Podcasts about The Unthanks

For those who haven't heard the announcement I posted, songs from this point on will sometimes be split among multiple episodes, so this is the second part of a two-episode look at the song “Who Knows Where The Time Goes?” by Fairport Convention, and the intertwining careers of Joe Boyd, Sandy Denny, and Richard Thompson. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode. Patreon backers also have a forty-one-minute bonus episode available, on Judy Collins’ version of this song. Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by editing, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt's irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/ Erratum For about an hour this was uploaded with the wrong Elton John clip in place of “Saturday Sun”. This has now been fixed. Resources Because of the increasing problems with Mixcloud’s restrictions, I have decided to start sharing streaming playlists of the songs used in episodes instead of Mixcloud ones. This Tunemymusic link will let you listen to the playlist I created on your streaming platform of choice — however please note that not all the songs excerpted are currently available on streaming. The songs missing from the Tidal version are “Shanten Bells” by the Ian Campbell Folk Group, “Tom’s Gone to Hilo” by A.L. Lloyd, two by Paul McNeill and Linda Peters, three by Elton John & Linda Peters, “What Will I Do With Tomorrow” by Sandy Denny and “You Never Know” by Charlie Drake, but the other fifty-nine are there. Other songs may be missing from other services. The main books I used on Fairport Convention as a whole were Patrick Humphries' Meet On The Ledge, Clinton Heylin's What We Did Instead of Holidays, and Kevan Furbank's Fairport Convention on Track. Rob Young's Electric Eden is the most important book on the British folk-rock movement. Information on Richard Thompson comes from Patrick Humphries' Richard Thompson: Strange Affair and Thompson's own autobiography Beeswing.  Information on Sandy Denny comes from Clinton Heylin's No More Sad Refrains and Mick Houghton's I've Always Kept a Unicorn. I also used Joe Boyd's autobiography White Bicycles and Chris Blackwell's The Islander.  And this three-CD set is the best introduction to Fairport's music currently in print. Transcript Before we begin, this episode contains reference to alcohol and cocaine abuse and medical neglect leading to death. It also starts with some discussion of the fatal car accident that ended last episode. There’s also some mention of child neglect and spousal violence. If that’s likely to upset you, you might want to skip this episode or read the transcript. One of the inspirations for this podcast when I started it back in 2018 was a project by Richard Thompson, which appears (like many things in Thompson’s life) to have started out of sheer bloody-mindedness. In 1999 Playboy magazine asked various people to list their “songs of the Millennium”, and most of them, understanding the brief, chose a handful of songs from the latter half of the twentieth century. But Thompson determined that he was going to list his favourite songs *of the millennium*. He didn’t quite manage that, but he did cover seven hundred and forty years, and when Playboy chose not to publish it, he decided to turn it into a touring show, in which he covered all his favourite songs from “Sumer Is Icumen In” from 1260: [Excerpt: Richard Thompson, “Sumer is Icumen In”] Through numerous traditional folk songs, union songs like “Blackleg Miner”, pieces by early-modern composers, Victorian and Edwardian music hall songs, and songs by the Beatles, the Ink Spots, the Kinks, and the Who, all the way to “Oops! I Did It Again”: [Excerpt: Richard Thompson, “Oops! I Did it Again”] And to finish the show, and to show how all this music actually ties together, he would play what he described as a “medieval tune from Brittany”, “Marry, Ageyn Hic Hev Donne Yt”: [Excerpt: Richard Thompson, “Marry, Ageyn Hic Hev Donne Yt”] We have said many times in this podcast that there is no first anything, but there’s a reason that Liege and Lief, Fairport Convention’s third album of 1969, and the album other than Unhalfbricking on which their reputation largely rests, was advertised with the slogan “The first (literally) British folk rock album ever”. Folk-rock, as the term had come to be known, and as it is still usually used today, had very little to do with traditional folk music. Rather, the records of bands like The Byrds or Simon and Garfunkel were essentially taking the sounds of British beat groups of the early sixties, particularly the Searchers, and applying those sounds to material by contemporary singer-songwriters. People like Paul Simon and Bob Dylan had come up through folk clubs, and their songs were called folk music because of that, but they weren’t what folk music had meant up to that point — songs that had been collected after being handed down through the folk process, changed by each individual singer, with no single identifiable author. They were authored songs by very idiosyncratic writers. But over their last few albums, Fairport Convention had done one or two tracks per album that weren’t like that, that were instead recordings of traditional folk songs, but arranged with rock instrumentation. They were not necessarily the first band to try traditional folk music with electric instruments — around the same time that Fairport started experimenting with the idea, so did an Irish band named Sweeney’s Men, who brought in a young electric guitarist named Henry McCullough briefly. But they do seem to have been the first to have fully embraced the idea. They had done so to an extent with “A Sailor’s Life” on Unhalfbricking, but now they were going to go much further: [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Matty Groves” (from about 4:30)] There had been some doubt as to whether Fairport Convention would even continue to exist — by the time Unhalfbricking, their second album of the year, was released, they had been through the terrible car accident that had killed Martin Lamble, the band’s drummer, and Jeannie Franklyn, Richard Thompson’s girlfriend. Most of the rest of the band had been seriously injured, and they had made a conscious decision not to discuss the future of the band until they were all out of hospital. Ashley Hutchings was hospitalised the longest, and Simon Nicol, Richard Thompson, and Sandy Denny, the other three surviving members of the band, flew over to LA with their producer and manager, Joe Boyd, to recuperate there and get to know the American music scene. When they came back, the group all met up in the flat belonging to Denny’s boyfriend Trevor Lucas, and decided that they were going to continue the band. They made a few decisions then — they needed a new drummer, and as well as a drummer they wanted to get in Dave Swarbrick. Swarbrick had played violin on several tracks on Unhalfbricking as a session player, and they had all been thrilled to work with him. Swarbrick was one of the most experienced musicians on the British folk circuit. He had started out in the fifties playing guitar with Beryl Marriott’s Ceilidh Band before switching to fiddle, and in 1963, long before Fairport had formed, he had already appeared on TV with the Ian Campbell Folk Group, led by Ian Campbell, the father of Ali and Robin Campbell, later of UB40: [Excerpt: The Ian Campbell Folk Group, “Shanten Bells (medley on Hullaballoo!)”] He’d sung with Ewan MacColl and A.L. Lloyd: [Excerpt: A.L. Lloyd, “Tom’s Gone to Hilo” ] And he’d formed his hugely successful duo with Martin Carthy, releasing records like “Byker Hill” which are often considered among the best British folk music of all time: [Excerpt: Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick, “Byker Hill”] By the time Fairport had invited him to play on Unhalfbricking, Swarbrick had already performed on twenty albums as a core band member, plus dozens more EPs, singles, and odd tracks on compilations. They had no reason to think they could actually get him to join their band. But they had three advantages. The first was that Swarbrick was sick of the traditional folk scene at the time, saying later “I didn’t like seven-eighths of the people involved in it, and it was extremely opportune to leave. I was suddenly presented with the possibilities of exploring the dramatic content of the songs to the full.” The second was that he was hugely excited to be playing with Richard Thompson, who was one of the most innovative guitarists of his generation, and Martin Carthy remembers him raving about Thompson after their initial sessions. (Carthy himself was and is no slouch on the guitar of course, and there was even talk of getting him to join the band at this point, though they decided against it — much to the relief of rhythm guitarist Simon Nicol, who is a perfectly fine player himself but didn’t want to be outclassed by *two* of the best guitarists in Britain at the same time). And the third was that Joe Boyd told him that Fairport were doing so well — they had a single just about to hit the charts with “Si Tu Dois Partir” — that he would only have to play a dozen gigs with Fairport in order to retire. As it turned out, Swarbrick would play with the group for a decade, and would never retire — I saw him on his last tour in 2015, only eight months before he died. The drummer the group picked was also a far more experienced musician than any of the rest, though in a very different genre. Dave Mattacks had no knowledge at all of the kind of music they played, having previously been a player in dance bands. When asked by Hutchings if he wanted to join the band, Mattacks’ response was “I don’t know anything about the music. I don’t understand it… I can’t tell one tune from another, they all sound the same… but if you want me to join the group, fine, because I really like it. I’m enjoying myself musically.” Mattacks brought a new level of professionalism to the band, thanks to his different background. Nicol said of him later “He was dilligent, clean, used to taking three white shirts to a gig… The application he could bring to his playing was amazing. With us, you only played well when you were feeling well.” This distinction applied to his playing as well. Nicol would later describe the difference between Mattacks’ drumming and Lamble’s by saying “Martin’s strength was as an imaginative drummer. DM came in with a strongly developed sense of rhythm, through keeping a big band of drunken saxophone players in order. A great time-keeper.” With this new line-up and a new sense of purpose, the group did as many of their contemporaries were doing and “got their heads together in the country”. Joe Boyd rented the group a mansion, Farley House, in Farley Chamberlayne, Hampshire, and they stayed there together for three months. At the start, the group seem to have thought that they were going to make another record like Unhalfbricking, with some originals, some songs by American songwriters, and a few traditional songs. Even after their stay in Farley Chamberlayne, in fact, they recorded a few of the American songs they’d rehearsed at the start of the process, Richard Farina’s “Quiet Joys of Brotherhood” and Bob Dylan and Roger McGuinn’s “Ballad of Easy Rider”: [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Ballad of Easy Rider”] Indeed, the whole idea of “getting our heads together in the country” (as the cliche quickly became in the late sixties as half of the bands in Britain went through much the same kind of process as Fairport were doing — but usually for reasons more to do with drug burnout or trend following than recovering from serious life-changing trauma) seems to have been inspired by Bob Dylan and the Band getting together in Big Pink. But very quickly they decided to follow the lead of Ashley Hutchings, who had had something of a Damascene conversion to the cause of traditional English folk music. They were listening mostly to Music From Big Pink by the Band, and to the first album by Sweeney’s Men: [Excerpt: Sweeney’s Men, “The Handsome Cabin Boy”] And they decided that they were going to make something that was as English as those records were North American and Irish (though in the event there were also a few Scottish songs included on the record). Hutchings in particular was becoming something of a scholar of traditional music, regularly visiting Cecil Sharp House and having long conversations with A.L. Lloyd, discovering versions of different traditional songs he’d never encountered before. This was both amusing and bemusing Sandy Denny, who had joined a rock group in part to get away from traditional music; but she was comfortable singing the material, and knew a lot of it and could make a lot of suggestions herself. Swarbrick obviously knew the repertoire intimately, and Nicol was amenable, while Mattacks was utterly clueless about the folk tradition at this point but knew this was the music he wanted to make. Thompson knew very little about traditional music, and of all the band members except Denny he was the one who has shown the least interest in the genre in his subsequent career — but as we heard at the beginning, showing the least interest in the genre is a relative thing, and while Thompson was not hugely familiar with the genre, he *was* able to work with it, and was also more than capable of writing songs that fit in with the genre. Of the eleven songs on the album, which was titled Liege and Lief (which means, roughly, Lord and Loyalty), there were no cover versions of singer-songwriters. Eight were traditional songs, and three were originals, all written in the style of traditional songs. The album opened with “Come All Ye”, an introduction written by Denny and Hutchings (the only time the two would ever write together): [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Come All Ye”] The other two originals were songs where Thompson had written new lyrics to traditional melodies. On “Crazy Man Michael”, Swarbrick had said to Thompson that the tune to which he had set his new words was weaker than the lyrics, to which Thompson had replied that if Swarbrick felt that way he should feel free to write a new melody. He did, and it became the first of the small number of Thompson/Swarbrick collaborations: [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Crazy Man Michael”] Thompson and Swarbrick would become a brief songwriting team, but as much as anything else it was down to proximity — the two respected each other as musicians, but never got on very well. In 1981 Swarbrick would say “Richard and I never got on in the early days of FC… we thought we did, but we never did. We composed some bloody good songs together, but it was purely on a basis of “you write that and I’ll write this, and we’ll put it together.” But we never sat down and had real good chats.” The third original on the album, and by far the most affecting, is another song where Thompson put lyrics to a traditional tune. In this case he thought he was putting the lyrics to the tune of “Willie O'Winsbury”, but he was basing it on a recording by Sweeney’s Men. The problem was that Sweeney’s Men had accidentally sung the lyrics of “Willie O'Winsbury'” to the tune of a totally different song, “Fause Foodrage”: [Excerpt: Sweeney’s Men, “Willie O’Winsbury”] Thompson took that melody, and set to it lyrics about loss and separation. Thompson has never been one to discuss the meanings of his lyrics in any great detail, and in the case of this one has said “I really don't know what it means. This