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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 26 Feb 12 - 06:02 AM To expand on that last comment, I have had trouble playing stuff on Bandcamp a couple of times, but what I got was a pop-up window saying I need to install the Flash player. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: GUEST,Suibhne Astray Date: 26 Feb 12 - 06:16 AM 52! |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 03 Mar 12 - 06:41 PM 53! Actually I've just uploaded tracks 64-66, featuring folk songs 43-45 or thereabouts (it gets complicated). But this is week 26 - halfway through already! - and only one song can be named Folk Song 26. And it's Mary Hamilton (Child 173), learned from John Kelly's version and set to a different tune in a different time signature. My tune is based on the tune usually used for Willie o' Winsbury. Also this week: John from the Isle of Man, a rarely-heard variant of Willie o' Winsbury (Child 100); and Tom the Barber, a slightly less uncommon variant of the same song. Tom the Barber is sung to a variant of the tune John Kelly uses for Mary Hamilton, symmetrically enough. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 11 Mar 12 - 03:41 PM Three songs for week 27. This is the first week of the 'Green' album, which is going to be an album of love songs. I'm not sure whether they'll all have happy endings, but I've decided that there aren't going to be any deaths. Searching for lambs is a wonderful song. I always 'hear' it mentally in the spacious, other-worldly arrangement on Shirley Collins's "Anthems in Eden" suite. This isn't a copy of that version, but it is inspired by it - and I think there's a pleasantly strange quality about how the instruments combine. Master Kilby is another strange, slow, lovestruck English song, learned from Nic Jones's recording but with words from the version originally collected by Cecil Sharp. Like the previous song, this is a drone-based arrangement, but this time the melodica's supplemented by a vocal drone - a first for me. I rather like the way this one's come out, too. Cupid's Garden, finally, is a song about an eighteenth-century pick-up, one fine day in a London pleasure garden. The penultimate verse, which is unlike the Coppers' version, is from a version collected on the Isle of Wight. No accompaniment. 52 Folk Songs is at http://52folksongs.com. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 17 Mar 12 - 06:37 PM I've put up another three songs for week 28. All of them have lost a certain something over the years, to put it as kindly as possible; it's not always clear what's going on, or even whether the 'Nancy' being talked about is a person or a place. But they're great songs. The streams of lovely Nancy was learnt from John Kelly's recording, although accompanied by drumming rather than harmonium. I went back to broadside versions to get a set of words I was happy with; I was particularly keen to disentangle it from Come all you little streamers, which I think is a completely separate song that just happens to have one identical verse. It's a bit of a mystery all round, not least because neither of them makes any sense at all. Zither and melodica. The banks of the Mossom, finally, is a more conventional song, or at least the remains of one. Nancy appears in this one as both a person and a place. Was going to be unaccompanied; isn't. (Melodica, zither, flute, whistle.) 52 Folk Songs is at http://52folksongs.com. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 26 Mar 12 - 04:27 AM Another three songs for week 29, all traditional & all related to night-visiting. Not all happy endings, but no deaths! One night as I lay on my bed is like a couple of other songs I've put up recently, in that it effectively conveys a sense of being utterly consumed with love (and lust). It's unlike those songs in that it's actually written that way (I was so distressed I could take no rest...). I sing it unaccompanied, following Tony Rose's version. When a man's in love has one of the most beautiful tunes I know. The lyrics, when you listen closely, are a bit less romantic than that tune might lead you to assume; it's more in the area of "When a man's getting tired of waiting". Mostly from Paddy Tunney's version, although I also went back to Sam Henry's Songs of the People (courtesy of Google Books); sung unaccompanied. Out of the window is another from Sam Henry. It gets its rather banal title from what the singer finds when he goes calling on his love. It's related to She Moved Through The Fair, possibly as a precursor; of the two I prefer it. I've never heard anyone else sing this & learned it myself from sheet music. Accompanied on zither. 