From her first recording June Tabor demonstrated a mature command of traditional and contemporary songs alike, singing them, often unaccompanied, with remarkable individuality and expressiveness. The emotions and meanings she uncovers in the old songs give them a new resonance that has caught the imagination of audiences far beyond the folk scene. • "Tabor is as fine a vocalist as Britain has produced. Supremely talented and blessed with a dazzling voice." Financial Times • "Tabor has been a folk legend for four decades. You leave her concerts enriched – they don’t do it better than this" Independent • BBC Folk Singer Of The Year awarded
to June Tabor BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards
2004 Celtic Connections 2008 To see photos from the event featuring June Tabor, please click here To read a related Sunday Herald article, please click here |
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CD : A
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CD : C
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** - previously unreleased recording
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The Great Valerio 2 I Wonder What's Keeping My True Love Tonight? 3 No Good At Love 4 Bentley & Craig 5 The Fiddler 6 April Morning 7 Di Nakht 8 The Fair Maid of Islington / Under the Greenwood Tree 9 Go From My Window 10 A Proper Sort of Gardener 11 Johnny o'Bredislee / Glory of the West 12 Shallow Brown |
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Blood & Gold / Mohacs |
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The Old Man's Song (Don Quixote) 2 Searching for Lambs 3 The Banks of Red Roses 4 Where are You Tonight, I Wonder? 5 Aqaba 6 Bogies Bonnie Belle 7 The Reaper 8 Verdi Cries 9 The Grazier's Daughter 10 Seven Summers 11Mayn Rue Platz 12 The King of Rome |
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The Month of January 2 The Scarecrow 3 One Night as I Lay on My Bed 4 She Moves Among Men (The Bar Maid's Song) 5 Lay This Body Down 6 A Smiling Shore 7 The Bonny Boy 8 I Never Thought My Love Would Leave Me 9 The Bonny Hind 10 The Fiddle & the Drum |
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Admiral Benbow 2 Davy Lowston 3 Flash Company 4 Number Two Top Seam 5 Strange Affair 6 Heather Down on the Moor 7 Joe Peel 8 Le Roi Renaud 9 Riding Down to Portsmouth 10 Unicorns |
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Reynard the Fox 2 The Devil & Bailiff McGlynn 3 Streets of Forbes 4 Lord Maxwell's Last Goodnight 5 Now I'm Easy 6 Clerk Saunders 7 The Earl of Aboyne 8 Lisbon 9 The Easter Tree 10 Cold & Raw 11a No Man's Land 11b. Flowers of the Forest |
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While Gamekeepers Lie Sleeping 2 Plains of Waterloo 3 Bonny May 4 Reynardine 5 The Band Played Waltzing Matilda 6 Young Waters 7 Waly Waly 8 The Merchant's Son 9 Queen Among the Heather 10 Pull Down Lads |
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TSCD568 "Apples" • "Tabor sings magnificently on her return to an album of predominantly folk song. Her true brilliance is exacting seismic levels of emotion from seemingly basic material." fRoots • "The defining voice of English traditional music for nigh
on forty years, June Tabor is a benchmark for quality. Her spellbinding
vocals, crystal clear, strong and true, and unerring ear for the best
in both traditional and contemporary songs remain supreme. Apples is
a stunning record, a brilliant example of Tabor's artistry." • "There's been a run of superlative albums from June Tabor over the last few years - 'An Echo of Hooves' and 'At The Woods Heart' were both striking releases and 'Apples' marks a third classic collection from the heart of the English lyrical and musical tradition. With a commanding stage presence and a voice that reaches deep inside your heary, there's no one else like Tabor. Music of great beauty. 'The Dancing' - a powerfully moving opening to a great album." Songlines "Every bit as mouth-watering as
you hoped it would be. June sounds transformed and there’s a lightness
in her touch we haven’t heard for a long time. The Dancing is
a stunning opening which immediately grabs you and keeps you there throughout
the rest of the album. Her understated performance of Lester Simpson’s
shudderingly powerful anti-war song Standing in Line merits comparison
with her classic recording of No Man’s Land……at her
simmering best on another great traditional song, The Rigs of Rye. Ultimately
she re-emerges as one of the great song interpreters on an album that
puts her squarely back in the folk field." fRoots • "Unquestionably one of her most intensely satisfying collections. This new album is a tapestry of light and shade, with a good share of uptempo material..... Another standout performance comes with the expressive eloquence that she brings to Speak Easy (and I marvel at Mark Emerson's really special piano part here - a model of subtlety and unobtrusive reflection). The latter is rivalled by June's unsurpassable interpretation of Lester Simpson's Standing in Line - if this dousn't get nominated for track of the year in next year's Folk Awards, there's no justice. June's singing is peerless, precise yet not precious and careful, yet never is any way unresponsive - a uniformly mesmerising and utterly coherent album." Netrythms • "If anything, the richness
of her voice and ability to get under the skin of the song has deepened
with the passing years." • "This is about as good as June Tabor record gets – her voice is full of emotion – her deep understanding of the tradition of British folk imbues every song with a real timelessness." Sydney Morning Herald • "Her new CD offers a flawless example of Tabor at her very best" Limelight [Australia] • "June Tabor has spent her whole career pulling different sorts of cats out of unlikely bags. But the one thing that's been constant throughout it all is the depth and purity of her singing, which can stir and move people like no other. She remains peerless." Properganda • "A beautifully affecting and accomplished album, a nimble piece of work reminding us of why she is regarded as infinitely more than a singer of folk songs. Eminently classy." English Dance and Song • • "Tabor has followed a unique path for over thirty years
