A colourful collection of ballads and songs from Australia. A L (Bert) Lloyd was a leading architect of the British folk song revival and spent an early part of his life working in the Australian outback. Lloyd learnt these songs in the usual manner of folk singers; that is by picking them up from the singing of his workmates – sheep shearers, cattle drovers, farm hands and so on – in the bush. He is accompanied by three fine instrumentalists – Peggy Seeger, Ralph Rinzler and John Cole.
1  Flash Jack From Gundagai
2  Lachlan Tigers
3  The Cockies Of Bungaree
4  South Australia
5  Banks Of The Condamine
6  Bluey Brink
7  The Overlanders
8  1,000 Miles Away
9  The Flash Stockman
10  The Wild Colonial Boy
11  Brisbane Ladies
12  Bold Jack Donahue
13  The Shearer’s Dream
14  The Derby Ram

Bob Davenport has one of the most distinctive styles and one of the widest repertoires among singers on the folkclub scene. A favourite performer at festivals and a regular guest at folk clubs throughout Britain, he is a staunch supporter of traditional music.
His 1977 record ‘Postcards Home’ examines hard times and war times through a powerful mix of song, music and speech. Songs by Richard Thompson and Bob Marley are interwoven with traditional music, poetry and music hall songs. As a contemporary Daily Telegraph review noted: “An impressive and timely achievment, full of poetry, irony and lively music.”
1  Byker Hill / Blackleg Miner
2  Durham Gaol Selection: Gypsy Poacher / Durham Gaol / First Time I Saw Durham City / Ball of Yarn / Breaking Sticks
3  Wait Till the Work Comes Round
4  The Winter Time is Coming In / Old Changing Way
5  When a Man Looks Pale / There’s Nae Much Luck About the House
6  We Plough and Sow / Get Up, Stand Up
7  Once I Had A True Love / Lowlands / My Bonnie Lad
8  Great Little Army March
9  Unemployed Men Stand on the Corner / McCafferty / I Don’t Want to Join the Army
10  The House is Crammed / Good Morning Good Morning / Our Soldiers Went to War / If I Was Fierce / If You Want to Find the Colonel / They Didn’t Believe Me
11  Have You Forgotten Yet / When this Bloody War is Over

A collection of instrumental country dance music from the North-east of Scotland, played by solos or duets rather than in the ubiquitous country dance-band style.

1    Lady Madeline Sinclair Strathspey / The High Road to Linton reel  Alex Green – whistle
2    The White Cockade / Niel Gow‘s Farewell to Whiskey / Miss Jean Milligan – reels  Willie Fraser – mouth-organ
3    Jig Selection – The Muckin’ o’ Geordie’s Byre / Kinnegad Slashers / The Bugle Horn / The Muckin’ o’ Geordie’s Byre  Charlie Bremner – fiddle
4    The Brig o’ Perth / The Reel o’ Tulloch  John Grant – fiddle
5    Strathspey & Reel: Forbes Morrison / The Ten Pound Fiddle  Alex Green -whistle
6    Pipe-Marches: MacLean of Pennycross / The Midlothian Pipe Band  Alex Green – whistle
7    Strathspey & Reel: The Smith’s a Gallant Fireman / Jenny Dang the Weaver  Willie Fraser – diddling
8    Reels: John McFadden / Timour the Tartar  Charlie Bremner – fiddle
9    March: The 79th‘s Farewell to Gibralter  Willie Fraser – mouth-organ
10   Jig Selection: Bonnie Dundee / Hot Punch / Kenmuir’s on an’ awa’  Willie Fraser – mouth-organ
11   J B Milne/The Lovat Scouts / The Breakdown / Caddam Woods  Charlie Bremner – fiddle
12   Polka  Charlie Bremner – fiddle
13   The Smith’s a Gallant Fireman / Soldier’s Joy  John Grant – fiddle
14   The Kirrie Kebbuck / Sir David Davidson of Cantray – strathspey & reel  Alex Green – whistle
15   Marches: Tam Bain’s Lum / The Blue Bonnets  Alex Green – whistle
16   Strathspey and Reel: Far Frae Scotia‘s Shores / Ally Crocker (The New Brig o’ Ayr)  Willie Fraser – mouth-organ
17   Strathspey and Reel: Orange and Blue / Mrs MacLeod of Rothesay  Willie Fraser – diddling
18   March: Highland Wedding  Willie Fraser – mouth-organ
19   Dr MacDonald – reel  Charlie Bremner – fiddle
20  Lady Charlotte Campbell – slow strathspey & reel  Alex Green – whistle
21   Reels: High Road to Linton / The Mason’s Apron / The De’il Among the Tailors / Timour the Tartar  Charlie Bremner – fiddle

A very important recording of three members of a Southern English family of travellers – Tom, Chris and Ben Willett, showing their distinctive style of singing and a repertoire of fine country songs. Recorded on location in Middlesex and Kent, the record was the first album of English gypsy music to be released commercially.
1  Lord Bateman – Tom Willett
2  The Blacksmith Courted Me – Tom Willett
3  The Little Ball of Yarn – Ben Willett
4  Died For Love – Tom Willett
5  The Rambling Sailor – Chris Willett
6  Riding Down to Portsmouth – Tom Willett
7  As I Was Going to Salisbury – Chris Willett
8  The Roving Journeyman – Tom Willett
9  The Roving Journeyman – Chris Willett
10  While Gamekeepers Lie Sleeping – Tom Willett
11  The Old Miser – Chris Willett
12  The Game of Cards – Tom Willett

The traditional folk music of East Suffolk has probably been the best documented regional style in England over the past thirty years. Whereas much of the music and singing recorded in this period would appear to be indigenous to a general ‘East Anglian style’. It is possible. even within such a relatively small area. to detect various distinctive traditions often revolving around either a particular pub, village or influential musician. Basically during this period, there were four such quite separate local groupings in this area, with of course some interaction between them (primarily in the case of the travelling pub musician).
The best known of these was undoubtedly that centred around the singing pubs along the Aldeburgh coastal district, such as Blaxhall ‘Ship’ and the ‘Eel Foot Inn’ at Eastbridge. Here the music and singing was highly organised. generally as a Saturday night’s entertainment with chairmen introducing the singers and maintaining order. Secondly the nearby towns of Woodbridge and Wickham Market boasted a fair number of dance and string bands led by men such as Walter CIow, Fred Whent, Billy Hall and Lennie Pearce. A third tradition was active around the pubs in Halesworth and Yoxford area, revolving around the charismatic Seaman Family from Darsham. Finally_ the small villages between Framlingham and Debenham sported a great musical tradition dominated by melodeon players Walter Read and Alf Peachey and fiddlers Walter Gyford and Harkie Nesling. It is from the last two traditions and through four generations that this recording is drawn.

Harkie Nesling Fiddle
Reg Reeder Dulcimer
Font Whatling Melodeon
Fred Whiting Fiddle

1    Polkas (Harkie’s Polkas) Fred Whiting
2    Cat Among the Tails / Rakes of Mallow Reg Reeder
3    The Earl Soham Slog / Flowers of Edinburgh Fred Whiting
4    Mick’s Tune / Pigeon on the Gate Font Whatling
5    The Sultan’s Polka / Untitled Polka Harkie Nesling
6    Waltz Medley: Oscar Woods’ / Charlie Philpotts Reg Reeder
7    Jigs: The Maid at the Well / The Old Kerry Fiddler / The Priest and His Boots Fred Whiting
8    Come and Be My Little Teddy Bear Harkie Nesling
9    Polkas Font Whatling
10  Hornpipes: The Weaver’s / The Bristol Sailorman / Ballinalig in the Morning  Fred Whiting
11  Imprudence Schottische / Rakes of Mallow Harkie Nesling
12  Polka Medley : 1,2,3,4 5 / Jenny Lind / Joe, the  Boat is Going Over Reg Reeder
13  The Hurling Boys (‘Old Country Dance’)/ Jack Tar Hornpipe  Fred Whiting
14  Untitled Tunes Font Whatling
15  The Barn Dance Harkie Nesling
16  Off to California / Will the Waggoner (Gypsy Hornpipe ) Fred Whiting
17   Pigeon on the Gate Font Whatling

Kevin Mitchell one of the finest singers of song from North Ulster was born in the city of Derry 36 years ago. In 1969 he settled in Glasgow where he worked as an industrial painter, and is married, with two children. When asked to describe his singing voice, words like distinctive, personal style, lyrical and even beautiful come to mind, but none of them are enough. One thing is certain, if you ever hear him singing you will remember it.

1    Free and Easy
2    The Lurgy Streams
3    The Mickey Dam
4    Nancy Bell
5    The Boys of MuIlaghbawn
6    Going to Mass Last Sunday
7    The Magherafelt May Fair
8    The Light Horse
9    The Moorlough Shore
10   Two Strings on a Bow
11   Seán Ó Duibhir (Sean O’ Dwyer)
12   The Oul’ Grey Man

Long the enfant terrible of the folk revival, Dominic Behan – poet, patriot, playwright and rebel – spills over with outrageous talent. This archive recording from 1960 shows him as a powerful and honest singer, a worthy heir of the great Dublin heritage of song and ballad. Behan is accompanied by Peggy Seeger, Leon Rosselson and Ralph Rinzler.

1  Get Me Down Me Filling Knife
2  The Saint
3  Down By the Liffeyside
4  Ross’ Farewell to Dublin
5  Waxy Dargell
6  Red Roses For Me
7  Thank You Mam, Said Dan
8  John Mitchell
9  The Finding of Moses
10  Master McGrath
11  Dicey Riley
12  Finnegan’s Wake
13  The Women are Worse that the Men
14  Easy and Slow
15  The Spanish Lady
16  The Twang Man
17  Bold Robert Emmett
18  Biddy Mulligan

A founder member of the High Level Ranters, Tom Gilfellon emerged occasionally with an inimitable collection of songs and tunes evoking the North-Eastern and the Irish strains of his background. Tom Gilfellon vocals, guitar, cittern  with Martin Carthy guitar, Johnny Handle vocal, accordian, piano and Liz Sobell dulcimer, harmonium and Stefan Sobell cittern, concertina

1     The Banks of Red Roses / The Boys of Ballysadare  Tom vocal/cittern; Stefan cittern; Liz dulcimer
2     The Workers’ Song  Tom vocal; Liz harmonium
3a   The Celebrated Working Man  Tom vocal; Johnny accordeon/chorus
3b   Uncle Albert’s last heroic farewell to the world  Tom recitation
4     Reels; Lady Ann Montgomery / The Wind that Shakes the Barley / The Foxhunter’s Reel  Tom cittern; Martin guitar
5     The Snow it Melts the Soonest  Tom vocal
6     The Bonny Gateshead Lass  Tom vocal; Stefan English concertina
7     Jigs: Thomas Friel’s/ The Battering Ram  Tom cittern; Martin guitar
8     The Two Sisters  Tom vocal
9     The Row in the Gutter  Tom vocal; Johnny piano
10   The Fiery Clockface  Tom vocal/guitar
11   Johnny Miner  Tom vocal

One of Scotland’s best known traditional singers, a former farm servant and traveller from Banffshire, the late Jimmy McBeath sang bothy ballads and other songs in a direct and authoritative style.

1    Bound To Be A Row
2    The Banks of Inverurie
3    Ythanside
4    Erin Go Bragh
5    Bogie’s Bonnie Belle
6    The Cow Wi’ The Iron Tail
7    Arlin’s Fine Braes
8    The Bonnie Lass o’ Fyvie
9    Pittenweem Jo
10  Ye Canna Pit It On Tae Sandy
11  The Boston Smuggler
12  Hielan’ Rory
13  The Magdalen Green
14  Marnin’ Fair
15  The Feeing Time

Together with his younger brother Barry, Robin Dransfield had a successful career as the leading young duo on the British folk scene during the late 1970s. They took the folk clubs by storm and recorded the seminal ‘Rout Of The Blues’ album. His solitary solo album, from 1980, is held in high regard by all aficionados of the finest English revival folk music.

1  The Cutty Wren
2  The Barley & The Rye
3  Fair Maids Of February
4  When It’s Night-time In Italy It’s Wednesday Over Here
5  The Rigs O’Rye 
6  Spencer The Rover
7  Tidewave
8  The Cadgwith Anthem      
9  I Once Had A Dog     
10  The Three Muscadets
11  Mother Nature
Robin Dransfield vocals, guitar
with
Hurdy Gurdy – Christian “Le Roi” Gourhan
Concertina – Lea Nicholson
Brass – The White Shield Brass Ensemble
(Bob White: trumpet, Chris Stearn: bass trombone, euphonium)
Bass Guitar – Nick Greenwood
Piano – Chris Copping
Cello – Barry Dransfield

Recorded at Livingston Studios, Barnet, 1979/80
Produced by Nic Kinsey

First released by Topic Records 1980

A hugely popular act on the British folk scene, John Kirkpatrick and Sue Harris, made a series of fine records for the Topic label. John had also recorded with Ashley Hutchings’ Morris On band and with Richard Thompson; both were founder members of the Albion Country Band and John would later join Steeleye Span. Their duo records are cherished by aficionados of the finest English country music from the mid-20th century revival.
1  The Edgmond Men’s Souling Song
2  Artichokes and Cauliflowers
3  The Bricklayers / Double Change Sides
4  The Cherry Tree Carol
5  John of the Greeney Cheshire Way
6  A Shropshire Lad
7  I Wish, I Wish
8  Old Sir Simon the King
9  Adieu to Old England
10  The Blue Eyed Stranger / The Winster Morris Reel
11  Jim Jones
12  Blacksmith’s Morris / Charles’s Hornpipe
13  Cold Blows the Wind
14  Wilson’s Favourite / Shrewsbury Wakes

It is very appropriate that the artistry of William Hardie should be featured on this disc along with that of J. Scott Skinner, for many authorities believe him to be the finest living exponent of the Scott Skinner style.