song came out of a dream, and I pretty much wrote it as I dreamt it (it was the sixties), and didn't spend very long analyzing it. So interpret as you wish – or replace with your own lines.” But in the context of the traffic accident that had killed his tailor girlfriend and a bandmate, and injured most of his other bandmates, the lyrics about lonely travellers, the winding road, bruised and beaten sons, saying goodbye, and never cutting cloth, seem fairly self-explanatory: [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Farewell, Farewell”] The rest of the album, though, was taken up by traditional tunes. There was a long medley of four different fiddle reels; a version of “Reynardine” (a song about a seductive man — or is he a fox? Or perhaps both — which had been recorded by Swarbrick and Carthy on their most recent album); a 19th century song about a deserter saved from the firing squad by Prince Albert; and a long take on “Tam Lin”, one of the most famous pieces in the Scottish folk music canon, a song that has been adapted in different ways by everyone from the experimental noise band Current 93 to the dub poet Benjamin Zephaniah to the comics writer Grant Morrison: [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Tam Lin”] And “Matty Groves”, a song about a man killing his cheating wife and her lover, which actually has a surprisingly similar story to that of “1921” from another great concept album from that year, the Who’s Tommy. “Matty Groves” became an excuse for long solos and shows of instrumental virtuosity: [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Matty Groves”] The album was recorded in September 1969, after their return from their break in the country and a triumphal performance at the Royal Festival Hall, headlining over fellow Witchseason artists John and Beverly Martyn and Nick Drake. It became a classic of the traditional folk genre — arguably *the* classic of the traditional folk genre. In 2007 BBC Radio 2’s Folk Music Awards gave it an award for most influential folk album of all time, and while such things are hard to measure, I doubt there’s anyone with even the most cursory knowledge of British folk and folk-rock music who would not at least consider that a reasonable claim. But once again, by the time the album came out in November, the band had changed lineups yet again. There was a fundamental split in the band – on one side were Sandy Denny and Richard Thompson, whose stance was, roughly, that Liege and Lief was a great experiment and a fun thing to do once, but really the band had two first-rate songwriters in themselves, and that they should be concentrating on their own new material, not doing these old songs, good as they were. They wanted to take the form of the traditional songs and use that form for new material — they wanted to make British folk-rock, but with the emphasis on the rock side of things. Hutchings, on the other hand, was equally sure that he wanted to make traditional music and go further down the rabbit hole of antiquity. With the zeal of the convert he had gone in a couple of years from being the leader of a band who were labelled “the British Jefferson Airplane” to becoming a serious scholar of traditional folk music. Denny was tired of touring, as well — she wanted to spend more time at home with Trevor Lucas, who was sleeping with other women when she was away and making her insecure. When the time came for the group to go on a tour of Denmark, Denny decided she couldn’t make it, and Hutchings was jubilant — he decided he was going to get A.L. Lloyd into the band in her place and become a *real* folk group. Then Denny reconsidered, and Hutchings was crushed. He realised that while he had always been the leader, he wasn’t going to be able to lead the band any further in the traditionalist direction, and quit the group — but not before he was delegated by the other band members to fire Denny. Until the publication of Richard Thompson’s autobiography in 2022, every book on the group or its members said that Denny quit the band again, which was presumably a polite fiction that the band agreed, but according to Thompson “Before we flew home, we decided to fire Sandy. I don't remember who asked her to leave – it was probably Ashley, who usually did the dirty work. She was reportedly shocked that we would take that step. She may have been fragile beneath the confident facade, but she still knew her worth.” Thompson goes on to explain that the reasons for kicking her out were that “I suppose we felt that in her mind she had already left” and that “We were probably suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, though there wasn't a name for it back then.” They had considered inviting Trevor Lucas to join the band to make Denny more comfortable, but came to the (probably correct) conclusion that while he was someone they got on well with personally, he would be another big ego in a band that already had several, and that being around Denny and Lucas’ volatile relationship would, in Thompson’s phrasing, “have not always given one a feeling of peace and stability.” Hutchings originally decided he was going to join Sweeney’s Men, but that group were falling apart, and their first rehearsal with Hutchings would also be their last as a group, with only Hutchings and guitarist and mandolin player Terry Woods left in the band. They added Woods’ wife Gay, and another couple, Tim Hart and Maddy Prior, and formed a group called Steeleye Span, a name given them by Martin Carthy. That group, like Fairport, went to “get their heads together in the country” for three months and recorded an album of electric versions of traditional songs, Hark the Village Wait, on which Mattacks and another drummer, Gerry Conway, guested as Steeleye Span didn’t at the time have their own drummer: [Excerpt: Steeleye Span, “Blackleg Miner”] Steeleye Span would go on to have a moderately successful chart career in the seventies, but by that time most of the original lineup, including Hutchings, had left — Hutchings stayed with them for a few albums, then went on to form the first of a series of bands, all called the Albion Band or variations on that name, which continue to this day. And this is something that needs to be pointed out at this point — it is impossible to follow every single individual in this narrative as they move between bands. There is enough material in the history of the British folk-rock scene that someone could do a 500 Songs-style podcast just on that, and every time someone left Fairport, or Steeleye Span, or the Albion Band, or Matthews’ Southern Comfort, or any of the other bands we have mentioned or will mention, they would go off and form another band which would then fission, and some of its members would often join one of those other bands. There was a point in the mid-1970s where the Albion Band had two original members of Fairport Convention while Fairport Convention had none. So just in order to keep the narrative anything like wieldy, I’m going to keep the narrative concentrated on the two figures from Fairport — Sandy Denny and Richard Thompson — whose work outside the group has had the most influence on the wider world of rock music more broadly, and only deal with the other members when, as they often did, their careers intersected with those two. That doesn’t mean the other members are not themselves hugely important musicians, just that their importance has been primarily to the folk side of the folk-rock genre, and so somewhat outside the scope of this podcast. While Hutchings decided to form a band that would allow him to go deeper and deeper into traditional folk music, Sandy Denny’s next venture was rather different. For a long time she had been writing far more songs than she had ever played for her bandmates, like “Nothing More”, a song that many have suggested is about Thompson: [Excerpt: Fotheringay, “Nothing More”] When Joe Boyd heard that Denny was leaving Fairport Convention, he was at first elated. Fairport’s records were being distributed by A&M in the US at that point, but Island Records was in the process of opening up a new US subsidiary which would then release all future Fairport product — *but*, as far as A&M were concerned, Sandy Denny *was* Fairport Convention. They were only interested in her. Boyd, on the other hand, loved Denny’s work intensely, but from his point of view *Richard Thompson* was Fairport Convention. If he could get Denny signed directly to A&M as a solo artist before Island started its US operations, Witchseason could get a huge advance on her first solo record, while Fairport could continue making records for Island — he’d have two lucrative acts, on different labels. Boyd went over and spoke to A&M and got an agreement in principle that they would give Denny a forty-thousand-dollar advance on her first solo album — twice what they were paying for Fairport albums. The problem was that Denny didn’t want to be a solo act. She wanted to be the lead singer of a band. She gave many reasons for this — the one she gave to many journalists was that she had seen a Judy Collins show and been impressed, but noticed that Collins’ band were definitely a “backing group”, and as she put it “But that's all they were – a backing group. I suddenly thought, If you're playing together on a stage you might as well be TOGETHER.” Most other people in her life, though, say that the main reason for her wanting to be in a band was her desire to be with her boyfriend, Trevor Lucas. Partly this was due to a genuine desire to spend more time with someone with whom she was very much in love, partly it was a fear that he would cheat on her if she was away from him for long periods of time, and part of it seems to have been Lucas’ dislike of being *too* overshadowed by his talented girlfriend — he didn’t mind acknowledging that she was a major talent, but he wanted to be thought of as at least a minor one. So instead of going solo, Denny formed Fotheringay, named after the song she had written for Fairport. This new band consisted at first of Denny on vocals and occasional piano, Lucas on vocals and rhythm guitar, and Lucas’ old Eclection bandmate Gerry Conway on drums. For a lead guitarist, they asked Richard Thompson who the best guitarist in Britain was, and he told them Albert Lee. Lee in turn brought in bass player Pat Donaldson, but this lineup of the band barely survived a fortnight. Lee *was* arguably the best guitarist in Britain, certainly a reasonable candidate if you could ever have a singular best (as indeed was Thompson himself), but he was the best *country* guitarist in Britain, and his style simply didn’t fit with Fotheringay’s folk-influenced songs. He was replaced by American guitarist Jerry Donahue, who was not anything like as proficient as Lee, but who was still very good, and fit the band’s style much better. The new group rehearsed together for a few weeks, did a quick tour, and then went into the recording studio to record their debut, self-titled, album. Joe Boyd produced the album, but admitted himself that he only paid attention to those songs he considered worthwhile — the album contained one song by Lucas, “The Ballad of Ned Kelly”, and two cover versions of American singer-songwriter material with Lucas singing lead. But everyone knew that the songs that actually *mattered* were Sandy Denny’s, and Boyd was far more interested in them, particularly the songs “The Sea” and “The Pond and the Stream”: [Excerpt: Fotheringay, “The Pond and the Stream”] Fotheringay almost immediately hit financial problems, though. While other Witchseason acts were used to touring on the cheap, all packed together in the back of a Transit van with inexpensive equipment, Trevor Lucas had ambitions of being a rock star and wanted to put together a touring production to match, with expensive transport and equipment, including a speaker system that got nicknamed “Stonehenge” — but at the same time, Denny was unhappy being on the road, and didn’t play many gigs. As well as the band itself, the Fotheringay album also featured backing vocals from a couple of other people, including Denny’s friend Linda Peters. Peters was another singer from the folk clubs, and a good one, though less well-known than Denny — at this point she had only released a couple of singles, and those singles seemed to have been as much as anything else released as a novelty. The first of those, a version of Dylan’s “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” had been released as by “Paul McNeill and Linda Peters”: [Excerpt: Paul McNeill and Linda Peters, “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere”] But their second single, a version of John D. Loudermilk’s “You’re Taking My Bag”, was released on the tiny Page One label, owned by Larry Page, and was released under the name “Paul and Linda”, clearly with the intent of confusing particularly gullible members of the record-buying public into thinking this was the McCartneys: [Excerpt: Paul and Linda, “You’re Taking My Bag”] Peters was though more financially successful than almost anyone else in this story, as she was making a great deal of money as a session singer. She actually did another session involving most of Fotheringay around this time. Witchseason had a number of excellent songwriters on its roster, and had had some success getting covers by people like Judy Collins, but Joe Boyd thought that they might possibly do better at getting cover versions if they were performed in less idiosyncratic arrangements. Donahue, Donaldson, and Conway went into the studio to record backing tracks, and vocals were added by Peters and another session singer, who according to some sources also provided piano. They cut songs by Mike Heron of the Incredible String Band: [Excerpt: Linda Peters, “You Get Brighter”] Ed Carter, formerly of The New Nadir but by this time firmly ensconced in the Beach Boys’ touring band where he would remain for the next quarter-century: [Excerpt: Linda Peters, “I Don’t Mind”] John and Beverly Martyn, and Nick Drake: [Excerpt: Elton John, “Saturday Sun”] There are different lineups of musicians credited for those sessions in different sources, but I tend to believe that it’s mostly Fotheringay for the simple reason that Donahue says it was him, Donaldson and Conway who talked Lucas and Denny into the mistake that destroyed Fotheringay because of these sessions. Fotheringay were in financial trouble already, spending far more money than they were bringing in, but their album made the top twenty and they were getting respect both from critics and from the public — in September, Sandy Denny was voted best British female singer by the readers of Melody Maker in their annual poll, which led to shocked headlines in the tabloids about how this “unknown” could have beaten such big names as Dusty Springfield and Cilla Black. Only a couple of weeks after that, they were due to headline at the Albert Hall. It should have been a triumph. But Donahue, Donaldson, and Conway had asked that singing pianist to be their support act. As Donahue said later “That was a terrible miscast. It was our fault. He asked if [he] could do it. Actually Pat, Gerry and I had to talk Sandy and Trevor into [it]… We'd done these demos and the way he was playing – he was a wonderful piano player – he was sensitive enough. We knew very little about his stage-show. We thought he'd be a really good opener for us.” Unfortunately, Elton John was rather *too* good. As Donahue continued “we had no idea what he had in mind, that he was going to do the most incredible