52 Folk Songs is at http://52folksongs.com. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 01 Apr 12 - 08:54 AM Songs for week 30 up now! I live not where I love: learned from my local singaround (thanks Dave), words modified after checking the broadsides. Accompaniment: file under 'noisy'. Also features a quick burst of Sir John Fenwick's. My bonny boy: learned from Anne Briggs's recording, words modified in a variety of ways. Accompaniment: melodica drone, and I played on my flute (no hollering or whooping, though; not this week). These two are sadder than the last few, but still love songs - and no deaths! 52 Folk Songs is at http://52folksongs.com. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 09 Apr 12 - 06:46 AM Three more songs of love for week 31. Love and heartbreak. Love, sex, heartbreak, betrayal and despair. You know the kind of thing. Once I had a sweetheart is one of the first folk songs I ever heard (thanks, Pentangle) and one of the first I ever sang in public. I'm fairly pleased with what I've done to it here. Features a surprisingly loud zither, multiple melodicas and more than one drum track. When I was in my prime is another one I learned from Pentangle - or rather from Jacqui McShee. I love the way she sang it - unaccompanied, with control and precision, utterly consistent in decoration and with hardly any drama. My version is different. (Accompaniment: flute plus recorder drone. Key: G Dorian.) Lastly, another member of the Seeds of Love/Sprig of Thyme extended family, Jean Redpath's brief but powerful version of Let no man steal your thyme. I went for it a bit on the decoration front on this one. Sung in mid-air, accompanied by the 52 Folk Songs is at http://52folksongs.com. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: johncharles Date: 09 Apr 12 - 08:12 AM Why are there so few comments on this thread? |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 09 Apr 12 - 10:29 AM Damned if I know. Comment away! (But listen to a song or two first.) |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Tootler Date: 09 Apr 12 - 04:04 PM I do listen to your songs, Phil and I am interested in the way you have been developing your accompaniments. I have been doing similar but evolving things in a different way. I have noticed that tune links posted on Mudcat generally don't produce a lot of comments unlike some other forums. Keep going. It's good fun anyway. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 14 Apr 12 - 07:09 PM A mixed bag for week 32: a sad song about a young woman being seduced and abandoned, a funny song about a middle-aged man getting dumped and a song with a happy ending and a misleading beginning. First, Blackwaterside - a song that needs no introduction! It's accompanied on heavily-processed zither and on D whistle (semi-improvised); the arrangement owes a debt of gratitude to Jon Hopkins's work on the album Diamond Mine. NB I trailed this version a couple of days ago, but I've tweaked the sound since then. An outlandish dream is a broadside curiosity: a song of love, class and chastity which seemingly features our old friend the outlandish knight. (Perhaps it's another outlandish knight.) On board the 'Kangaroo' is a song of loss and heartbreak, played for laughs. Learned from the version recorded by Tony Rose, which features a concertina part I can't hope to emulate; I've accompanied it on melodica and whistles instead. 52 Folk Songs is at http://52folksongs.com. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 23 Apr 12 - 05:59 PM Week 33, and we leave the songs of love behind in favour of a few warlike numbers. The valiant sailor (a.k.a. Polly on the shore) is a song from the Napoleonic wars with an interesting narrative standpoint. Sung with concertina (recorded separately - I've only just taken it up), and with thanks to John Kelly (twice over). The Dolphin goes back to an incident in the eighteenth century, involving a ship that wasn't called the Dolphin and didn't sail from Liverpool. Sung with drones and drums, and with thanks to Tony Capstick. (This track is also something of an answer to Sam Lee's contribution to Oak Ash Thorn.) Someone, or more than one someone, has already played both of these all the way through, which is fairly quick work as these things go. Check them out yourself, why don't you. As ever, 52 Folk Songs is at http://52folksongs.com. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 02 May 12 - 02:04 PM Late call for week 34, and some more losses at sea. The lofty tall ship is a surprisingly laconic ballad about an episode in the life of a pirate; it's one remnant of a much longer ballad (one version was clocked at 82 verses), about the sixteenth-century pirate Andrew Barton. Featuring concertina (in drone mode). I've concluded that concertinas give good drone. Lowlands you'll know, although most people seem to sing the chorus a bit differently from me. This is, of course, a song about a haircut; a ghost, heartbreak, seaweed and a haircut. Based quite closely on Shirley Collins's version, and featuring improvised harmonies. As always, 52 Folk Songs is at http://52folksongs.com. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 06 May 12 - 05:31 PM For week 5, here are a couple more songs with sea voyages (or at least trips to the coast) and deaths. And more Bellamy! William Taylor dumps his fiancee to enlist for a sailor (although as far as we can tell he never actually makes it as far as the sea). She's not pleased. The last verse appears to derive from a later, comic version of the song, but I liked it enough to keep it in. Learned from John Kelly's recording; accompanied with drum and zither. The ghost song (a.k.a. The Cruel Ship's Carpenter) is a murder ballad of sorts: another William, also keen to go to sea, kills his (pregnant) fiancee. She's not pleased either. A fairly chunky narrative with an extraordinary tune, learned from Peter Bellamy's version, which itself derived from Sam Larner; sung unaccompanied. As always, 52 Folk Songs is at http://52folksongs.com. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 06 May 12 - 05:32 PM Er, week 35, obviously. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Tootler Date: 07 May 12 - 03:31 PM Two interesting songs. The versions I have heard of William Taylor mostly have him as a soldier which somehow makes more sense. In one version (sung by Jo Freya) the captain even makes the girl a commander over his men for her actions. Some reward for murder!! There's an excellent version of the Cruel Ship's Carpenter in Cecil Sharpe's book of Appalachian folk songs with a very fine modal melody. I learnt it once with concertina accompaniment but the words have not stuck and I have been meaning to relearn it, perhaps using ukulele for accompaniment. I also heard a fine version from a visiting American at a local folk club which did not have the supernatural element, though I think the young man still got his come-uppance. The singer had, I think, collected that version from someone in his home area and commented on the lack of the supernatural element. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Tootler Date: 07 May 12 - 05:28 PM Just checked. The melody for Cruel Ship's Carpenter in Sharpe's book (or, strictly speaking, Sharpe and Karpele's book) is in G Dorian, though I might take it up a tone to Ador for singing with accompaniment. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 08 May 12 - 05:47 PM The melody Bellamy uses for the Ghost Song / CSC (which I followed) sounds as if it's in some peculiar mode, but according to Barfly it's in "C major heptatonic", which is about as un-modal a mode as you can get. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 16 May 12 - 04:35 AM For week 36 I'm staying with violent death and going back to Child ballads. Two pretty boys, a variant of Two brothers (Child 49), is a song about senseless violence. Almost everything in the story is left unexplained, as it often is. Sung unaccompanied (and after Peter Bellamy). I've fought shy of doing Edward (Child 13) in the past, having heard some rather tediously solemn versions. But here it is, with the rather jaunty tune Nic Jones used, and under the name of Son Davie. It's sung with whistle, drums and (briefly) concertina. 52 Folk Songs is at http://52folksongs.com. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 20 May 12 - 03:01 PM Week 37 already - how time flies. Two conscription songs, one old, one new. The lowlands of Holland. is a strange, almost dreamlike song, learned from the version on Martin Carthy's Second Album and sung unaccompanied. I'm a great fan of Peter Blegvad; his Shirt and comb is a contemporary response to conscription songs in general and this song in particular. The original is nothing much like this, partly because I've mangled the tune slightly and partly because I don't play guitar; I've accompanied it on drums, C whistle and English concertina. 52 Folk Songs is at http://52folksongs.com. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 20 May 12 - 03:02 PM That got a bit mangled. "Shirt and comb" is a contemporary response to conscription songs in general and "The lowlands of Holland" in particular. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: GUEST,Suibhne Astray Date: 20 May 12 - 03:46 PM and English concertina. New toy?? |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 20 May 12 - 04:02 PM Ho yes. Proceeds of eBaying some old vynil - Aphex Twin seems to sell particularly well. It's a beautiful instrument - possibly the best thing I've ever bought. Still can't really play the damn thing - but I'm learning, & more importantly playing, in both senses of the word. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Tootler Date: 20 May 12 - 04:42 PM Your concertina playing sounds to be coming along nicely, Phil. Keep it up. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: GUEST,Suibhne Astray Date: 20 May 12 - 04:59 PM So what is it? Do tell... |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 20 May 12 - 06:18 PM Second-hand Lachenal tutor (black accidentals, red Cs), bought from J. Carroll of this parish; probably about 100 years old but with pads, valves & bellows replaced about 25-30 years ago. Apparently some reeds are steel and some brass; I don't know which are which, but the bottom octave (from G below middle C up) is beautifully throaty. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: GUEST,Suibhne Astray Date: 20 May 12 - 06:30 PM Sounds the very pip. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 27 May 12 - 06:24 PM Week 38, and three more conscription songs. Far the most sentimental - and the most "written"-sounding - is I would that the wars were all done; I just love the refrain. Accompaniment: two-note concertina chords and recorder. High Germanie continues the recent sub-theme of sketchy European geography. I followed Pentangle in this version, perhaps too closely; I might try taking it more slowly another time. The weary cutters, lastly, is a short, sad song, sung by a mother whose son has been conscripted ("They've pressed him far away foreign"). Thanks to Steeleye Span, I've known this one for yonks, and I find I'm fonder of it than I realised. Sung with (self-composed) harmonies. 52 Folk Songs is at http://52folksongs.com. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Tootler Date: 28 May 12 - 02:57 PM All Things are Quite Silent is a very similar song to the Lowlands of Holland with a young man being press ganged away from his marriage bed. I have a superb version by Jo Freya which has a lovely counter melody played on recorder. Worth tracking down. If you're interested, I can give you the details of the CD (which is excellent overall) The words are in the digital tradition and were sourced from the Penguin Book of English Folk Song. Away to consult mine for the dots. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 03 Jun 12 - 05:53 PM Week 39 - three-quarters of the way through the year - and it's "broken token" week at 52fs. The dark-eyed sailor is a 3/4 arrangement based distantly on Tony Rose's version, accompanied on concertina and much else. Sweet Jenny of the moor, a more 'literary' variant on the same theme, is based more directly on Tony Rose's version; just concertina, with a bit of whistle thrown in at the end. 52 Folk Songs is at http://52folksongs.com. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 08 Jun 12 - 06:45 PM Here's a quick plug for Fifty-Two Folk Songs: the Green Album, my latest collection of songs. 1 Searching for lambs (3:24) 2 Master Kilby (2:54) 3 The banks of the Mossom (3:01) 4 The streams of lovely Nancy (2:04) 5 Come all you little streamers (2:15) 6 One night as I lay on my bed (2:35) 7 When a man's in love (4:16) 8 Out of the window (3:02) 9 Cupid's Garden (2:45) 10 On board the 'Kangaroo' (3:38) 11 The outlandish dream (2:18) 12 I live not where I love (4:35) 13 As I was a-wandering (3:27) 14 Once I had a sweetheart (3:28) 15 My bonny boy (4:36) 16 When I was in my prime (3:48) 17 Let no man steal your thyme (1:55) 18 Blackwaterside (3:46) 19 Rosemary Lane (3:20) 20 Box 25/4 Lid (Ratledge/Hopper) (0:51) Six songs sung unaccompanied – after Tony Rose and John Kelly, among others – plus thirteen with accompaniment and one contemporary jazz piece(!). They're all love songs – or, at worst, heartbreak and unwanted pregnancy songs – and nobody dies. There's flute (My bonny boy) and recorder (I live not where I love), as well as melodica (On board the 'Kangaroo') and a surprisingly loud zither (Once I had a sweetheart). Then there are melodica drones (all over the place) as well as a flute drone (The banks of the Mossom), a recorder drone (When I was in my prime) and a vocal drone (Master Kilby). There's an arrangement that's heavily indebted