and she’s not stopping now - [her] singing over Andy Cutting’s
rollicking accordion riffs - is perfect." Sing Out TSCD557 "At The Wood's Heart" • "Expect nothing but the highest quality" BBC Radio Nottingham • "Here’s Tabor in romantic mood, digging into your soul and emoting her heart out in the way only she can… the passion she invests in Anna McGarrigle’s classic Heart Like a Wheel all but redefines the song and makes it her own" fRoots • "Charged, shuddering ballads sung with simmering passion" Mojo • "Impeccably staged, timeless folk from the dark side –
a striking mix of drama and beauty" • "June Tabor’s reputation as an interpreter of songs is supremely well established; this album shows how adaptable her voice is and June and company have every right to be pleased with themselves over this classy, very classy, production." English Dance and Song • "Live performance Queen Elizabeth Hall, London 6 November
2005 TSFCD4003 "Always" • "Whether the songs are five or 500 years old, they come to you bearing the unmistakable stamp of Tabor’s personality. She is clearly in a class with Sandy Denny and Dolores Keane in her ability to convey emotion without sounding merely gloomy." Dirty Linen • "Her richly expressive delivery probes deeply into tragic
and often violent scenarios" • "A splendid witness to four decades of unrivalled interpretation of ballads old and new. A best box set of the year." Daily Telegraph • "Brimming with sonorous riches." The Observer Music Monthly • "The queen of British folk finally gets the career-spanning retrospective that she’s long deserved. Four discs, 67 songs and an impressive, detailed accompanying book tells the Tabor story with impressive care." HMV Choice - Top Ten Album • "Absolutely astounds" Netrhythms • "Tabor’s taste and phrasing are her greatest weapons and these she deploys with aplomb, grace and charm. Somebody once described Tabor as one of Britain’s National Treasures. They weren’t wrong." Downbeat • "This one is a beauty, with plenty of otherwise unreleased material. Her version of April Morning has to be one of the most stunning on disc. The Live tracks are especially revealing, especially the duets with Martin Simpson, where they seem to achieve a wonderful empathy. Whether you think of her as a folk singer, or simply a singer who happens to sing folk music, it doesn’t matter; she’s a wonder and this box set, perfectly sequenced and very thoughtfully compiled, shows her growth into one of the greats and more than justifies her status. But, even more, it makes you fall in love with her voice all over again." Sing Out
TSCD 543"An Echo Of Hooves" • “The greatest female traditional singer of our time" WORD • “It’s a great album and required listening for those of you that are looking for something a little more substantial" Living Tradition Magazine • “A sublime collection of traditional ballads” Sheffield Telegraph • “As a paragon of the virtues that folk music holds in its cultural rmoury June Tabor must surely rate as number one. Unafraid, unadorned and completely beautiful” BBC Radio 2 review • “An Echo of Hooves is an act of daring in a televisual age – Tabor is here to plant pictures in the head” Penguin Eggs magazine • “A return to traditional song, exquisitely sung, in a perfect setting. Quintessential English balladry.” Uncut magazine • "She is a singer of intense clarity, her delivery can be dramatic but her restraint is admirable. It is as if she sees the songs as films – indeed, they are streams of images – which she projects through her performance" Songlines Magazine • "It’s a great album and required listening for those of you that are looking for something a little more substantial" CD Review / Folk Roundabout • "The greatest interpreter and curator of indigenous British music. Unafraid, unadorned and completely beautiful." BBC Radio Folk Music Review • "A stunning jewel in a remarkable career, and one of the best things Tabor’s ever released." All Music Guide • "A beauteous collection of traditional ballads – backed by her regular trio of accompanists and supplanted by Martin Simpson’s gently driving guitar and Kathryn Tickell’s mournful Northumbrian pipes, Tabor is on top form." HMV Choice • "One of her finest" The Telegraph • "Created by countless generations, the English and Scots ballads are extraordinary song stories, honed to a beauty that contemporary songwriters can only dream of. A superb album that is as uncompromisingly contemporary as the songs are timeless." Scotland on Sunday • "June Tabor’s voice is an extraordinarily dark, warm and evocative vehicle for songs that have meaning." The Guardian • "Tabor remains the
unchallenged queen of the genre. Roots and Branches • “June Tabor is a major artist with an untouchable string of recordings who can turn an audience inside out with one unaccompanied song” www . whisperinandhollerin.com • “The finest traditional album of the year” The Guardian • “I am willing to say that June Tabor may have issued the finest British folk release for the last 20 years” Acid Attack Music • “Best folk album of the year” Mojo • ”This is folk whose dark beauty will send shivers up and down your spine” Metro • ”Surely one of her finest achievements. Few in any genre sing words with such directness and focus.” BBC Music Magazine • ”Best album of the year” World Music Web: Portugal • ”As with just about
everything Tabor has recorded over the years, An Echo of Hooves is full
of music that is gripping, intelligent and highly recommended."
