A.L. Lloyd is probably not the name that comes to mind first when the subject of English folk music comes up -- at least not for anyone under the age of 40. As a singer, collector of folk songs, and arranger, however, Lloyd is one of the most important 20th-century figures in English folk music, in many ways Britain's answer to the Weavers' Lee... [+] Read More

A.L. Lloyd is probably not the name that comes to mind first when the subject of English folk music comes up -- at least not for anyone under the age of 40. As a singer, collector of folk songs, and arranger, however, Lloyd is one of the most important 20th-century figures in English folk music, in many ways Britain's answer to the Weavers' Lee Hayes or Pete Seeger.

Born Albert Lancaster "Bert" Lloyd, A.L. Lloyd was the son of an East Anglian fisherman, born in London during the first decade of the 20th century. He learned numerous songs from his parents, especially his father, but didn't become actively interested in folk music until after he emigrated to Australia in the 1920s, where he mostly made his living by "sheepminding" and collected lots of bush ballads during the nine years he spent there. Lloyd subsequently went to sea and learned far many more songs. He returned to England in 1935 with some 500 songs collected and a deep and abiding insterest in folk songs. In 1937, he went to sea with a whaling fleet, sailing to Antarctica and learning more sea shanties along the way. After returning to England, he chanced to hear a program about unemployment in America, and suggested a similar program to the BBC, which led to his being employed as a scriptwriter and reporter.

In 1944, he published The Singing Englishman: An Introduction to Folk Song, the first serious volume on the folk songs of England in nearly 40 years. In 1947, Lloyd unexpectedly began a singing career when he won the National Folk Singing Contest. In 1952, Lloyd published his first collection of folksongs and ballads, Come All Ye Bold Miners, but continued to be deeply involved in radio as well, including the series Ballads and Blues, which included performances by Big Bill Broonzy, Alan Lomax, Jean Ritchie, and Ewan MacColl, and eventually to a long-term partnership with MacColl. Lloyd began his recording career during the 78-rpm era with "The Banks of the Condamine"/"Bold Jack Donahue" on the Topic label, but it was during the 1950s, with albums recorded in collaboration with MacColl, in the Radio Ballads series, that he entered the long-playing era.

In 1956, Lloyd made a film appearance in the role of the shantyman, singing in the inn where Ishmael goes to sign aboard the Pequod in John Huston's 1956 film of Moby Dick. Lloyd concertized throughout England, and also made numerous appearances in radio and television, becoming one of the country's leading authorities on folk songs and folk dance. Lloyd also made field recordings throughout the 1950s of native singers of Romanian, Bulgarian, and of Albanian folk songs, many of which were released on the Topic label. Most important of all, in terms of English song, he collaborated with composer Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) in the editing of The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs (published 1959), which became the best-selling reference book in the field (50,000 copies in print by the 1980s).

During the early '60s, Lloyd became a mentor to the entire new generation of folksingers, recording for Topic with accompaniment by Martin Carthy, Dave Swarbrick, Anne Briggs, and Frankie Armstrong, even as his books provided Carthy and Swarbrick -- and their eventual colleagues in Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span -- with the core of their repertory. Carthy, in particular, built on Lloyd's work while crediting him fully and prominently. Lloyd's own recordings consisted of old drinking songs, sea shanties, labor songs, and the entire range of material he'd learned from Australia to Antarctica and back again.

Lloyd's work as a performer was dedicated to preserving the authentic performing traditions of the folk song in its native environment. His style of singing is rough-hewn and direct, and his use of language is uncensored and forceful, with none of the prettified adaptations typical of more pop-oriented recordings of folk songs and sea shanties. Some 40 years older than most of the folksingers who achieved popularity in the 1960s, his music sounds as though it is of a different age from the work of, say, Martin Carthy, or Bob Dylan, or even Woody Guthrie, and worlds apart from the performances of Steeleye Span or Fairport Convention. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Ewan MacColl may well have been the most influential person in the current British folksong revival. From his early manhood until his death in 1989, he remained passionately committed to folksong, though not exclusively; he was also a poet, playwright, organizer, activist, songwriter, husband, and father. MacColl was born in Scotland in 1915.... [+] Read More

