The great
traditional ballads are storytelling at its dark, urgent best and
the greatest exponent of this folk art was Ewan MacColl. Traditional
narrative ballads are at the centre of the British Folk Tradition.
They told stories which helped define the English and Scottish national
characters; stories about murder and intrigue, love and discord
on both the epic and domestic scale, but stories that told us about
ourselves.
Ewan MacColl was the folk revival's greatest proponent of the ballad;
ballads were central to his conception of the folk revival and at
the core of his recordings and performances. His commitment showed
in his performances, where the story was everything. No one who
ever witnessed him performing one of the great ballads live will
ever forget it. "Ballads: Murder, Intrigue, Love, Discord"
is a great selection of performances originally released in 1956
and never before on CD. This beautiful double CD is lovingly remastered
and packaged in a slipcase with a 64 page booklet with extensive
notes and full texts of all the songs.
• "An unmissable collection
celebrating the man's interpretative genius
" Uncut
• "Majestic – the
intensity, power, drive and drama of these performances are undiminished"
Songlines
•
Record Collector
• "This lovingly compiled
double disc of previously unreleased [on CD] material, with its
richly detailed booklet, provides both a fascinating archive and
an authentic naked plunge into the deep wellspring of traditional
song" Acoustic
• "Essential, exciting
listening" Taplas
• "Extraordinary stuff"
Stirrings
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