepper mixed in it
Which purged her but did not cure her plight.
Her body distressed her as she washed the dishes,
It was swollen now quite visibly.
She herself says, for she was still a child,
She prayed to Mary most earnestly.
But you, I beg you, check your wrath and scorn,
For man needs help from every creature born.

Her prayers, it seemed, helped her not at all.
She longed for help.
Her trouble made her falter and faint at early Mass.
Often drops of sweat
Broke out in anguish as she knelt at the altar.
Yet until her time came upon her
She still kept secret her condition.
For no one would believe such a thing could happen,
That she, so unenticing, had yielded to temptation.
But you, I beg you, check your wrath and scorn,
For man needs help from every creature born.

And, on that day, she says, when it was dawn,
As she washed the stairs, it seemed a nail
Was driven into her belly.
She was wrung with pain.
But still she secretly endured her travail.
All day long while hanging out the laundry,
She wracked her brains until she got it through her head
She had to bear the child, and her heart was heavy.
But you, I beg you, check your wrath and scorn,
It was very late when she went to bed.
She was sent for again as soon as she lay down.
Snow had fallen and she had to go downstairs.
It went on till eleven. It was a long day.
Only at night did she have time to bear.
And so, she says, she gave birth to a son.
The son she bore was just like all the others.
She was unlike the others but for this
There is no reason to despise this mother,
You to, I beg you, check your wrath and scorn,
For man needs help from every creature born.

With her last strength, she says, because
Her room had now grown icy cold, she then
Dragged herself to the latrine and there
Gave birth as best she could (not knowing when)
But toward morning. She says she was already
Quite distracted and could barely hold
The child for snow came into the latrine
And her fingers were half numb with cold.
But you, I beg you, check your wrath and scorn,
For man needs help from every creature born.

Between the latrine and her room, she says,
Not earlier, the child began to cry until
It drove her mad so that, she says,
She did not cease to beat it with her fists
Blindly for some time till it was still.
And then she took the body to her bed
And kept it with her there all through the night.
When morning came she hid it in the shed.
But you, I beg you, check your wrath and scorn,
For man needs help from every creature born.

Marie Farrer, born in April,
An unmarried mother, convicted, died in
The Meissen penitentiary.
She brings home to you all men's sin.
You, who bear pleasantly between clean sheets
And give the name "blessed" to your womb's weight,
Must not damn the weakness of the outcast,
For her sin was black but her pain was great.
Therefore, I beg you, check your wrath and scorn,
For man needs help from every creature born.

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: The Sandman
Date: 24 May 20 - 06:14 AM

i think he sings the ballad of accounting   very well. i think he sings his own songs extrenely well

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 26 May 20 - 11:44 AM

A bit of a diversion but are people awate of THIS
I have the hardback but am always happy to have a digitied copy
Jim

Subject: RE: Critical discussion of Ewan MacColl's singing
From: The Sandman
Date: 26 May 20 - 02:57 PM

north sea holes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7wJxRl2n0s
Ewan MacColl
Come all you gallant fishermen that plough the stormy sea,
The whole year round on the fishing grounds
On the Northern Minch and the Norway Deeps,
On the banks and knolls of the North Sea Holes
Where the herring shoals are found

It's there you'll find the Norfolk boys and the lads from Peterhead,
There's Buckie chiels and men from Shields,
On the Northern Minch and the Norway Deeps,
On the banks and knolls of the North Sea Holes
Where the herring shoals are found

From Fraserborough and Aberdeen, from Whitby, Yarmouth Town,
The fleet's away at the break of day
To the Northern Minch and the Norway Deeps,
To the banks and knolls of the North Sea Holes
Where the herring shoals are found

It's off with a boiler full of steam and your engine spic and span
To fish the grounds the North Sea round
And fish and knolls and the North Sea Holes
And try your luck at the North Shields Gut
With a catch of a hundred cran

No need to wait for the wind and tide, you're the master of the sea,
Come calm or squall, just shoot and haul
And fill the hold with the fish to be sold
And steam ahead for the curing shed
And the buyers on the Yarmouth quay

Come all you gallant fishermen that plough the stormy sea,
The whole year round on the fishing grounds
On the Northern Minch and the Norway Deeps,
On the banks and knolls of the North Sea Holes
Where the herring shoals are found