The songs Bob Copper collected-available?

Subject: RE: The songs Bob Copper collected-available?
From: Kevin Sheils
Date: 15 Nov 05 - 05:16 AM

Played the Enos White track on my Resonance FM show a few weeks back, a fine version. I'm sure that more of Bob's collection are on VotP and the old Caedmon/Topic series than we imagine. It's not easy to check without going through every booklet. I could ask Reg Hall if he knows the detail when I next speak to him.

Subject: RE: The songs Bob Copper collected-available?
From: yrlancslad
Date: 14 Nov 05 - 12:54 PM

Thanks chaps, I have several of the old Caedmon/Topic albums and a couple of the VotP CDs but the only one available to me right now is VotP vol. 2. I did find Turp Brown on there though singing Streams of Lovely Nancy, really nice to hear him sing just after reading about him in Bobs book. I look forward to finding more when I get back to my collection

Subject: RE: The songs Bob Copper collected-available?
From: GUEST,DB
Date: 14 Nov 05 - 04:33 AM

Bob Copper did indeed collect some extraordinary stuff. I think that his talents as a collector were somewhat overshadowed by his participation in his remarkable family tradition.
My favourite among those recordings of his, that I have heard, has to be the Hampshire singer, Enos White singing 'George Collins' ('Voice of the People' vol. 3). To my knowledge this has been released commercially at least twice (it's also on the Caedmon/Topic set, 'Folk Songs of Britain') yet it seems curiously neglected and unremarked upon. It is very high up in my top ten of recorded performances of English trad. songs.
Also on the same list would be another of Mr Copper's collections: Ben Butcher (also of Hampshire) singing 'Cruel Lincoln' (a version of the ballad, 'Lamkin'). This latter recording is also on VotP vol. 3.

Subject: RE: The songs Bob Copper collected-available?
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 14 Nov 05 - 12:16 AM

The Topic LP Songs and Southern Breezes (12T317; 1976 or 1967, I think) contained some of those recordings, but has been out of print for some time. Track list is at http://www.mustrad.org.uk/discos/discog.htm. Some are included in Topic's Voice of the People series, and some are available on various folktrax anthologies (presumably by permission).

As for future plans, you would need to ask the BBC about that.

Subject: The songs Bob Copper collected-available
From: yrlancslad
Date: 13 Nov 05 - 11:32 PM

I've just been re-reading "Songs and Southern Breezes" by Bob Copper, the story of his song collecting efforts on behalf of the BBC in Southern England in the early '50s and since it was all captured on tape I wondered if it had ever been made available to the general public, e.g. as an album or even a CD, or whether these great old songs and singers continue to molder away in the basement of Bush House or somewhere similar. Can anyone enlighten me? And is there any chance at all of getting them published in aural form( the words and music are set down in Bob's book)as it would be wonderful to hear the original recordings however poor the quality?