Ewan MacColl may well have been the most influential person in the current British folksong revival. From his early manhood until his death in 1989, he remained passionately committed to folksong, though not exclusively; he was also a poet, playwright, organizer, activist, songwriter, husband, and father. MacColl was born in Scotland in 1915. His father was a lowland man who spoke Scots English, his mother a highlander who spoke Gaelic. Both of his parents were singers. MacColl left school at fourteen to busk and act in the streets and was quickly discovered by the BBC. Soon he was not only singing, but also writing programs for the radio. He founded the first folk club in England, the Ballads and Blues Club, as well as the Critic's Group, an influential early singing group that included such singers as Frankie Armstrong, Anne Briggs, and John Faulkner. He himself was one of the foremost interpreters of traditional songs ever recorded. The most ambitious project he undertook was to record a representative sampling of Professor Francis James Child's English and Scottish popular ballads. While his early repertoire was mainly of street songs and traditional material, he has always also been an important songwriter. Most impressive was his competence in producing expressions that had appeal for all levels of society; his songs have been covered by performers as diverse as Dick Gaughan, the Pogues, Roberta Flack, and Elvis Presley, and many have been collected in several versions from the oral tradition. They range from savage political satire to tender love songs and are supremely effective at producing the desired emotions. Beyond his activities as a singer and songwriter, MacColl was an actor and a playwright. In 1947, George Bernard Shaw commented, "Apart from myself, MacColl is the only man of genius writing for the theatre in England today." His playwrighting and songwriting joined seamlessly in his "radio ballads," radio plays that bordered on ballad operas. Many of his most lovely and best-remembered songs were written for these plays, some of which have been released in album form. MacColl was married to Peggy Seeger, herself a singer of folk songs (and half-sister to American icon Pete Seeger). Together MacColl and Seeger, sometimes accompanied by their children, who are also skilled musicians and singers, have recorded quite a few albums as well. Many of MacColl's albums are out-of-print products of long-defunct record companies. Some, however, are readily available. All, like MacColl himself, are important factors in the history of the folk revival, to be cherished by all who encounter them. This great singer made many, many albums over many years. All of them are recommended for fans of great singing, though some may be a bit specialized (i.e., unaccompanied singing in broad Scots dialect) for some listeners. ~ Steve Winick, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Huddie Ledbetter, known as Leadbelly, was a unique figure in the American popular music of the 20th century. Ultimately, he was best remembered for a body of songs that he discovered, adapted, or wrote, including "Goodnight, Irene," "Rock Island Line," "The Midnight Special," and "Cotton Fields." But he was also an early example of a folksinger... [+] Read More

Huddie Ledbetter, known as Leadbelly, was a unique figure in the American popular music of the 20th century. Ultimately, he was best remembered for a body of songs that he discovered, adapted, or wrote, including "Goodnight, Irene," "Rock Island Line," "The Midnight Special," and "Cotton Fields." But he was also an early example of a folksinger whose background had brought him into direct contact with the oral tradition by which folk music was handed down, a tradition that, by the early years of the century, already included elements of commercial popular music. Because he was an African-American, he is sometimes viewed as a blues singer, but blues (a musical form he actually predated) was only one of the styles that informed his music. He was a profound influence on folk performers of the 1940s such as Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger, who in turn influenced the folk revival and the development of rock music from the 1960s onward, which makes his induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, early in the hall's existence, wholly appropriate.

