Stage Names in uk folk revival

Subject: Stage Names in uk folk revival
From: The Sandman
Date: 02 Oct 26 - 02:35 AM

A number of performers have given themselves stage names, and on occasions they have been criticised for it.
Is it of paramount importance, surely their music is more important than a name image?
on the other hand, is not name image more appropriate for the pop world.
Ewan MacColl, is a case in point, the original Ewan was a scottish poet,
However the singer songwriter, the second Ewan[ has arguably] left a more memorable repertoire. and made a memorable contribution to the uk folk revival,
Then there are the 2 SONNY BOY WILLAMSONS, Johnny Handle. what is in the image of a name
And how successful would a performer called Joe Bloggs be, Regardless of his performances.
how important is a stage name for a group, for example if you came from Buckingham, and were named The Bodgers, would your career take off, even if your music was good

Subject: RE: Stage Names in uk folk revival
From: The Sandman
Date: 02 Oct 26 - 03:15 AM

I think MacColls songs were so good, they would have been taken up regardless of name change.

Subject: RE: Stage Names in uk folk revival
From: GUEST,Sean O'Shea
Date: 02 Oct 26 - 04:18 AM

What is the point in this vacuous thread?

Subject: RE: Stage Names in uk folk revival
From: weerover
Date: 02 Oct 26 - 05:23 AM

Sean, you answer your own question by including the word "vacuous".

Subject: RE: Stage Names in uk folk revival
From: GUEST,Ray
Date: 02 Oct 26 - 06:57 AM

I don’t think Harry Webb, Marion Morrison or Mike Bray would have had the same ring as their alter egos.

Subject: RE: Stage Names in uk folk revival
From: The Sandman
Date: 02 Oct 26 - 07:40 AM

The same applies to Bob Dylan, a smart career move on his part,with its association with Dylan Thomas, it has an association with a celebrated Poet that Zimmerman does not

Subject: RE: Stage Names in uk folk revival
From: Sol
Date: 02 Oct 26 - 08:35 AM

"A rose by any other name would smell as sweat" (sic) ;-)

Some famous UK name-changers from the 50/60s

Thomas Hicks (Tommy Steele)
Terence Perkins (Craig Douglas)
Terence Nelham-Wright (Adam Faith)
Ronald Wycherley (Billy Fury)
Reginald Smith (Marty Wilde)

Anybody recognise this band?
Brian Rankin
Bruce Cripps
Terence Harris
Daniel Meehan

Subject: RE: Stage Names in uk folk revival
From: SRD
Date: 02 Oct 26 - 08:48 AM

sol too easy, how about Chris Sugden and Dick Nudds?

Subject: RE: Stage Names in uk folk revival
From: Nick Dow
Date: 02 Oct 26 - 09:08 AM

I stuck with my stepfather's name because I thought nobody would be able to spell my birth father's name (Szrodecki).. Then along came Cohen to make me a liar. Dow has three letters, but you would be amazed how many people misspell it!

Subject: RE: Stage Names in uk folk revival
From: Reinhard
Date: 02 Oct 26 - 09:27 AM

Jo Fraser of the Old Swan Band changed her name to Jo Freya as a condition of joining the actors' union Equity, which does not allow two of its members to share the same name.

Subject: RE: Stage Names in uk folk revival
From: GUEST,M Siirdewaye
Date: 02 Oct 26 - 10:12 AM

I think stage names could be very helpful for privacy and anonymity. If you are well known it provides an extra barrier to bold strangers who might wish to look you up in the phone book or parcel map.