rock & roll show ever. He pretty much blew us off the stage before we even got on the stage.” To make matters worse, Fotheringay’s set, which was mostly comprised of new material, was underrehearsed and sloppy, and from that point on no matter what they did people were counting the hours until the band split up. They struggled along for a while though, and started working on a second record, with Boyd again producing, though as Boyd later said “I probably shouldn't have been producing the record. My lack of respect for the group was clear, and couldn't have helped the atmosphere. We'd put out a record that had sold disappointingly, A&M was unhappy. Sandy's tracks on the first record are among the best things she ever did – the rest of it, who cares? And the artwork, Trevor's sister, was terrible. It would have been one thing if I'd been unhappy with it and it sold, and the group was working all the time, making money, but that wasn't the case … I knew what Sandy was capable of, and it was very upsetting to me.” The record would not be released for thirty-eight years: [Excerpt: Fotheringay, “Wild Mountain Thyme”] Witchseason was going badly into debt. Given all the fissioning of bands that we’ve already been talking about, Boyd had been stretched thin — he produced sixteen albums in 1970, and almost all of them lost money for the company. And he was getting more and more disillusioned with the people he was producing. He loved Beverly Martyn’s work, but had little time for her abusive husband John, who was dominating her recording and life more and more and would soon become a solo artist while making her stay at home (and stealing her ideas without giving her songwriting credit). The Incredible String Band were great, but they had recently converted to Scientology, which Boyd found annoying, and while he was working with all sorts of exciting artists like Vashti Bunyan and Nico, he was finding himself less and less important to the artists he mentored. Fairport Convention were a good example of this. After Denny and Hutchings had left the group, they’d decided to carry on as an electric folk group, performing an equal mix of originals by the Swarbrick and Thompson songwriting team and arrangements of traditional songs. The group were now far enough away from the “British Jefferson Airplane” label that they decided they didn’t need a female vocalist — and more realistically, while they’d been able to replace Judy Dyble, nobody was going to replace Sandy Denny. Though it’s rather surprising when one considers Thompson’s subsequent career that nobody seems to have thought of bringing in Denny’s friend Linda Peters, who was dating Joe Boyd at the time (as Denny had been before she met Lucas) as Denny’s replacement. Instead, they decided that Swarbrick and Thompson were going to share the vocals between them. They did, though, need a bass player to replace Hutchings. Swarbrick wanted to bring in Dave Pegg, with whom he had played in the Ian Campbell Folk Group, but the other band members initially thought the idea was a bad one. At the time, while they respected Swarbrick as a musician, they didn’t think he fully understood rock and roll yet, and they thought the idea of getting in a folkie who had played double bass rather than an electric rock bassist ridiculous. But they auditioned him to mollify Swarbrick, and found that he was exactly what they needed. As Joe Boyd later said “All those bass lines were great, Ashley invented them all, but he never could play them that well. He thought of them, but he was technically not a terrific bass player. He was a very inventive, melodic, bass player, but not a very powerful one technically. But having had the part explained to him once, Pegg was playing it better than Ashley had ever played it… In some rock bands, I think, ultimately, the bands that sound great, you can generally trace it to the bass player… it was at that point they became a great band, when they had Pegg.” The new lineup of Fairport decided to move in together, and found a former pub called the Angel, into which all the band members moved, along with their partners and children (Thompson was the only one who was single at this point) and their roadies. The group lived together quite happily, and one gets the impression that this was the period when they were most comfortable with each other, even though by this point they were a disparate group with disparate tastes, in music as in everything else. Several people have said that the only music all the band members could agree they liked at this point was the first two albums by The Band. With the departure of Hutchings from the band, Swarbrick and Thompson, as the strongest personalities and soloists, became in effect the joint leaders of the group, and they became collaborators as songwriters, trying to write new songs that were inspired by traditional music. Thompson described the process as “let’s take one line of this reel and slow it down and move it up a minor third and see what that does to it; let’s take one line of this ballad and make a whole song out of it. Chopping up the tradition to find new things to do… like a collage.” Generally speaking, Swarbrick and Thompson would sit by the fire and Swarbrick would play a melody he’d been working on, the two would work on it for a while, and Thompson would then go away and write the lyrics. This is how the two came up with songs like the nine-minute “Sloth”, a highlight of the next album, Full House, and one that would remain in Fairport’s live set for much of their career: [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Sloth”] “Sloth” was titled that way because Thompson and Swarbrick were working on two tunes, a slow one and a fast one, and they jokingly named them “Sloth” and “Fasth”, but the latter got renamed to “Walk Awhile”, while “Sloth” kept its working title. But by this point, Boyd and Thompson were having a lot of conflict in the studio. Boyd was never the most technical of producers — he was one of those producers whose job is to gently guide the artists in the studio and create a space for the music to flourish, rather than the Joe Meek type with an intimate technical knowledge of the studio — and as the artists he was working with gained confidence in their own work they felt they had less and less need of him. During the making of the Full House album, Thompson and Boyd, according to Boyd, clashed on everything — every time Boyd thought Thompson had done a good solo, Thompson would say to erase it and let him have another go, while every time Boyd thought Thompson could do better, Thompson would say that was the take to keep. One of their biggest clashes was over Thompson’s song “Poor Will and the Jolly Hangman”, which was originally intended for release on the album, and is included in current reissues of it: [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Poor Will and the Jolly Hangman”] Thompson had written that song inspired by what he thought was the unjust treatment of Alex Bramham, the driver in Fairport’s fatal car crash, by the courts — Bramham had been given a prison sentence of a few months for dangerous driving, while the group members thought he had not been at fault. Boyd thought it was one of the best things recorded for the album, but Thompson wasn’t happy with his vocal — there was one note at the top of the melody that he couldn’t quite hit — and insisted it be kept off the record, even though that meant it would be a shorter album than normal. He did this at such a late stage that early copies of the album actually had the title printed on the sleeve, but then blacked out. He now says in his autobiography “I could have persevered, double-tracked the voice, warmed up for longer – anything. It was a good track, and the record was lacking without it. When the album was re-released, the track was restored with a more confident vocal, and it has stayed there ever since.” During the sessions for Full House the group also recorded one non-album single, Thompson and Swarbrick’s “Now Be Thankful”: [Excerpt, Fairport Convention, “Now Be Thankful”] The B-side to that was a medley of two traditional tunes plus a Swarbrick original, but was given the deliberately ridiculous title “Sir B. McKenzie’s Daughter’s Lament For The 77th Mounted Lancers Retreat From The Straits Of Loch Knombe, In The Year Of Our Lord 1727, On The Occasion Of The Announcement Of Her Marriage To The Laird Of Kinleakie”: [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Sir B. McKenzie’s Daughter’s Lament For The 77th Mounted Lancers Retreat From The Straits Of Loch Knombe, In The Year Of Our Lord 1727, On The Occasion Of The Announcement Of Her Marriage To The Laird Of Kinleakie”] The B. McKenzie in the title was a reference to the comic-strip character Barry McKenzie, a stereotype drunk Australian created for Private Eye magazine by the comedian Barry Humphries (later to become better known for his Dame Edna Everage character) but the title was chosen for one reason only — to get into the Guinness Book of Records for the song with the longest title. Which they did, though they were later displaced by the industrial band Test Dept, and their song “Long Live British Democracy Which Flourishes and Is Constantly Perfected Under the Immaculate Guidance of the Great, Honourable, Generous and Correct Margaret Hilda Thatcher. She Is the Blue Sky in the Hearts of All Nations. Our People Pay Homage and Bow in Deep Respect and Gratitude to Her. The Milk of Human Kindness”. Full House got excellent reviews in the music press, with Rolling Stone saying “The music shows that England has finally gotten her own equivalent to The Band… By calling Fairport an English equivalent of the Band, I meant that they have soaked up enough of the tradition of their countryfolk that it begins to show all over, while they maintain their roots in rock.” Off the back of this, the group went on their first US tour, culminating in a series of shows at the Troubadour in LA, on the same bill as Rick Nelson, which were recorded and later released as a live album: [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Sloth (live)”] The Troubadour was one of the hippest venues at the time, and over their residency there the group got seen by many celebrities, some of whom joined them on stage. The first was Linda Ronstadt, who initially demurred, saying she didn’t know any of their songs. On being told they knew all of hers, she joined in with a rendition of “Silver Threads and Golden Needles”. Thompson was later asked to join Ronstadt’s backing band, who would go on to become the Eagles, but he said later of this offer “I would have hated it. I’d have hated being on the road with four or five miserable Americans — they always seem miserable. And if you see them now, they still look miserable on stage — like they don’t want to be there and they don’t like each other.” The group were also joined on stage at the Troubadour on one memorable night by some former bandmates of Pegg’s. Before joining the Ian Campbell Folk Group, Pegg had played around the Birmingham beat scene, and had been in bands with John Bonham and Robert Plant, who turned up to the Troubadour with their Led Zeppelin bandmate Jimmy Page (reports differ on whether the fourth member of Zeppelin, John Paul Jones, also came along). They all got up on stage together and jammed on songs like “Hey Joe”, “Louie Louie”, and various old Elvis tunes. The show was recorded, and the tapes are apparently still in the possession of Joe Boyd, who has said he refuses to release them in case he is murdered by the ghost of Peter Grant. According to Thompson, that night ended in a three-way drinking contest between Pegg, Bonham, and Janis Joplin, and it’s testament to how strong the drinking culture is around Fairport and the British folk scene in general that Pegg outdrank both of them. According to Thompson, Bonham was found naked by a swimming pool two days later, having missed two gigs. For all their hard rock image, Led Zeppelin were admirers of a lot of the British folk and folk-rock scene, and a few months later Sandy Denny would become the only outside vocalist ever to appear on a Led Zeppelin record when she duetted with Plant on “The Battle of Evermore” on the group’s fourth album: [Excerpt: Led Zeppelin, “The Battle of Evermore”] Denny would never actually get paid for her appearance on one of the best-selling albums of all time. That was, incidentally, not the only session that Denny was involved in around this time — she also sang on the soundtrack to a soft porn film titled Swedish Fly Girls, whose soundtrack was produced by Manfred Mann: [Excerpt: Sandy Denny, “What Will I Do With Tomorrow?”] Shortly after Fairport’s trip to America, Joe Boyd decided he was giving up on Witchseason. The company was now losing money, and he was finding himself having to produce work for more and more acts as the various bands fissioned. The only ones he really cared about were Richard Thompson, who he was finding it more and more difficult to work with, Nick Drake, who wanted to do his next album with just an acoustic guitar anyway, Sandy Denny, who he felt was wasting her talents in Fotheringay, and Mike Heron of the Incredible String Band, who was more distant since his conversion to Scientology. Boyd did make some attempts to keep the company going. On a trip to Sweden, he negotiated an agreement with the manager and publisher of a Swedish band whose songs he’d found intriguing, the Hep Stars. Boyd was going to publish their songs in the UK, and in return that publisher, Stig Anderson, would get the rights to Witchseason’s catalogue in Scandinavia — a straight swap, with no money changing hands. But before Boyd could get round to signing the paperwork, he got a better offer from Mo Ostin of Warners — Ostin wanted Boyd to come over to LA and head up Warners’ new film music department. Boyd sold Witchseason to Island Records and moved to LA with his fiancee Linda Peters, spending the next few years working on music for films like Deliverance and A Clockwork Orange, as well as making his own documentary about Jimi Hendrix, and thus missed out on getting the UK publishing rights for ABBA, and all the income that would have brought him, for no money. And it was that decision that led to the breakup of Fotheringay. Just before Christmas 1970, Fotheringay were having a difficult session, recording the track “John the Gun”: [Excerpt: Fotheringay, “John the Gun”] Boyd got frustrated and kicked everyone out of the session, and went for a meal and several drinks with Denny. He kept insisting that she should dump the band and just go solo, and then something happened that the two of them would always describe differently. She asked him if he would continue to produce her records if she went solo, and he said he would. According to Boyd’s recollection of the events, he meant that he would fly back from California at some point to produce her records. According to Denny, he told her that if she went solo he would stay in Britain and not take the job in LA. This miscommunication was only discovered after Denny told the rest of Fotheringay after the Christmas break that she was splitting the band. Jerry Donahue has described that as the worst moment of his life, and Denny felt very guilty about breaking up a band with some of her closest friends in — and then when Boyd went over to the US anyway she felt a profound betrayal. Two days before Fotheringay’s final concert, in January 1971, Sandy Denny signed a solo deal with Island records, but her first solo