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| Author |
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| 25 new of 157 responses total. |
krj
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response 37 of 157:
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Dec 25 04:56 UTC 2001 |
Park Records (the label for Maddy Prior and Steeleye Span) has been
pretty good about getting copies into the US stores. However, I have an
unconfirmed report that their US distributor just went bankrupt.
So I don't know how likely it is that this disc will turn up in Ann Arbor
any time soon. The disc was only released at the end of November;
I got mine from amazon.co.uk.
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micklpkl
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response 38 of 157:
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Dec 27 19:16 UTC 2001 |
I third the recommedation of GOLD FRANKINCENSE & MYRRH, and I really hope to
see it in local CD stores sometime. Many many thanks to Ken for the minidisc.
It's been a big hit in my house, this Season. Highlights for me: Thomas
Hardy's (1840-1928) THE OXEN, which sounds brilliant set to music, MELIMA,
and the ballad THE CARNAL AND THE CRANE. Oh, and I can't forget to mention
the SONG OF THE ANIMALS, which starts off so hokey (I always begin laughing
when I hear "Moooo!" being sung) but then ends up in a creative little round
of ox, ass, sheep and camel. The last song, BETHLEHEM DOWN by Blunt & Warlock
has an interesting history. It seems that Peter Warlock was a "Satanic
sobriquet" for Philip Heseltine, who composed a group of songs and choral
works using texts by his friend/drinking companion Bruce Blunt. Blunt alleged
that BETHLEHEM DOWN was rattled off at high speed to raise Christmas beer
money.
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krj
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response 39 of 157:
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Jan 10 18:56 UTC 2002 |
Free Reed has published the track list for the 35th anniversary
Fairport Convention box set they hope to release later in the spring.(?)
Details will be later at http://www.free-reed.co.uk, and I'll
mail them to people who I think might be interested; it's a
4CD set and the tracklist will only be of interest to about five
readers here, so I'm not going to pipe it in.
Fairport's new album "XXXV" is also hitting the UK shops.
No word yet on a US release.
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krj
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response 40 of 157:
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Feb 5 18:35 UTC 2002 |
Well, this one is a startling bit of news: According to a bit of
publicity for the new Boys of the Lough CD, "this is the first
album from The Boys since the departure of Aly Bain."
Wow. Aly was with them from the beginning, back around 1970; he has
a new duo album with Sweden's Ale Moller (of Frifot and many other
bands) now being flogged in the shops.
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krj
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response 41 of 157:
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Feb 12 04:20 UTC 2002 |
Here's a story about the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. The most interesting
news to me is that Cerys Matthews, the former singer with the Welsh
rock band Catatonia, did a set of traditional songs with
Eliza Carthy.
Winners: E. Carthy, M. Carthy, Martin Simpson, Cara Dillon,
Fairport, the Chieftains, blah blah. Fans should read the article.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/entertainment/music/newsid_1814000/1814927
.stm
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krj
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response 42 of 157:
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Mar 13 20:35 UTC 2002 |
Peter Knight puts the long awaited report on his website at
http://www.peterknight.net. "There are plans to reform a classic
Steeleye Span lineup" with discussions involving Maddy Prior,
Bob Johnson, Rick Kemp and Liam Genockey, and of course Knight.
"We were hoping to tour later this year but due to unforseen
circumstances this is now looking unlikely." Maybe in 2003.
No tour probably means no album this year, either.
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dbratman
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response 43 of 157:
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Mar 14 17:51 UTC 2002 |
Now that's a line-up I'd go see in an instant if they came my way, and
perhaps more important (and more likely to be possible, actually), I'd
buy their albums.
But I'm puzzled by this "reform a classic lineup" phrasing. Makes it
sound as if they're emerging from long retirement, which is semi-true
in Kemp's case, but the other three (besides Knight, who never quit)
were in the band just a short period ago, and they all left. So why
are they returning so soon if they left? And why did they leave if
they were willing to return so soon?
There'll probably never be an answer to that besides "whim", but I
wonder. Anyway, if it happens it's good news.
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krj
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response 44 of 157:
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Mar 14 19:42 UTC 2002 |
It's been almost five years since Maddy quit the band; she announced
her departure within weeks of Steeleye's June 1997 appearance in Ann Arbor.
Liam Genockey quit at about the same time, though I don't have
a specific date.
Five years *used* to be a long time in the music business... :)
Steeleye only recorded two albums without Maddy and Liam
in that five year interval. I subscribe to the gossip theory
that friction between Gay Woods and Maddy led to Maddy's departure;
bringing Gay Woods back was a brilliant idea artistically but
apparently it was not such a good one in terms of social dynamics
within the group.