Subject: RE: Stage Names in uk folk revival
From: FreddyHeadey
Date: 02 Oct 26 - 11:28 AM

EWAN MACCOLL - James Henry Miller 1915 - 1989
"In 1945, Miller changed his name to Ewan MacColl (influenced by the Lallans movement in Scotland)."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ewan_MacColl


JASPER CARROTT - Robert Norman Davis b1945
"He acquired the nickname Jasper aged nine and added the surname Carrott when he was 17."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jasper_Carrott


HENRY KIPPER - Dick Nudds
"The Kipper Family was a two-man novelty English folk group, performed as Sid Kipper and his father Henry, supposedly recently discovered traditional folk singers from Norfolk, in reality played by Chris Sugden (as Sid Kipper) and Dick Nudds (as Henry Kipper).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kipper_Family


JIM MORAY - Doug Oates b1981
"As I understand the situation - Doug Oates changed his name to Jim Moray because his sister, Jackie Oates, and he applied to be BBC Young Folk Artist of the year when the rules stated that siblings should not apply in the same year."
https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=156514#3689225
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Moray


JO FREYA - Jo Fraser b1960
",,,changed her name to Jo Freya as a condition of joining the actors' union Equity, which does not allow two of its members to share the same name.
She performs mainly folk music and world music and is part of the bands Blowzabella, Old Swan Band and Token Women, as well as performing and / or recording with Lal Waterson, Pete Morton, Maalstroom, and with her sister, Fi Fraser."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo_Freya


JOHNNY HANDLE - John Alan Pandrich b1935
"At school he had been nicknamed 'Panhandle', because of his interest in prospecting and geology, an interest which led him into coal-mining. After leaving school this was shortened to 'Handle' as, so Johnny says, recognition of his changed status. His true name has remained with him in the National Coal Board in which he eventually became a mining surveyor. But to people outside the pits he is still known as Johnny Handle."
www.theballadeers.com/morefolk/mf_handlejohnny.htm
&
www.efdss.org/images/present/Docs/Goldbadge/Johnny%20Handle%20Gold%20Badge%20Citations%20scanned%20from%20EDS.pdf


JOHN MARTYN - Iain David McGeachy b1948 - 2009
",,, a British singer-songwriter and guitarist. Over a 40-year career, he released 23 studio albums and received frequent critical acclaim. The Times described him as "an electrifying guitarist and singer whose music blurred the boundaries between folk, jazz, rock and blues"."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Martyn


RALPH McTELL - Ralph May b1944
"McTell modelled his guitar style on American country blues guitar players of the early 20th century, including Blind Blake, Robert Johnson and Blind Willie McTell.
These influences led a friend to suggest his professional surname."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_McTell


SID KIPPER - Chris Sugden 1952 - 2024
",,, an English humorist from Norfolk, best known for his portrayal of fictional folk singer , the younger half of the Kipper Family. He authored books including Prewd and Prejudice: A Norfolk Exile, a satire of The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Sugden


SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON I - John Lee Curtis Williamson 1914-1948
",,,born outside Jackson, Tennessee and made his career in Chicago, recording hundreds of sides spanning a decade as a solo artist and as a sideman starting in 1937. His most famous song, “Good Morning, School Girl” became a blues standard, and his harmonica playing influenced countless blues players.
Williamson was murdered in a robbery as he was heading home from a gig at Chicago’s Plantation Club."
&
SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON II - Alex Miller (1912 - 1965)
"born in Glendora, Mississippi. Known variously as Aleck Miller, Rice Miller, Willie Williamson, and other names (possibly because of evading the law and obfuscating his story to interviewers he didn’t want prying into his personal life), he took the name Sonny Boy Williamson to capitalize on the name recognition of John Lee’s successful recording career.
Though from Mississippi, he is most associated with Helena, Arkansas, where he regularly performed on the King Biscuit Time radio program.
His recordings for the Trumpet and Checker labels have become some of the most iconic blues harmonica recordings. He made a huge impact on 1960s British rock bands The Yardbirds, The Animals, and more."   
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/exhibit/university-collections/bring-it-on-home/a-tale-of-two-sonny-boy-williamsons/


STANLEY ACCRINGTON - Mike Bray b1951
"Despite having written songs throughout the 70s, Accrington did not perform in public until August 1979 when he appeared at a folk club in Stalybridge, Lancashire.
,,,, Accrington gave up his job on the railways (he had been the last station-master at Rochdale station) to commit himself fully to a musical career. His songs, although amusing, often have a message. ,,, His main asset is a satirical, Lancastrian sense of humour, yet, underneath, he is a serious songwriter who cares deeply about social issues."
www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780195313734.001.0001/acref-9780195313734-e-67