News and Comment - No 38 |
Mark Davies - 3.9.07
Edeophone@aol.com
Editor, Geoff Woolfe, has researched the life and music of William Winter. There are dozens of rare tunes in this book which will appeal not only to folk musicians but also to historians of 18th and 19th century popular music. This book is part of the growing interest in dance music from English village musicians of the past. William Winter's Quantocks Tune Book and CD is Somerset's contribution to this interest.
The book includes a CD of 32 of the tunes played and arranged by well-known young musicians Rob Harbron (concertina), Miranda Rutter (fiddle), Nancy Kerr (fiddle) and award-winning melodeon player Tim van Eyken.
The book and CD is available from Halsway Manor Society, Halsway Manor, Crowcombe, Somerset TA4 4BD. Tel:01984 618274 Email: office@halswaymanor.org.uk Web: www.halswaymanor.org.uk Price £18 plus p&p
29.8.07
It recorded a veritable cornucopia of Scots material during its lifetime, including bothy ballads, Gaelic vocals and mouth music, gospel songs, fiddle, accordion, dulcimer, bagpipe and mouth organ solos, pipe bands, Scots country dance bands, dialect sketches and monologues, Border ballads, comic songs, Burns ballads and much more.
Many famous Scottish artists recorded for them including Harry Gordon, Willie Kemp, George Morris, Alan MacLean, Archie Grant, William Ross, Robert Reid, Jim Cameron, Jimmy Shand, Ian Powrie, Annie Shand, Glasgow Orpheus Choir, Bob Smith, Dufton Scott, Elliott Dobie, Calum Kennedy and scores more.
In addition to its commitment to Scottish artists, Beltona also recorded many popular Irish artists, including William Andrews, Bridie Gallagher, Austin Gaffney, Fred Hanna, Joe Lynch, Richard Hayward, Teresa Duffy, Myles O’Connor and many more.
This work is the result of many years of research and is the first time that this once well known but now little known brand has been fully documented. It reveals for the first time the rich variety of Scottish material that was recorded and strips away many of the misconceptions about the label’s history.
307 x A4 pages, soft bound with illustrated coloured front cover. Price: £35.00 (UK) €50.00 (EU) $70.00 (USA), other countries on application. (p&p included). Published by the City of London Phonograph and Gramophone Society (founded 1919) and available from George Woolford, Society Bookshop, Ashburton, Fakenham Road, Wells Next-The-Sea, Norfolk NT23 1RD, ENGLAND. (clpgs.books@virgin.net)
29.8.07
The shop opened last week at 267 Archway Road, Highgate, London N6 5BS - and they stock, apart from anything else, the entire Smithsonian Folkways back catalogue! You can contact them at: 0208 347 5555 or via their website at: www.egeadistribution.co.uk/alternativemusicshop
With local (and national) music shops closing down at an alarming rate these days, it sounds as if they deserve our support.
Rod Stradling - 26.8.07
Some dates of interest:
16.8.07
Membership £1 annually, payable on the door. Admission for members £6, concessions £3.50, non-members £7, concessions £4.
30.7.07
The final line up of guests for the weekend is:
Dance on Saturday night with Brackenrigg and Caller Ken Woolfenden in the village hall, featuring guest spots and the Handsworth Sword Dancers. Singing and music sessions in three local pubs throughout the weekend. Sunday night session featuring our Irish guests at The Royal Hotel, Dungworth. Local traditional singing and instrumental music at The Plough, Low Bradfield, Monday night.
Talks over the weekend by Ian Russell, Geoff Crabb, Brian Dawson, Andrew & Margaret Watchorn.
Contact: Mark Davies: 0114 2851479 Mobile:07850475067 E-mail:edeophone@aol.com
29.7.07
This month there's a celebration of the legendary Bristol Tennessee recording sessions, where Ralph Peer discovered the Carter family and Jimmie Rodgers, 80 years ago this month. There’s also various old time Irish musicians, some examples of interracial harmony in the recording studio, a clarinet or two, a few flood disaster songs, some blues classics, a tribute to George Melly, who died this month, a Jewish cantor, and even an Austrian barrel organ.