Huddie Ledbetter was born on the Jeter Plantation near the community of Shiloh, which is in turn near the town of Mooringsport, LA. He was the only son of a sharecropper who moved his family to nearby Harrison County, TX, when the child was about five. Ledbetter attended school from the age of eight to about 12 or 13, after which he worked full-time on the farm his father had managed to buy. He had shown an early interest in music, learning the button accordion as a child and playing in the school band. He later added other instruments, eventually turning primarily to the guitar, having obtained his first one in 1903. By his teens, he was playing and singing for money at local dances. At about the age of 16, he moved to Shreveport, LA, where he lived for two years supporting himself as a performer. From the ages of about 18 to 20, he traveled around Texas and Louisiana, performing and supplementing his income as a farm worker. Falling ill, he returned home, where he recovered, married, and settled down to work as a farmer. In 1910, he and his wife moved to Dallas, TX. There, possibly around 1912, he met the young street musician Blind Lemon Jefferson, five years his junior, and the two teamed up to play around the Dallas area for the next several years. During this period, he switched from the six-string to the 12-string guitar, the instrument that became his trademark.

Ledbetter moved back to Harrison County around 1915. In June, he was arrested due to an incident the specifics of which are lost to history. Eventually, he was convicted of carrying a pistol illegally and sentenced to 30 days on a chain gang. He escaped and moved to Bowie County, TX, where he lived under the name Walter Boyd and returned to performing while also working as a sharecropper. In December 1917, he was arrested and charged with the murder of Will Stafford, the husband of one of his cousins, and with "assault to murder" another man. He was convicted of both charges, the first carrying a sentence of five to 20 years, the second two to ten years, to be served consecutively. In prison, he gained his nickname, Leadbelly, and learned many songs from inmates. In January 1924, he sang for Texas Governor Pat Neff, including a specially written song in which he asked for a pardon. As Neff reached the end of his term as governor in January 1925, he actually did pardon Leadbelly, such that, instead of serving the minimum of seven years required by his sentences, he served six years, seven months, and eight days.

Leadbelly moved to Houston initially, then returned home before settling in Mooringsport. In January 1930, he was involved in a stabbing incident that led to his being charged with "assault with intent to murder." He was convicted, given a sentence of six to ten years, and sent to Angola Prison. There he was a model prisoner, and due to budgetary restrictions brought on by the Depression, he was able to participate in an early release program. He applied for such release in June 1933 and was told that he would be released the following year if Governor O.K. Allen approved the petition.

Song collector John Lomax, in the employ of the Library of Congress, visited Angola in July 1933 with his son Alan Lomax, looking for folk songs to record. They were introduced to Leadbelly, whom they recorded. This initial session, which has not been released commercially, included a song Leadbelly called "Irene" that he had learned from an uncle. Subsequent research has demonstrated that the song was not a traditional folk song, but rather in its original form was written and published in 1886 by African-American songwriter Gussie Lord Davis under the title "Irene, Good Night." But the version taught to Leadbelly by his uncle was much altered from Davis' original.

A year passed without any action being taken on Leadbelly's petition for early release. John and Alan Lomax returned to Angola in the summer of 1934, and they recorded another session with Leadbelly. A few of these recordings were released commercially by Elektra Records in 1966 in a box set called The Library of Congress Recordings and were reissued in 1991 by Rounder Records on a CD called Midnight Special. As that title indicates, among the songs was "Midnight Special," a song Leadbelly first heard during his incarceration in Texas in the early 1920s and which he adapted. The session also included "Governor O.K. Allen," a song Leadbelly had written to encourage the governor to sign his petition of release. The Lomaxes took a record of the song to the governor's office, though there is no evidence that he actually listened to it. But on July 25, 1934, he signed Leadbelly's petition, commuting his sentence to three to ten years, and since Leadbelly had already served four and a half years, he was released on August 1, 1934. In later years, the state of Louisiana repeatedly denied the legend that Leadbelly had sung his way out of prison for a second time.