Dirty Linen Magazine TSCD 532 "Rosa Mundi" • "An extraordinary singer who has been gifted with a unique voice and who is seemingly fearless in her choice of material and the direction of her art." Penguin Eggs • "A subtle masterpiece" The Guardian • "A new Tabor album is always an event ……pure, intimate and stripped here to the core, her voice remains a remarkably potent weapon and she obviously feels deeply the various reflections of the heart in the likes of Rose in June, Crown of Roses and Maybe Then I'll be a Rose……the most telling track is perhaps the compelling version of Barbry Ellen, given a formidably foreboding yet simple arrangement to remind us exactly how devastating she can be delivering a ballad." FROOTS magazine • "a moment of indefinable grace and beauty" Sunday Times • "an opportunity to enjoy a towering talent as it reveals its full flower " HMV Choice magazine • "the album is an understated garden of delights" Songlines magazine • "…the unmistakable sound and style of the English rose herself" Time Out |
| She sings the songs of Richard Thompson, George Gershwin, Shane MacGowan, Cole Porter, Ewan MacColl and Velvet Underground. Elvis Costello famously said of her ‘if you don’t like listening to June Tabor, you should stop listening to music’. She is regularly described as 'a new diva' and 'a national treasure’. Such is the emotional impact of her extraordinary voice that many believe her to be one the very finest singers Britain has produced in the modern era, irrespective of genre.
Everyone agrees that her shows with the C.J.O. provided a thrilling microcosm of a career filled with startling variety, courage and integrity. But - although her musical journeys have been long and varied, June still listens in awe to the singing of Anne Briggs, Jeannie Robertson, Martin Carthy and Belle Stewart, all of whom have provided inspiration. Her first steps to becoming a singer began in the Midlands, before her arrival at Oxford University. She quickly became immersed in Oxford's lively folk scene but also found time to make an appearance on University Challenge. June quickly developed a reputation as a rare,unaccompanied singer who crawled inside the very heart of every song she performed. The predominantly traditional debut solo album Airs and Graces (Topic) (1976) was followed by Ashes and Diamonds (Topic) which showed a desire to extend her repertoire. By the 1980's she was working in an inventive duo with the renowned guitarist and singer, Martin Simpson. This golden partnership produced, A Cut Above, (Topic) an album noted for its ambitious arrangements. In 1983 Abyssinians (Topic) was heard by Elvis Costello who was so impressed by what he heard that he began writing songs just for her. Rarity made her performances all the more precious through the 1980's when she became a restaurateur in the Lake District. However, Aqaba (Topic) in 1988 was another emotional masterpiece painstakingly built around Bill Caddick's title track, followed soon after by the release of the Silly Sisters album, No More to the Dance (Topic). After selling the restaurant and finally
being lured into a full time musical career, the 1990’s have seen
June work on a number of significant collaborations, notably with Oyster
Band (Freedom & Rain) and Savourna Stevenson and Danny
Thompson (Singing the Storm). In 1994, she also successfully
delivered critically acclaimed solo albums including Angel Tiger
and Against the Streams. Her on-going working partnership
with violinist Mark Emerson, pianist and ace arranger Huw Warren
and producer John Ravenhall have also provided a driving force
behind some of her most ambitious projects. And then – in case here was any chance of growing complacent June joined forces with the Creative Jazz Orchestra to deliver what some regard as her finest performances yet, reinterpreting the songs of Judy Garland, Lal Waterson and Kris Kristofferson. Now living in the Welsh countryside (about which she is passionate), June Tabor continues to portray the world’s glory and grief in a unique and exquisite style. |
June
Tabor can deliver a tantalising, simmering, or even menacing presentation
of a traditional ballad and give it depth and meaning like few others.
Her interpretations of contemporary songs are also legendary. Her performance
of Eric Bogle's virulent anti-war epic The Band Played Waltzing Matilda,
for example, has been so powerful that both she and her audience have
been reduced to tears. It is typical of June that she decided to drop
the song from her set - a guaranteed show-stopper - in case its impact
became diluted by over-familiarity.
June
Tabor returned to Topic Records in 1997 in order to bewitch a whole
new audience as she further challenged our preconceptions. The magnificent
Aleyn propelled June into the role of ‘Chanteuse’,
where she fearlessly tackled everything from the Holocaust to gardening.