I can't explain Bob Johnson's recent departure and new willingness
to return except, again, in terms of (speculative) interaction with
Gay. All we really know is that Gay had some sort of personal
breakdown leading to her quitting the band, followed rapidly by
the resignation of everyone else except Peter Knight, as soon as
contractual commitments could be wound up.
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krj
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response 45 of 157:
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Mar 14 21:13 UTC 2002 |
(That third paragraph isn't quite right. I reviewed the chronology
which I recorded in the music2 conference. Bob Johnson quit in
August 2000; Gay in January 2001; Tim Harries in spring 2001.
The chronology would certainly support the gossiperous suggestion
that Johnson quit due to personal conflicts with Gay, although
at the time it was said he was leaving to pursue a career with
his new psychology degree; under this argument, with Gay out
of the band, Johnson becomes amenable to a return.
This is all total speculation, of course.)
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dbratman
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response 46 of 157:
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Apr 2 00:32 UTC 2002 |
Five years isn't a long time in the era of part-time bands.
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dbratman
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response 47 of 157:
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Apr 11 19:32 UTC 2002 |
So last night I attended a Martin Carthy solo concert at the Freight
and Salvage in Berkeley. Just him and his guitar. Good turnout, but
not sold out, unlike the last Waterson/Carthy concert, which was on
Valentine's Day, yet. I'm that (perhaps) rare person who prefers
Carthy solo. I'm also that (perhaps not so) rare English folkie who
tends to consider anyone who hasn't been performing since the early 70s
as too wet behind the ears for me. So I had a wonderful time.
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krj
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response 48 of 157:
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Apr 15 15:42 UTC 2002 |
Thursday (April 11) was the Kate Rusby concert at the Ark.
Rusby's probably my favorite of the younger wave of British women folk
singers, though at this point some people are starting to consider
her older and established. She's touring with her husband John McCusker
on fiddle, cittern and whistles, and Andy Cutting on melodeon, so the
ensemble has a nice rounded sound. The guys got to play a set of
instrumental tunes in each half of the show. Songs were pretty much all
traditional, and Kate did a lot of humorous bits between them; maybe
more so than is typical for the British singers.
John McCusker was sporting the most awful thin-looking mohawk
haircut.
No new CDs from Kate or John, but Andy Cutting brought a few things
along to sell, so I grabbed his recent album with The Two Duos
Quartet, which also includes Karen Tweed from the Poozies in
a pick-up group with two accordions.
Grexers in attendance: aruba, Carol, steve, dewshine, krj.
Ann Arbor gets Waterson:Carthy in a couple weeks; check the Ark
schedule if you need the exact date.
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dbratman
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response 49 of 157:
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Apr 15 21:11 UTC 2002 |
Oh yeah: Martin had copies of the brand-new Waterson/Carthy CD with him
in Berkeley, so keep an eye out for that.
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krj
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response 50 of 157:
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Apr 27 20:14 UTC 2002 |
Kate Rusby appeared on Prairie Home Companion on April 20.
One might still be able to hear this on the website.
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krj
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response 51 of 157:
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May 30 17:04 UTC 2002 |
On BBC Radio 2's Mike Harding show yesterday, we heard a track from
Maddy Prior's new album. On the Park Records web site, this is billed
as Maddy Prior's Girls, with Maddy's daughter Rose Kemp, and Abbie Lathe
on additional vocals and instruments. The song was "A Stitch in Time,"
which Martin Carthy has been doing a lot for the last few years.
It sounded a lot like the Silly Sisters material by Maddy Prior and
June Tabor.
http://www.parkrecords.com/tourmpg.htm if you want to read a bit
about the act. I didn't find any mention of the album on the web site.
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krj
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response 52 of 157:
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Jun 5 13:53 UTC 2002 |
Listeners to that BBC Radio 2 folk show participated in a poll
to name the "Top 50 Folk Albums."
This actually happened a while ago but the Beeb has dusted it off
and reposted it, probably because the top-rated album has just been
reissued.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/folk/features/top_50_10.shtml
Fairport's LIEGE AND LIEF was voted the #1 album, no surprise.
2. Nic Jones, Penguin Eggs
3. Ashley Hutchings, Morris On
4. Kate Rusby, Sleepless
5. Albion Band, Rise Up Like The Sun
6. Pentangle, Basket of Light
7. Dick Gaughan, Handful of Earth
8. Shirley Collins and the Albion Band, No Roses
9. Steeleye Span, Please to See The King
10. Planxty, Planxty
and visit the web site if you are enough of a fan to want to see the
next 40 titles. Some ancient Americans also make the list:
Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Tom Paxton, Paul Simon.
