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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 13 Aug 12 - 07:57 AM 101! The Yellow album was completed and made available for download a little while ago. Here's the link, and here's what you get. 1 The crow on the cradle (Sydney Carter) (3:34) 2 Son Davie (3:19) 3 Two pretty boys (2:09) 4 The valiant sailor (5:38) 5 The Dolphin (2:58) 6 The lofty tall ship (4:21) 7 The ghost song (3:00) 8 William Taylor (3:56) 9 Lowlands (4:06) 10 The lowlands of Holland (3:25) 11 Shirt and comb (Peter Blegvad) (2:23) 12 High Germanie (2:20) 13 The weary cutters (1:54) 14 I would that the wars were all done (2:42) 15 The dark-eyed sailor (4:12) 16 Sweet Jenny of the moor (3:50) 17 Whitsun Dance (Austin John Marshall) (2:51) Seventeen songs of death and destruction, mostly (but not exclusively) with a wartime setting, and mostly (14 out of 17) traditional. Some unaccompanied, some with vocal harmonies, some accompanied - mostly on English concertina and drums, with various other instruments (melodica, zither, recorder, whistles (D and C) and a bit of flute). The crow on the cradle, an album-only extra, is probably the most powerful anti-war song ever written - up there with 10,000 Maniacs' "My Mother the War". War is over, if you want it. (Quite pleased with the drumming on this one.) Son Davie, a.k.a. Edward, is a Child ballad on the theme of guilt and remorse. (Some of the most powerful ballads seem to centre on the sense of actions being irrevocable.) I like the sound of the C whistle on this. Two pretty boys isn't - or wasn't - connected to the previous ballad, although you could say that it tells an earlier part of the same story. Sung unaccompanied and strongly influenced by Peter Bellamy, who learnt it from Lucy Stewart. (Is there any other way of being influenced by Peter Bellamy?) The valiant sailor was the first song for which I worked out concertina chords. There's a doleful, chapel-harmonium thing going on there, partly as a result of my novice status on the instrument; I rather like it. My interpretation was inspired by John Kelly; it's not a patch on his version, of course. "This song is called The Dolphin, which is the name of the ship what the pirates were in. It's also the name of a pub in Wakefield that used to have right rough strippers on." Thus (and much further in the same vein) Tony Capstick. I sing it here with melodica drone and drums. The lofty tall ship features concertina drones; after hearing this back I more or less abandoned the melodica. The timbre you get from the concertina reeds is extraordinary. The ghost song, also known as The cruel ship's carpenter, is an English murder ballad (a relatively uncommon theme). In terms of interpretation, this is another one taken straight and heavily influenced by Bellamy, who in this case was following Sam Larner. William Taylor is another song of enlistment, desertion and death, although not in the usual combination. Accompanied on drums and zither, giving a rather nice quiet, spare effect. "Lowlands away, my John..." Another quiet arrangement - after Shirley Collins - with vocal harmonies and minimal percussion. The lowlands of Holland is a strange, dreamlike song; nothing about it, from the initial bedroom encounter to the paradisiacal description of Holland, quite makes sense. Beautiful, though. Shirt and comb is a song by the great Peter Blegvad (although I've mangled the tune slightly). It essentially takes the basic situation of the previous song and looks at it from the inside: how did it feel to be enlisted and forced to march away from your loved ones? Accompanied with drums, concertina chords and C whistle. High Germanie continues the twin themes of enlistment and approximate European geography. Drums, concertina drones and a slightly peculiar-sounding D whistle. "O the Weary Cutters have taken my laddie from me..." Quiet, sad, with vocal harmonies. Not much like Maddy Prior's version with Steeleye Span, although that is where I learned it. I would that the wars were all done is another quiet, sad one. It's accompanied with spare concertina I/V chords and a bit of recorder, and was partly recorded in the open air. The dark-eyed sailor and Sweet Jenny of the moor are both 'broken token' songs, and were both clearly intended for an audience which knew the set-up; they both get through the big reveal very briskly. "Sailor" is accompanied throughout on concertina drones, C