Upon his release, Leadbelly initially moved to Shreveport, but in the fall of 1934 he sought out John Lomax, who was living in Texas, and went to work for him, acting as his chauffeur and assistant on further trips to prisons in search of songs. At the Cummins Prison Farm in Arkansas, Leadbelly first heard a prisoner perform "Rock Island Line," a song he added to his repertoire and altered extensively. In the winter of 1934-1935, he accompanied Lomax north, where they made a series of appearances at academic and scholarly gatherings such as the annual meeting of the Modern Language Association (MLA) in Philadelphia and lecture-performances at Yale and Harvard. They attracted considerable media attention, including articles in major newspapers and appearances on radio and newsreel versions of Time Marches On. Leadbelly signed a management agreement with Lomax and was in turn signed for a series of recordings by the American Record Corporation (ARC), which issued records on a variety of low-priced labels and also owned the venerable Columbia Records label. The ARC recordings, 40 sides, were made in January, February, and March 1935, though ARC only released two singles at the time, with a third issued the following year. Viewing Leadbelly as a blues artist, ARC emphasized that aspect of his large repertoire, but the records did not sell well in the blues market and most of the recordings remained unissued for decades. The first extensive release of them came with the Columbia Records LP Includes Legendary Performances Never Before Released in 1970, and more of them appeared on Columbia/Legacy's King of the 12-String Guitar in 1991. During this period, Leadbelly also made more recordings for the Library of Congress, some of which appeared on the 1966 Elektra LP and on the 1991 Rounder albums Midnight Special and Gwine Dig a Hole to Put the Devil In.

In March 1935, John Lomax, who had found Leadbelly unreliable during a northeast tour, severed his relationship with the singer, and Leadbelly returned to Louisiana. There he obtained legal representation and sought more money from Lomax, and over a period of months the two worked out a settlement that allowed Lomax to use Leadbelly's songs in his book Negro Folk Songs as Sung by Lead Belly, published in 1936. In February 1936, Leadbelly moved back north, settling in New York City and attempting to build a career as a performer. From 1937 to 1939, he made more recordings for the Library of Congress at the behest of Alan Lomax, some of which have appeared on the Elektra and Rounder albums already mentioned. He was taken up by left-wing activists who increasingly used folk music as a forum for the expression of their political beliefs, and though he himself appears to have had only a limited interest in politics in general, his fervor for civil rights, expressed in such songs as "The Bourgeois Blues," concurred with theirs. He became part of a community of urban folk musicians, including Aunt Molly Jackson, Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and the team of Sonny Terry & Brownie McGee, among others.

In March 1939, Leadbelly was arrested for stabbing a man in New York. While on parole before trial, he made his second set of commercial recordings for Musicraft Records, a session arranged by Alan Lomax to help pay his legal bills. The recordings were issued initially on a Musicraft album called Negro Sinful Tunes and have since been reissued by such labels as Stinson, Everest, and Collectables. Leadbelly was convicted of third-degree assault and served an eight-month sentence.

The singer was busy in 1940, appearing on the network radio series Folk Music of America and Back Where I Come From and launching his own weekly 15-minute program on local WNYC, a show that ran for a year. He also undertook his third set of commercial recordings in June, this time for RCA Victor and accompanied on some tracks by the Golden Gate Quartet. These sessions resulted in an album called The Midnight Special and Other Southern Prison Songs, released on RCA's Bluebird imprint. A 1964 compilation of the material on RCA was called Midnight Special, there was a 1989 collection called Alabama Bound, and in 2003, as part of its Secret History of Rock & Roll series, Bluebird issued When the Sun Goes Down, Vol. 5: Take This Hammer, a compilation containing all 26 tracks that were recorded. In August 1940, Leadbelly also returned to recording for the Library of Congress, and some of these tracks have turned up on the previously mentioned Elektra set as well as on the Rounder albums Gwine Dig a Hole to Put the Devil In and Let It Shine on Me (1991).

In May 1941, Leadbelly recorded his first session for Asch Records, a tiny independent label run by Moses Asch. Leadbelly went on to record extensively for Asch and its successors, Disc and Folkways, this material later reissued both by Smithsonian/Folkways (from the 1990s on) and by various small labels that acquired rights to it. In 1944, he moved to the West Coast, where he remained for the better part of two years. While there, he signed to Capitol Records and did three sessions for the label in October 1944 that resulted in a series of singles. Later, Capitol issued such compilation albums as Classics in Jazz (1953) and Leadbelly: Huddie Ledbetter's Best (1962), drawn from these sessions. Back in New York from 1946 on, Leadbelly continued to record for Folkways, his 1948 recordings later turning up on a series of LPs called Leadbelly's Last Sessions and gathered together into a four-CD box set by Smithsonian/Folkways in 1994.