William Hardie, accompanied on this record by his son, comes from a family with a long and honoured place in Scottish musical life – his great-great grandfather, Peter Hardie, (1775 – 1863), was a pupil of Niel Gow and a violin maker and composer of note; Peter’s cousin, Matthew Hardie (1755 – 1826), is widely regarded as the doyen of Scottish violin makers, and Charles Hardie (1849 – 1893), the grand-uncle of the present artist, was considered one of the best violinists in Scotland in his day, and held by Skinner to excel particularly in slow airs, light reels and hornpipes.

Bill Hardie / stereo

1 The Marquis of Huntly’s Snuff Mull/Mrs Chree/Carnie’s Canter
2 James F. Dickie’s Delight/The Laird o’ Drumblair/James F. Dickie’s reel
3 MacPherson’s Rant/Tullochgorum/The East Neuk o’ Fife
4 Master Francis Sitwell & variations/Newcastle Hornpipe]
5 Hornpipes: The North Shore/The Liverpool
6 The Dean Brig o’ Edinburgh/Banks Hornpipe

Bill Hardie is accompanied by his son, Alastair Hardie, on piano on tracks 1, 2, 4, 6 – tracks 3 and 5 are solo.

Scott Skinner / 78rpm discs / mono

7 The Laird o’ Drumblair (1683e) (Zonophone X-47905)
(The Laird o’ Drumblair/The Baker Reel/Will ye no come back Again?)
8 The Freebooter (Is Your War Pipe asleep) (26746) (Rena Double Face 1285) (MacPherson’s Rant/Tullochgorum & variations/The East Neuk of Fife & variations)
9 Birlin Reels (26749) (Rena Double Face 1283)
(The Auld Wheel/Spinning Wheel/Bride’s Reel/MacKenzie Frazer/Fairy Dance)
10 German Schottische (26760) (Rena Double Face 1286)
(Bohemian Melodies)
11 (a) Goodbye Gramin (b) Johnny Steele (strathspey) (c) James Hardie (reel) (73072) (Regal G8021)
12 Highland Schottische (26761) (Regal Zonophone G6617
Maggie Cameron/Athole Brose/The Devil in the Kitchen/Forbes Morrison
13 Sean Trews and Whistle o’er the Lave O’t, and Wha widna Fecht for Charlie? (Antique Dance) (26764) (Regal G6625)

Recorded and produced by Tony Engle.
First issued by Topic 1975.

‘Our ballads are well known in book versions, though it must be said that the great anthologies don’t always contain the best specimens. They are less well known in sung versions, though they were made to be sung, not read. In this connection, the poet Robert Frost has something pertinent to say: “Voice and ear are left at a loss what to do with the ballad until supplied with the tune it was written to go with… Unsung, it stays half-lacking.”   May this record do something to repair a lack.’

From the original sleevenotes by A. L. Lloyd

1. Henry Martin A. L. Lloyd
2. The Baron of Brackley Ewan MacColl
3. The Cruel Mother A. L. Lloyd
4. Lord Randal Ewan MacColl
5. The Bitter Withy A. L. Lloyd
6. The ‘Sweet Kumadie’ Ewan MacColl
7. The Demon Lover A. L. Lloyd
8. Hughie the Graeme Ewan MacColl
9. The Prickly Bush A. L. Lloyd
10. The Beggar Man Ewan MacColl

One of the greatest English traditional singers – George ‘Pop’ Maynard from Sussex recorded rarely. This splendid album showcases his majestic and powerful style.
1  Polly on the Shore
2  The Sweet Nightingale (The Birds In The Spring)
3  Locks and Bolts
4  Down by the Seaside
5  Jack the Jolly Tar-O
6  The Seeds of Love
7  Shooting Goshen’s Cocks Up
8  William Taylor
9  Rolling in the Dew
10  A Sailor in the North Country
11  The Banks of Claudy
12  Three Sons of Rogues
13  The Weaver’s Daughter
14  A Wager, A Wager
15  The Sun Being Set

A revival musician with an unusual understanding of traditional music. John Wright is a fine singer and a performer on the fiddle and mouth-organ, an unquestionably one of the finest exponents of jew’s-harp playing.

1      Awake, Awake, You Drowsy Sleeper
2     Four-Hand Reel (mouth-organ)
3     Murphy’s Hornpipe (jew’s harp)
4     Gypsy Hornpipe (fiddle)
5     Henry Martin
6     Bridget Cruise Nos 2 & 3 (jew’s harp)
7     Tailor By My Trade
8     Dornoch Links / The Shepherd’s Crook / Lochiel’s Awa’ to France Scottish Pipe Tunes (jew’s harp)
9     Young Charlotte
10    The Varsoviana – Eng|and (mouth-organ)
11    La Valse Vienne – France (fiddle)
12    La Scottisch Anglaise – France (fiddle)
13    L’Angoise – France (fiddle)
14    Our Captain Cried All Hands / Country Dances (fiddle):
15   Ninepins
16   Saturday Night and Sunday Morning
17   The Punk’s Delight

Archie Fisher’s is a multifaceted talent. He is simultaneously a singer with great interpretive flair, a songwriter whose compositions have been taken up by many leading singers, a musician of outstanding ability and a skilled raconteur. Above all else he is a man of influence, whose taste and style have shown the way for many artists. ‘Will Ye Gang, Love’ was recorded in 1976 and captures a musician at the height of his powers.
1  O Charlie, O Charlie
2  Lindsay
3  The Broom a’ the Cowdenknowes
4  Mally Lee
5  Will Ye Gang, Love
6  The Flower of France and England, O
7  The Laird o’ Windy Wa’s
8  Men O’ Worth
9  Looly, Looly
10  Dreg Song
11  Adam Cameron
12  Blackbirds and Thrushes
13  The Gallant Ninety Two
14  The Rovin’ Ploughboy

Hedy West comes from North Georgia, at the southern end of the Appalachians. A sensitive and vibrant singer, she accompanies herself in a distinctive style on 5-string banjo. A L Lloyd though her ‘far and away the best of American girl singers in the revival’.
1  The Wife Wrapt in Wether’s Skin
2  Fair Rosamund
3  Barbara Allen
4  Old Joe Clark
5  The Coalminer’s Child
6  Gambling Man
7  Brother Ephus
8  Polly
9  The Davidson-Wilder Blues
10 The Rich Irish Lady
11  Shut Up in the Mines at Coal Creek
12  The Wife of Usher’s Well
13  Lament for Barney Graham

Sarah Makem was one of the finest singers of Ulster singers. This recording made in 1967 is a fine portrait of the traditional Ulster repertoire – an area where Irish, English and Scots traditions to some extent converge. Sarah learnt her songs in the traditional way – “When I was young we used to have dances in the street to the music of a mouth organ, or if the mouth organ wasn’t available then someone had to lilt. Well, at these street dances anyone was likely to be asked for a song, so I always tried to have one or two ready and I kept learning as many as I could from my mother singing around the house.”
1  Farewell My Love, Remember Me
2  The Banks of Red Roses
3  It was in the Month of January
4  Robert Burns and His Highland Mary
5  The Factory Girl
6  The Jolly Thresher
7  Caroline and her Young Sailor Bold
8  The Wind that Shakes the Barley
9  I Courted A Wee Girl
10  A Servant Maid in Her Father’s Garden
11  Barbara Allen

This is the second Topic LP of the music of Tommy McMahon and Bernard O’Sullivan. Like the first record it illustrates the richness, depth and variety of Clare concertina music. The selection here is very varied and includes reels, jigs, hornpipes, set dances, polkas and waltzes. Anyone in search of good concertina music may find it in West Clare. This is really concertina country. Every village has a traditional musician and in many cases it is a concertina player. The concertina as a traditional instrument has been in Clare for well over a hundred years. With the decline of the pipes and fiddle the concertina was a practical replacement. It was ideal for playing the newly composed sets of the last century. Though it was not capable of the embellishments or expressiveness of the pipes it was nevertheless an excellent little reed instrument for playing for country dances.

1 Polkas: I Have a Bonnet Trimmed with Blue, The Rakes of Mallow  Tommy McMahon & Bernard O’Sullivan
2 Reels: Farmer Moroney’s and Mulvihill’s reel  Tommy McMahon & Bernard O’Sullivan
3 Reels: Maud Millar’s and Morrison’s  Tommy McMahon
4 Reel: The Bucks of Oranmore  Bernard O’Sullivan
5 Waltzes: My Heart’s in the Highlands and The Dewdrop  Bernard O’Sullivan
6 Jigs: The Blooming Meadows, Mullagh Jig, Ballinakill Jig  Tommy McMahon & Bernard O’Sullivan
7 Reels: The Merry Sisters, Quilty Reel  Tommy McMahon
8 Hornpipes: The Cliff, The Derry Hornpipe  Tommy McMahon & Bernard O’Sullivan
9 Jigs: The Rose in the Heather selection  Tommy McMahon
10 Reels: Flowery Mountains, Kiss the Maid Behind the Barrel, The Milliner’s Daughter  Tommy McMahon & Bernard O’Sullivan
11 Reel: A Trip to Durrow  Tommy McMahon
12 Polka: Stack Ryan’s Polka  Bernard O’Sullivan
13 Set Dance: The Garden of Daisies  Tommy McMahon & Bernard O’Sullivan
14 Jigs: Andy Keone’s, Saddle the Pony, Tulla Jig  Tommy McMahon
15 Set Dance: The Three Sea Captains  Tommy McMahon
16 Reels: The Boys of Ballysadare, The Five Mile Chase  Tommy McMahon & Bernard O’Sullivan

Produced by Tony Engle, John Tams and Neil Wayne
First issued by Topic Records 1976.

Born in Middlesborough of Anglo-Irish descent, Vin Garbutt has an enviable reputation as a singer and songwriter of fine socially conscious, and environmentally aware songs. ‘Tossin’ A Wobbler’ from 1978 is regarded as one of his finest recordings.
1  Man of the Earth
2  Legend of Roseberry
3  Long Note / Lads of Laois / Le Reel Jeune Marie
4  Photographic Memory
5  Yorkshire Volunteer’s Farewell to the Good Folks of Stockton / Push About the Jorum
6  St. Helena’s March
7  Carrigdhoun
8  The Freemantle Doctor
9  One-Legged Beggar
10  They Don’t Write ‘Em Like That Any More

Lizzie Higgins was born in the centre of Aberdeen in 1929, the daughter of Jeannie Robertson the world-renowned ballad singer and the great piper Donald Higgins. Her forbears on both sides were travellers and she inherited a rich heritage of traditional music. At the time of these recordings Lizzie was regarded as the finest living interpreter of Scots traditional song.
1 Wha’s at the Windy
2  Lovely Molly
3  The Fair of Ballnafannin
4  Young Emsley
5  Bonnie Udny
6  Far Over the Forth
7  Laird of the Dainty Doonby
8  The Seasons
9  Davy Faa
10  The Banks of Red Roses
11  The Maid of Glenshea
12  The College Boy

Willie Scott, recorded in his 70s, came from a long line of singing Scots, bred to the trade of shepherd in the rolling Border country where the North of England and the South of Scotland march together.

1  The Shepherd’s Song
2  Piper MacNeil
3  The Kielder Hunt
4  Jamie Reaburn
5  Bonnie Wee Trampin’ Lass
6  Bloody Waterloo
7  Jock Geddes
8  The Dowie Dens of Yarrow
9  Herd Laddie o’ the Glen
10  The Lads That Were Reared Among Heather

Flute player Packie Duignan was a fine musician who had many of the tunes of the Leitrim player John McKenna, a distinguished and prolific figure in Irish-American recording circles of the 1920s and ’30s. He is joined on this splendid record by another Leitrim musician, fiddler Seamus Horan.

1 Jigs: The Shores of Lough Gowna / The Rose and the Heather (flute/fiddle)
2 Slip Jigs: Devero the Dancer / Connie the Soldier (flute)
3 Reels: The Tailor’s Thimble / The Red-haired Lass (flute/fiddle)
4 Hornpipe/Reel: Sean Ryan’s Hornpipe / The New Found Out Reel (fiddle)
5 Reels: Sporting Paddy / Packie Duignan’s Reel (flute/fiddle/whistle)
6 Jigs: The Trip To Athlone / The Hag with the Money / The Castlebar Jig (flute/fiddle)
7 Reels: Crowley’s (fiddle)
8 Reels: Jackie Coleman’s / The Sailor on the Rock (flute/fiddle)
9 Reels: Bridie Morley / Duignan’s Favourite (fiddle/flute)
10 Slip Jig: The Kid on the Mountain (flute/fiddle)
11 Highland Fling/Reel: Monymusk / Mrs. Smollen’s Reel (fiddle/flute)
12 Reel: The House On The Hill (flute)
13 Reel: The Duke of Leinster (flute/whistle)
14 Reels: Dinny Ryan’s Reels (fiddle)
15 Reels: Tom Ward’s Downfall / The Mullaghnavat Reel (flute/fiddle)
16 Jigs: The Geese in the Bog / Your Jig (fiddle)

Sean Wynne plays whistle on tracks 5 and 10.
Robin Morton plays bodhran on tracks 2, 9, 11, 12 & 13

First published by Topic 1978

Martin Simpson is justifiably regarded as one of the finest finger-style guitarists to have emerged from the British Isles. ‘Grinning In Your Face’ (1983) captures him at an early stage in his recording career, and is a remarkably assured and exuberant recording.
1  It Doesn’t Matter Anymore
2  Little Birdie
3  The First Cut is the Deepest
4  Roving Gambler
5  This War May Last for Years
6  Masters of War
7  Reuben’s Train
8  Your Cheatin’ Heart
9  Handsome Molly
10  Townships – Biko
11  Moonshine
12  Green Linnet / Grinning in your Face

‘Whether he is singing in Irish or English, Heaney is a remarkably discreet singer, not given to dramatic or comic effect, with an uneventful surface to his songs, but a world of secrets underneath. Outside a few settlements in his native West, it would be hard to find his equal.’