album would not end up produced by Joe Boyd. Instead, The North Star Grassman and the Ravens was co-produced by Denny, John Wood — the engineer who had worked with Boyd on pretty much everything he’d produced, and Richard Thompson, who had just quit Fairport Convention, though he continued living with them at the Angel, at least until a truck crashed into the building in February 1971, destroying its entire front wall and forcing them to relocate. The songs chosen for The North Star Grassman and the Ravens reflected the kind of choices Denny would make on her future albums, and her eclectic taste in music. There was, of course, the obligatory Dylan cover, and the traditional folk ballad “Blackwaterside”, but there was also a cover version of Brenda Lee’s “Let’s Jump the Broomstick”: [Excerpt: Sandy Denny, “Let’s Jump the Broomstick”] Most of the album, though, was made up of originals about various people in Denny’s life, like “Next Time Around”, about her ex-boyfriend Jackson C Frank: [Excerpt: Sandy Denny, “Next Time Around”] The album made the top forty in the UK — Denny’s only solo album to do so — and led to her once again winning the “best female singer” award in Melody Maker’s readers’ poll that year — the male singer award was won by Rod Stewart. Both Stewart and Denny appeared the next year on the London Symphony Orchestra’s all-star version of The Who’s Tommy, which had originally been intended as a vehicle for Stewart before Roger Daltrey got involved. Stewart’s role was reduced to a single song, “Pinball Wizard”, while Denny sang on “It’s a Boy”: [Excerpt: Sandy Denny, “It’s a Boy”] While Fotheringay had split up, all the band members play on The North Star Grassman and the Ravens. Guitarists Donahue and Lucas only play on a couple of the tracks, with Richard Thompson playing most of the guitar on the record. But Fotheringay’s rhythm section of Pat Donaldson and Gerry Conway play on almost every track. Another musician on the album, Ian Whiteman, would possibly have a profound effect on the future direction of Richard Thompson’s career and life. Whiteman was the former keyboard player for the mod band The Action, having joined them just before they became the blues-rock band Mighty Baby. But Mighty Baby had split up when all of the band except the lead singer had converted to Islam. Richard Thompson was on his own spiritual journey at this point, and became a Sufi – the same branch of Islam as Whiteman – soon after the session, though Thompson has said that his conversion was independent of Whiteman’s. The two did become very close and work together a lot in the mid-seventies though. Thompson had supposedly left Fairport because he was writing material that wasn’t suited to the band, but he spent more than a year after quitting the group working on sessions rather than doing anything with his own material, and these sessions tended to involve the same core group of musicians. One of the more unusual was a folk-rock supergroup called The Bunch, put together by Trevor Lucas. Richard Branson had recently bought a recording studio, and wanted a band to test it out before opening it up for commercial customers, so with this free studio time Lucas decided to record a set of fifties rock and roll covers. He gathered together Thompson, Denny, Whiteman, Ashley Hutchings, Dave Mattacks, Pat Donaldson, Gerry Conway, pianist Tony Cox, the horn section that would later form the core of the Average White Band, and Linda Peters, who had now split up with Joe Boyd and returned to the UK, and who had started dating Thompson. They recorded an album of covers of songs by Jerry Lee Lewis, the Everly Brothers, Johnny Otis and others: [Excerpt: The Bunch, “Willie and the Hand Jive”] The early seventies was a hugely productive time for this group of musicians, as they all continued playing on each other’s projects. One notable album was No Roses by Shirley Collins, which featured Thompson, Mattacks, Whiteman, Simon Nicol, Lal and Mike Waterson, and Ashley Hutchings, who was at that point married to Collins, as well as some more unusual musicians like the free jazz saxophonist Lol Coxhill: [Excerpt: Shirley Collins and the Albion Country Band, “Claudy Banks”] Collins was at the time the most respected female singer in British traditional music, and already had a substantial career including a series of important records made with her sister Dolly, work with guitarists like Davey Graham, and time spent in the 1950s collecting folk songs in the Southern US with her then partner Alan Lomax – according to Collins she did much of the actual work, but Lomax only mentioned her in a single sentence in his book on this work. Some of the same group of musicians went on to work on an album of traditional Morris dancing tunes, titled Morris On, credited to “Ashley Hutchings, Richard Thompson, Dave Mattacks, John Kirkpatrick and Barry Dransfield”, with Collins singing lead on two tracks: [Excerpt: Ashley Hutchings, Richard Thompson, Dave Mattacks, John Kirkpatrick and Barry Dransfield with Shirley Collins, “The Willow Tree”] Thompson thought that that album was the best of the various side projects he was involved in at the time, comparing it favourably to Rock On, which he thought was rather slight, saying later “Conceptually, Fairport, Ashley and myself and Sandy were developing a more fragile style of music that nobody else was particularly interested in, a British Folk Rock idea that had a logical development to it, although we all presented it our own way. Morris On was rather more true to what we were doing. Rock On was rather a retro step. I'm not sure it was lasting enough as a record but Sandy did sing really well on the Buddy Holly songs.” Hutchings used the musicians on No Roses and Morris On as the basis for his band the Albion Band, which continues to this day. Simon Nicol and Dave Mattacks both quit Fairport to join the Albion Band, though Mattacks soon returned. Nicol would not return to Fairport for several years, though, and for a long period in the mid-seventies Fairport Convention had no original members. Unfortunately, while Collins was involved in the Albion Band early on, she and Hutchings ended up divorcing, and the stress from the divorce led to Collins developing spasmodic dysphonia, a stress-related illness which makes it impossible for the sufferer to sing. She did eventually regain her vocal ability, but between 1978 and 2016 she was unable to perform at all, and lost decades of her career. Richard Thompson occasionally performed with the Albion Band early on, but he was getting stretched a little thin with all these sessions. Linda Peters said later of him “When I came back from America, he was working in Sandy’s band, and doing sessions by the score. Always with Pat Donaldson and Dave Mattacks. Richard would turn up with his guitar, one day he went along to do a session with one of those folkie lady singers — and there were Pat and DM. They all cracked. Richard smashed his amp and said “Right! No more sessions!” In 1972 he got round to releasing his first solo album, Henry the Human Fly, which featured guest appearances by Linda Peters and Sandy Denny among others: [Excerpt: Richard Thompson, “The Angels Took My Racehorse Away”] Unfortunately, while that album has later become regarded as one of the classics of its genre, at the time it was absolutely slated by the music press. The review in Melody Maker, for example, read in part “Some of Richard Thompson’s ideas sound great – which is really the saving grace of this album, because most of the music doesn’t. The tragedy is that Thompson’s “British rock music” is such an unconvincing concoction… Even the songs that do integrate rock and traditional styles of electric guitar rhythms and accordion and fiddle decoration – and also include explicit, meaningful lyrics are marred by bottle-up vocals, uninspiring guitar phrases and a general lack of conviction in performance.” Henry the Human Fly was released in the US by Warners, who had a reciprocal licensing deal with Island (and for whom Joe Boyd was working at the time, which may have had something to do with that) but according to Thompson it became the lowest-selling record that Warners ever put out (though I’ve also seen that claim made about Van Dyke Parks’ Song Cycle, another album that has later been rediscovered). Thompson was hugely depressed by this reaction, and blamed his own singing. Happily, though, by this point he and Linda had become a couple — they would marry in 1972 — and they started playing folk clubs as a duo, or sometimes in a trio with Simon Nicol. Thompson was also playing with Sandy Denny’s backing band at this point, and played on every track on her second solo album, Sandy. This album was meant to be her big commercial breakthrough, with a glamorous cover photo by David Bailey, and with a more American sound, including steel guitar by Sneaky Pete Kleinow of the Flying Burrito Brothers (whose overdubs were supervised in LA by Joe Boyd): [Excerpt: Sandy Denny, “Tomorrow is a Long Time”] The album was given a big marketing push by Island, and “Listen, Listen” was made single of the week on the Radio 1 Breakfast show: [Excerpt: Sandy Denny, “Listen, Listen”] But it did even worse than the previous album, sending her into something of a depression. Linda Thompson (as the former Linda Peters now was) said of this period “After the Sandy album, it got her down that her popularity didn't suddenly increase in leaps and bounds, and that was the start of her really fretting about the way her career was going. Things only escalated after that. People like me or Martin Carthy or Norma Waterson would think, ‘What are you on about? This is folk music.'” After Sandy’s release, Denny realised she could no longer afford to tour with a band, and so went back to performing just acoustically or on piano. The only new music to be released by either of these ex-members of Fairport Convention in 1973 was, oddly, on an album by the band they were no longer members of. After Thompson had left Fairport, the group had managed to release two whole albums with the same lineup — Swarbrick, Nicol, Pegg, and Mattacks. But then Nicol and Mattacks had both quit the band to join the Albion Band with their former bandmate Ashley Hutchings, leading to a situation where the Albion Band had two original members of Fairport plus their longtime drummer while Fairport Convention itself had no original members and was down to just Swarbrick and Pegg. Needing to fulfil their contracts, they then recruited three former members of Fotheringay — Lucas on vocals and rhythm guitar, Donahue on lead guitar, and Conway on drums. Conway was only a session player at the time, and Mattacks soon returned to the band, but Lucas and Donahue became full-time members. This new lineup of Fairport Convention released two albums in 1973, widely regarded as the group’s most inconsistent records, and on the title track of the first, “Rosie”, Richard Thompson guested on guitar, with Sandy Denny and Linda Thompson on backing vocals: [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Rosie”] Neither Sandy Denny nor Richard Thompson released a record themselves in 1973, but in neither case was this through the artists’ choice. The record industry was changing in the early 1970s, as we’ll see in later episodes, and was less inclined to throw good money after bad in the pursuit of art. Island Records prided itself on being a home for great artists, but it was still a business, and needed to make money. We’ll talk about the OPEC oil crisis and its effect on the music industry much more when the podcast gets to 1973, but in brief, the production of oil by the US peaked in 1970 and started to decrease, leading to them importing more and more oil from the Middle East. As a result of this, oil prices rose slowly between 1971 and 1973, then very quickly towards the end of 1973 as a result of the Arab-Israeli conflict that year. As vinyl is made of oil, suddenly producing records became much more expensive, and in this period a lot of labels decided not to release already-completed albums, until what they hoped would be a brief period of shortages passed. Both Denny and Thompson recorded albums at this point that got put to one side by Island. In the case of Thompson, it was the first album by Richard and Linda as a duo, I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight: [Excerpt: Richard and Linda Thompson, “I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight”] Today, I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight is widely regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time, and as one of the two masterpieces that bookended Richard and Linda’s career as a duo and their marriage. But when they recorded the album, full of Richard’s dark songs, it was the opposite of commercial. Even a song that’s more or less a boy-girl song, like “Has He Got a Friend for Me?” has lyrics like “He wouldn’t notice me passing by/I could be in the gutter, or dangling down from a tree” [Excerpt: Richard and Linda Thompson, “Has He got a Friend For Me?”] While something like “The Calvary Cross” is oblique and haunted, and seems to cast a pall over the entire album: [Excerpt: Richard and Linda Thompson, “The Calvary Cross”] The album itself had been cheap to make — it had been recorded in only a week, with Thompson bringing in musicians he knew well and had worked with a lot previously to cut the tracks as-live in only a handful of takes — but Island didn’t think it was worth releasing. The record stayed on the shelf for nearly a year after recording, until Island got a new head of A&R, Richard Williams. Williams said of the album’s release “Muff Winwood had been doing A&R, but he was more interested in production… I had a conversation with Muff as soon as I got there, and he said there are a few hangovers, some outstanding problems. And one of them was Richard Thompson. He said there’s this album we gave him the money to make — which was I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight — and nobody’s very interested in it. Henry the Human Fly had been a bit of a commercial disappointment, and although Island was altruistic and independent and known for only recording good stuff, success was important… Either a record had to do well or somebody had to believe in it a lot. And it seemed as if neither of those things were true at that point of Richard.” Williams, though, was hugely impressed when he listened to the album. He compared Richard Thompson’s guitar playing to John Coltrane’s sax, and called Thompson “the folk poet of the rainy streets”, but also said “Linda brightened it, made it more commercial. and I thought that “Bright Lights” itself seemed a really commercial song.” The rest of the management at Island got caught up in Williams’ enthusiasm, and even decided to release the title track as a single: [Excerpt: Richard and Linda Thompson, “I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight”] Neither single nor album charted — indeed it would not be until 1991 that Richard Thompson would make a record that made the top forty in the UK — but the album got enough critical respect that Richard and Linda released two albums the year after. The first of these, Hokey Pokey, is a much more upbeat record than their previous one — Richard Thompson has called it “quite a music-hall influenced record” and cited the influence of George Formby and Harry Lauder. For once, the claim of music hall influence is audible in the music. Usually when a British musician is claimed to have a music ha