By 1948, he was beginning to suffer unexplained spells of numbness in his legs, and was often forced to walk with a cane and perform sitting down. In May 1949, he toured in France, but his increasing physical difficulties led to a visit to a doctor who diagnosed him as having contracted amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), better known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, an incurable condition leading to paralysis and death. Returning to the U.S., he was able to manage a few more performances, including ones in Texas and Oklahoma in June. (The Texas show was recorded and later released by Playboy Records under the title Leadbelly, erroneously marketed as the singer's last concert.) But he was soon bedridden, and he died at 61 in December.

Leadbelly's fame began to increase almost immediately after his death. In 1950, his song "Irene," now called "Goodnight, Irene," was recorded by the Weavers, a folk group including Pete Seeger and other musicians acquainted with Leadbelly, and became a number one pop hit, with hit covers by such pop singers as Frank Sinatra and a number one country recording by Ernest Tubb and Red Foley. The Weavers then adapted a Leadbelly song called "If It Wasn't for Dickey" (itself based on the Irish folk song "Drimmer's Cow") into "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine," which they took into the Top 40 in 1951 and which Jimmie Rodgers covered for a Top Ten hit in 1957. In 1956, the Lonnie Donegan Skiffle Group reached the Top Ten in the U.K. and the U.S. with their recording of "Rock Island Line," taken directly from Leadbelly's version, setting off the British skiffle fad that inspired many later British rock stars, including the Beatles. (Johnny Cash scored a Top 40 country hit with his version in 1970.) "The Midnight Special" in Leadbelly's version had first reached the charts for the Tiny Grimes Quintet in 1948. Paul Evans had a Top 40 hit with it in 1960, and Johnny Rivers also took it into the Top 40 in 1965. Leadbelly's "Cotton Fields" (aka "Old Cotton Fields at Home") was a Top 40 hit for the Highwaymen in 1961. All of these songs have become standards. When the folk revival hit in the late '50s, its practitioners frequently covered other songs associated with Leadbelly in arrangements that recalled his.

Leadbelly's own recordings, in addition to the more legitimate reissues on Rounder, Columbia/Legacy, RCA Victor, Capitol, and Smithsonian/Folkways, have turned up on a dizzying number of labels in the CD era, especially as they have come into the public domain in Europe (where copyrights extend only 50 years). Confusing as this discography may be, it is a testament to the continuing influence of Leadbelly on contemporary music. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Odetta was born on New Year's Eve, 1930, in Birmingham, Alabama. By the time she was six years old, she'd moved with her younger sister and mother to Los Angeles. She showed a keen interest in music from the time she was a child, and when she was about 10 years old, somewhere between church and school, her singing voice was discovered. Odetta's... [+] Read More

Odetta was born on New Year's Eve, 1930, in Birmingham, Alabama. By the time she was six years old, she'd moved with her younger sister and mother to Los Angeles. She showed a keen interest in music from the time she was a child, and when she was about 10 years old, somewhere between church and school, her singing voice was discovered. Odetta's mother began saving money to pay for voice lessons for her, but was advised to wait until her daughter was 13 years old and well into puberty.

Thanks to her mother, Odetta did begin voice lessons when she was 13. She received a classical training, which was interrupted when her mother could no longer afford to pay for the lessons. The puppeteer Harry Burnette interceded and paid for Odetta to continue her voice training.

When she was 19 years old, Odetta landed a role in the Los Angeles production of Finian's Rainbow, which was staged in the summer of 1949 at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. It was during the run of this show that she first heard the blues harmonica master Sonny Terry. The following summer, Odetta was again performing in summer stock in California. This time it was a production of Guys and Dolls, staged in San Francisco. Hanging out in North Beach during her days off, Odetta had her first experience with the growing local folk music scene. Following her summer in San Francisco, Odetta returned to Los Angeles, where she worked as a live-in housekeeper. During this time she performed on a show bill with Paul Robeson.