The full playlist is below and can be seen with some more details at http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=160651486
To listen to the programme, go to http://www.live365.com/stations/oneworldmusic and click on the yellow speaker button. If you need to, follow the onscreen instructions to download the station player. Then wait a moment or two and the station will be on the air.
Fred McCormick - 19.7.07
Fredlive365@aol.com
On 19 June 2007, the National University of Ireland at Galway will award the honorary degree of Doctor of Literature (DLitt) to Tom Munnelly for services to Irish traditional music. Tom Munnelly, a native of Dublin, is Collector-Archivist with the Delargy Centre for Irish Folklore and the National Folklore Centre in University College Dublin, for which he has amassed since 1971 the largest and most comprehensive field-collection of Irish traditional song ever made by any one person. Since 1978 he has been based as a collector in Miltown Malbay, Co Clare. He was a founder-member of the Folk Music Society of Ireland in 1971 and has been since a founder and organiser of many other traditional music organisations and festivals. He is a frequent public lecturer and has written extensively on English-language traditional song and field collection. His audio publications include Irish Traveller singers (The Bonny Green Tree etc) and Clare singers (The Mount Callan Garland etc). He has recently been the recipient of the festschrift Dear Far-Voiced Veteran: Essays in Honour of Tom Munnelly.
On 29 June, the National University of Ireland at Galway will award the honorary degree of Doctor of Literature to Nicholas Carolan for services to Irish traditional music. Nicholas Carolan, from Drogheda, has been Director of the Irish Traditional Music since its foundation in 1987, and has established the Archive as the largest public repository of the materials of and information on Irish traditional music in existence. Secretary of the Folk Music Society of Ireland from 1977 to 1992, he lectured on traditional music in Trinity College Dublin from 1985 to 1998. A writer, frequent public lecturer, and producer of archival recordings, he is best known for researching and presenting the long-running archival television series Come West along the Road (RTÉ 1) and Siar an Bóthar (TG4).
On 3 July, the University of Ulster at Coleraine will award the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters (DLitt) to Cathal Goan for services to Irish-language broadcasting and the media industry in Ireland. Cathal Goan, Director-General of RTÉ, is a native of Belfast, and writes and lectures on Irish traditional song. He joined the station in 1979, and having worked as an archivist, producer and senior producer with RTÉ Radio, he moved to RTÉ Television where he was successively editor of Cúrsaí, the Irish-language current affairs and arts programme, and Editor of Irish-Language Programming. In 1994 he was appointed Ceannasaí of Teilifís na Gaeilge (TnaG, now TG4), and established the channel, Ireland's third national television service, which began broadcasting in 1996 . He became Managing Director of RTÉ Television in 2000, and Director-General of RTÉ in 2003.
18.7.07
Further info at: http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~tinvic
16.7.07
A selection of songs, ballads and tunes from the Brazil Family of Gloucester. A unique compilation of the repertoire of a single English Gypsy family,from the collections of Peter Shepheard, Gwilym Davies, Mike Yates, Hamish Henderson and Peter Kennedy. Featuring: Danny Brazil, Harry Brazil, Lemmie Brazil, Hyram Brazil, Tom Brazil, Weenie Brazil, Alice Webb and her son, Angela Brazil, Doris Davies, Joan Taylor, Debbie and Pennie Davies.
In his review, Keith Chandler writes: This really is the most important commercial release showcasing the English tradition to have appeared in many a long day. I cannot stress it enough : absolutely essential.
Pre-production costs have been generously funded by the Greenwich Traditional Musicians Cooperative. As usual, credit/debit card purchasing, full booklet notes, tracklists and review are available on the Records page.
14.7.07
Guests confirmed so far are: Len Graham, Karan Casey, Mick Maloney, Jim MacFarland, Ron Kavana, Mick Coyne, Dave Hennessy and Annie Armstrong, Sean Corcoran, Maighread and Triona Ni Dhomhnaill, Luke Cheevers, Alannah Henderson.
Jerry O'Reilly - 22.6.07
oreilly@clubi.ie
Contents:
Copies available by post from The Old Kilfarboy Society, Kildimo, Miltown Malbay, Co. Clare (065 7084698) or online at www.oac.ie Copies also available to personal callers at the Irish Traditional Music Archive, 73 Merrion Square, Dublin 2.