JB goes nautical with music from the Unthanks, Jackie Oates and Mec Lir among others . .

As this is the season of Comfort & Joy, today's programme is devoted to the theme of ‘Comfort'. At this time of year when many women are frazzled and craving a bit of comfort, Nuala McGovern and Anita Rani explore why it so important with their guests. Fiona Murden is an organisational psychologist, award winning author of the books Defining You and Mirror Thinking and host of the podcast Dot to Dot – Life Connected. She explains what comfort is, why we crave it and why it's necessary, but she also discusses the importance of sometimes pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone. Molly Case is a former cardiac care nurse and now works in palliative and end of life care. She works out what matters most to the people she cares for and how she can provide a level of comfort for them.The Reverend Bryony Taylor is a priest in the Church of England and works as Rector of Barlborough and Clowne in the Derby Diocese. She is also the author of More TV Vicar? a book about Christians on the television. She describes how faith can be a source of comfort for many people, especially at this time of year.The food writer Grace Dent, and chef and restauranteur Dipna Anand, recall the favourite foods from childhood that bring them emotional comfort and bring back happy and nostalgic memories, as well as what they will be having for Christmas. Hygge took the world by storm when Meik Wiking published The Little Book of Hygge – The Danish Way to Live Well in 2016. Hygge has been described as a quality of cosiness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or wellbeing. Anita and Nuala are joined by Becci Coombes, whose father is Danish. She grew up with a love of all things Hygge and runs an online business - Hygge Style.  The band The Unthanks are known for combining traditional English folk, particularly Northumbrian folk music, with other musical genres. They have just finished a UK tour, and they have a new album out – The Unthanks In Winter. They perform two songs live in the studio: Bleary Winter and The Cherry Tree Carol.Presented by Nuala McGovern and Anita Rani. Producer: Louise Corley

The Unthanks - Thommas Kane Byrne - Killing Time by Alan Bennett

Bodies, brains, friends and lovers. This is a beautiful chat about a beautiful song - What more do you want? We laughed, cried and swayed our way through this one. We hope you do too.Caro is an artist, writer and maker based by the sea, in Bournemouth. She makes paints, inks and pigments from foraged materials and ancient processes and wrote a book about it so you can too: It's called Found and Ground. Caro beams when she talks about writing, which has more recently gained a big readership under the name Uncivil Savant on Substack, and she takes serious joy in teaching courses and hosting workshops all over the UK and Europe. Significant eras include time recording and touring in a band, living on a boat on the Thames and both leaving and returning to art-making on her own terms.Show notes:Website: foundandground.comInstagram: @foundandgroundWelcome to Survival Songs, a podcast where each episode our guest tells us about a songs that gets them through the best and worst of times.https://open.spotify.com/artist/286u8X9g8zCa5OODERzaPX?si=GK6SD3uhQt-2ztJ8ycCOOgHelp us a grow a community of survival song listeners by joining us on over on Substack:https://survivalsongs.substack.com/ ‘Mount the Air' by The Unthanks by can be found on our community playlist on Spotify along with our listener's Survival Songs. Check it out and add your own!https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5JBCcyJgMmYGRivsHcX3Av?si=92be50460fcf4590&pt=498b19d3d56cc7682fb37286285c9e48This episode contains small portions of ' ‘Mount the Air' by The Unthanks . Survival Songs claims no copyright of this work. This is included as a form of music review and criticism and as a way to celebrate, promote and encourage the listener to seek out the artists work.Find out more about ARTIST here:https://www.the-unthanks.com/

Acclaimed English folk group The Unthanks are currently touring the UK with what they describe as a winter fantasia - a mix of traditional and newly written songs inspired by winter and Christmas. They join Front Row, as the winter solstice draws near, to discuss and perform some of the songs they've been playing.Screenwriter Lucinda Coxon talks to Nick Ahad about her new film One Life which stars Anthony Hopkins as humanitarian Nicholas Winton, who helped to rescue Jewish children from Czechoslovakia in the months leading up to World War II. How successful has the North East Culture Partnership been so far? 10 years on from its launch and halfway through the 15 year timeline for the partnership's cultural strategy, Front Row hears from former Culture Minister Lord Ed Vaizey, Jane Robinson Co-Chair of the North East Cultural Partnership board, and Keith Merrin, Director of Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums,. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu

A very unhappy Thanksgiving week of football for most of the podcast crew but the show must go on.

For episode 60 it's a special episode on the actual greatest band in the universe (The Cure, obviously), to celebrate our guest's new book, Curepedia - An A-Z Of The Cure which is out now! This month music journalist, author, DJ, & podcaster Simon Price joins us to talk about Mojo Magazine's Why Can't I Be You, a cd of Cure covers from January 2021. Simon is another of the music journalists who's work Colin grew up reading in Melody Maker, and is now a member of the Chart Music podcast team along with our previous guest Neil Kulkarni.The cd's full tracklisting is -1 - Dinosaur Jr - Just Like Heaven2 - The Wedding Present - High3 - Luna - Fire In Cairo4 - Frankie Rose - Play For Today5 - Phoebe Bridgers - Friday I'm In Love (Recorded At Spotify Studios NYC)6 - A.A. Williams - Lovesong7 - Cowboy Junkies - Seventeen Seconds8 - Tricky - The Love Cats9 - Akala - I Don't Know10 - Strange As Angels - The Walk11 - The Separate Ft Mark Lanegan - Close To Me12 - Liela Moss - Prayers For Rain13 - 8:58 Ft The Unthanks - A Forest14 - Woodpigeon - Lullaby15 - Nadja - FaithSimon's epic new book Curepedia - an A-Z of The Cure is out now and can be bought in all good bookshops and online here - https://geni.us/CurepediaYou can find links to all of Simon's writing and other work here - https://linktr.ee/simonpriceFind the utterly amazing Chart Music podcast (also known as Colin's favourite ever podcast) at https://chartmusiccouk.wordpress.com/ or at pod.link/1225229780If you're anywhere near Brighton and dig music of an alternative 80s persuasion then Simon's club night Spellbound takes place on the third saturday of every month at Komedia. Plus if you want EVEN MORE Cure & Cure related music (and why would you not?) then Simon's made a spotify playlist of his DJ set from the book launch for Curepedia which can be found here - https://open.spotify.com/playlist/250akLsTIYBLEdiBX921Cd?si=7c651defc7bb40ebListen to all available songs on our ongoing Spotify playlist - https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1mzWOWEfQ5LklJyUZkpfs2?si=LbWBi9-oTl-eXjkUJbpx2Q You can buy a copy of the cd from Discogs here - https://www.discogs.com/release/17142433-Various-Why-Cant-I-Be-You-Mojo-Presents-A-Tribute-To-The-CureHosts - Ian Clarke & Colin Jackson-BrownRecorded/Edited/Mixed/Original music by Colin Jackson-Brown for We Dig PodcastsPart of the We Made This podcast network. https://twitter.com/wmt_network Twitter – https://twitter.com/thismonthsissue Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/freewiththismonthsissue/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/freewiththismonthsissue/ Find our other episodes at www.wedigpodcasts.com Find other We Made This shows & writing at www.wemadethisnetwork.com

As part of our European tour, we stopped in at Whitby Folk Week to do a few concerts and sit down with our favourite shanty singer, Jim Mageean, or “Shanty Jim”. In a wide-ranging chat with plenty of singing and a wonderful live audience, we discuss the burgeoning shanty scene in Poland, Jim's 1983 victory with Johnny Collins at the Eastern Bloc's answer to Eurovision, the growing consensus around the true origins of shanties, and much more! It's a conversation we won't soon forget.⚓︎ Shanties featured:- Live song: (No) You Won't Get Me Down in Your Mine, by Colin Wilke, arranged by Jim Mageean- Live song: Jim and Johnny's 1983 winning medley (Poor Old Man, Ranzo-Ray, Rosabella), arranged by Jim Mageean- Live song: John Dead, trad., arranged by The Unthanks (clip)- Live song: John Dead, trad., arranged by Pressgang Mutiny- Live song: Seven Long Years, trad., arranged by Pressgang Mutiny⚓︎ Contact Jim at shanty_jim@hotmail.com⚓︎ Find out more about Pressgang Mutiny here:- pressgangmutiny.com - facebook.com/pressgangmutiny - TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram: @pressgangmutiny

 Faye MacCalman is a performer, composer-songwriter and improviser on saxophone, clarinet and voice. Freewheeling through genre boundaries inspired by jazz, blues-folk, minimalism and rock to name a few, Faye fuses experimental songwriting with off kilter patterns, heartfelt melodies and surreal atmospheres. Faye is bandleader of critically acclaimed jazz-art-rock trio Archipelago, nominated for UK Jazz Act of the Year in the 2021 Jazz FM Awards after releasing their 2021 album ‘Echoes To The Sky'. Faye is also a current Jerwood Arts / Cheltenham Jazz Festival fellow, and her collaborations include Arun Ghosh, Anna Meredith, Zoe Rahman, Maximo Park and The Unthanks.  Support the show

We're pleased to bring you more of the latest new releases on Episode 652 of Folk Roots Radio. It always astounds us how much fabulous new music is out there, and how much of it is coming from independent artists. It really is a pleasure to be able to share more of it with you. Join us on this episode as we check out recently received releases from The Unthanks, Esbe, Lady Maisery, James Yorkston with Nina Persson & The Second Hand Orchestra, Mark Sullivan, Trevor Owen, Chris Coole, Hannah Shira Naiman, Windborne, Alex Krawczyk, Alex Krawczyk, Adeem the Artist, Sofia Talvik, Mavis Staples with Levon Helm, Dave Gunning, Kelly's Lot and Dom Flemons. We're biased but we think it's a great episode. We're confident you'll enjoy it. If you like the artists you hear on this show and want to support them, don't just stream their music – BUY their music, and then you'll really make a difference to their income at a time when it is becoming much more difficult to make a living as a musician. Folk Roots Radio is a labour of love - a full time hobby. If you enjoy this episode, please consider giving us a 'LIKE' and leaving a review/comment on your podcast provider and sharing the episode on social media. We'll love you for it! Check out the full playlist on the website: https://folkrootsradio.com/folk-roots-radio-episode-652-were-all-about-the-music-hold-fast-edition/

Episode 8 of the second series of The Old Songs Podcast, supported, so very kindly, by the English Folk Dance and Song Society, is an unusual one as it focuses on an old tune rather than an old song. Prepare yourself to delve into the background of one of the most well-known Morris dancing tunes, 'Princess Royal'. Joining Jon Wilks to discuss the tune is one of the country's finest melodeon players, John Spiers, or "Squeezy" as he's fondly known as on the English folk scene. Many of you will know Squeezy as a founding member of Bellowhead, not to mention a myriad of other bands he steps in and out of when the road calls. Over the course of an hour or so, the pair look at the history of 'Princess Royal' tune. Did it start life as an accompaniment to English Morris dancing, or does it stretch further back and over greater distances than that? Squeezy tells us a bit about growing up, somewhat hesitantly, in the Morris tradition, and talks about the difference between being a musician performing this tune on stage and a musician playing for a Morris side. He explains what a jig is, what a reel might be, how to recognise a slow, and who's wearing the trunkles in this relationship? Squeezy mentions video clips and different versions throughout, which we have listed and embedded below. LinksOver the course of the episode, John Spiers and Jon Wilks mention the following things:The English Folk Dance and Song SocietyThe story of Cecil Sharp and Headington Quarry MorrisMat Green (Magpie Lane) playing and dancing 'Princess Royal' on YoutubeTrack listingJohn Spiers playing the Abingdon version on the Spiers and Boden album, Bellow, 2003Spiers & Boden playing the Bampton version on their album, Vagabond, 2008Magpie Lane playing 'Princess Royal' on their 2006 album, The Oxford RambleClannad playing 'Mrs McDermott' on their 1973 album, ClannadMat Green of Bampton Lane, performing the tune while dancing a jig (see above)The Unthanks singing 'The Scarecrow Knows' from the soundtrack to the TV series, Worzel Gummidge, released in December 2022Jim Moray singing ‘Gypsies' from his 2003 album, Sweet England'Princess Royal' from Morris On, released in 1972A snippet of Eliza Carthy and Nancy Kerr performing the B part on their 1995 album, The Shape of ScrapeJohn Spiers performing an exclusive version of the North Leigh version, spoken about in an earlier part of the conversationFor more info on John Spiers, head to johnspiers.co.uk.