whistle, drums and zither; "Jenny" is mostly unaccompanied, with a bit of melodic reinforcement from concertina and C whistle. The album's second download-only extra, Whitsun Dance, probably needs no introduction. It's always struck me as a dark, bitter song, all the more so for its sunny surface. I've recorded it with different combinations of instruments – recorder/zither, zither/drums, drums/concertina – over a flute drone. You can hear both it and The crow on the cradle here - although if you want to download either of them you'll have to go here. Like the other downloads in the series, the Yellow album comes with a PDF file containing full lyrics, notes and artwork. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 31 Aug 12 - 03:18 PM Week 50's songs are a load of nonsense. I think nonsense is a great neglected tradition in English poetry, and nonsense songs like the first two of these are a big part of it. Also, they're fun. The grey goose and gander (sung here with vocal harmonies) is a silly song from nineteenth-century Yorkshire. It's a lot of fun, particularly when sung (in the words of the man who collected it) "in the kitchens of quiet publichouses", or indeed in the side rooms of busy ones. When I set off for Turkey (sung here with drums, concertina, recorder, some more concertina, flute, G whistle, zither and ukulele) is an exorbitant song of lies and boasts, each line sillier and more unbelievable than the one before. Which you could also say about the arrangement. A hard rain's a-gonna fall, lastly, is a long song (presented here in a short form) which takes the "and another thing" form of songs like the previous one and infuses it with the visionary urgency and rage of a lot of Dylan's earlier work. I don't think it's got anything to do with nuclear war, and I still think it's a hard rain that's gonna fall. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 31 Aug 12 - 03:24 PM Week 51's songs are a bit more serious. What all these songs have in common is that the singers whose recordings I learned them from are among the real giants of the 60s/70s revival. Geordie is learnt from Peter Bellamy, who recorded it – or a very similar song called Georgie – in 1968. Is the judge who looked so very hard-hearted an ancestor of Dylan's judge in Percy's Song? Gilderoy – which may have originated (in Scotland) as a parody of Geordie – was recorded by Shirley and Dolly Collins in 1978. In its English form it's a song of death and bereavement. Sung here with some basic accompaniment from a rather nice recorder I bought the other day. Maid on the Shore, finally, was recorded by Martin Carthy (and Swarb) on Carthy's Second Album back in 1966. Having (just about) learnt to play this ridiculous tune on concertina, my respect for Swarb's fiddle-playing is, if anything, even higher than it was already. For one (more) week only, 52 Folk Songs is at http://52folksongs.com. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 31 Aug 12 - 05:45 PM And what of week 52, the culmination, nay, pinnacle of this entire project? I'm open to suggestion... |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: johncharles Date: 31 Aug 12 - 06:55 PM woody guthrie 100 anniversary So long its been good to know ya john |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 01 Sep 12 - 12:56 PM Not really my beat, in either sense of the word - I was thinking more Coppers. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: GUEST,Meldrew Date: 02 Sep 12 - 12:25 PM Try singing a musical scale properly. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 03 Sep 12 - 05:13 PM Sorry, Victor, wrong thread - this is about what I sing, not how badly I do it. |
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Subject: The Fifty-Second Folk Song From: Phil Edwards Date: 09 Sep 12 - 05:31 PM And now, the end is here, and so I face... the 52nd folk song. The 52nd and final (weekly) folk song is Banks of Yarrow; you probably know it as The Banks of Green Willow. Unaccompanied, after Debra Cowan. Also this week: Ballad of accounting, a stark and rather Brechtian song by Ewan MacColl. Unaccompanied but for multi-tracking, after Tony Capstick. And finally: Who's the fool now? Thereby hangs a tale. Unaccompanied but for lots of other people. For anyone who's made it this far: don't go away! There's more to come, albeit probably not at the same workrate I've kept up for most of the last year. Secondly and more importantly, thankyou – many thanks for reading, listening and downloading. 52 Folk Songs is still at http://52folksongs.com. |