From the original sleevenotes by A. L. Lloyd

1 THE ROCKS OF BAWN
2 ONE MORNING IN JUNE
3 CASADH AN t-SUGAIN   The Twisting of the Rope
4 THE WIFE OF THE BOLD TENANT FARMER
5 THE TREES THEY GROW TALL
6 PEIGIN IS PEADAR   Peggy and Peter
7 CUNNLA
8 CAOINEADH NA TRI MHUIRE   The Lament of the Three Marys
9 AN TIGHEARNA RANDAL   Lord Randal
10 BEAN AN LEANNA   The Woman with the Beer
11 JOHN MITCHEL

The Wide Midlands: Songs, stories and tunes from the central Counties.

‘Birmingham, the Midland metropolis, was an important centre for the printing of broadsides and it is inevitable that this selection should lean towards the West Midlands. As well as broadsides, a number of industrial songs and fragments have been included, which have survived in oral tradition. The final song was written as lately as 1970. The toughness, the resilience, the humour and pride of the urban Midlander, both in hard times and in easier days, are the qualities which emerge from these songs and stories. They are as much ‘in the idiom of the people’ as their cousins from the country.’

1 The Dudley Boys  Sung by Peter Coe, Chris Richards, Mick Bramwich and Les Ivall, acc. Adrian Morris (whistle), Jim Haywood (tabor) & Helena Ivall (tenor drum)
2 When shall we get married, John? sung by Julie West & Roy Palmer, acc. Martyn Briggs (banjo) & Mick Nash (guitar)
3 The slap-bum tailor sung by Roy Palmer and chorus
4 Swaggering Boney/The black joke played by John Rose (fiddle) & Paul Hooke (guitar)
5 Stop that clock/Early in the morning/When you get up in the morning sung by Graham Langley, Doreen Davis, Pam Bishop & Steve Lynn
6 Jolly Joe the collier’s son sung by The Singing Tradition (Julie West, Martyn Briggs, Bob Lapworth & Mick Nash)
7 Owd never could told by Tom Langley
8 I can’t find Brummagem sung by Richard Hamilton, acc. Pam Bishop (guitar) & John Wrench (mouth organ)
9 The Birmingham Jack of all trades sung by Dave Rogers & chorus, acc. John Wrench (guitar) & Pam Bishop (concertina)
10 The nailmakers’ strike sung by Chris Rogers & Pam Bishop
11 The old miner sung by The Singing Tradition
12 Birmingham Sally sung by Chris Richards
13 Buffoon/Staffordshire Hornpipe played by John Rose (fiddle) & Paul Hooke (guitar)
14 Aye for Saturday Night sung by Joan Smith, acc. Pam Bishop (whistle)
15 The Aston Villa Supporter told by Tom Langley
16 Motor Trade Workers sung by Graham Langley and Bob Etheridge, acc. John Wrench (guitar)

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The second of Chris Foster’s highly regarded Topic albums. Chris Foster is a master of his trade. Alongside Nic Jones, Dick Gaughan and June Tabor, he established himself in the 1970s as one of the finest interpreters of the traditional ballads of the British Isles with tales of romance, magic, murder, liquor, love, adultery and cross dressing.

‘As one who has witnessed the development of ‘English’ guitar accompaniment to traditional songs, I have always ranked Chris as one of our most exciting interpreters…. My old vinyl copies of his 2 Topic albums remain precious. Chris remains a consummate artist.’   Graham Lobb – The Living Tradition.

1. Black Fox
2. Low Down in the Broom
3. Grey Cock
4. Pigeon on the Gate
5. Unicorns
6. King John and the Abbot of Canterbury
7. Jump at the Sun
8. The Working Chap
9. When This Old Hat Was New
10. The World Turned Upside Down

Record produced by Tony Engle

First issued by Topic Records 1979

Chris Droney’s repertoire, unlike that of many musicians, is not dominated by the reel and the jig; his playing is well leavened with the set dances, marches, polkas, hornpipes and slow airs of Clare, music that epitomizes the true traditional repertoire of one of the finer concertina players of County Clare.

1 Bellharbour Reel/Tim Maloney’s Reel
2 The Cuckoo Hornpipe
3 Three Little Drummers/The Eagles Nest – jigs
4 Burren No.1/Chris Droney’s favourite – reels
5 Sliam na Gapall/The Lakes of Sligo – polkas
6 The Blue Gentian Waltz
7 Roddy McCorley’s March
8 The Treble Jig/The Battering Ram
9 The Union Reel/The Kilfenora Reel
10 The Three Part Jig/The Moate Hunt – jigs
11 The Templehouse Reel/Matt Molloy’s Reel
12 The Killy Hornpipe/The Flowing Tide (Ann’s favourite) – hornpipes
13 The Sailor’s Polka/The Old Time (Rakes of Mallow) – polka
14 Untitled Slow Air
15 Down the Broom Reel/Sheehy’s Reel

Produced by Tony Engle, John Tams and Neil Wayne.
First issued by Topic Records 1975.

The captivating fiddle and accordion player, Rose Murphy, was born in 1900 into an intensely musical family in Milltown, County Galway. She spent much of her adult life living around Rotherham in South Yorkshire, and was 76 years young when this recording was made. The album delightfully recaptures the dancing repertoire styles of her youth in the West of Ireland.
1  Reel: Salamanca / The Milltown Lasses
2  Trim the Velvet
3  Jig: The Silver Tip / The Frog in the Well
4  The Lark in the Clear Air
5  Polkas: The First of May / The Last of June (Jenny Lind)
6  Jigs: Paddy in London / Over the Garden Wall
7  Hornpipe: Road to Ballysodare
8  Reels: The Teetotaller / The Bunch of Keys
9  Reel: The Whistler and His Dog
10  Reels: The Flax in Bloom / The College Grove / The Maid on the Mountain
11  Reel: Ladybower’s Reel / The Sister Reel
12  Reel: Drowsy Maggie
13  Hornpipes: The Harvest Home / The Londonderry
14  Jigs: The Frost Is All Over / The Goose in the Bog
15  Reel: The Lonely Maid
16  Air: The Coolin
17  Barn Dance: Turkey in the Straw
18  Slip Jig: Mother I’m Up In the Roost (What Are You Doing, You Divil You!)
19  Miss Monahan’s / Miss Gallagher’s
20  Reel: Rakish Paddy
21  Hornpipe The Belfast (or Sweep’s) Hornpipe

The musicians who have truly influenced Irish music in this century have not been many. Willie Clancy, piper, whistle-player and singer of Miltown Malbay, Co Clare, was indisputably one of them. He belonged to a strong tradition and left one after him.
1  Langstern Pony
2  The Templehouse / Over the Moor to Maggie
3  Bruachna Carraige Báine (The Brink of the White Rock)
4  Erin’s Lovely Lea
5  The Killavel Fancy / The Dogs Among the Bushes
6  The Family Ointment
7  The Dear Irish Boy
8  Caoineadh an Spailpín (The Spalpeen’s Lament)
9  The Pipe on the Hob
10  The Gander
11  The Legacy Jig
12  The Flogging Reel
13  The Song of the Riddles
14  Spailpín a Rúin (Spalpeen, my love)

Few could match the assurance and intensity of Frankie Armstrong’s singing. A committed feminist and radical, Frankie brought a refreshing energy to her performance of traditional and contemporary song. Songs and Ballads her debut album dates from 1975.

Frankie Armstrong vocals with Andrew Brown fiddle, Graham Goffee guitar, Susie Rothfield Appalachian dulcimer and voice, Heather Wood voice and Brian Pearson voice.

1    Little Duke Arthur’s Nurse (acc. fiddle, guitar, dulcimer)
2    The Pitmen’s Union (acc. guitar)
3    Lady Diamond (unacc.)
4    Lament for the Hull Trawlers (acc. fiddle and guitar)
5    The Month of January (duet with Heather Wood)
6    Three Drunken Maidens (vocal trio with Heather Wood and Susie Rothfield)
7    Jack the Lad (acc. fiddle and guitar)
8    The Whore’s Lament (acc. fiddle, with chorus)
9    Little Musgrave (acc. dulcimer)
10   The Collier Lass (unacc.)
11   The Female Drummer (acc. fiddle, guitar, dulcimer, with chorus)

Len Graham of Antrim has been studying and performing the song tradition of Ireland, especially that of his native Ulster, for many years, and is well known and respected for both his scholarship and his singing. Wind and Water was his first solo recording.

“This is not a record of sea songs and shanties, so you may wonder why ‘Wind and Water’ for its title? It was wind and water that brought our ancestors to these shores, be they Celts, Norsemen, Normans or planters. It was also wind and water that propelled the missionaries, the ‘Wild Geese’ and the emigrants to foreign parts… These various comings and goings have left their mark
on the traditional songs of Ireland and, in particular, Ulster where forever history seems to stare one in the face. I hope the choice of songs on this record will in some way illustrate and reflect some of these influences.” Len Graham

1 My Parents Reared me Tenderly
2 Maggie Picken
3 Séan Ó Duibhir a’ Ghleanna
4 The County Mayo
5 The Star of Moville
6 The Green Fields of Amerikay
7 Western Winds
8 Paídín Ó Raibheartaigh
9 My Willie-O
10 Daniel O’Connell and his Steam Engine
11 The Rights of Man
12 One Morning in May
13 The Knight Templar’s Dream

Andrew Cronshaw – musical explorer and enthusiast – recorded several fine albums for Topic records during the 1980s and ’90s. Till The Beasts’ Returning is undoubtedly the finest – a magical collection of tunes from the far north of Scotland, from the pen of Mr Cronshaw plus a delightful solo reading of ‘Our Captain Cried’ by the incomparable June Tabor.
1  The Dark-Haired Youth / Taladh ar Slanair
2  Freumh as Craobh Taigh Challadair (The Hawthorn Tree of Cawdor)
3  Wasps In The Woodpile
4  Turning The Tide
5  Alala de Castro / Ronda de Cuestacion
6  Seana Mhellan
7  Giullan nam Bo (The Cow Boy)
8  Our Captain Cried
9  Ho Ho Nighean Donn (Ho Ho, Brown Maid) / The First of May / The Prince of Wales’ Jig
10  The Saratoga Hornpipe
11  An Old Highland Air

Bob Hart, born 1892, belongs to the same grand company of East Anglian traditional singers as Harry Cox and Sam Larner, Jumbo Brightwell of Eastbridge and Bob Scarce of Blaxhall. Schooled in Southwold, Bob started farm work after a move to Trentham, but quickly left to work on a sailing trawler out of Lowestoft:

‘We used to travel as far as the Shetland Islands, from May to November, and work back to Grimsby. It was at Grimsby where I learned some of my songs, and where I first heard The Banks of Sweet Primroses. I learned As I Strolled out to Aylesbury from a man called Jack Harling, of Snape. Funny Little Place to Have One, Underneath her Apron, and The Female Cabin Boy are songs I seem to have always known. Broadside I learned from Bob Scarce of Blaxhall.’

1 Cod Banging
2 Australia
3 A Broadside
4 The Banks of Sweet Primroses
5 What a Funny Little Place to Have One
6 Bold General Wolfe
7 The Female Cabin Boy
8 As I Strolled out to Aylesbury
9 The Scarlet and the Blue
10 John Barleycorn
11 The Miner’s Dream of Home
12 The Young Sailor Cut Down
13 All Jolly Fellows that Follow the Plough
14 Underneath her Apron

Songs of the Jacobite Wars of 1715 and 1745 sung by Ewan MacColl with guitar and banjo accompaniments by Peggy Seeger.

‘These songs recall a social order which has long since passed away under the wheels of the locomotive, the arterial road, the factory, and the hydroelectric power station. They recall the bravery of men who died for a cause in which they believed. And above all, they recall the loyalty felt towards the young prince who, with grace and charm, came to lead the clansmen in his fathers’ cause; and who, though doomed to failure, won the hearts and devotion of men and women in his own generation and in those which have followed..

From the original sleevenotes by Angus Buchanan

1 Ye Jacobites by Name
2 Such a Parcel of Rogues in a Nation
3 Will Ye Go to Sherriffmuir
4 Wae’s Me for Prince Charlie
5 Charlie Is My Darling
6 The Haughs of Cromdale
7 The Bonnie Moorhen
8 Johnnie Cope
9 Came Ye O’er frae France
10 There’s Three, Brave Loyal Fellows
11 This is no My Ain House
12 The Piper O’ Dundee
13 Donald MacGillavry
14 Maclean’s Welcome
15 Will Ye No Come Back Again?

The brother and sister team of Ray and Archie Fisher first became known to a wider audience in 1961 when they appeared for a long run in the Scottish Television documentary ‘Here and Now’, and as regular guests on B.B.C. ‘Hootenanny’ and ‘Singalong’. But they were already well established among Scottish folk-enthusiasts.

Dolina Maclennan is a native of the island of Lewis. English is in fact her second language, although she makes light of its difficulties. Her Gaelic songs have been passed down to her through her family.

