The great traditional ballads are storytelling at its dark, urgent best and the greatest exponent of this folk art was Ewan MacColl. Traditional narrative ballads are at the centre of the British Folk Tradition. They told stories which helped define the English and Scottish national characters; stories about murder and intrigue, love and discord on both the epic and domestic scale, but stories that told us about ourselves.
Ewan MacColl was the folk revival’s greatest proponent of the ballad; ballads were central to his conception of the folk revival and at the core of his recordings and performances. His commitment showed in his performances, where the story was everything. No one who ever witnessed him performing one of the great ballads live will ever forget it. Ballads: Murder, Intrigue, Love, Discord is a great selection of performances originally released in 1956 and never before on CD. This beautiful double CD is lovingly remastered and packaged in a slipcase with a 64 page booklet with extensive notes and full texts of all the songs.
“An unmissable collection celebrating the man’s interpretative genius” ★★★★ Uncut
“Majestic – the intensity, power, drive and drama of these performances are undiminished” ★★★★★ Songlines
“This lovingly compiled double disc of previously unreleased [on CD] material, with its richly detailed booklet, provides both a fascinating archive and an authentic naked plunge into the deep wellspring of traditional song” Acoustic
Ballads of Murder & Intrigue
1 The Cruel Mother
2 Johnnie O’ Breadisley
3 Lang Johnni More
4 Jock The Leg
5 Hughie The Graeme
6 The Douglas Tragedy
7 The Dowie Dens Of Yarrow
8 Captain Ward And The Rainbow
9 Clyde’s Water
10 The Crafty Farmer
11 Lord Gregory
12 Gil Morice
13 My Son David
14 The Battle Of Harlaw
15 The Bonnie Hoose Of Airlie
Ballads of Love & Discord
1 The Rantin’ Laddie
2 The Earl Of Aboyne
3 The Cooper Of Fife
4 Captain Wedderburn’s Courtship
5 The Jolly Beggar
6 The Beggar Laddie
7 Our Goodman
8 The Laird O’Drum
9 The Broomfield Hill
10 Get Up And Bar The Door
11 Hind Horn
12 The Trooper And The Maid
13 Amang The Blue Flowers And The Yellow
14 The Keach In The Creal
Available now from:
TOPIC SHOP, AMAZON, ITUNES and on SPOTIFY