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Subject: Fifty-Two Folk Songs - the Christmas album From: Phil Edwards Date: 07 Dec 12 - 08:06 AM 52 Folk Songs: white is an album of seasonal songs, recorded between the start of Advent and the end of Epiphany last year. Some are religious, some are songs for cold nights and the turning of the year, and some are both. Unfortunately the album wasn't available for download until February, by which time the moment for Gaudete and the Boar's Head Carol had passed. But its time has come round again, so here it is. The full track listing is: 1. A maiden that is matchless (2:07) 2. The holly and the ivy (1:49) 3. Shepherds arise (3:22) 4. A virgin most pure (4:08) 5. In Dessexshire as it befell (3:34) 6. Poor old horse (5:08) 7. On Ilkley Moor Baht 'At (4:43) 8. Come, love, carolling (Sydney Carter) (2:08) 9. The boar's head carol (1:49) 10. Gaudete (2:49) 11. The King (1:26) 12. In the month of January (4:22) 13. The Moving On song (Seeger/MacColl) (2:44) 14. The January Man (Dave Goulder) (2:33) Tracks 7 and 13 are 'hidden' tracks, which can only be downloaded by downloading the whole album. Tracks 2-4, 9 and 11 have been remixed this time round, to give a better balance between the different vocal tracks. The white album comes with full lyrics, notes on the songs and even the odd picture. Read more here or get the album (and hear individual tracks) here. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 12 Dec 12 - 11:58 AM New Kipling, set to music by Martin Simpson: Four Angels (sung with concertina, one take) New Pete Seeger in French, translated by Graeme Allwright: Jusqu'a la ceinture (with concertina and drums, overdubbed) My voice sounds a bit wobbly on the Kipling - I don't know if I was coming down with a cold or if it was from the effort of having to think about playing at the same time as singing. I like the way the concertina's come out, though - very chapel-harmonium. My French teacher played us "Jusqu'a la ceinture" years ago & we had a big discussion of the political meaning of the song - although we never actually touched on Vietnam, oddly enough! I've always liked it. If you can't understand the French, just think "Waist deep in the Big Muddy" and you'll be more or less there. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: GUEST,CJ Date: 12 Dec 12 - 02:27 PM Been enjoying the Christmas album. Sounds like a joyous yet slightly demented carol session. Funny, if this had been released 35 years ago on a micro label, or Trailer, it'd be seen as some sort of outsider art masterpiece and selling on eBay for £345. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 12 Dec 12 - 04:54 PM "Outsider art masterpiece"! Thanks... I think. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to do some work on the Vivian Girls' latest exploits. I'm up to volume 19... |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: matt milton Date: 13 Dec 12 - 03:47 AM "Funny, if this had been released 35 years ago on a micro label, or Trailer, it'd be seen as some sort of outsider art masterpiece and selling on eBay for £345." Once or twice I've thought it'd be fun (and lucrative) to invent a hoax early 70s psych-folk artist. Write a wikipedia entry. Convince the right blogs. Press up some vinyl, make the sleeve look suitably aged... |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 13 Dec 12 - 09:31 AM You'd need to start with the hard part - the vinyl and the cardboard. (I'm assuming the music wouldn't be a problem!) Online hoaxes have had their day - I don't think anyone believes everything the computer tells them any more. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: GUEST,CS Date: 13 Dec 12 - 10:03 AM Keep up the good work Philpip. I always dip in when I see you post. I need a couple new songs to practice for Xmasyness too.. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 14 Dec 12 - 02:57 PM Let us know next time you've got something new on the Intertubes, CS (still got fond memories of first hearing your Sir Richard). |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Continuity Jones Date: 14 Dec 12 - 03:21 PM "Funny, if this had been released 35 years ago on a micro label, or Trailer, it'd be seen as some sort of outsider art masterpiece and selling on eBay for £345." Once or twice I've thought it'd be fun (and lucrative) to invent a hoax early 70s psych-folk artist. Write a wikipedia entry. Convince the right blogs. Press up some vinyl, make the sleeve look suitably aged... ------------ Did John Fahey not do something similar? Of its time, of course, but did he not place copies of his first releases in blues sections of record stores? Can't quite remember. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 24 Dec 12 - 02:13 PM Just in time for Christmas, the entirely non-festive Orange album is now complete and available for download. Here's the link, and here's what you get. 1 Puck's song (Kipling / Bellamy) (2:38) 2 Sir Richard's song (Kipling / Bellamy) (5:13) 3 Frankie's Trade (Kipling / Bellamy) (2:51) 4 Anchor song (Kipling / Bellamy) (1:59) 5 Follow me 'ome (Kipling / Bellamy) (4:42) 6 Ford o' Kabul River (Kipling / Bellamy) (5:59) 7 Poor honest men (Kipling / Bellamy) (3:09) 8 Big steamers (Kipling / Bellamy) (1:48) 9 Roll down to Rio (Kipling / Bellamy) (2:14) 10 Jusqu'à la ceinture (Seeger / Allwright) (album-only download) (3:59) 11 Queen Jane (Child 170) (3:26) 12 Earl Richard (Child 68) (6:07) 13 Rounding the Horn (3:13) 14 Roll down (Peter Bellamy) (3:38) 15 Dogger Bank (2:11) 16 Come down you bunch of roses (2:45) 17 The trees they do grow high (3:16) 18 Four Angels (Kipling / Simpson) (album-only download) (4:19) All songs traditional except where stated (which is to say, mostly not traditional at all - as you can see, this is my 'Kipling album'). Accompanied mostly on English concertina, with some flute, recorder and drums; a couple of tracks also feature C whistle, zither, improvised percussion and various drones. Like the other downloads in the series, the Orange album comes with a PDF file containing full lyrics, notes and artwork. And, like the other downloads, it has a minimum price set at a symbolic 52p – although you're welcome to pay more! Download 52 Folk Songs – Orange here. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 31 Dec 12 - 12:32 PM Latest extras: The Little Pot Stove and Hob-y-derri-dando. The Little Pot Stove (by Harry Robertson) features live concertina accompaniment and recorder overdubs. Hob-y-derri-dando features Welsh. You can hear them both here. I'll let you know when they're available to download. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 02 Jan 13 - 12:46 PM As we go into 2013, here comes one more - final - 52fs album: 52 Folk Songs - Red Looking back, the white album was seasonal, Blue was mostly Child ballads, Green was love songs, Yellow was death and destruction, and Orange was Kipling/Bellamy. (Violet and Indigo didn't really have themes.) The theme this time round is "since this is the last one, what really good songs have I not managed to fit in so far?" And the answer is: 1 The holland handkerchief (Child 272) 2 Poor murdered woman 3 Geordie (Child 209) 4 Gilderoy 5 Banks of Yarrow 6 The lady gay (Child 79) 7 The scarecrow (Lal and Mike Waterson) 8 Old Molly Metcalfe (Jake Thackray) 9 Queen among the heather 10 Brigg Fair 11 Song composed in August (Robert Burns) 12 When I set off for Turkey 13 The grey goose and gander 14 Who's the fool now? (featuring the Beech singers) 15 A hard rain's a-gonna fall (Bob Dylan) 16 Hob-y-derri-dando (download only) 17 The green cockade 18 General Wolfe 19 Maid on the shore 20 Ballad of accounting (Ewan MacColl) 21 The little pot stove (Harry Robertson) (download only) All songs traditional except where stated. Accompanied mostly on English concertina and recorder; track 12 also includes everything I could lay my hands on, including a defenceless ukulele. Like the other downloads in the series, the Red album comes with a PDF file containing full lyrics, notes and artwork. And, like the other downloads, it has a minimum price set at a symbolic 52p. I'm not sure what's going to happen to the 52 Folk Songs project now, although it does occur to me that we've just started a new calendar year - a period of 52 weeks. Hmm... Watch this space. In the mean time, download 52 Folk Songs - Red here. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 13 Jan 13 - 02:51 PM Here they all are: 52 Folk Songs Not to mention the extra traditional songs I uploaded during the year: 52 Folk Songs: Not Only But Also And the extra contemporary songs: 52 Folk Songs: Not Folk Songs And the extra, er, extras: 52 Folk Songs: The Horse Series Share and enjoy! |
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