Robin Gray is of mixed Lewis and Shetland descent, but has lived most of his life in Edinburgh. His maternal grandmother was a well known Gaelic bard.

In Enoch Kent you will find a living synopsis of most of the best characteristics of the folk-song revival. He was ready and eager to learn from the great ethnic singers of Scotland like Jeannie Robertson and Jimmy Macbeath.

1. The Twa Corbies – Ray Fisher acc. Archie Fisher (guitar)
2. Fil U O Ru Hu O  – Dolina Maclennan unacc.
3. Gypsy Laddie – Robin Gray acc. himself (guitar)
4. Beggar Man – Enoch Kent unacc.
5. Hug O Ran O Ru – Dolina Maclennan unacc.
6. Donal Don – Enoch Kent acc. himself (guitar)
7. Kilbogie – Ray & Archie Fisher acc. Archie Fisher (guitar)
8. The Night Visiting Song – Ray & Archie Fisher acc. Archie Fisher (guitar)
9. Bonny Lass Come O’er the Burn – Enoch Kent unacc.
10. Far Over the Forth – Ray Fisher unacc.
11. The Butcher Boy – Enoch Kent acc. himself (guitar)
12. Port a Beul – Dolina Maclennan unacc.
13. Erin Go Brath – Enoch Kent unacc.
14. Bratach Bana – Dolina Maclennan acc. Robin Gray (guitar)

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Few singers match the assurance and intensity of Frankie’ Armstrong’s singing. Born in Cumberland, Frankie typically came to folk song as a teenager and member of an amateur skiffle group. She was a member of the influential Critics Group led by Ewan MacColl and first recorded on A L Lloyd’s ‘The Bird In The Bush’ project. In Lloyd’s memorable phrase “she can sing to pull down the stars”. Armstrong is an important interpreter of ballads, often approaching her material from a feminist perspective.
1  Tarry Trousers
2  The Green Valley
3  Low Down in the Broom
4  The Cruel Mother
5  The Crafty Maid’s Policy
6  The Maid on the Shore
7  The Frog and the Mouse
8  Lovely on the Water
9  The Brown Girl
10  The Young Girl Cut Down in Her Prime
11  The Saucy Sailor
12  The Two Sisters

County Clare has long been known as one of the richest areas for music and song throughout Ireland. Petrie, writing in his ‘Ancient Music of Ireland’, published in 1855, was enthusiastic about the tunes he heard. His remarks spring from his travels through Clare during the early 1820s and throw into relief musical traditions that clearly go back deeply into the eighteenth century at least. Even if it’s felt that Petrie’s enthusiasm may have run away with him we can’t doubt the more recent, towering figures of Garrett Barry, George Whelan (Kerry born), or Willie Clancy, and the Bobby Caseys, Miko Russells and John Kellys of today; all of whom testify to the strength of the musical heritage of the people of the Dal Cais.

1          The Bold Trooper – Nora Cleary
2          The Grey Mare – Ollie Conway
3          Farewell to Lissycasey – Siney Crotty
4          An Cailín Deas – Siney Crotty
5          The Lambs on the Green Hills – Mick Flynn
6          Lovely Mary to the Sea Do Not Go – Siney Crotty
7          Pat O’Donnell – Mick Flynn
8          Stór Mo Chroi – Mick Flynn
9          Bessie of Ballantown Brae – Nora Cleary
10        Farewell to Milltown – Nora Cleary

Recorded and produced by Roly Brown.
Editing and mastering by Tony Engle.
First issued by Topic Records 1978.

Second influential recording from the Exiles – three Scots musicians resident in London – again mixes a traditional and contemporary repertoire.

ENOCH KENT – vocal, whistle & guitar
BOBBY CAMPBELL – vocal, fiddle, mandolin, mandola & guitar
GORDON McCULLOCH – vocal, guitar & banjo
TIM LYONS – button accordion*

1    The Jolly Beggar
2    The Fair Flower of Northumberland
3    Reels: The Corner House / The Sally Gardens*
4    The Laird o’ the Windy Wa’
5    Dainty Davie
6    Le Reel du Pendu
7    Queen Eleanor’s Confession
8    The Poolan Laddie
9    The Shoals Of Herring
10  Airs, Slip Jig & Reel: The Coolin / I Walked Up To Her / Rocky Road To Dublin / The wee Weaver
11  The Battle of Harlaw
12  I Will Lay Ye Doon, Love
13  Planxty Davis*

Miko, Pakie and Gussie Russell of Dolin, Co Clare, were an Irish musical family of singular attractiveness and interest, with aremarkably rich store of local Clare music. This record was recorded on location by John Tams and Neil Wayne in 1977, and is an exceptional document of the traditional music making still to be heard in the Irish countryside during the mid-1970s.
1  Campbell’s Reel
2  The Heather Breeze / The Traveller
3  St. Kevin of Glendalough
4  The Potlick / The Peeler’s Jacket
5  The Five Mile Chase
6  Russell’s Hornpipe / Fisher’s Hornpipe
7  The Poor Little Fisher Boy
8  The Walls of Liscarroll / The Battering Ram
9  Garret Barry’s Reel
10  Tommy Glenny’s Reel
11  The Connemara Stockings / The Westmeath Hunt
12  When Musheen Went to Bunnan
13  Tatter Jack Walsh
14  The De’il Among the Tailors
15  The Roscrea Cows
16  Fair Haired Boy / The Black Haired Lass
17  Off to California
18  Give the Girl her Fourpence
19  Nora Daly

Jimmy Power was one of the finest Irish traditional fiddle players. He was also one of the most familiar and best-respected figures on the London-Irish music scene of the 1970s. His exceptional repertoire was developed playing for dancing in English pubs and at the grueling feisanna competitions. Power was a very individual player with a unique style embracing short, sharp bowing and plenty of trebling. He is accompanied by pianist Reg Hall on this fine album.
1  Tommy Potts’ Rambling Pitchfork / The Strayaway Child
2  The Chorus / McKenna’s
3  Jockey to the Fair / Miss Brown’s Fancy
4  Coleman’s Favourite / The Promenade
5  Dwyer’s / The Harvest Home
6  Jackie Coleman’s / The Castle
7  The Nine Points of Roguery / The Crib of Perches
8  Whelan’s / The Old Lark in the Morning
9  The Mountain Road
10  Follow Me Down to Limerick / Hardiman the Fiddler
11  Youghal Harbour
12  The Walls of Liscarrol
13  The Jug of Punch / The Moving Bogs of Powelsborough
14  Statia Donnelly’s

Muliti-instrumentalist Andrew Cronshaw variously draws upon the traditional music of the Scottish Highlands, Northern Spain, Finnland and his native England to weave a music of great beauty and originality. 1993’s The Language of Snakes was his sixth solo album. Working with a close band of musical collaborators, Cronshaw magically transforms his disparate source material with a series of unexpected textures and arrangements.
1  Through Moorfields
2  Kindness For Ever More
3  MacDonnel’s March / Kilcoy’s March
4  Baile de Procesión
5  Cronnan na Caillach a bhan sa Bhein Bhreic
6  Marcha Procesional do San Benito
7  Apple Praities
8  Ailean Duinn
9  A Maruxa
10  The Waterford Waltz
11  Tupakkarulla / Tuuti Hussaa Ja Lullaa / The Other Boot Dance
12  Hithil Ùil Agus Ò, Hithil O Hòrino
13  Tha Mi Sgith ‘m Ã’naran
14  An Gille Donn / Vaskilinun Vaikerrus

An anthology from Gypsy singers recorded in Southern England by Mike Yates. Music of English travellers, ranging from broadside ballads to mouth-organ tunes, and including examples of the gypsy mouth-music called ‘tuning’ – all performed by members of the great Smith clan, from Surrey, Kent and Suffolk.

1    The Small Birds Whistle  Jasper Smith
2    The Sheepfold  Phoebe Smith
3    One Penny  Levy Smith
4    The Basket of Eggs  Minty Smith
5    The Pony March / Whistling Rufus / Tuning  Jasper
6    Green Bushe  Phoebe
7    Raking the Hay  Phoebe
8    The Moon Shines Bright  Jasper
9    Father Had a Knife Jasper
10  The Jew’s Garden  Minty
11   Step Dance Tunes  Jasper  Tuning  Minty
12   Sweet William  Phoebe
13   Johnny Abourne  Phoebe
14   Died for Love  Jasper
15   The Irish Girl  Levy
16   Captain Thunderbold  Phoebe
17   Jigs & Polkas including: Cock of the North / Flowers of Edinburgh / The Girl l left Behind Me / Tuning   Jasper & Levy

A man who did not read or write but who was one of the most learned men to grace the roads of Ireland. John Reilly now lies with his mother in an un-marked grave in the cemetery of Ballaghadereen. But he has here a memorial more fitting than stone. The songs he loved and which were part of the very fabric of his existence still live on.

1. Adieu Unto All True Lovers
2. The Raggle Taggle Gypsy
3. The Well Below the Valley
4. Tippin’ lt Up to Nancy
5. Lord Baker
6. Old Caravee
7. The Bonny Green Tree
8. Once There Lived a Captain
9. Peter Heany
10. What Put the Blood?
11. Rozzin Box
12. The Braes of Strawblane
13. One Morning I Rambled from Glasgow
14. The Pride of Cloonkeen

Produced by Tom Munnelly, Roly Brown and Tony Engle.

First issued by Topic Records 1978.

The last Topic album recorded by The House Band, by this time (1988) a three-piece after the departure of Brian Brooks; ‘Word of Mouth’ was recorded at Ideal Sound in London.

1 WALLS OF TROY
2 THE DUSTY MILLER/THE COUNTY GROUND
3 LADY MARY HAY’S FAVOURITE SCOTCH MEASURE/TRITI PUTI
4 WILD ROVING
5 AN DRO D’OGHAM/AN DRO/AU PLACE DE SERBIE
6 THE HAPPY ONE STEP/GREEN WILLIS
7 FROM A DISTANCE
8 THE PEACOCK/MOLDAVIAN SONG
9 THE BONNY LIGHT HORSEMAN/THE HIGHLAND BRIGADE AT MAGERSFONTEIN

Produced by The House Band and David Kenny
First issued by Topic Records 1988

Paddy Tunney established himself as that rare thing a singer really in a class of his own. One of Paddy`s peculiarities is that he chooses a high proportion of songs that are hexatonic or pentatonic. ‘ln the present instance. these ‘gapped‘ scales. along with the decorated styles of his singing, produce a homogeneity of character which alone would make this a record for the connoisseur of traditional singing.’ Recorded in London in 1975 The Mountain Streams Where The Moorcocks Crow is a splendid collection of songs and ballads from Paddy’s large repertoire.

1     The Mountain Streams where the Moorcocks Crow
2     The Wee Weaver
3     The Boys of Mullaghbawn
4     The Old Petticoat
5     Coinleach Glas An Fhomhair
6     Donall Og
7     The Reaping of the Rushes Green
8     One Morning in June
9     Lady Margaret
10   Inis Dhun Ramha
11   The Old Oak Tree
12   Drinking Good Whiskey
13   Sweet Omagh Town
14   The Green Fields of Canada

PACKIE BYRNE was born in Co. Donegal in 1917 into a community where traditional music and song were deeply imbedded, Packie could not help but continue this tradition. Throughout his life he was a notable singer, also becoming very well-known in the London area as a whistle player of great skill. This album shows a less well-known side of Packie – a carrier of fine traditional ballads, some of which were quite rare.

1   John and the Farmer
2   The Rich Man’s Daughter
3   The Holland Handkerchief
4   Molly Bawn
5   The Jolly Ploughboy
6   Young Alvin
7   Johnny o’ Hazelgreen
8   Lament to the Moon
9   The Creel

John Burgess, master player, is again at the top of his form in this recording. His interpretation of the two piobaireachds will be treated by enthusiasts as archive material, to be savoured and enjoyed again and again. In the light music he is, as always, at his brilliant best, displaying an excellence of technique and a mastery of expression that can serve as a standard for pipers everywhere. He reveals also, for the first time on any recording, his considerable talent as a composer, his arrangement of the Mason’s Apron is exciting and unexpected and shows yet another facet of this great piper’s talent.

1   2/4 Marches: The Knightswood Ceilidh / Father John MacMillan of Barra
2   Slow airs: Leaving Loch Boisdale / The Angler’s Lament
3   6/8 Marches: Seumas MacNeill / John D Burgess
4   Strathspey & reel: Johnnie Ross, Craigard / Captain Lachlan MacPhail of Tiree
5   Jigs: Daphne Shephard / The Herring Wife
6   Piobaireach: The Lament for Duncan MacRae of Kintail
7   2/4 Marches: John MacFadyen of Melfort / Willie MacLean / Jeannie Carruthers / The Conundrum
8   Strathspey & reel: Lady Loudon / The Rejected Suitor
9   Piobaireach: The Lament for Mary MacLeod
10 Hornpipe: The Mason’s Apron

‘Cilla & Artie’ is a splendid album from Cilla Fisher (a member of the influential Fisher Family) and her husband Artie Trezise. The record was ‘The Melody Maker Folk Album of the Year – 1979′. Joining Cilla and Artie is an international collection of “session” musicians including Alistair Anderson, Johnny & Phil Cunningham, Rick Lee, Brian McNeill and Bob Zentz. The songs are mostly from the tradition with, “Blue Bleezin’ Blind Drunk” and “The Gypsy Laddies” but also include a grand version of Stan Rodgers’ “The Jeanie C” and the wildest ever arrangement of Ewan MacColl’s “Fisher Lassies”.
1  Norland Wind
2  The Beggar Man
3  What Can A Young Lassie
4  Fisher Lassies
5  Generations of Change
6  Fair Maid of London Town
7  The Wicked Wife
8  The Gypsie Laddies
9  Blue Bleezin’ Blind Drunk
10  John Grumlie
11  The Jeannie C

The selections on this record reflect a certain affinity between Norwegian and Shetland musical traditions: a kind of musical bridge over the North Sea. These are conventional recordings, without gimmicks, intended to deepen the appreciation of this unique fiddle music from Northern Europe. This fiddling style is rich in tone-colours, original sounds and lively rhythms. Listeners with a good will and a sense of exploration will come across many fascinating finds.