Anne Clune - 23.5.07
This is issued as a complement to the Veteran Keith Summers VT154CD ... 2 CDs, 75 tracks, 160 mins + 52 page integral booklet telling the story of Keith's Suffolk Collecting in his own inimitable words. Paul Marsh interviewed Keith a few months before his death, and taped his descriptions of his first going to Suffolk and encountering all those wonderful performers for the first time. The verbatim transcription of these tapes comprises the major part of the 52-page booklet (our biggest yet), and it's just like having Keith sitting next to you in the pub, sharing his excitement, enthusiasm for, and eventually love of, these remarkable characters. The booklet really is as good as the records!
Featuring: Jumbo Brightwell, Alec Bloomfield, Bob Scarce, Cyril Poacher, Jimmy Knights, Oscar Woods, Percy Ling, Billy List, Charlie Whiting, Font Watling, Fred Whiting, Eley Went, Fred List, Fred Pearce, Geoff Ling, George Ling, George Woolnough, Harkie Nesling, Reg Reeder and many others.
Rod Stradling - 14.5.07
Mark Wilson - 9.5.07
Peter Wyper (melodeon/announcement): c.1901 - 1907, Hamilton, Lanarkshire, Flowers of Edinburgh/Edinboro, Empress 124 [cylinder]Peter Wyper (melodeon) acc. prob. James Wyper (piano): prob. [?18] November 1907, London, 26226, Flowers of Edinburgh (Country Dance), Columbia Gramophone 26226, Columbia D 185, Rena 1187, Columbia-Rena 1187, Regal G 6959, Flores de Edinburgo, Columbia C 734
W F Cameron (melodeon), acc. unknown piano: 3 January 1910, London, 11155e, Flowers of Edinburgh, Twin 233, Zonophone-Twin 233
James Brown (melodeon), acc. unknown piano: January 1912, London, Ab14773e, Flowers o'Edinburgh, Zononphone-Twin 845, Zonophone 845, HMV Victor 120143 October 1913, London, The Flowers of Edinburgh - Country Dance, Clarion 839 [cylinder]
Peter Wyper (melodeon) acc. prob. James Wyper (piano): c.May 1912, London, 28098-1, Flowers of Edinburgh, Columbia-Rena 1187, Regal G 6959, Regal Zonophone G 6959
Jack Williams 'North of England Champion' (melodeon), acc. unknown piano: c.March 1914, London, 4017-1, Rights of Man Hornpipe and Flowers o' Edinboro, Winner 2580, Edison Bell Winner 2580
George 'Pamby' Dick (melodeon), acc. Dave Roth (piano), unknown drums: mid 1918, London, 1574X, Flowers of Edinboro' Country Dance, Guardsman 912, Meloto S 1090, Gennett 9049, OBDW 39019, Apex 446, Starr 4557
James Brown (melodeon), acc. unknown piano: prob. 20 September 1918, London, 5875, Flowers of Edinburgh, Winner 2369
Keith Chandler - 29.4.07
However, Phil Heath-Coleman - one of the people without whom the project could not have been properly completed (it has our biggest-ever booklet - 52 pages!) - has noticed an anomaly in the notes.
Although fiddler Fred 'Pip' Whiting told Keith that he learnt his "pet hornpipe" Flowers of Edinburgh when he was about 12 (i.e. in about 1917) from "an old gramophone record by John McClusky, Scotland's champion melodon player", it has not been possible to identify said "John McClusky", let alone any recordings by him. Can anyone out there throw any light on Fred's story?
Rod Stradling - 27.4.07
This is the fifth year of the event. The venue at the Fife Animal Park has been improved with new insulated and woodlined roof and renovated kitchen facilities and the Animal Park itself has been restocked with new animals. Events follow much the same pattern as previous years but with longer sessions on the Friday and Saturday evenings. There's a great selection of guest singers and some very interesting workshops/talks that should make for a unique and very enjoyable weekend.
For full details: www.springthyme.co.uk/events/fifesing/
25.4.07
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