Featuring: Ray Fisher, Jim Ghedi, Nancy Kerr & James Fagan, Simpson Cutting Kerr, Hannah Sanders & Ben Savage, Steve Tilston, Jake Xerxes Fussell, Jack Sharp, Serious Sam Barrett, The Brothers Gillespie, Ye Vagabonds, Songs Of Separation, LAU, Eliza Carthy, Watersons, Brìghde Chaimbeul.
This week’s Folk Show features a great selection of some of the best Folk Music from the British Isles and beyond. The show kicks off with a track from the mighty Ray Fisher and her 1972 debut album, The Bonny Birdy, which also featured a potent line-up consisting of Martin Carthy, Tim Hart, Ashley Hutchings, Alistair Anderson, Peter Knight, Bobby Campbell, Liz & Stefan Sobell and Colin Ross. In the liner notes, Ashley Hutchings described Ray as having the best pair of shoulders in folk music. If you ever watch old videos of Ray performing, you’ll see she was a very expressive single, unable to keep those shoulders still. They offered something of a distraction to Mr Hutchings during the recording of this album (by Bill Leader and Seumas Evans). Hutchings ends his notes: “And what do you do when you hear that at long, long last Ray Fisher, your favourite Scottish singer and person, has made her own album? You beg Bill Leader to give you a copy (or buy one yourself). That’s What!”
Johnnie Sangster is a harvesting song, the tune and text of which were taken from Miscellanea Part ii of The Rymour Club of Edinburgh. The instrumental break in this version includes a jig called Kindred Spirit, specially composed for the occasion by Martin Carthy.
We rewind the clock still further to 1965 and The Watersons ‘Frost And Fire: A Calendar Of Ritual And Magical Songs’. While we’ve featured the Derby Ram, another track on that album is Souling Song…we’ve just published an article by Ben Gazur in which he talks about the tradition of soul cakes – you can read it here. Ben has written a book called A Feast of Folklore which leads you down the dark alleys of British food history to meet the gloriously eccentric folk and the food they used in everything from magic spells to medicine. They even ate some of it. You can support the books release and get some excellent rewards – just I’ve done here: https://unbound.com/books/folklore/
The rest of the show features music previously covered on Folk Radio, the reviews of which are linked below. The only new track is the traditional song Love Farewell performed by Jake Xerxes Fussell, taken from his forthcoming album titled Good and Green Again, due for release on 21st January 2022.
The track from The Brothers Gillespie is from their 2019 album but they are current crowdfunding for ‘The Merciful Road’, an album inspired by the grace of life in troubled times. Get on board here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-brothers-gillespie-the-merciful-road#/
Listen via Mixcloud: https://www.mixcloud.com/folkradiouk/folk-show-episode-110/
Music Played
Ray Fisher – Johnnie Sangster (The Bonny Birdy)
Jim Ghedi – Common Thread (In the Furrows of Common Place)
Nancy Kerr & James Fagan – Dance To Your Daddy (An Evening with Nancy Kerr and James Fagan)
Simpson Cutting Kerr – Gather the Owls / Train on the Island (Murmurs)
Hannah Sanders & Ben Savage – Reynardine (Awake)
Steve Tilston – Grass Days (Truth to Tell)
Jake Xerxes Fussell – Love Farewell (Good and Green Again)
Jack Sharp – Good Times Older (Good Times Older)
Serious Sam Barrett – Drowsy Sleeper (The Seeds of Love)
The Brothers Gillespie – Coventina’s Daughter (The Fell)
Ye Vagabonds – Seven Little Gypsies (The Hare’s Lament)
Songs Of Separation – Echo Mocks The Corncrake (Songs of Separation)
LAU – Ca’ The Ewes (Folk Songs)
Eliza Carthy – Worcester City (Anglicana)
Watersons – The Derby Ram (Frost and Fire)
James Yorkston & The Big Eyes Family Players – Rufford Park Poachers (Folk Songs)
Brìghde Chaimbeul – O Chaidain an Lo (The Reeling)
Main image: Abbots Bromley Horn Dance – The dancers, c. 1900