1     HAUGELATTEN (The Tune from the Hills) Hauk and Knut Buen
2     SELJORD BRIDAL MARCH Tom Anderson with Hauk and Knut Buen
3     GRAVBAKKEN (The Grave Yard) Vidar Lande
4     FILLE-VERN (Ragged-Vern) – walking dance Vidar Lande
5     SORDALEN (Setesdalgangar) Vidar Lande
6     MAGGIE O’HAM (Foula Shaalds Dance) Tom Anderson and Knut Buen with Debbie Scott and Catriona MacDonald
7     PRESTEGANGAREN (The Parson’s Dance) Hauk Buen
8     FYKERUDEN (Homage to Fykerud) Hauk Buen
9     MARKENSMANDAGEN (The Market-Monday) Hauk Buen
10   KNUT LURASEN I (Hjerki Haukeland) Knut Buen
11   MARGIT HJUKSE (Listening Tune) Knut Buen
12   SIRI RUKAREN (Fiddler’s Wife) Hauk Buen
13   BOKKOEN (Dance tune by Bokko) Hauk Buen
14   UNST BRIDAL MARCH/DA BRIDE’S A BOANNIE TING Tom Anderson and Knut Buen
15   HOMSLIEN (Tune of the Goblins) Vidar Lande
16   SKRUBBEN (The Wolf) Vidar Lande
17   NORAFJELLS (North of the Mountains) Vidar Lande

Recorded in Edinburgh, Jondalen and Oslo

First issued by Topic Records 1983

Irish traditional song runs the gamut between heroic and lyric. The great Donegal singer Paddy Tunney was a supremely lyrical singer and a master of intricate vocal ornament. The Flowery Vale was recorded in London in February 1975.

1    Tis Pretty to be in Ballinderry
2    Captain Coulson
3    Ta Me Mo Shui
4    What Brought the Blood
5    The Blighted Lover
6    The Twisting of the Rope
7    The Blackbird
8    Old Ardboe
9    The Old Man Rocking the Cradle
10   Siubhan Ni Dhuibhir
11   Dobbin’s Flowery Vale
12   Going to Mass Last Sunday

The debut recording from Dave and Toni Arthur has become a much sought after recording amongst collectors of the finest British folk music. The Arthurs were an influential pair on the club scene, particularly admired for their powerful harmony singing.
1  All Frolicking I’ll Give Over
2  The Death of Queen Jane
3  Creeping Jane
4  The Merchant’s Daughter of Bristol
5  The Bold Dragoon
6  Cold Blows the Winter’s Wind
7  The Lark in the Morning
8  Poor Old Horse
9  Hey John Barleycorn
10  Bedlam
11  Admiral Benbow
12  Father, Father Build Me A Boat
13  The Press Gang
14  Six Jolly Miners

Many of the finest traditional ballads from the British Isles were preserved by the families of settlers in the American South, where they existed alongside native American balladry. Hedy West, a native of North Georgia in the Appalachians, was one of the very few performers who were at home with the various manners of performing these ballad traditions. ‘Ballads’ is a splendid recording from 1967 which continues to influence contemporary musicians like Martin Simpson, three decades later.
1  The Foggy Dew
2  Girl I Left In Danville
3  The Unquiet Grave
4  Beaulampkin
5  Down In Adairsville
6  The Sheffield Apprentice
7  Lucy Wan
8  Little Sadie
9  The Cruel Mother
10  Love Henry
11  The Texan Rangers
12  George Collins

The Oldham Tinkers specialise in the local songs and ballads of South Lancashire, and have an immense following their. Their debut album soon caught the attention of John Peel and brought their music to a much wider audience.
1  The Rochdale Mashers
2  Seeing Double
3  The Pennine Rangers
4  The Two Jews
5  A Piecer’s Tale
6  Best o’t’ Bunch
7  The Lancashire Toreador
8  A Cob-Coaling Medley
9  The Four-Loom Weaver
10  John Willie’s Ragtime Band
11  Platt’s
12  Good Time Coming
13  I Mean to Wait for Jack
14  Skiing Owdham Style
15  A Mon Like Thee

From the original LP notes:

As at many local pubs, Saturday nights were for singing and the Eel’s Foot was no exception, having a Chairman – Philip Lumpton – who would keep the tiny bar in order with a gavel or the cribbage board and the ruling was that everyone had ‘to sing, say or pay’. Jumbo however remembers one chap, a steamroller driver, who ‘whenever it was his turn to sing someone would generally pay him a tanner not to – he wasn’t all that good.’ The money went into a kitty to supply the singers with beer which had to be brought by hand from the cellar to the bar, one pint at a time.

1 The Flower of London
2 The Derby Miller
3 The Loss of the Ramillies
4 The Green Mossy Banks of the Lea
5 Blow the Candle Out
6 The Bold Princess Royal
7 Newry Town
8 The Indian Lass
9 Muddley Barracks
10 The False Hearted Knight
11 The Lost Heiress
12 Down in the Fields Where the Buttercups Grow
13 Rambleaway
14 The Life of a Man

Produced by Tony Engle and Keith Summers
First issued by Topic Records 1975

The Stewarts are a proud family of Scots travellers who claim descent from the Royal House of Stewart and who have music in their bones. Belle Stewart was one of the great traditional ballad singers and her daughters, Sheila and Cathie, inherited the family talent in full measure. Belle’s husband Alex Stewart was a fine exponent of the Highland warpipes. For The Travelling Stewarts album the family were joined by many of their relatives, including Jeannie Robertson, Lizzie Higgins and Davy Stewart.

‘You’ll never see me laughing or shouting at a Pakistani or anybody like that; no, never… Long, long years ago when I was a wee boy. My auld mother told me that all travellers came from the same place as these people. and so I never do anything that might offend them. Anyway, they`re having a hard time of it. just like the travellers…’
Davy Stewart, itinerant singer.

1    Johnnie, My Man  Lizzie Higgins
2    Willie’s Fatal Visit  Jeannie Robertson
3    The Battle’s O’er; Scotland the Brave; The 51st Division in Egypt  Played by Donald and Isaac Higgins, pipes
4    Bogie’s Bonnie Belle  Jane Stewart
5    McGinty’s Meal and Ale  Davy Stewart
6    My Bonnie Tammy  Christina Stewart
7    MacPherson’s Lament  Maggie McPhee
8    The Drunken Piper; Brig o’ Perth; Reel o’ Tulloch  Played by Alex Stewart, pipes
9    Loch Dhui  Belle Stewart acc. Alex Stewart, goose
10   The Dawning of the Day  Cathie Stewart, acc. Alex Stewart, goose
11   Donald’s Return to Glencoe  Sheila Stewart

Recorded in Scotland by Bill Leader, 1967
First Issued by Topic 1968

Frank Harte (1933-2005) was a traditional Irish singer, song collector, architect and lecturer; a great exponent of the Dublin street ballad and widely known for his distinctive singing, his Dublin accent having a rich nasal quality complementing his often high register.

From the original LP notes:

The material is all his own, gathered from the abundant cornucopia of traditional Anglo-Irish folksong. He has been collecting since he was twelve years of age and his infallible ear and prodigious memory have recorded nearly a thousand songs, most of them unpublished, though many of the songs on this disc are in Colm O’Lochlainn’s Irish Street Ballads 1939 (C.O’L.,1) and More Irish Street Ballads 1965 (C.O’L.,2).

To explain in detail the history, the language, the music of these songs would require not a note which would fit on a record sleeve but a small book; but these are ballads of the Dublin streets, commonplace once, now remembered by a few. They were not all made in Dublin, but Dublin preserved their life.

1 The Traveller all over the World
2 The Shamrock Shore   acc
3 The Rag Man’s Ball   acc
4 Henry My Son   acc
5 The Bold Belfast Shoemaker
6 The Night That Larry was Stretched
7 The Twang Man   acc
8 The Finding of Moses
9 Father Murphy

Recorded by Bill Leader
First issued by Topic Records 1967

A wonderfully gifted and delicate singer, Frank Hinchliffe of Sheffield was also the possessor of numerous fine traditional songs, many in uncommon versions. He was undoubtedly one of the major traditional singers to come to public notice in the 1970s.

Traditional Songs from South Yorkshire

1 The Pear Tree
2 The Golden Glove
3 The Spotted Cow
4 Mary Across the Wild Moor
5 The Nobleman and Thrasherman
6 Wilkins and Dinah
7 The Green Mossy Banks of the Lea
8 Wild and Wicked Youths
9 Sheffield Park
10 Hear the Nightingales Sing
11 The Poor Old Weaver’s Daughter
12 It Hails, It Rains
13 Nothing Else to Do
14 Edward
15 We’ve Been a While a-Wassailing

First published by Topic 1977

Gypsies and travellers have preserved a wealth of English traditional song, which has been rarely collected. This splendid and influential collection of English traditional song performed by some of the finest Gypsy singers of Southern England, draws upon the diligent field recordings of the collector Mike Yates.
1  You Subjects of England – Jasper Smith
2  Little Dun Dee – Mrs Haynes
3  Hartlake Bridge – Jasper Smith
4  The Young Officer – Mrs Haynes
5  All Through Mi Rakli – Mrs Haynes
6  At the Atchin Tan – Mrs Haynes
7  The Oakham Poachers – Wiggy Smith
8  Thorneymoor Park – Jasper Smith
9  The Farmer of Chester – Joe Jones
10  The King and the Keeper – Joe Jones
11  Georgie – Levi Smith
12  The Haymakers – Levi Smith
13  The Broomdasher – Levi Smith
14  Barbara Allen – Phoebe Smith
15  Lavender – Bill Ellson
16  The Squire and the Gypsy – Jasper Smith
17  Erin’s Lovely Home – Mrs Haynes
18 The Game of Cards – Levi Smith
19  While the Yogger Mush Lays Sleeping – Jasper Smith
20  The Deserter – Wiggy Smith

Gary & Vera Aspey‘s very popular, highly enjoyable (and often hilarious) stage act captured on a 1976 live album.

Recorded in performance at the Scotgate Folk Club, Scotgate Inn, Stamford, Lincs, March 1976; the Chipping Sodbury Folk Club, The George, Chipping Sodbury, Glos, March 1976; and the Lord Coniers, Kiveton, Yorks, May 1976.

1  The Eekdale And Ennerdale Hunt Song
2  Weepin’ An’ Wailin’ Away
3  The Shuttle Kissing Song
4  Foddered Me Yowes
5  The Nightingale
6   Don’t Married Girls
7   Kids’ Songs
8   The Coal Hole Cavalry
9   Morning Stands On Tiptoe

Recorded and produced by Tony Engle
First published by TOPIC 1976

The Cock and Bull Band were formed in 1979 from the ashes of Hemlock. Members were Brad Bradstock, John Maxwell, Jean-Pierre Rasle and Dave Whetstone. Paul Martin replaced Brad in 1980 and the band recorded their debut album All Buttoned Up on Topic Records in 1981 and began their ascent in the folk festival and ceilidh world. Maxwell, Martin and Rasle then put Cock and Bull on hold for a spell in The Albion Band before returning to record and release their second Topic album, Eyes Closed and Rocking in 1985.

1. One for Dan
2. Valse Villageoise – Bourrée à Ruols
3. The Banister
4. Sugar on the Doughnut – Advice to the Ladies
5. The Wonder – Ridotta Rock
6. Prince Frederick’s – Suky’s Delight
7. Les Violettes Roses – Hop and Skip – Circle
8. William Irwin’s I, II & III
9. The Welch Rabbit – Hotfoot

Produced by Dave Whetstone and Tony Engle.
First issued by Topic Records 1985.

Peggy Seeger performs eight songs for children from the American tradition, accompanied by her sisters Penny and Barbara. First released in 1958.

1    All Around The Kitchen
2   Come Along John
3   Billy Barlow
4   Old Aunt Kate
5   Little Bird, Little Bird, Go Through My Window
6   Lula Gal
7   Rissolty, Rossolty
8   The Derby Ram

A chance meeting with the Boys of the Lough in California led to Vincent Griffin making his first solo record in 1977. His playing has plenty of character and his repertoire is full of grand fiddle tunes.

*1 Reels: Fahey’s 1 & 2
*2 Jigs: Paddy Fahey’s / The Cliffs of Moher
3 Reels: Paddy Ryan’s Dream / Mammy’s Pet
*4 Reels: Martin Rocheford’s / The Sligo Maid
*5 Hornpipes: The New Century / The Cuckoo
6 Jigs: Coleman’s
7 Reels: Lord McDonaId’s / Ballinasloe Fair
*8 Reels: The Reefs/McFadden’s Favourite
*9 Reels: The New Year’s In / Youghal Quay
10 Air: Se Bhfath mo Bhfuartha (The Cause of my Sorrow)
11 Reel: Lord Gordon’s
*12 Reels: Dr. Gilbert / The Queen of May
*13 Jigs: The Trip to Sligo / Garrett Barry’s
14 Reels: The Night in Ennis / The Maid Behind the Bar
*15 Reels: Crow|ey’s
*16 Reels: Lady Anne Montgomery / Down the Broom /T he Gatehouse Maid

On tracks marked * Vincent is accompanied on piano and ** on harp by Geraldine Carrig.