Jason & Chris present this month's Deepdale Podcast, our annual selection of Chris' favourite albums of the year, plus various bits of Deepdale news. Which albums has Chris selected? Enjoy the listen!00:00 - Deepdale Podcast theme by Jess Morgan01:03 - Welcome & Deepdale Hygge07:04 - Deepdale Music Gigs - Christina Alden & Alex Patterson and The Shackleton Trio on Friday 17th February 2023, and Iona Lane on Saturday 27th May.09:19 - Appeal for St Martins helping the homeless in Norfolk12:08 - The new electric hookup setup at Deepdale Camping14:06 - Appeal to support artists by buying their music not streaming16:49 - Kathryn Williams album Night Drives (Review)21:54 - Sample of Moon Karaoke by Kathryn Williams (Sample)23:30 - The Shackleton Trio album Mousehold (Review)25:33 - Hold the Line by The Shackleton Trio (Sample)27:16 - Courtney Marie Andrews album Loose Future (Review)29:46 - Ellie Gowers album Dwelling By The Weir (Review)32:03 - Brightest Moon by Ellie Gowers (Sample)33:43 - The Unthanks album Sorrows Away (Review)34:59 - The Month of January by The Unthanks (Sample)36:35 - Sunday Driver album Sun God (Review)39:19 - Time Machine by Sunday Driver (Sample)40:55 - Man The Lifeboats album Soul of Albion (Review)44:17 - Soul of Albion by Man The Lifeboats (Sample)45:55 - The Last Inklings album The Impossible Wild (Review)48:59 - White Rabbits by The Last Inklings (Sample)51:07 - Christmas songs & albums (Review)58:11 - I'll Be Home For Christmas by Tilly Moses (Sample)www.deepdalebackpackers.co.uk/blog/deepdale-podcast-top-albums-of-the-year-december-2022/

This month's Official Folk Albums Chart Show features an interview with Becky Unthank about the Unthanks' new album Sorrows Away; an interview with Angeline Morrison about her album telling stories of the Black British experience; an exclusive film of the Sea Song Sessions - Jon Boden, Seth Lakeman, Ben Nicholls, Emily Portman and Jack Rutter performing on a tall ship in Fowey Harbour; plus music from Magpies, Blackbeard's Tea Party, Man The Lifeboats, Dan Whitehouse and Sam Sweeney. There's also news of how to be in an audience of only ten people for an exclusive Front Room Gig from Martin Simpson. --- Delve deeper into the Folk on Foot world and keep us on the road by becoming a Patron—sign up at patreon.com/folkonfoot. You can choose your level and get great rewards, ranging from a stylish Folk on Foot badge to access to our amazing and ever expanding Folk on Foot on Film video archive of more than 150 unique performances filmed on our travels. Sign up for our newsletter at www.folkonfoot.com Follow us on Twitter/Facebook/Instagram: @folkonfoot

New releases from some of my favourites, including Gambia's Sona Jobarteh, Algeria's Souad Massi, England's Eliza Carthy, and The Unthanks. Features on upcoming "Rogues" Talisk, Rocket Revellers, Bill & The Belles, and Eilen Jewell, and some exhilarating Celtic and African music bookending the show.

In our first episode for series 2, Lucy and Pinky talk to Rachel and Becky Unthank, of (you guessed it!) The Unthanks! They share with us the inspiration behind their long awaited new album Sorrows Away; their experiences of working with family; and we laugh together as they regale us with stories and celebrate the songs that feel like warm hugs! Recorded live at Shrewsbury Folk Festival www.the-unthanks.com www.shrewsburyfolkfestival.co.uk    

Enjoy the delights of the Folk by Our festival In part one of two brilliant episodes, Annabel Ross visits the Folk by the Oak festival in Hertfordshire to meet musicians and hear music steeping in landscape, wildlife and countryside lore. In this podcast, you'll hear Magpie by The Unthanks, Trouser Worrier by We are the monsters and The Same Land by Salthouse. But first Annabel talks to Caroline and Adam Slough who founded Folk by the Oak…We'd like to say a huge thank you to the organisers and the musicians for their time and beautiful music. Photo by Tammy MarlarContact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: editor@countryfile.com. If read out on the show, you could win a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team.Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.comPPA Podcast of the Year! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Clive Anderson and Andrew O' Neill are joined by Craig Cash, Alex Kapranos, Miquita Oliver, Raymond Antrobus and Dan Schreiber for an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy. With music from The Unthanks.

Five writers and artists not normally associated with classical music, discuss a specific example of Vaughan Williams's work to which they have a personal connection, and why it speaks to them. Following on from the successful Five Kinds of Beethoven Radio 3 essay series in 2020, where a wide range of Beethoven fans shared their personal relationship to the composer and his work, this new series gives similar treatment to Vaughan Williams. Our essayists share their unexpected perspective on Vaughan Williams's work, taking it outside the standard ‘English pastoral' box, in a series of accessible essays, part of the Vaughan Williams season on Radio 3. Essay 3: Adrian McNally - producer/arranger/pianist for The Unthanks Self-taught and raised in a South Yorkshire pit village, Adrian McNally is pianist, composer and band leader for The Unthanks. From humble beginnings to scoring for his band to perform with Charles Hazelwood's Army of Generals, Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band and the BBC Concert Orchestra for The Proms, McNally has sought confidence and inspiration along the way from Ralph Vaughan Williams. He finds kinship in a quest to prove that the people's music is anything but common, to draw out and elevate the beauty and truth present in those folk songs fondly but unfairly known as low culture. In his essay, McNally looks at VW's thoughts on National Music and the inescapable relationship between place, community and creativity. At the centre of his essay will be Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis. It was born out of a tune Vaughan Williams was preoccupied with - a love letter to something that already existed, that inspired him to make something more. Self-taught and raised in a South Yorkshire pit village, Adrian McNally is pianist, composer, record producer and band leader for The Unthanks. From humble beginnings to scoring for performances with Charles Hazelwood's Army Of Generals, the Royal Liverpool Phil, Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band and the BBC Concert Orchestra for The Proms. Writer and reader Adrian McNally Sound designer Paul Cargill Producers Polly Thomas and Yusra Warsama Exec producer Eloise Whitmore Photographic Image by Sarah Mason A Naked Production for BBC Radio 3

The Crossing No.44 from RaidersBroadcast.com as aired in Oct 2022, featuring The Unthanks album Diversions Vol.3, Songs from the Shipyards. TRACK LISTING:; Down There by the Train - Johnny Cash; Fat Man in the Bathtub - Little Feat; Crazy Love, Vol. II - Paul Simon; Tsiketa Kuni Barassara - Dulce & Orchestra Marrabenta Star de Mozambique; Chango Ta'Veni - Sierra Maestra; Dile e Catalina - Chucho Valdes & Irakere; A Great Northern River - The Unthanks; Big Steamers - The Unthanks; White Blank Page - Mumford & Sons; The Wanderer - Kate Rusby; Town to Town - John Smith; One World - John Martyn; Sheep Crook and Black Dog - Norma Waterson.

Season 14 of the Plodcast is all about mindful explorations of wild places – so you can get close to nature and feel like you're walking in wild places, even if you're stuck at work or on the commute. Come with us to the wild islands of Seil, Tiree and Anglesey as well as the New Forest and the Welsh Borders. Plus we have special guests including Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall and Leif Bersweden as well as music from The Unthanks and the Proclaimers. So join the Plodcast team of Fergus, Jack and Hannah for a brief preview of the wonders to come. Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: editor@countryfile.comThe Plodcast is the nature and countryside podcast from BBC Countryfile MagazineVisit the BBC Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.comPPA Podcast of the Year! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Le podcast conversationnel sur les animaux dans lequel Lucile et Cécile se retrouvent pour parler d'animaux… entre autres. Un épisode de rentrée particulièrement chaotique avec BEAUCOUP d'invité.es mais surtout sans Lucile ! (mais avec sa bénédiction) Vous allez écouter BatVador (@VadorBat sur Twitter) nous parler du Requin du Groenland, Ttol (@Vp2Podcast sur Twitter) de la tégénaire, Kalkul (@Kalkulmatriciel) de la pie bavarde, Shift (@Shifteuh) de l'huitre et Louison (@LouisonMignon) de l'ourebia ! Pour celleux qui s'interrogent : Pause musicale de BatVador : Sharks de Imagine Dragons https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te3_VlimRw0 Pause musicale de Ttol : le theme chanté de Spiderman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsx3JCw62WQ Pause musicale de Kalkul : Magpie de The Unthanks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fPbWEa1cyg Pause musicale de Shift : (Don't Fear) The Reaper de Blue Oyster Cult https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dy4HA3vUv2c Pause musicale de Louison : Elephant de Tame Impala https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnKUD_OztRE Jingle et image d'illustration des premiers épisodes par le fabuleux Louis Vairel ! Pour son instagram c'est par ici : https://www.instagram.com/louisvaireldesign/ Pour voir son shop c'est par là : https://society6.com/louisvairel Logo du podcast par l'incroyable Mathieu Crémazy : https://instagram.com/chapi_draw?igshid=utwk9rt6cwq5 On est sur Twitter : twitter.com/LeBestiaireCast Sans oublier Instagram: www.instagram.com/le.bestiaire.des.besties Et Facebook parce qu'il le faut bien : https://www.facebook.com/bestiairedesbesties Pour le CalvinBall Consortium Rejoignez nous sur Discord : discord.gg/4RnA9v7 Aussi sur Twitter : twitter.com/Calvinball_FM Donnez nous un pourboire ! : https://www.patreon.com/calvinball/posts Le site du Pixel Post, le cousin écrit du CalvinBall Consortium : https://thepixelpost.com/

What is the multi-award-winning Folk on Foot all about? The Telegraph calls it “a restorative breathing space in sound”.  In this sampler, host Matthew Bannister shares beautiful extracts from episodes featuring Karine Polwart on Fala Moor, Eliza Carthy and family at Robin Hood's Bay, Jenny Sturgeon in Shetland, Richard Thompson in Muswell Hill, Duncan Chisholm at Sandwood Bay, The Unthanks on the Northumberland Coast, Robert Macfarlane and Johnny Flynn at Wandlebury, Peggy Seeger in Iffley and The Young'uns in Hartlepool. Dip your toe in the water here before diving into all our glorious episodes.  --- Delve deeper into the Folk on Foot world and keep us on the road by becoming a Patron—sign up at patreon.com/folkonfoot. You can choose your level and get great rewards, ranging from a stylish Folk on Foot badge to access to our amazing and ever expanding Folk on Foot on Film video archive of more than 150 unique performances filmed on our travels. Sign up for our newsletter at www.folkonfoot.com Follow us on Twitter/Facebook/Instagram: @folkonfoot  

As you may already know, I have a fondness for folk music from the United Kingdom. This week we sample some new and some classic U.K. folk. We'll hear new music from Fay Hield, Martin Simpson, Ye Vagabonds, John Smith and Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas. Also included are selections from John Renbourn & Wizz Jones, Dave Swarbrick, Nic Jones, The Unthanks and more. Take a trip across the big pond from the comfort of your living room … this week on the Sing Out! Radio Magazine. Pete Seeger / “If I Had A Hammer”(excerpt) / Songs of Hope and Struggle / SmithsonianFolkwaysAlasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas / “Caledonian Carolina” / Syzygy / CulburnieFay Hield / “Cruel Mother” / Wrackline / TopicJohn Renbourn & Wizz Jones / “Hey Hey” / Joint Control / RiverboatRichard Thompson / “The Light Bob's Lassie” / Vision & Revision / TopicDave Swarbrick / “The Teetotalers Medley” / Rags, Reels & Airs / TopicMartin Simpson / “3 Day Millionaire-Don't Put Your Banjo in the Shed Mr. Waterson” / Home Recordings / TopicThe Unthanks / “What Can a Song do to You?” / The Songs and Poems of Molly Drake / RabbleRouserNic Jones / “The Little Pot Stove” / Penguin Eggs / TopicAlasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas / “Moccasin Walk-Ackley Lake” / Syzygy / CulburnieJohn Smith / “Star-Crossed Lovers” / The Fray / CommonerThe Furrow Collective / “Hind Horn” / At Our Last Meeting / FurrowYe Vagabonds / “The Foggy Dew” / The Hare's Lament / River LeaJohn Doyle / “The Rambler from Clare” / The Path of Stones / CompassPete Seeger / “If I Had A Hammer”(excerpt) / Songs of Hope and Struggle / SmithsonianFolkways

Rachel UnthankRachel is the founding member of folk group The Unthanks with her sister Becky, they have made over 10 albums all to critical acclaim, lauded as the queens of British folk for their harmonies and acapella performances. In this episode Rachel talks about sharing the vocal booth with various appliances and shoes, how tractors can mess up a take and the traditions of singing at bedtime. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Musician and producer, Merlyn Driver gathered musicians including The Unthanks and Talvin Sigh to do a little sonic PR for the endangered Eurasian Curlew.