to Jon Hopkins (Blackwaterside), another arrangement which I liked so much that I used it twice, and another that features the sound of a zither being simultaneously plucked and dropped onto a hard surface. (It survived.) And there's an old Soft Machine number arranged for melodica, whistle and zither. There's even a bit of concertina (Rosemary Lane). Yours to download for a nominal (Paypal) charge, from here - and there's more information here. Coming soon: the Yellow album (lots of senseless violence and lots of concertina). And, starting tomorrow, the Orange album: it'll be big on Bellamy and big on Kipling, and it'll almost certainly be big on concertina too. 52 Folk Songs is, comme d'habitude, at http://52folksongs.com. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 10 Jun 12 - 07:24 AM Also, extras! Fifty-Two Folk Songs: the Green Album includes three tracks that weren't featured in the weekly posts. They are: Rosemary Lane was mandatory for any album of songs about heartbreak and unwanted pregnancy. Drums, zither, melodica drone and a bit of concertina. As I was a-wandering I picked up from John Kelly's album For honour and promotion. It may or may not be by Burns; either way it's a fine song. Box 25/4 Lid (not a folk song) finishes things off with a bit of angular bass clank (supplied here by the trusty zither). I wanted to know how far I could take the digital processing of the sounds of a few innocuous acoustic instruments. And now, I know. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 12 Jun 12 - 02:47 AM Week 40, and the next few weeks are going to feature Peter Bellamy's settings of Kipling quite heavily. Traditional songs will also feature! Queen Jane is a strange and moving piece of folk history; the story it tells must already have been a couple of centuries old when the song was written. Backing is heavy on the woodwinds (flute drone!). Puck's song: Kipling lays out his map of the deep history of England - all the way back to "the lines the Flint Men made to guard their wondrous towns". In terms of accompaniment, this one starts out fairly straightforward and gets a bit "weird" as it develops. There is concertina; there are bees. 52 Folk Songs is, as ever, at http://52folksongs.com. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 17 Jun 12 - 05:40 PM What's new at 52 Folk Songs? I hear you cry. It's week 41, and we continue the Kipling-and-others theme with two songs about Richards. Earl Richard is more widely known as Young Hunting, although the main character has several different names in different variants of the original ballad (Child 68). The plot is both familiar (boy meets girl, everybody dies) and very strange. The accompaniment consists mainly of drones of various origins. Sir Richard's song is another of Kipling's hymns to England, this one spoken by a Norman knight who had fallen in love with the country after falling in love with an English woman. (Sex first, then patriotism.) The tune, the arrangement and the delivery are very largely taken from Peter Bellamy, who liked this song enough to record it twice. As far as I'm aware he never accompanied it on zither, though. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 25 Jun 12 - 06:08 PM Week 42's songs at 52fs were delayed owing to football; watching a nil-nil draw settled on penalties after two full hours of play somehow seemed like a much better idea than putting the finishing touches to this week's songs. I don't know what I was thinking of; it won't happen again. There are three thematically-linked songs this week, one traditional and two by Kipling and Bellamy; they're all sea songs, and they all focus on South America in particular. Rounding the Horn - a.k.a. The gallant frigate Amphitrite - makes rounding the Horn sound like a thoroughly good idea, as long as you don't get lost on the way (or fed to the sharks). Accompaniment: drums, recorder, English concertina. Frankie's trade is Bellamy's take on Kipling in praise of Francis Drake, and by extension in praise of English seamanship and England in general. The idea seems to be that Drake could never have been the seaman he was if he hadn't cut his teeth as a marauder across the cold North Sea. I haven't got any particular opinion on Francis Drake myself, but I defy anyone not to get a bit patriotic towards the end. Roll down to Rio, lastly, is a jokey, dreamy little poem from the Just-So Stories, accompanied here on English concertina - not to be confused with Jon Boden's version (accompanied on Maccann duet) or Bellamy's original (with his trusty Anglo). 52 Folk Songs will be on time next week, and it will still be at http://52folksongs.com. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Tootler Date: 25 Jun 12 - 06:49 PM An excellent set, Phil. You're getting a bit good at this overdubbing game. I seem to be going the other way. The last few I've done have just been with my video camera's built in mic, though it has quite a decent condenser mic built in so the results are not bad. Sometimes simple is best. I like to do the Gallant Frigate Amphitrite unaccompanied, it seems to suit it. Anyway if you're doing songs at the Wilson's club, you'd better do them unaccompanied [grin]. Tom had a dig at me last Thursday for using my uke to accompany songs. All good natured really, but it is that sort of club. I tried accompanying GFA with my Anglo but it didn't work out. I've not tried the uke yet but I'm not really tempted just now. Nice simple concertina accompaniment on Roll Down to Rio. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 26 Jun 12 - 03:13 AM Cheers! I'm still feeling my way with chords (I was pleased with 'Rio'). The chords on Rounding the Horn sounded right all the while I was recording them, then sounded wrong the first time I listened to it back online - not discordant, just not necessarily the most appropriate chords. I worked them out by humming the notes that seemed to go under each line (a basic bass line), then fitting chords around them; the bass line went G-A-G-D (lines 1 and 4) D-A-G (lines 2 and 3) and the song was in G, so I used the chords of G, A minor and D. Trouble is, for any of those bass notes there are three possible chords, and the permutations get horrendous! I suspect this is the kind of thing that gets a lot easier with practice. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: GUEST,Blandiver Date: 26 Jun 12 - 05:04 AM Frankie's Trade is an interesting poem on various fronts &, like many of Bellamy's Kipling settings, seems well ensconced in the Three Corners of the English Colonial Folk Canon with fine versions coming from Australia (Margaret Walters) & America (Innumerable) too. For me, Jon Boden's take on OAK ASK THORN is now definitive of the piece as a whole (easily superceding the original) and whilst we had a crack at it as part of our Kipling:Bellamy show at the Fylde last year it hasn't survived in our general repertoire*. Why? God knows because learning it didn't come easy (not for me) & I used to love singing it, and found a perfect illustrated counterpart for the piece in my precious copy of the 1955 Dandy Book** in the form of Young Frankie Drake. Indeed, I actually sang Young Frankie Drake in an open coaster to scan that awkward line in the third stanza which always requires an extra foot or so to make it singable (I see your version is no exception!). I've even heard it introduced at singarounds as 'a traditional shanty about Francis Drake'; when disavowed of this somewhat silly notion the culprit said he'd never heard of Peter Bellamy, and had no idea Kipling wrote Idiomatic Folk Songs, which was fair enough really, allowing that in any largely oral musical context songs remain unsigned leading to all sorts of wonky folk-theorising. Anyway, worth noting that Frankie's Trade was one of the cornerstones of Bellamy's Kipling thesis and (according to him) the tune derives from Blood Red Roses. It's a salty contrivance in the best jingoistic style that I could have sworn I once heard in a maritime medley sung by The Cliff Adams Singers. Is that likely? Or is there another setting I wonder? For sure there are lots of fine Kipling settings that pre-dates the invention of 'Folk' - look on YouTube for Peter Dawson's Smuggler's Song for a real taste of Olde England. Now if only such a recording of Frankie's Trade existed... Jack Blandiver (The Mudcatter still known as Suibhne O'Piobaireachd until Joe Offer gets round to honouring my request for a name change). * Kipling:Bellamy-wise in recent gigs we've been featuring Heffle Cuckoo Fair in our new folk-unfriendly weirdlore arrangement (see HERE) & Harp Song of the Dane Women continues to evolve whilst in sessions we regularly do things like Astologer's Song, Sir Richard, The Land, Way Through the Woods and Smugglers' Song. Sadly, I note that sadly Midsummer came & went without our usual rendering of A Tree Song... ** One year out! |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 26 Jun 12 - 05:56 AM Sir Richard used to be one of my favourite Kipling/Bellamy compositions, partly because of how gentle and un-Bellamy-like his delivery was on Oak, Ash and Thorn. Some time later I heard his re-recording on KOK - which sounds more like him & is even better. Not sure what that proves! (Here is my take on it.) |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: GUEST,Blandiver Date: 26 Jun 12 - 06:22 AM I must admit I do love Bellamy's tender side; came out again on Devil Got Your Man on his EFDSS album Second Wind. My favourite Sir Richard was Sally Bee's (Crow Sister) by several country miles. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 26 Jun 12 - 08:35 AM Her version is very good indeed, 'tis true. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Tootler Date: 26 Jun 12 - 07:42 PM Dick Miles (GSS) sings the Gallant Frigate Amphitrite. I can't remember whether he accompanies himself or not, but I'm sure if you PM him he will let you know if he does and what chords he uses. His online persona may be a somewhat quirky, but at a personal level he is very helpful. Your choice of chords is reasonable but as it's a mixolydian mode tune, you may find a VII - I (C-D in this case) progression works well at important cadences and sometimes, depending on notes in the melody, you can find an A chord instead of Am can work (or leave out the third so the chord is ambiguous). I used A rather than Am with Old Man from Lee at the end of the "Eh but I'll not have him" line. That's D-dorian rather than D-mixolydian but the same principal applies. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 02 Jul 12 - 07:42 AM Week 43 brings more nautical songs; there's an original composition by Peter Bellamy and another of his settings of Kipling. As well as Bellamy and Kipling, this week I'm in the footsteps of Bert Lloyd, Cyril Tawney and Mudcat's own Gibb Sahib. Come down you bunch of roses is the shanty which is now much better known as "Blood red roses"; credit for this goes, apparently, to Bert Lloyd. Thanks to Gibb Sahib for some excellent archaeology and arrangement on this one. My version is sung in two-part harmony, accompanied by domestic percussion. Anchor song is a two-minute blast of sailor-speak from Kipling, set to music by Bellamy. Not easy to follow if you don't know the lingo – and not at all easy to learn – but fun. Roll down is one of Bellamy's chameleon-like impressions of traditional song from the Transports, this one in the form of a shanty (led by Tawney on the 1977 recording). Voices only, but lots of 'em. 52 Folk Songs is at http://www.52folksongs.com. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 09 Jul 12 - 03:39 AM Still on the Bellamy/Kipling trail for week 44, this time focusing on two songs about the grief of losing a friend. This isn't an emotion which crops up a lot in traditional song, so for this week's traditional song I went for bereavement. All good fun for a Monday morning, eh? The trees they do grow highThis is one of my very favourite songs, traditional or otherwise; I'm particularly fond of this version, which I learned from Tony Rose's recording. Sung and played in the open air, in one take (with some editing). This week's two Kiplings share the same central situation: two men are in the army, one is killed and the other is… well, 'heartbroken' seems the only word. I think you can see a gay subtext there if you want to - or not if you don't. Either way, both these songs tenderly and accurately portray the pain of losing a beloved close friend. Follow me 'ome is a light, bantering song, at least to begin with; there's a military funeral about to begin, and the speaker's telling his mates (not all of whom know or care) why he wants them to attend it with him. The jolly, bustling refrain - a Kipling speciality - contrasts very effectively with the lonely grief with which the song ends. Accompanied on English concertina, based loosely on Bellamy's anglo accompaniment. Ford o' Kabul River has a very different mood, which I've accentuated by slowing it down and adding some splashy percussion (see also last week's shanty). Grief predominates from the start. Again, the effect of the refrain is more complex than you might have expected. By the end of this song, the nagging repetitions of the same few words (mostly consisting of the title) take on an oppressive, nightmarish quality: in his mind, you feel, the speaker is still there, by the ford of Kabul river in the dark, and perhaps always will be. Brace up - I'll find something cheerful for next week, possibly. 52 Folk Songs is at http://www.52folksongs.com. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 15 Jul 12 - 09:42 AM Three more maritime songs for week 45. Dogger Bank is a traditional song that escaped from the music-hall and went native. It's rapid-fire nautical nonsense, with no real artistic merits except that it sounds good and it's fun to sing. Which isn't nothing. Then, two more Bellamy/Kiplings. Poor honest men is a kind of rhetorical exercise in pushing irony until it snaps. It's accompanied here on concertina and drums. Big steamers is a Young Person's Guide to British Imperialism, starting from the question of where your bread and butter come from; you could write something similar these days and call it Food Miles. 52 Folk Songs is at http://www.52folksongs.com. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 22 Jul 12 - 06:06 PM Week 46 and we're into the home stretch: the Red album which will bring 52fs to a close. After the Violet album (starting up) and Indigo (getting going), we've had Blue (Child ballads), white (winter songs), Green (love songs - nobody dies), Yellow (war songs - everyone dies) and Orange (Kipling/Bellamy). The theme for this last set of songs is simpler: these are songs I like too much to leave out. We begin with two songs about ghostly - but curiously substantial - apparitions. The holland handkerchief is a wonderful and mysterious song with a heartbreaking story. It may also be the only Child ballad with a punchline. Accompaniment: English concertina, but don't ask me what all the chords are. The lady gay is an American variant of The wife of Usher's Well; this text comes from a performance by Peter Blegvad. A dark and chilly song. Accompaniment: English concertina, foot on wood floor. Next week, ukulele, with any luck. For a few weeks more, 52 Folk Songs is at http://www.52folksongs.com. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 01 Aug 12 - 03:27 AM Week 47, slightly delayed, and I continue the cheery, life-affirming mood so characteristic of folk songs with two songs about dead bodies. The poor murdered woman is a straightforward account of a true story (Leatherhead, January 1834), bizarrely characterised by Martin Carthy as a 'non-event'. It's true that there isn't much in the way of plot, but I'd still call it an event. The scarecrow is one of Lal Waterson's strangest and darkest songs, which is saying something. Lal and Mike, I should say - Mike (who sang it on Bright Phoebus) added the third verse to Lal's first two, turning a painfully morbid near-hallucination into a song. 52 Folk Songs is at http://www.52folksongs.com. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 06 Aug 12 - 05:30 PM Week 48 - not long now! Things are looking up a bit after last week, with some songs about love and death. I uploaded these recordings on the 5th of August; the lead song for this week could only be Brigg Fair. It's sung here with a bit of contemporary ambient sound, including a brief excerpt from an everyday story of country folk. General Wolfe is a song I already knew, but fell in love all over again on hearing Jo Freya's Traditional Songs of England (reviewed here). Much concertina here, although the chords eluded me to the last and I went for drones instead. The green cockade is a Cornish version of a widespread enlistment song (other colours of cockade are available). Much concertina here too, and this time I did work out the chords. Again, the credit for my renewed interest in this one goes to Jo Freya's beautifully realised version. As well as concertina, all three of these songs feature recorder: specifically, a maple Moeck recorder which I acquired recently. It's a 'school' model, so not a high-end instrument, but it's got a lovely tone; it's entirely displaced my old Aulos and is well on the way to supplanting my Tony Dixon D whistle. My "concertina and recorder" period begins! 52 Folk Songs is at http://www.52folksongs.com. To download the albums, go to philedwards.bandcamp.com. |
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Subject: RE: Fifty-Two Folk Songs From: Phil Edwards Date: 09 Aug 12 - 06:16 PM 100! Three unaccompanied songs for week 49 - just for a change - and all of them on a moorland theme. Queen among the heather is a slightly romanticised account of a socially awkward encounter on the Scottish moors; a popular theme, to judge from the number of variants that exist (e.g. "Down the moor", "Skippin' barfit through the heather"). Now westlin winds is one of Robert Burns's most beautiful poems (a.k.a. "Song composed in August"); all about love and nature and bloodsports (he's in favour of two of these). Call it a topical song (it's not the 12th yet, but it soon will be). Jake Thackray's Old Molly Metcalfe is about someone else you might meet on the moors; her story doesn't end well. 52 Folk Songs is at http://www.52folksongs.com. To download the albums, go to philedwards.bandcamp.com. |
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