‘New Voices’ was a ground-breaking collection, one of the first albums to feature the younger generation singers of the mid 20th century British folk revival. The record featured the recording debuts of Maureen Craik and Harry Boardman alongside the Watersons’ first recordings for Topic records. Boardman was an important agent in the later ‘Deep Lancashire’ and ‘The Wide Midlands’ projects and made several solo albums for the label. The Watersons career has gone from strength to strength, at the time of writing the various members of the family have continued their recording relationship with Topic for over forty years.
1  Boston Harbour –The Watersons
2  To The Begging – Harry Boardman
3  The White Cockade – Maureen Craik
4  Owdham – Harry Boardman
5  The Greenland Whale Fishery – The Watersons
6  Hard Times – Harry Boardman
7  The Sandgate Girl’s Lament – Maureen Craik
8  Three Score And Ten – The Watersons
9  The Broom of Cowdenknowes – The Watersons
10  Bonny At Morn – Maureen Craik
11  The Hand-Loom Versus The Power-Loom – Harry Boardman
12  A U Hinny Burd – Maureen Craik
13  The Shurat Weaver – Harry Boardman
14  King Arthur’s Servants – The Watersons
15  The Weaver of Wellbrook – Harry Boardman

Bernard O’Sullivan was a farmer and concertina player of Country Clare, with an extensive repertoire of traditional tunes, when these recordings were made in 1975 by John Tams and Neil Wayne. His companion Tommy McMahon, a generation younger, learnt both from Bernard an from his wide contest experience, which included All-Ireland senior championship prizes in 1971, ’72 and ’73.

1   Polkas: The Babes in the Wood / Cooraclare Polka / Clare Dragoons Bernard O’Sullivan / Tommy McMahon
2   Jigs: The Shady Groves of Piedmont / The Humours of Ennistymon Bernard O’Sullivan / Tommy McMahon
3   Reels: The Old Torn Petticoat / Tommy People’s Favourite Tommy McMahon
4   Set dance: Mount Fabus Hunt Bernard O’Sullivan / Tommy McMahon
5   Reels: Ollie Conway’s Selection Tommy McMahon
6   Reels: Kilrush Races / The Clogher Reel / Burren Reel Tommy McMahon / Bernard O’Sullivan
7   Set dance: Bonaparte’s Retreat Tommy McMahon / Bernard O’Sullivan
8   March: Bonaparte’s March Bernard O’Sullivan
9   Jigs: Barron’s / Jackson’s / The Milltown Jig Tommy McMahon
10  Set dance: Rodney’s Glory Tommy McMahon / Bernard O’Sullivan
11  Reel: Tommy McMahon’s Reel Tommy McMahon
12  Waltz: Over The Waves Bernard O’Sullivan / Tommy McMahon
13  Polkas: Girl I Left Behind / Maggie in the Wood Bernard O’Sullivan
14  Jigs: Martin Talty’s / Thomas Friel’s / Joe Cunnean’s Tommy McMahon
15  Hornpipes: Sean Ryan’s / Danganella hornpipe Tommy McMahon
16  Set dance: Job O’ Journeywork Tommy McMahon / Bernard O’Sullivan
17  Reels: The Ash Plant / The Maid of Mount Cisco Bernard O’Sullivan / Tommy McMahon

Irish music in the old ‘Sligo Style’ was carried far and wide by such migrant sons as Michael Coleman, Paddy Killoran and Michael Gorman. It was the tradition that two London based musicians – Tommy Healy (flute) and Johnny Duffy (fiddle) – grew up in. They continued adhering to the style playing at home in Ireland and later in London. Accompanied by pianist Reg Hall the two are beautifully captured on this intimate recording from the mid-1970s.
1  Reels: Tarbolton / The Longford Collector / The Sailor’s Bonnet
2  Jigs: The Wandering Minstrel / Fasten the Legging / The Smash
3  Hornpipes: The Rights of Man / The Honeysuckle
4  Reels: The Boys at the Lough / The Merry Blacksmith
5  Jigs: The Scotsman Over the Border / Tell Her I Am
6  Reels: The Montua / The Happy Days of Youth
7  Reel: Fred Finn’s Reel
8  Reel; The First Part of the Lancers
9  Jigs: The Gold Ring / Richard Brennan’s Favourite
10  Reels: Miss McLeod / The Wild Irishman
11  Jig: The Grey Goose
12  Reels: The Humours of Lissadel / Sweeney’s Dream
13  Jigs: Cavan Lasses / Rose of the Heather
14  Reels: The Enchanted Lady / The Holy Land
15  Waltz: Mrs Kenney
16  Reels: Martin Wynne’s No.1 & No.2

A pioneering record of traditional East Anglian musicians playing functional music for dancing. This is the music of the rural public house tap room – step dances, polkas and waltzes. The exemplary location recordings capture “relaxed, unspectacular and homely but often highly skilled performances” from four of the finest country musicians – Billy Bennington (hammer dulcimer), Percy Brown (melodeon), Harold Colvill (mouth organ) and Oscar Woods (melodeon).

1  Jig – Oscar Woods
2  Gay Ladies – Billy Bennington
3  Old Joe, the Boat is Going Over / Untitled Polka – Percy Brown
4  Step dance tune (The Sailor’s Hornpipe) – Oscar Woods
5  Waltz: Dulcie Belle – Billy Bennington
6  Step Dance: Yarmouth Breakdown – Percy Brown
7  Italian’ Waltz – Oscar Woods
8  Untitled Polka – Oscar Woods
9  Step Dance: Yarmouth Hornpipe – Billy Bennington
10  Polka: On the Green – Billy Bennington
11  The Oyster Girl – Harold Covill
12  March: On Parade – Billy Bennington
13  Waltz for the Veleta – Percy Brown
14  Step Dance Tune – Oscar Woods
15  Slow Step Dance Tune – Billy Bennington
16  Oh, Joe the Boat is Going Over – Oscar Woods
17  Barn Dance Tune – Percy Brown
18  Sheringham Breakdown – Percy Brown
19  The Nutting Girl – Harold Covill
20  Jack’s the Lad (The Sailor’s Hornpipe) – Billy Bennington
21  Red Wing – Billy Bennington
22  Heel and Toe Polka – Percy Brown

The Fisher family – stalwarts of the folk song revival – captured at a family get-together; a series of magical recordings by Bill Leader devoted to the family’s younger generation. Ray and Archie Fisher together with their sisters come into their own on this delightful anthology of Scots songs old and new.
1  Come All Ye Fisher Lassies – The Fisher Family
2  Schooldays Over – Ray & Archie Fisher
3  The Rigs O’Rye – Archie Fisher
4  Donal Ogue – Joyce Fisher
5  For Our Lang Biding Here – Archie Fisher
6  Joy of My Heart – The Fisher Family
7  Hey Ca Through – Ray, Joyce, Audrey & Priscilla Fisher
8  What’s Poor Mary Weeping For? / Bonnie Lass O’Ballochmyle – Ray & Archie Fisher
9   Am A Miller Tae Ma Trade – Cindy & Joyce Fisher
10  I Am A Freeborn Man – Archie Fisher
11  The Birkin Tree – Joyce & Cindy Fisher
12  Aince Upon a Time – Ray & Archie Fisher

Peggy Seeger and Tom Paley, both New York, are brilliant exponents of American instrumental traditions. Guitar, banjo, autoharp and dulcimer weave a delicate majesty on a great selection of traditional material. This stunning collection, recorded in London in 1964 by Bill Leader, is a powerful example of their musical accuity and has been an influence on many younger performers.
1  Who’s That Knocking at My Window
2  Love Henry
3  The Lass of Roch Royal
4  Who’s Going to Shoe your Pretty Little Foot?
5  Pretty Polly
6  Englewood Mine
7  Buck Dancer’s Choice
8  Just as the Tide Was Flowing
9  The Kicking Mule
10  The Heartless Lady
11  The Fiddling Soldier
12  Tittery Nan
13  Loving Reilly
14  The Cuckoo
15  If He’d Be a Buckaroo
16  The Girl on the Greenbriar Shore

A collection of instrumental country music from the North-east of England. Of all the regions in England where traditional music exists, the North East is probably where it flourishes most strongly. Morpeth Rant is the second record of Northumbrian music to be published from a series of recording field trips made over the past three years. The first was Bonny North Tyne on Topic. The two records demonstrate some of the wide-ranging aspects of the music to be found in a variety of landscapes from the bleak, sheep-inhabited moorlands to the industrial and mining areas. The proximity of Scotland with its many well known country dance bands has had a great effect on local repertoires – as has the migration of Irish musicians to Tyneside. Northumbria has its own very strong tradition of indigenous music – often from the small-pipe repertoire – and concern and love for the local music has led to the composition of many tunes in the traditional form. The tunes on this record reflect the varied influences which have come to bear on the music of the North East.

1     Morpeth Rant / Miss Gayton’s Hompipe / Kathleen’s Fancy / Morpeth Rant Tommy Edmondson
2     Jig selection: AM Shinnie / The Hogmanay Jig / Elizabeth Adair Billy Atkinson
3     Strathspey Medley: Laird o’ Thrums / Iron Man / Laird o’ Drumblair Jimmy Pallister
4     Medley of Scott Skinner Waltzes including Our Highland Queen and Piper’s Wait Alan Coulson & Geoff Purvis
5     Kinclaven Brig / Bill Sutherland Martin Dunn
6     Hornpipes: The Glen Aln / The Redeside Billy Atkinson
7     The Crusaders March Billy Atkinson
8     Jig & hornpipe: Bill Charlton’s Fancy & Madam Bonaparte Geoff Purvis & Alan Coulson
9     Military Two Step: Doctor Angus Tommy Edmondson
10   The Beeswing with variations Martin Dunn
11   Jimmy Allen / The Girl with the Blue Dress On Jimmy Pallister
12   The Cheviot Hills Jimmy Pallister
13   Crossing The Minch / Banjo Breakdown Alan Coulson
14   Latham Ladies Alan Coulson & Geoff Purvis
15   Farewell to the Creeks Billy Atkinson
16   Longueval – waltz Billy Atkinson
17   The Farewell with variations Martin Dunn

A L Lloyd occupied a unique position in the British folksong revival. Much-loved father-figure and mentor to many younger singers, he was a performer of persuasive charm, as well as an international authority on folklore and a frequent broadcaster. Lloyd was for a while artistic director of Topic Records and encouraged the early recordings of many of the folk scene’s finest performers. ‘First Person’ is a remarkable selection of his own favourite English folk songs. Lloyd is accompanied by Alf Edwards – concertina and Dave Swarbrick – fiddle.
1  Four Drunken Maidens
2  St. James’ Hospital
3  Kelly Gang
4  I Wish My Love
5  Jack Orion
6  Lover’s Ghost
7  Rocking the Cradle
8  Drover’s Dream
9  Short Jacket and White Trousers
10  Sovay, the Female Highwayman
11  Reynardine
12  Farewell Nancy
13  Fanny Blair
14  Shickered As He Could Be

Martin Simpson has spoken of his early studio recordings as “scrapbooks of the millions of things that I was into at that time.” For most fans this 1986 album displays a young master developing a remarkable relationship with his guitar.
1  Jazzman
2  Shawnee Town
3  Moth
4  Living Without You
5  For Jessica, Sad or High Kicking / My Dearest Dear
6  Icarus
7  No Depression in Heaven
8  Let It Be Me
9  Stillness in Company
10  The Lakes of Ponchartrain

The Oldham Tinkers from Oldham in South Lancashire made their debut on the best selling ‘Deep Lancashire’ collection in 1968. Throughout the next decade they took their music to a wide international audience. Their fourth ‘solo’ album for the Topic label was a powerful mixture of Lancashire humour and pathos. Their songs are derived from the poems of local dialect writers, from Music Hall entertainers and from the traditional music of the North West.
1  The Maid in the Calico Dress
2  Elsie Bell
3  Pity Me My Darling
4  The Talking Dog
5  To Sarah
6  Tall Tales Medley
7  Sit Thee Down
8  John Willie’s Ferret
9  The Deserter
10  Poor Little Hauve-Timer
11  Dad’s Medals
12  Fishing
13  Jumping Jack
14  Jim’s Medley

Gary and Vera Aspey from Atherton, near Manchester.

“If they find a rare and singable set of words with out a tune, then in the true spirit of the folk revival they make a melody for it, and a convincing one at that. Recently they have been seeking songs from the Lake District, an area rather neglected by the great song collectors of the past. Gary and Vera have a lively following in their beloved North, but already their reputation is spreading far out of their native territory.”

1  From the North  Gary and Vera vocal
2  The Parting  Vera vocal and concertina
3  Coal Picking  Gary vocal
4  The Three Foot Seam  Gary and Vera vocal, Vera and Bernard Wrigley, concertinas
5  Mill Girl’s Lullaby  Vera vocal and guitar, Wilf Darlington mandolin
6  King Cotton  Gary and Vera vocal and concertina
7  Auntie Ketyll  Vera vocal and guitar
8  Cum t’ thi Tay  Vera vocal and guitar
9   The Cradle Song  Gary and Vera vocal and guitar
10  The Roving Navvy  Gary and Vera vocal and concertina, Bernard Wrigley and Wilf Darlington, chorus
11  The Ship Canal Song  Gary and Vera vocal
12  Hailey-Go  Gary and Vera vocal and guitar
13  Tuppence on the Rope  Gary and Vera vocal and concertina, Bernard Wrigley bass concertina
14  A Bit of a Sing  Gary and Vera, Bernard Wrigley, Will Darlington

First published by Topic 1975

This record celebrates one of the finest folk singers of our time, Sam Larner, born in Winterton, Norfolk, in 1878. Winterton is just north of Yarmouth, on the coastal edge of a stretch of flat watery country that, half a century ago, within a few square miles, sheltered a remarkable nest of singing birds, including Harry Cox of Barton (later Catfield), Ted Goffin of Catfield, Bob Miller of Sutton, and Jimmy Sutton (called ‘Old Larpin’) of Winterton. The composer E J Moeran noted fine songs from all these men during and shortly after the first world war, but he missed Sam Larner, who was perhaps away at sea.