Ventured out to UBC to present the show LIVE for the first time in a few weeks. Massive amounts of construction and road works, and a whole mess of technical difficulties greeted me! Somehow managed to get it all in, though! New music from Oumou Sangare, Taj Mahal & Ry Cooder, The Unthanks, etc. Previews of Pharis and Jason Romero, Early Spirit, Okan, and Diyet & The Love Soldiers. More little tributes to Bill Bourne and Pastelle LeBlanc. Plus a little May Day blast at the end

Becky Unthank is a folk musician best known for performing with her elder sister Rachel in The Unthanks. As well as singing and touring, she is also mum to 3 year old Wren who she says she loves hanging out with, like a little buddy. We talked about her childhood which was steeped in folk music from her musical parents to summers spent at folk festivals. She described the frankly sublime-sounding experience of harmonising, especially with her sister. We also talked about the joy of her recent move to the country, as well as her excitement about getting back on the road with her band. I spoke to Becky a couple of months ago when she was just about to run an online version of one of her Northumberland singing weekends. But now, at time of podcast, she is just about to go back on tour (and I'm on the road at the moment, too!) x https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2018/05/stems-stop-motion-ainslie-henderson/kumon.co.uk/trial kumon.ie/trial See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On the 30th anniversary of the release of Nirvana's album Nevermind, leading figures from music, literature, fashion, and activism reflect on the impact it had on their lives. Presenter Douglas Coupland, author of Generation X, explores how his own work is entwined with the album's history. In the early 90s, Douglas Coupland, like Nirvana, was at the vanguard of a new movement that valued individualism and freedom. In 1991, the music industry had modest ambitions for a second album from Seattle three-piece rock group Nirvana. Little did they know. Opening with hit single Smells Like Teen Spirit, Nevermind was a politically radical, powerful package of pop and punk music that made the grunge genre world-famous. The album knocked Michael Jackson off the top of the US charts, eventually selling 30 million copies. It made Kurt Cobain an icon. Though released on a major label, the record redefined the notion of independent spirit for a generation. Musician Bat For Lashes talks about processing troubling teenage experiences through her Nirvana fandom. Actor Zawe Ashton reveals that grunge directly inspired her character of Vod in sitcom Fresh Meat. Transgender activist Daniella Carter reflects on the ways the band defined her politics. Novelist Aaron Hamburger remembers how Kurt Cobain helped him come out as gay. Nevermind producer Butch Vig recalls the release changing his life overnight. Other contributors include poet Hanif Abdurraqib, author Deborah Levy, and musician and fashion expert Brix Smith. Meanwhile, a rare archive interview between Kurt Cobain and Jon Savage transports us back to the spirit of the time. Finally, folk band The Unthanks perform an exclusive cover of Nevermind closer "Something In The Way". Producer: Jack Howson Additional Production: Tess Davidson and Silvia Malnati Sound Mix: Mike Woolley A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 4

The Official Folk Albums Chart Show from Folk on Foot (out on Tuesday June 8th at 1900) will feature an interview with the Irish singer, songwriter and guitarist Declan O'Rourke who tells Matthew Bannister he could have been a painter like his grandfather if things had turned out differently. He also talks about working with Paul Weller who produced his new album “Arrivals” and explains how the birth of his first child inspired one of the songs on it. Plus there'll be a special performance by Bobby Lee and music from Johnny Flynn and Robert Macfarlane, Jim Ghedi, The Unthanks, Bwncath, Lauren Housley and Laura Marling. Watch on the Folk on Foot YouTube channel or listen to the podcast. --- Access over 100 performances from dozens of artists, by signing up to Folk On Foot On Film: https://www.folkonfoot.com/watch We rely entirely on support from our listeners to make Folk on Foot. So please consider becoming a patron. You'll make a small monthly contribution and get great rewards. Find out more at www.patreon.com/folkonfoot. Sign up for our newsletter at www.folkonfoot.com Follow us on Twitter/Facebook/Instagram: @folkonfoot

As you may already know I have a fondness for folk music from the UK. This week we sample some new and classic UK Folk on the show. We'll hear new music from Fay Hield, Martin Simpson, Ye Vagabonds, John Smith and Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas. Also included will be selections from John Renbourn & Wizz Jones, Dave Swarbrick, Nic Jones, The Unthanks and more. Take a trip across the big pond from your living room … this week on The Sing Out! Radio Magazine. Episode #21-19: New & Classic UK Folk Host: Tom Druckenmiller The Sing Out! Radio Magazine is broadcast weekly on the finest public radio stations nationwide and syndicated on iTunes, Stitcher, Podomatic, Bluegrass Planet, The Folk Music Notebook and on the Sing Out! website www.singout.org Artist/”Song”/CD/Label Pete Seeger / “If I Had A Hammer”(excerpt) / Songs of Hope and Struggle / SmithsonianFolkways Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas / “Caledonian Carolina” / Syzygy / Culburnie Fay Hield / “Cruel Mother” / Wrackline / Topic John Renbourn & Wizz Jones / “Hey Hey” / Joint Control / Riverboat Richard Thompson / “The Light Bob's Lassie” / Vision & Revision / Topic Dave Swarbrick / “The Teetotalers Medley” / Rags, Reels & Airs / Topic Martin Simpson / “3 Day Millionaire-Don't Put Your Banjo in the Shed Mr Waterson” / Home Recordings / Topic The Unthanks / “What Can a Song do to You?” / The Songs and Poems of Molly Drake / RabbleRouser Nic Jones / “The Little Pot Stove” / Penguin Eggs / Topic Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas / “Moccasin Walk-Ackley Lake” / Syzygy / Culburnie John Smith / “Star-Crossed Lovers” / The Fray / Commoner The Furrow Collective / “Hind Horn” / At Our Last Meeting / Furrow Ye Vagabonds / “The Foggy Dew” / The Hare's Lament / River Lea John Doyle / “The Rambler from Clare” / The Path of Stones / Compass Pete Seeger / “If I Had A Hammer”(excerpt) / Songs of Hope and Struggle / SmithsonianFolkways

DINNG DONG! BONUS CHAT WITH THE UNTHANKS!Here are a load of extra offcuts from our chat with Adrian McNally & Rachel Unthank. It was all cracking stuff, and we wanted everyone to hear it.FOR MORE EPISODES LIKE THIS, AND TO SUPPORT THE SHOW, HEAD OVER TO OUR PATREON!Join our Members' Club for a bonus podcast feed plus many more rewards.Click right here: https://www.patreon.com/threeinabarYou can find out more about The Unthanks, including tour dates, album releases and videos at their website http://www.the-unthanks.com/Follow The Unthanks on Twitter https://www.twitter.com/TheUnthanks/ and Facebook https://m.facebook.com/TheUnthanks/Listen to The Unthanks on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/artist/1luY92PbdGWRyBRY1ZR7o1?si=-V4ArnaORLWUEGsl9ktHpAThe Unthanks performing with the BBC Concert Orchestra at the Folk Proms https://youtu.be/_FHF11A6E44A direct link to the singing weekends the band run http://www.the-unthanks.com/singing-weekends/THREE IN A BAR ON THE SOCIALSYou can follow Three In a Bar on Instagram @threeinabarpodhttps://www.instagram.com/threeinabarpod/We are on Twitter @threeinabarpod https://www.twitter.com/threeinabarpodEMAIL US!Anything you'd like to share with us? Any guests you'd love to hear or anything you'd like us to do better? Drop us a line at hello@threeinabar.com Click here to join the Members' Club on Patreon! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week's guests are true folk royalty....It's Rachel Unthank and Adrian McNally from The Unthanks.In their first attempt at a four way zoom conversation, Seb and Verity chat to Adrian and Rachel as - along with their band mates - they embark on writing and recording a new album and Adrian is starting to compose the score for the new series of Worzel Gummidge.They discuss working with BBC Concert Orchestra for the 2018 Folk Prom and The Brighouse and Rastrick band - Rachel was back on stage 4 weeks after giving birth......hardcore!Adrian talks about his palm-sweatingly stressful debut as the band's pianist at a day's notice supporting Ben Folds on his US tour. He also explains about the difficulties of juggling roles as performer, manager, composer and producer......a task that is made greater as the band are entirely self managed and keep everything in-house.Rachel and Adrian reminisce about learning their first album had been named Folk Album of the Year by Mojo in a car outside Co-op in Corbidge! They also cover clog dancing, deadlines, inspirations and their brilliant singing weekends - We totally want to go.....even just to sample Adrian's acclaimed sprout pasta dish.You can find out more about The Unthanks, including tour dates, album releases and videos at their website http://www.the-unthanks.com/Follow The Unthanks on Twitter https://www.twitter.com/TheUnthanks/ and Facebook https://m.facebook.com/TheUnthanks/Listen to The Unthanks on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/artist/1luY92PbdGWRyBRY1ZR7o1?si=-V4ArnaORLWUEGsl9ktHpAThe Unthanks performing with the BBC Concert Orchestra at the Folk Proms https://youtu.be/_FHF11A6E44A direct link to the singing weekends the band run http://www.the-unthanks.com/singing-weekends/As mentioned in this week's podcast, here is a link to the crowdfunding page for Ellie Spicer, helping raise funds for her vital treatment https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/elliespicerTHREE IN A BAR ON THE SOCIALSYou can follow Three In a Bar on Instagram @threeinabarpodhttps://www.instagram.com/threeinabarpod/We are on Twitter @threeinabarpod https://www.twitter.com/threeinabarpodEMAIL US!Anything you'd like to share with us? Any guests you'd love to hear or anything you'd like us to do better? Drop us a line at hello@threeinabar.comSUPPORT THREE IN A BAR ON PATREONThis show is purely funded by our patrons. Join our Members' Club for a bonus podcast feed plus many more rewards.Click here: https://www.patreon.com/threeinabarMEZZO PIANO PATRONSLeonie HirstAnita Philpott Click here to join the Members' Club on Patreon! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

PODCAST: 30 Aug 2020   01 Hopping Down In Kent – The Albion Band – The Prospect Before Us 02 Creggan White Hare – Andy Irvine and Dick Gaughan – Parallel Lines 03 Bristol Slaver – Show Of Hands – Longdogs – The Best Of 04 China – Willy Russell – Hoovering The Moon 05 Bantam Cock – Jake Thackeray – Live At The Lobster Pot 2 06 Potters Hay – Robbie Sherratt – Provenance 07 A Mon Like Thee – The Oldham Tinkers – Deep Lancashire 08 The Ballad Of Billy Lubber – The Dransfields  – Fiddlers Dream 09 Girl From The Hiring Fair – Ralph McTell – Songs For Six Strings 10 Mary Anne – Fisherman’s Friends – Single 11 Gypsy Davey – Happy Traum – Buckets Of Song 12 The Hanged Man – Mr Fox – The Gypsy 13 I Will Give You My Voice – Changing Room – Behind The Lace 14 Tar Barrel In Dale – The Unthanks – Lucky Gilchrist /Tar Barrel In Dale (Ep) 15 The Bellringing – Tony Rose – Young Hunting 16 Home Lads Home – Cockersdale – Doin’ The Manch  17 Bombers Moon – Mike Harding  – Bombers Moon 18 Geordie Black – The Wayfarers – The Wayfarers 19 Leave A Light On For You – Edwina Hayes – Pour Me A Drink 20 The Ghost Of Who We Were – Smith And Nutbeem –  Chasing The Sun  21 Tom Paine’s Bones – The Trials Of Cato – Hide And Hair 22 When An Old Cricketer Leaves The Crease – Roy Harper – Counter Culture 23 Britain Is A Car Park – Eliza Carthy – Wayward Daughter 24 Our Bill – Bernard Wrigley – Deep Lancashire 25 Mingulay Boat Song – The McCalmans – Scottish Songs 26 Peg And Awl – Kevin Dempsey & Rosie Carson – The Distance Between 27 Big River – Billy Mitchell & Bob Fox – B & B 28 Lean On Me – Merry Hell – Blink And You Miss It 29 Bratach Bana –  Five Hand Reel – For A’ That 30 Who Knows Where The Time Goes – Sandy Denny – Gold Dust (The Final Concert)  

In deze aflevering van Ladies Time countrydames als The Chicks, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Margo Price en Krista Shows. Verder oude bekenden als Dusty Springfield en Aretha Franklin.En tot slot folk van o.a. The Unthanks en Kate & Anna McGarrigle.

