Ewan MacColl is best remembered among the wider populace for penning the folk standard ‘Dirty Old Town’ and the Grammy-award-winning ballad ‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face’. But his legacy goes far beyond such much-loved standards.
A new Sky Arts documentary, ‘Set The Night On Fire’, examines both the man and his music and features insightful interviews with family members, including his widow Peggy Seeger – a highly acclaimed and influential figure on the Trans-Atlantic folk circuit in her own right.
Among a myriad of contributors are the actor Christopher Eccleston, author Sophie Parkes, and musicians such as Billy Bragg and Barbara Dickson, Harp & a Monkey and Stick In The Wheel.
A number of the participants contribute compelling new versions and interpretations of MacColl’s work, whilst the Mancunian trio Harp & a Monkey (who have long cited MacColl as a key influence) also provide a soundtrack for the film.
Martin Purdy, of Harp & a Monkey, said: “Ewan MacColl was a fearless and peerless documenter of British life and a storyteller with a natural ability for getting under the skin of ‘the ordinary man’.
“There has always been a special place in people’s hearts for great storytellers: we need them to help us recount and recollect, empower, protest, challenge and entertain – or perhaps just dream, fantasise or escape. We should raise a glass to those like Ewan who do it well!”
‘Set The Night On Fire’ will air at 10.30pm on Saturday, November 27, on Sky Arts.
During the lockdowns in 2020, Harp & a Monkey headed out into their native northern landscapes to perform together. Here is a version of them doing a different take on MacColl’s ‘The Manchester Rambler’ in the Cheesden Valley in Greater Manchester – perhaps fittingly in front of members of a local walking group who stumbled across them.