1. Alphabet Song
2. Merry Month of May
3. Napoleon’s Dream
4. London Steamer
5. Bonny Bunch of Roses
6. Barbara Allen
7. The Smacksman
8. The Lofty Tall Ship
9. Raking the Hay
10. Will Watch
11. The Outlandish Knight
12. Haisboro Light Song
13. Old Bob Ridley-o
14. The Bold Princess Royal
15. In Scarboro’ Town

Produced by Tony Engle.

First issued by Topic Records 1974.

JOHN LYONS of Crussa, County Clare, lived amidst the traditional music of his area of Ireland all of his life and was a very fine singer and melodeon player. This recording from 1974 manages to capture both the nuances and strengths of his music.

“The fervour and humour of these performances make attractive listening.” Ballymena Guardian.

1  The Maid on the Shore
2  The May Morning Dew
3  Morrison’s Jig / The Pipe on the Hob
4  The Tailor Bawn
5  After Aughrim
6  The Boys of Barna-shraide
7  Erin’s Lovely Lea
8  The Blackthorn / Unnamed reel
9  Farmer Michael Hayes
10  The Lambs on the Green Hills
11  Fiac an Madrarua
12  Kitty’s Wedding
13  Farewell, Lovely Mary

First published by Topic 1974

An anthology of soldiers songs, ribald, cynical and occasionally sentimental. Performed in his inimitable style by Ewan MacColl with Peggy Seeger, Jimmy MacGregor and John Cole.
1  Any Complaints
2  The Fortress Songs
3  Farewell to Sicily
4  The Ballad of Wadi Maktilla
5  The Dying Soldier
6  The Ghost Army of Korea
7  Browned Off
8  When this Ruddy War is Over
9  Join the British Army
10  On the Move Tonight
11  The Second Front Song
12  Seven Years in the Sand
13  Hand Me Down Me Petticoat
14  The Young Trooper Cut Down In His Prime
15  Bless ‘Em All

The High Level Ranters were one of the longest-established and most popular bands in Britain. A rare combination of individual talents, the group play the music of their native Northumbria with a command born of skill and understanding. ‘Four In A Bar’ is an all-instrumental collection, typical of the repertoire they played at regular sessions in Newcastle’s weekly ‘Folksong & Ballad’ club.
1  Whinham’s Jig / Billy’s Jig
2  Chips and Shavings / Jack’s Alive / Dear Tobacco
3  Town Green Polka / Jenny Bell Polka
4  The Biddlestone Hornpipe / The Last of the Twins
5  The Ruby / The Quarrelsome Piper
6  Rowly Burn / Coates’s Hornpipe
7  La Russe / The Winshield’s Hornpipe / Jane’s Fancy / Da Road to Houll
8  Blinkin’ Tibbie / The Pear Tree
9  Swalwell Lasses / South Shields Lasses
10  Moonshine Polka
11  The Quayside / Miss Ward’s Reel
12  The Butterclout / Such a Wife as Willie Had / Willy is a Bonny Lad

A former fisherman from Brighton, Johnny Doughty was discovered in his early seventies and recorded for Topic records. His songs, delivered with a vigorous sincerity that belied his age, ranged from classic Elizabethan ballads to locally composed ditties, as well as reflecting his extrovert personality.

1    Herring Heads
2    The Wreck of the Northfleet
3    When I was Single
4    The Golden Vanity
5    The Saucy Sailor
6    Baltimore
7    While Going Round the Cape/Round Rye bay for More
8    Spanish Ladies
9    The Sailor’s Alphabet
10   The Mermaid
11   Marry Me
12   I’m Going to be Mother Today
13   Barbar Allen
14   My Boy Billy
15   Dick Turpin/Let Her Go Back
16   Rye Harbour Girl
17   The Streets of Port Arthur

Barry Dransfield recorded this unusual and exciting album of fiddle music for Topic in 1978.

A professional folk singer since 1965, Barry’s first recording success came with brother, Robin, in 1970 with their Melody maker Folk Album of the year, The Rout of the Blues. He made two more albums with his brother and collaborated with Ashley Hutchings, Richard Thompson, John Kirkpatrick and Shirley Collins on the seminal Morris On featuring his singing and fiddle playing.

1  Rattling Roaring Willie / Metal Man
2  Fiddler’s Progress
3  Who Knows Where the Time Goes? / My Lagan Love
4  Sheffield Hornpipe / Pet of the Pipers
5  Up the Aisle: Swedish Wedding March
Wedding Song / Bridie’s Wedding / Norwegian Wedding March / Wedding Morris
6  Sandy Bell’s
7  Obliged to Fiddle / Planxty Davy / Spanish Cloak
8  Bushes and Briars / Swedish Air
9  O’Carolan’s Concerto
10  Recitation upon a Gentleman Sitting on a Cremona Violin
11  Sally Gardens / Clonmel Races

Barry Dransfield : vocals, violin, cello, gimbri, bowed Appalachian dulcimer;
Robin Dransfield : vocals [2]

Recorded and produced by Nic Kinsey at Livingston Studios
First published by Topic 1978

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Ewan MacColl was one of the architects of the mid twentieth century British folk revival. A polemicst, writer and a singer of extraordinary dramatic power. His influence on the whole movement has been of the utmost importance. MacColl’s singing brings both the past alive and expresses the mood of his own times.
1  We Poor Labouring Men
2  Georgie
3  Barbara Allen
4  Sheepcrook and Black Dog
5  Bramble Briar (Strawberry Town)
6  One Night As I Lay On My Bed
7  The Grey Cock
8  To the Begging I Will Go
9  The Sheep-Stealer
10  The Manchester Angel
11  The Bold Richard
12  The Press Gang
13  Round Cape Horn
14  Through Moorfields
15  Homeward Bound

This is the second solo record featuring the singing of Lizzie Higgins, one of our finest traditional singers, recorded in 1975 at the height of her powers.

The north-east of Scotland has been known for 200 years as a region rich in tradition, and recent collecting has shown this still to be the case. Lizzie features on this record some of the big ballads for which the area is famed, such as The Twa Brothers, The Cruel Mother and The Forester. Like her famous mother, the late Jeannie Robertson, she has the grandeur to give these pieces their full majestic impact. Her father, Donald Higgins, was equally important in her musical development, for his piping had a distinct effect upon her singing style, with its fluid decoration and its expressive and commanding tone.

1    Up and Awa Wi’ the Laverock
2    Lord Lovat
3    Soo Sewin’ Silk
4    Lady Mary Ann
5    MacDonald of Glencoe
6    The Forester
7    Tammy Toddles
8    Aul’ Roguie Gray
9    The Twa Brothers
10  The Cruel Mother
11   The Lassie Gathering Nuts

The four piece ensemble Oak were the leading lights of a movement to rediscover English country music in the early 1970s. The group comprised Rod and Danny Stradling, Peta Webb and Tony Engle. Their songs, music and style were derived from traditional country performers. Their sole album – ‘Welcome To Our Fair’ – has been an tremendously influential recording for a whole generation of British folk musicians.

1  Thousands or More
2  New Rigged Ship / Rig-a-jig-jig
3  The Lakes of Cool Flynn
4  The Nutley Waltz / The Faithful Sailor Boy
5  Roving Round the County Tyrone
6  The Scarlet and the Blue
7  Shepherds Arise
8  Scan’s Polka
9  Australia
10  Cupid’s Garden
11  False, False
12  Our Good Ship Lies in Harbour
13  The Bunch of Thyme / The Perfect Cure / The Sweets of May

‘Few singers have such a vigorous, broad-ranging and fresh-sounding song repertoire as Nottingham’s Roy Harris, and none can handle it more convincingly. With Roy Harris at the helm the revival is in safe hands.’ Melody Maker 1973

On The Bitter & The Sweet Roy is accompanied by Notts Alliance – Ian Stewart, Roger Grimes & Laurence Platt, and Muckram Wakes – Roger Watson, Helen Wainwright & John Tams.

1    Turpin Hero (with Notts Alliance)
2    The Bonny Green Woods (with Muckram Wakes)
3    The Death Of Bill Brown
4    The Three Butchers (self-accompanied on guitar)
5    The Ullswater Pack (with chorus)
6    Poor Owd ‘Oss (with Notts Alliance)
7    General Ludd’s Triumph (with Muckram Wakes)
8    Poverty Knock (with combined groups)
9    The Streams Of Lovely Nancy
10   Robin Hood and The Tanner (with Notts Alliance and Roger Watson, dulcimer)
11   The ‘Royal Oak’
12   Strike The Bell (with Notts Alliance)
13   McCafferty
14   All Through The Ale (with Roger Watson, concertina)

Two generations of the Campbell family and their lodger recorded during a family get-together. The older Campbells recalled songs from their youth in Scotland; Bob Cooney, the lodger, remembered children’s rhymes from childhood; Ian and Lorna (from the influential Ian Campbell Folk Group) and their sister Winnie sand ancient songs freshly learned through the folk revival.
1  Faur does Bonnie Lorna Lie / Sleep Till Yer Mammy – Betty Campbell
2  Nicky Tams – Dave Campbell
3  The Road and the Miles to Dundee – Betty Campbell
4  Drumdelgie / I Ken Fur I’m Gaun – Dave Campbell & Bob Cooney
5  My Wee Man’s a Miner / Fa, Fa, Fa wid be a Bobby / Foul Friday / Me an’ Mi Mither / We Three Kings – The Campbell Family
6  Bogie’s Bonnie Belle – Winnie Campbell
7  The Cruel Mother – Ian Campbell
8  Lang a’Growin’ – Lorna Campbell
9  Lady Eliza – Winnie Campbell
10  Will Ye Gang Love – Ian Campbell
11  I Wish, I Wish – Lorna Campbell
12  McGinty’s Meal and Ale – Bob Cooney and the family

Traveller, horse-dealer and uilleann piper, Felix Doran was also a great-grandson of the famous 19th-century piper John Cash of Wexford. Carrying on the tradition of that extraordinarily influential musician, Doran played all over Ireland for many years.

1 Air: Mary of Murroe / Reel: The Green Gates
2 Air: The Dear Irish Boy / Reel: The Primrose Lass
3 Reel: Rakish Paddy
4 Air: Rolandstown Churchyard
5 Reel: The Ash Plant
6 Jig: The Lark in the Morning
7 The Fox Hunt
8 Reels: George White’s Favourite / The Ivy Leaf
9 Air: The Coolin
10 Reel: Boys of the Lough
11 Reels: Pigeon on the Gate / Miss Monaghan

First published by Topic Records in 1976

The mighty Oldham Tinkers specialise in the local songs and ballads of their native South Lancashire. True inheritors of the spirit of great Lancashire mucial comics like George Formby. “All the salt and savour of Lancashire song and humour is to be enjoyed in their records.” ‘Oldham’s Burning Sands’ was the group’s first recording for Topic Records and a perennial favourite with the late John Peel.
1  Success to the Weavers
2  The Lancashire Miller
3  Charlie Chaplin
4  Eawr Market Neet
5  The Owdam Chap’s Visit to Th’ Queen
6  In Our Town
7  Oldham’s Burning Sands
8  A Fine Old English Gentleman
9  Peterloo
10  We’re Off In A Motor Car
11  The Oldham Pensioner
12  The Stockport Strike
13  Th’ Childer’s Holiday

From the original LP notes:

On this present recording the singers are elderly and it is interesting to note what (E J) Moeran had to say on this subject. ‘One of the singers there was a man of about fifty who learned his songs from his father. The latter was also present, singing in the quavering and asthmatic tones of old age, but it was only recently that he had allowed the young man of fifty … to ‘perform in public’ for he was determined that he must acquire the true traditional style, uncontaminated by outside influences, before so doing.’