In 1953, Odetta took some time off from her housecleaning chores to travel to New York City and appear at the famed Blue Angel folk club. Pete Seeger and Harry Belafonte had both taken an interest in her career by this time, and her debut album, The Tin Angel, was released in 1954. From this time forward, Odetta worked to expand her repertoire and make full use of what she has always termed her "instrument." When she began singing, she was considered a coloratura soprano. As she matured, she became more of a mezzo-soprano. Her experience singing folk music led her to discover a vocal range that runs from coloratura to baritone.

Odetta's most productive decade as a recording artist came in the 1960s, when she released 16 albums, including Odetta at Carnegie Hall, Christmas Spirituals, Odetta and the Blues, It's a Mighty World and Odetta Sings Dylan. In 1999 she released her first studio album in 14 years, Blues Everywhere I Go. Vanguard Records has released two excellent Odetta compilations: The Essential Odetta (1989) and Odetta: Best of the Vanguard Years (1999).

On September 29, 1999, President Bill Clinton presented Odetta with the National Endowment for the Arts' Medal of the Arts, a fitting tribute to one of the great treasures of American music. ~ Philip Van Vleck, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Bob Gibson and Bob Camp (also known as Hamilton Camp) both had notable solo careers of their own. Gibson was an influential performer in the folk revival, doing a little to take traditional folk interpretations into a more imaginative realm, and an influence on performers such as Roger McGuinn. Camp, who changed his name to Hamilton Camp after... [+] Read More

Bob Gibson and Bob Camp (also known as Hamilton Camp) both had notable solo careers of their own. Gibson was an influential performer in the folk revival, doing a little to take traditional folk interpretations into a more imaginative realm, and an influence on performers such as Roger McGuinn. Camp, who changed his name to Hamilton Camp after working with Gibson and did a number of solo recordings under that name, is known as the composer of "Pride of Man," given an electric folk-rock treatment by Quicksilver Messenger Service. For a time in the early '60s, Gibson and Camp teamed up to form a duo, resulting in one album, At the Gate of Horn (1961, Elektra), which was one of the better-remembered folk LPs of the time. McGuinn, who was in the audience when the album was required, went as far as to make it his pick in MOJO magazine's "Last Night a Record Changed My Life" section, hailing the harmonies and Gibson's 12-string guitar work. Actually it sounds like a pretty average relic of the hootenanny age, and even Camp would go on to do more interesting things in his solo career. Gibson and Camp, according to that piece in MOJO, "never got along entirely well," and their association -- pushed along by manager Albert Grossman -- was short-lived, resulting in just the one LP in the 1960s. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide [-] Hide

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If any female vocalist should be compared to Leadbelly, it's Odetta. Like Leadbelly, Odetta has long had one foot in folk and the other in the blues. The singer did some of her most compelling work for Vanguard in the '60s, and her Vanguard output is the focus of Livin' With The Blues. Released in 2000, this collection focuses on Odetta's... [+] Read More

If any female vocalist should be compared to Leadbelly, it's Odetta. Like Leadbelly, Odetta has long had one foot in folk and the other in the blues. The singer did some of her most compelling work for Vanguard in the '60s, and her Vanguard output is the focus of Livin' With The Blues. Released in 2000, this collection focuses on Odetta's Vanguard recordings of the early '60s and paints a consistently attractive picture of her artistry. Most of the songs on this CD (which contains material from the albums Odetta at Town Hall, My Eyes Have Seen, and One Grain of Sand, along with a few rarities) don't actually have a 12-bar blues format -- this is essentially a folk collection, but it's a folk collection that never loses the feeling of the blues. Whether Odetta accompanies herself on acoustic guitar on "Jumpin' Judy," "Rambler Gambler," and "Bald Headed Woman," or becomes a piano-playing vocalist on performances of "House of the Rising Sun" and "Lovin' With The Blues," the earthy, big-voiced singer provides a wealth of blues feeling throughout this superb collection. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Presenting 40 songs in all, My Last Go Round is a good compilation focusing on Leadbelly's blues tunes. Disc one consists of solo tracks recorded in early 1935, including "CC Rider," both parts of "Death Letter Blues," "Ox Drivin' Blues," and "Yellow Jacket." The sound quality is decent -- only slightly fuzzy, with mild distortion. Disc two... [+] Read More