The list is centered on the 1970s recordings; Kate Rusby is the only
performer whose current work is well rated. Clearly we British folk
fans are a backward looking group.
(I have 35 of the listed albums, heh.)
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dbratman
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response 53 of 157:
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Jun 6 17:45 UTC 2002 |
Of course we folkies are a backward-looking group. We were backward-
looking in the 70s, too. (Why d'ye want t'listen to all them old folk
songs, eh?) Electrifying folk was seen by some as a desperate attempt
to seem relevant.
I am not such a careful collector. I only have about 12, I think, of
the listed albums - some I can't remember if I have or not - including
only 3 of the top ten. But I have at least some record of 8 of the
performers on the top ten list, all except Nic Jones, whom I don't much
like, and Kate Rusby, a name unfamiliar to me.
Interesting that "Please" should be the top-rated Steeleye album. I'd
definitely consider it the best of their three early-period albums, but
my heart in Steeleye, as with the Beatles, is with their mid-period
work (in Steeleye's case, "Below the Salt" through "Commoners Crown"
and trailing off a little from there).
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krj
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response 54 of 157:
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Jun 7 00:08 UTC 2002 |
In party, gelinas asked if he should buy LIEGE AND LIEF, since he's
been enjoying some Steeleye Span compilations I loaned him.
I said that musically he would probably enjoy that Fairport album,
but I wanted to play my copy of the new reissue to see if the
sound quality problems which plagued all previous issues had
been fixed.
Yup, Island did the reissue right. Where has this master tape been
for the last 15 years or so? This album is never going to win any
audiophile awards, but it now matches the other Fairport albums
from the 1968-1970 period in quality, with no extra hiss or fuzz.
I think it sounds pretty darn good.
So: order the "Island Remasters" issue from amazon.co.uk
for about $12. Do NOT buy the USA issue on the
A&M label which is common at Borders, it does not sound very good.
<krj cranks the volume up some more>
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krj
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response 55 of 157:
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Jun 17 02:48 UTC 2002 |
Not folk except by association, but I don't know where else to put
this:
Richard Thompson now has an official web page at
http://www.richardthompson-music.com
According to the tour schedule, Thompson is in Austin next Friday
June 21. (Note for Mickey.) He's also at the Philadelphia Folk
Festival, which we are skipping this year, and I see no Michigan
stops on the current schedule.
There is now an online order system for those Official RT Bootlegs,
so maybe now I can get off my tail and order "Celtschmerz," the
1998 release; there is also a new one for 2002, "Semi Detached
Mock Tudor."
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mcnally
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response 56 of 157:
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Jun 17 23:20 UTC 2002 |
Someone was kind enough to send me another recent live Thompson release,
a copy of "Two Letter Words" that they'd picked up at a show and had
autographed for me. Pretty good performances, and much appreciated for
the live versions of stuff from the "Mirror Blue" album. I despised the
Froom-produced studio versions so much that it's nice to see my opinion
confirmed that the album had some good songs underneath all of the
execrable production.
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krj
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response 57 of 157:
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Jun 18 02:30 UTC 2002 |
That's some new definition of the term "recent..."
The Richard Thompson website says that "Two Letter Words" dates
from 1994. :) There have now been four of the official bootlegs.
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mcnally
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response 58 of 157:
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Jun 18 02:45 UTC 2002 |
Looks like the shows where it was recorded took place in 1994 but I don't
recall seeing it for sale at the last RT show I went to (Seattle, 2000..)
so I was assuming the CD was compiled and released after that. I'm probably
wrong..
Anyway, they're good performances..
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dbratman
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response 59 of 157:
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Jun 19 21:30 UTC 2002 |
In this sort of music, 1994 is ultra-recent.
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krj
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response 60 of 157:
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Jun 19 23:22 UTC 2002 |
Re: RT official bootlegs selling at concerts: I think a couple of things
have happened. First, RT is no longer under a contract with a major
label in the USA. Major labels don't generally want their artists
selling CDs at gigs because it makes the CD retailers unhappy
about the competition, assuming that the artists' CDs have anything
resembling decent distribution.
Second, with the opening of an official web-site, I think RT
has brought the authorized bootlegs "in-house," so to speak.
The first three such discs were done on the Flypaper imprint by
Frank Kornelussen for the very-loosely-organized RT fan club.
But the 2002 release is on Beeswing Records, which would appear
to be RT's own, new, label.
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mcnally
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response 61 of 157:
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Jun 19 23:41 UTC 2002 |
Isn't this a hopeful sign of things working out the way that technology
optimists say they should: technology empowering the skilled but
marginalized musician to bypass the major labels and distributors to
make a go of it by selling directly to the listeners?
RT definitely isn't the first to go this way, but I sure hope it works
out for him..
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