1 The Bold Princess Royal – Bob Hart
2 Seventeen Come Sunday – Bob Hart
3 The Faithful Sailor Boy – Percy Webb
4 Flash Company – Percy Webb
5 Wheel Your P’rambulator – Percy Webb
6 Go and Leave Me – Percy Webb
7 Rap-a-Tap-Tap – Bob Hart
8 The Song of the Thrush – Bob Hart
9 John Barleycorn – Ernest Austin
10 The Gipsy’s Warning – Bob Hart
11 Hares on the Mountain/The Knife in the Window – Ernest Austin
12 Barbara Allen – Bob Hart

Production by Tony Engle
First issued by Topic Records 1974

A remarkable historical set, this record documents the recordings of a splendid early Irish-American dance band from Boston. Dan Sullivan was renowned in Boston as one of the finest fiddlers in the traditional style. The exhilarating ensemble that he led were in demand for dances in the area around Boston and made many recordings between 1926 and the mid-‘thirties. This collection includes some of their finest sides and recordings by individual members of the ensemble.
1  Irish Dance Set – Figure No.2
2  Dan Sullivan’s Favourite
3  Tickling Mary Jane
4  The Rabbit Catcher
5  Londonderry Hornpipe
6  Miller’s Reel / Duffy the Dancer
7  Bantry Bay
8  Billy Hanafin’s Reel
9  Green Grow the Rushes-O
10  Versouviana Dance
11  Boil the Kettle Early
12  Groves Hornpipe
13  Johnny Will You Marry Me?
14  Lord Longon’s Reel
15  Lanigan’s Ball
16  Blackberry Blossom / Bonnie Kate
17  I’m Leaving Tipperary
18  Silver Slipper / Jerry Daly’s Hornpipe

A remarkable album from Martin Simpson and his then wife, Jessica, with the band Flash Company. True, Dare or Promise features some of Martin Simpson’s most imaginative guitar playing through a remarkable series of arrangements that stretch British folk-rock towards the avant garde! The ensemble also features the fine (and much lamented) songwriter John B Spencer. Although they only performed a handful of gigs this album captures all the early promise of a fine ensemble.
1  Doney Girl
2  Past Caring
3  Not the Whiskey Talking
4  Young Man
5  Bedlam Boys
6  Wholly In My Keeping
7  Rising of the Woman
8  Man Smart, Woman Smarter
9  Essequibo River
10  The Keel Row

Debut recording from the LIVERPOOL SPINNERS (soon to be well-known internationally as the Spinners). This spirited collection was recorded by Bill Leader live at the folk club run by the group at Samson and Barlow’s on London Road Liverpool in 1961. Tony Davis, Mick Groves, Cliff Hall, Hughie Jones and Jacqueline Macdonald.
Songs Spun in Liverpool was first released by Topic Records in 1962.

1. Whip Jamboree
2. The Liverpool Barrow Boy
3. Hayarden
4. The Champion of the Seas
5. Judy Drownded
6. John Peel

Peta Webb’s 1973 LP for Topic came after great interest in her work with Oak; this album showcases her individual vocal style, with songs learned from some of the great Irish traditional singers, Brigid Tunney, Winnie Ryan and John Docherty among them.

1. I have wandered in exile  with Lucy Farr, fiddle
2. Oxford City
3. The Moorlough Shore
4. The Blackbird of Avondale with Lucy Farr, fiddle; Reg Hall, melodeon
5. Blackwater Side
6. The Pride of Glencoe with Michael Plunkett, fiddle
7. I am a poor girl
8. Moorlough Mary
9. The Lovely Banks of Lea with Lucy Farr, fiddle

Recorded by Tony Engle

First issued by Topic Records 1973

Solo recording from one of the leading figures in music from the North East of England and inded in the English folksong revival of the late twentieth century. English concertina and smallpipe maestro Alistair Anderson has been at the forefront of the performance of traditional music for over four decades. An internationally recognised ambassador for the music of Northumberland, between 1968 and 1979 he toured the world as a member of the High Level Ranters. He has an enviable reputation as a solo performer and an enthusiastic educator and folk activist. In 2006 he was awarded the prestigious Gold Medal of the English Folk Dance and Song Society.
1  The Hawk Polka / Thrunton Woods
2  The Keelman’s Petition / The Tipp Staff
3  La Fille de Lyon / Cotillion des Marionettes
4  Blake’s Hornpipe / President Garfield’s Hornpipe / Bonny Broom Hill
5  Felton Ionnin
6  Kriden Fair / Tich Richardson’s Favourite / Hey to the Camp / Brosehill
7  Alistair Anderson’s Favourite / Old French
8  The Belfast Hornpipe / The Prize Potato
9  The Trip to Carlisle / Corby Crag
10  Ali Anderson / Henry Atkinson
11  Blaydon Flats / Whittingham Games / James Brown
12  Derwent Water’s Bonnie Lord / The Bride’s Favourite
13  Remember Me / The Left Handed Fiddler
14  Geld Him Lasses, Geld Him / Uncle John
15  The Darkening

John Kirkpatrick and Sue Harris play and sing English country music with a rare authority. John is a well known session musician, recording with Richard and Linda Thompson, Gerry Rafferty, Pere Ubu, Roy Bailey and many others. John and Sue were founder members of the Albion Country Band, and John has been a member of Steeleye Span and Brass Monkey. ‘The Rose Of Britain’s Isle’ was voted the record of the year 1974 by Folk Review.
1  The Rose of Britain’s Isle / Glorishears
2  Up in the North
3  Hunsden House and Whimbleton House
4  Queen of the May
5  Old Man Jones
6  Not for Joe
7  Weyhill Fair
8  The Milkmaid’s Song
9  Rising Sun and the Crown
10  Sweet Swansea
11  The Yellow Joak and The White Joak
12  The Lady and the Soldier
13  Fireside Polka / Down Sides and up the Middle

An important collection of field recordings made between 1940 and the late 1960s, which focus upon the traditional instrumental music of rural England. Most of the musicians featured were born towards the end of the 19th century and developed their musical skills in the years before the Great War. The carnage of World War 1, the movement towards towns in search of employment and the influence of mass media, all served to bring about a decline in country music. This recording captures some of the finest surviving performers and the repertoire they played for social dancing in country pubs and village halls.
1  Jenny Lind / Untitled Polka – Scan Tester and Rabbidy Baxter
2  The Irish Washerwoman / Garryowen / Rory O’More / St Patrick’s Day – Billy Cooper
3  The Boscastle Breakdown – The Tintagel and Boscatle Players
4  The Boscastle Breakdown (six hornpipes) – William Hocken
5  The Helston Furry Dance – Mr Dangar’s Trio
6  Lady Evesham’s Jig – Mr Dangar’s Trio
7  Untitled Polka – Walter and Daisy Bulwer and Reg Hall
8  The Yarmouth Hornpipe introducing The Four Hand Reel / The Sailor’s Hornpipe – Billy Cooper
9  Dulcie Bell – Billy Cooper
10  The Breakdown / The Flowers of Edinburgh – Harry Lee
11  The Italian Schottische – The Dorset Trio
12  The Lass of Dalogil – The Dorset Trio
13  Bonfire Tune / Untitled Polka – Albert Farmer
14  Untitled Waltz / The Cuckoo Waltz – Albert Farmer
15  Unidentified Tune – Harry Lee
16  The Sailor’s Hornpipe / The Shipdham Hornpipe / Untitled Polka / The White Cockade / Untitled Polka – Walter and Daisy Bulwer

Vera Aspey’s 1977 solo LP garnered lavish praise on release, Maurice Rosenbaum of the Daily Telegraph declaring it one of his albums of the year. A selection of mostly traditional material, with one Gary and Vera Aspey original and an Alfred Noyes poem set to the music of Phil Ochs, this album showcased Vera’s range and talent to stunning effect.

1. The Blackbird
2. Owd Betty Barlow
3. Ladybird
4. The Maypole Inn
5. The Pit Brow Lassies
6. My Johnny Was a Shoemaker
7. Coal Black Faces
8. The Highwayman
9. Shule Agra
10. Aggie Bell
11. The Sprig of Thyme

Produced by Tony Engle.

First issued by Topic Records 1977.

Bob Smith’s Ideal Band was the cente of a group of Glasgow musicians, singers and omedians, who played dance music, sang popular songs and enacted sketches on the Beltona label in the 1930s. Their colourful and entertaining music is the sound not of a folklorist’s collection but of a genuinely popular regional idiom as it was recorded in its day. This 1977 collection was lovingly compiled from their finest 78rpm recordings.
1   Eightsome reel Part 1 (Fairy Dance / The Breakdown / De’il Among The Tailors)
2  Ashcroft’s Reel / Londonderry Air / Breakdown
3  Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
4  Liverpool and Highland Hornpipes (inc. Down Home Rag)
5  The International
6  Medley of Popular Waltzes (Let Me Call You Sweetheart / Smile Awhile / Down At The Old Bull and Bush / By The Side of the Zuyder Zee / Let Me Call You Sweetheart)
7  The Canal Cruise Parts 1 & 2 (incs. Life On The Ocean Wave / The Drunken Sailor / Miss MacLeod / A Man’s A Man for All That)
8  La Varsovienne
9  Big Reason Blues
10  The Boston Two-step
11  Horseguards Blue
12  Happy Hours
13  Woodland Voices
14  Eightsome reel Part 2 (Kate Dalrymple / Wind That Shakes The Barley / Soldier’s Joy / Miss MacLeod)
15  Ideal One-Step
16  The Middy March
17  Empress Tango
18  The Red Flag
19  Wull’s Wireless Wails Parts 1 & 2 (Flowers of Edinburgh / When You and I were Young, Maggie / Highland Laddie / Orange and Blue / Kafoozalum)
20  Medley of Irish Waltzes: The Irish Jaunting Car / Come Back To Erin / Eileen Alannah)
21  The Ideal Lancers: 1st. Fig: (Rakes of Mallow / My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose / The Girl I Left Behind Me) 2nd. Fig: (Lass of Gowrie / Kate Dalrymple / Loch Lomond) 3rd. Fig: (Blackthorn Stick / Irish Washerwoman) 4th Fig: (The Alma /Atholl Highlanders / Bonny Dundee) 5th Fig: (unidentified / Atholl Highlanders / Nora Creina / Biddy the Bowl Wife / Rakes of Kildare / Barren Rocks of Aden)
22  Dulcimer Tunes from An Old ‘National Hall’ Favourite parts 1 & 2: (The Favourite Hornpipe / Unidentified Barn Dance)
23  I Still Love You / Waltz Hesitation
24  The Call of the Pipes Part 1
25  Why Worry

Until Topic Records featured Harry Boardman singing six Lancashire songs on the 1965 LP ‘New Voices’, available recordings of songs with their roots in the North West of England were scarce. The growing demand for such material led to the release of ‘Deep Lancashire’ in 1968 and then, in 1970, ‘Owdham Edge’, featuring Harry Boardman once again, as well as the first recordings by one Mike Harding.

1. Sam Shuttle and Betty Reedhook sung by Harry Boardman (banjo), acc. Lesley Boardman (mandolin) & Bob Diehl (fiddle)
2. Owdham Edge sung by John Howarth and The Oldham Tinkers (with banjo, mandolin and guitar)
3. Our Sarah’s Getten’ A Chap sung by John Howarth and The Oldham Tinkers (with banjo, mandolin and guitar)
4. The Miners’ Lock-Out sung by Harry Boardman (banjo); acc. Lesley Boardman (tenor banjo) & Mike Harding (Jews Harp)
5. Street Scene recited by Harvey Kershaw
6. Pounds, Shillings and Pence sung by Tim and Robin Boardman, leading into Down at our School sung by The Oldham Tinkers (with banjo, mandolin and guitar)
7. The Little Piecer sung by Dave Brooks (concertina)
8. Sammy Shuttleworth sung by Mike Harding (concertina), acc. Bernard Wrigley (bass concertina) & John Tenent (tenor horn)
9. Bowton’s Yard sung by Harry Boardman (banjo) acc. Lesley Boardman (tenor banjo) & Bob Diehl (fiddle)
10. Toddlin’ Whoam sung by Larry Kearns (guitar)
11. The Bard’s Reformation sung by Harry Boardman (banjo), acc. Lesley Boardman (tenor banjo) & Bob Diehl (fiddle)
12. Schoolyard Song sung by Harry Ogden (guitar), acc. Ian Hope (fiddle)
13. Nobbut a Cockstride Away sung by Mary Kershaw acc. Harvey Kershaw (piano)
14. Billy Suet’s Song sung by Harry Boardman (concertina)
15. Canute sung by The Oldham Tinkers (with banjo, tin whistle and guitar)
16. Our Bill sung by Bernard Wrigley (guitar)

Recorded by Sean Davies

First issued by Topic Records 1970

John Doonan was born and bred in Newcastle of an Irish father and mother and brought up in an atmosphere strictly Irish. His father was a well respected traditional fiddle player in the Newcastle area and it was through his strong influence that John inherited his fine style of flute-playing.

Irish Traditional Dance Music In Strict Tempo
1 Reels: Jackie Coleman’s / Paddy Cavanagh’s / John Brennan’s
2 Slip jigs: Any Old Jig Will Do / The Butterfly
3 Set Dance: Rodney’s Glory
4 Slow jigs: The Idle Road / The Frost is All Over / The Black Rogue
5 Air: The Spalpeen’s Lament
6 Jigs: The Kesh / Morrison’s / Old Joe’s
7 Reels: The Shannon Breeze / Heathery Breeze / The Green Fields of America
8 Set Dance: The Blackthorn Stick
9 Set Dance: Hurry the Dance
10 Set Dance: Rub the Bag
11 Air & Set Dance: The Blackbird
12 Hornpipes: Spellan the Fiddler / The Rights of Man
13 Jigs: The Irish Washerwoman / Father O’Flynn / The Lilting Fisherman

John Doonan is accompanied by Malcolm Armstrong on tracks 1,6,7 and 13
and Brian Pandrich on piano tracks 3, 8, 9, and 10

First published by Topic Records 1978

Onetime member of the esteemed High Level Ranters, Johnny Handle is also a solo performer of great charm, humour and a wonderful songwriter. The Collier Lad mirrors many aspects of life in the North-east, from the lore of the miner to the lure of the Geordie streets.

Johnny Handle guitar, accordeon & piano with Alistair Anderson English concertina, Tommy Gilfellon Guitar and Colin Ross fiddle.

In Bye
1   The Collier Lad *
2   Dust
3   The Durham Big Meetin’ Day
4   The Old Man of the Village
5   The New Spotlight
6   Farewell to the Monty
7   Stottin’ Doon the Waal *
On Bank
8   The Day we went to the Coast
9   Schooldays
10  Is there Owt Secure?
11  The Old Pubs ±
12  Decorating
13  The Fearless Mariner
14  Danny’s *
* ably assisted by the rest of the High Level Ranters
± with Alistair Anderson, chorus