Presenting 40 songs in all, My Last Go Round is a good compilation focusing on Leadbelly's blues tunes. Disc one consists of solo tracks recorded in early 1935, including "CC Rider," both parts of "Death Letter Blues," "Ox Drivin' Blues," and "Yellow Jacket." The sound quality is decent -- only slightly fuzzy, with mild distortion. Disc two spans the next five years and includes signature Leadbelly tunes such as "Good Morning Blues," "Rock Island Line," and "Goodnight, Irene," plus a few curiosities like a recording of "Midnight Special" with the Golden Gate Quartet (recorded by Alan Lomax in 1940) and Leadbelly playing piano (!) on "Eagle Rock Rag." ~ Joslyn Layne, All Music Guide [-] Hide

A phenomenal collection of sea shanties and sailing songs performed by two of Great Britain's most outstanding musicologists. MacColl recorded a great deal during his career, which is fortunate, though he might well be best remembered by some for writing "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face." Lloyd performed a great deal and was highly regarded... [+] Read More

A phenomenal collection of sea shanties and sailing songs performed by two of Great Britain's most outstanding musicologists. MacColl recorded a great deal during his career, which is fortunate, though he might well be best remembered by some for writing "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face." Lloyd performed a great deal and was highly regarded for his research and his attention to old, almost-lost songs, but his recordings are sadly few in number, and mostly unavailable -- there are a few songs on CD via a Riverside reissue, a cut on a Rhino compilation, and this Tradition reissue. Some of the songs included in this recording are familiar; "The Handsome Cabin Boy" has been recorded many a time, with notable performances including one by Kate Bush. Many songs are less familiar, however, and are quite deserving of attention. MacColl and Lloyd's performances have enthusiasm and vigor, and are given able support from a small ensemble. The CD reissue has been cleaned up nicely, with no obvious artifacts or loss of musical quality. If you can find it, Blow Boys Blow is a worthy album to have in hand. ~ Steven McDonald, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Gibson & Camp could never be accused of overstaying their welcome. In 1961, the folk duo got together and recorded their debut album, Gibson & Camp at the Gate of Horn, which turned out to be a landmark folk release that influenced a generation of musicians. (Roger McGuinn, who attended the shows at which it was recorded, later formed the Byrds,... [+] Read More

Gibson & Camp could never be accused of overstaying their welcome. In 1961, the folk duo got together and recorded their debut album, Gibson & Camp at the Gate of Horn, which turned out to be a landmark folk release that influenced a generation of musicians. (Roger McGuinn, who attended the shows at which it was recorded, later formed the Byrds, who displayed a distinct Gibson & Camp feel, especially early on, and later in their career covered "Old Blue" from the record.) Beyond the album, the duo themselves had an impact on much early-'60s folk music, notably on the sound of Simon and Garfunkel, who put their "You Can Tell the World" on their debut album in 1964. By that time, Gibson & Camp had split up, to reuniting for their second album, Homemade Music, in 1978. Even less prolific than Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, they didn't hook up again until 1986 when they recorded this album, a recreation of their long out of print first one, down to the stage remarks. They added three songs, starting with "You Can Tell the World" and Gibson's "Well, Well, Well" (a folk standard recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary) and ending with Gordon Lightfoot's "For Lovin' Me." And they slightly updated "John Henry, the Thinking Man" for the computer age. But otherwise, this was Gibson & Camp at the Gate of Horn all over again, and it sounded remarkably fresh for that. With their creatively intertwining harmonies, the duo always sounded like more than two singers somehow, and their mixture of traditional folk with elements of blues, gospel, country, and square-dance music brought out the best of the early days of the folk boom. All of that sounded just as exuberant 25 years later, as did the good-humored interaction between the two. There remained something magical about these performers together, which made the infrequency of their recording a frustration to folk fans, even as their few pairings stirred excitement. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide [-] Hide