On Monday 25th May – Spring Bank Holiday in the UK – we staged the Folk on Foot Front Room Festival 2 with an astonishing line up of artists. The show lasted for eight hours – but we have distilled it down to two hours of highlights, featuring: Cara Dillon and Sam Lakeman, Chris Wood, Duncan Chisholm, Eliza Carthy, Frank Turner and Jess Guise, Gwilym Bowen Rhys, John Smith, Johnny Flynn, Kate Rusby and Damien O’Kane, Kathryn Tickell, Kitty Macfarlane, O’Hooley and Tidow, Richard Thompson and Zara Phillips, Rioghnach Connolly and Ellis Davies – all playing from their front rooms (and gardens). Plus the online premiere of a behind the scenes film of the Unthanks on their recent “unaccompanied” tour. It was a remarkable and emotional day which raised loads of money for musicians who can’t work during the lockdown – enjoy!

Award-winning film-maker, artist, and writer Miranda July is known for making art out of the everyday and overlooked aspects of life. It was her 2005 film, You, Me and Everything We Know, that brought her to public attention. As a monograph dedicated to her work is published, she joins Front Row to discuss a protean career which has seen her push at the boundaries of making art. In 1982 post-punk group, The Fall, led by charismatic frontman Mark E. Smith, released their fourth album Hex Enduction Hour. At the time the group were struggling for attention and success outside their small but devoted following that included Radio 1 DJ John Peel who regularly championed their music. Hex Enduction Hour changed all that and five decades on is still regarded as a masterpiece. Former Fall drummer, Paul Hanley has written a new book, Have A Bleedin Guess, about the making of the album and is joined by music critic Kate Mossman to discuss the album's significance. For a new occasional series Front Row is commissioning audio diaries from Britain’s cultural leaders about the work they're doing to continue to connect with their audiences and to ensure their institutions will be able to open again once this crisis ends. First up is Gemma Bodinetz, Artistic Director of the Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse theatres. English folk group, The Unthanks, released a new album, Diversions Vol 5: Live and Unaccompanied, just before the lockdown. The album marked a return to the unaccompanied vocal harmonising that made the group’s name. They were supposed to be on tour, instead they’ve launched a new series of daily performances - At Home With The Unthanks - on their Facebook page. Singer Becky Unthank gives a live performance from her home in Tynedale Valley, Northumberland. Presenter: Katie Popperwell Producer: Ekene Akalawu

Yes, it's a New Year (judging by the smell) and the Slightly Different Radio Show is back to delight, detain and demoralize you with that song from '1917', as well as non-Eurovision entries from The Flamin' Groovies, Andreas Scholl, Procol Harum, Blood Orange, Tim Buckley, Tunng, The Unthanks, Alan Hovanhess, Stray, Walter Page's Blue Devils, The Sons of the Pioneers and many (Okay, several) others. So lean back in your parasol and let the music wash over you, like a nourishing gravity blanket.

Yes, it's a New Year (judging by the smell) and the Slightly Different Radio Show is back to delight, detain and demoralize you with that song from '1917', as well as non-Eurovision entries from The Flamin' Groovies, Andreas Scholl, Procol Harum, Blood Orange, Tim Buckley, Tunng, The Unthanks, Alan Hovanhess, Stray, Walter Page's Blue Devils, The Sons of the Pioneers and many (Okay, several) others. So lean back in your parasol and let the music wash over you, like a nourishing gravity blanket.

............DROWSY.DOWSING.DOLLS...................................... By Anatoly Brooks http://www.filefactory.com/file/6tuum6ff3dmp/End%20Season.mp3 01.Fall Of Efrafa – Intro (0.00:04) 02.Slow Dancing Society – Love is on the way (0.01:00) 03.Hannu Saha – Mahla/sap (0.08:22) 04.Brian Eno – Variation #1 on canon in D major (0.13:33) 05.Alberto Caeiro – Meto-me para dentro … (0.15:59) 06.General Fuzz – Fuzzy prayer (0.23:30) 07.Aaron Martim – First time underwater (0.25:31) 08.The Low Anthem – Drowsy dowsing dolls (0.27:11) 09.Aquilus – Millicent end season (0.30:23) 10.Alessio Premoli – Old Tjikko (0.33:27) 11.Awali – Once when (0.35:19) 12.Tom Verlaine – New (0.37:19) 13.Jóhann Jóhannsson – The doldrums (0.39:16) 14.The Unthanks – All in a day (0.41:16) 15.The Innocence Mission – Stay awake (0.44:33) 16.Bruno Sanfillipo – What i dreamed (0.47:48) 17.Ianbic – Move (0.52:49) 18.Halves – Morning breaks the sleep recorder (0.57:31) 19.Bom Iver – Blindsided (1.02:36) 20.No Clear Mind – A new sun (1.07:55) 21.Barzin – Take this blue (1.13:46) 22.Nathaniel Rateliff – Oil & lavander (1.18:08) Total time – 1.21:22 A photo by Oren Hayman Sultry voice of Radio Etiopia – Ana Ribeiro www.radioetiopia.com  Phase 108.1: http://www.phase108.net/Show.aspx?podcastId=13 https://radiolisboa.pt/

Creature and the Woods are playing from off of the vinyl this week. In fact, it's a Wax Time Special with Mario Monterosso spinning in the studio as well. We've got two tracks from Creature and the Woods, both off different albums. Firstly, we play Holy Hell off of the beautiful cyan and multicolour spatter vinyl copy of Rise, thanks to Blind Owl Records - you can get your copy here. Secondly, we finish off the show with Two Golden Coins from their J-Tree 4 track EP. It's a beautiful presentation with all 4 songs on side A, side B is completely empty and unusual for that fact. Our second wax track this week is from old friends Black & Wyatt Records in Memphis. It's the suitably authentic Mario Monterosso with his cover of Steady Girl by The Heathens. Keen eared listeners will recall that this was possibly the first ever garage track ever recorded. Well, here's Mario's take on it, with more than just a smattering of rockabilly vibes. Of course Jamie provides us with another class track from The Mysterines. We have a belting Listener Recommendation in the form of The Unthanks and their woeful tale of conjugal infidelity. Listener Avenda certainly has excellent taste if this is anything to go by. Tobin has New Music for y'all this week, along with a couple of other tracks from Big Thief and William Tyler. Yeah, it's all good, but it's all about Mario Monterosso and Creature and the Woods spinning on vinyl this week.

Emily Brontë’s portrait, by her brother Patrick Branwell Brontë, hangs in Room 24 at the National Portrait Gallery. For many years the paintings was lost, and only discovered in 1906, folded on top of a cupboard in Ireland. Today, it is one of the most popular works in the collection. Emily is best known as the author of Wuthering Heights, first published in 1847 under the pseudonym Ellis Bell. It is regarded as a pioneering text, drawing on themes of the Gothic genre; a love story that also touches on issues of domestic violence, alcoholism, neglect, and sexual obsession, against a backdrop of a wild Yorkshire landscape. Laura Barton travels to the Brontë Parsonage in Haworth to meet the museum’s learning officer Sue Newby and the New York Times bestselling graphic novelist and illustrator Isabel Greenberg, whose forthcoming book Glass Town explores the childhood imaginary world of the Brontë sisters. Together they discuss the unique, unconventional spirit of Emily. Thank you to The Unthanks who granted us permission to include their beautiful music, which turns Emily's poetry into song. Words by Emily Brontë. Music by Adrian McNally. Performed by The Unthanks. Image: Emily Brontë by Patrick Branwell Brontë. Oil on canvas, circa 1833. © National Portrait Gallery, London.

Filmmuziek èn nieuwe songs naar Wuthering Heights èn gedichten van Emily Brontë (1818-1848). Met muziek van Alfred Newman, Ryuichi Sakamoto, The Unthanks, The Bookshop Band, John Ireland en Ludwig van Beethoven.

First off, thanks to everybody who's nipped over to https://www.patreon.com/blarneypilgrims and subscribed to the podcast. If you've not yet done it, and have been meaning to, there's never been a better time. Your reward will be great in heaven. And thanks. Now, this episode is a slight departure for us in that nobody mentions Planxty. Not once. And there's less of a strictly traditional Irish feel to this one. But basically we had a chance to record Bush Gothic at Portarlington, so we said ‘Yes please.' If you're not yet familiar with them, Bush Gothic reimagine traditional songs - from Australia, Ireland, England, wherever they find them - in the deepest sense of that word ‘reimagine.' What happens when that happens? Songs are suddenly visible in new light, with new contours and meanings evident. It's pretty amazing. You think about words you've heard maybe hundreds of times before in a whole new way. And as I mention in the intro to the episode, they leave space in their arrangements, so you can really hear the songs, the music, unfurl. So listen, with headphones if possible, cos this is seriously beautiful music. And here's some things to get you going after you're done listening: Darren mentions one of the band's films, which you can see here – their version of the (I think) English song, Jim Jones: https://bit.ly/2H3JUBP Then there's the toxic masculinity of Kenneth McKellar. (I know, right?) Here he is singing ‘The Wee Cooper of Fife', the song I referred to…nickety nackety noo… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcH0qtyvbQE …The Ould Triangle, as sung by Brendan Behan… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7red9Rw4450 …and following on from our chat about Burns, some thoughts on the great Scottish poet as a ‘Weinsteinian Sex Pest': https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2018/jan/24/robert-burns-was-the-beloved-poet-a-weinsteinian-sex-pest …and a suggestion that Veronica Forrest-Thomson might be a poet more worthy of your attention: https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2017/jan/25/burns-night-celebrates-the-wrong-scottish-poet-robert-burns So, why were we (me and my pals) celebrating Burns, as discussed in the episode? At the time I took shelter in the notion that what I felt we were celebrating was not Burns the man, with his qualities and his failings, but the idea of Burns. A man, a poet, a romantic and an espouser in verse of liberal ideals of the kind found in ‘A Man's A Man For A' That': Is there for honest Poverty That hings his head, an' a' that; The coward slave – we pass him by, We dare be poor for a' that! For a' that, an' a' that. Our toils obscure and a' that, The rank is but a guinea's stamp, The Man's the gowd for a' that… Then let us pray that come it may, (As come it will for a' that,) That Sense and Worth, o'er a' the earth, Shall bear the gree, an' a' that. For a' that, an' a' that, It's coming yet for a' that, That Man to Man, the world o'er, Shall brothers be for a' that. Sung, in an amazing, emotional moment, by Sheena Wellington at the official opening of the Scottish Parliament: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hudNoXsUj0o But maybe my explanation was a cop out, I'm not sure. Also, I've just realized, I fell in love with Burns's song Now Westlin' Winds, as recorded by Dick Gaughan, at the same time as I fell in love with a girl who didn't fall in love with me. If you're looking for the poem from which the song derives, it's called Song Composed in August, and it's gorgeous: http://www.robertburns.org/works/31.shtml Check out that nature imagery ya bas. Here's Dick Gaughan's version: https://bit.ly/2H5cK4L So I'm sure my unrequited teenage love had something to do with something. And, finally, you can't ignore the fact that if nothing else, Burns Night is a great excuse for a massive, ceremonial piss-up in the middle of winter. So there's that. And then there's the English band The Unthanks: http://www.the-unthanks.com/about/ I first came across their music through their…what…heart-stopping version of the King Of Rome: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fL3E8FRxiw …which sends shivers through me every time I hear it, and puts me in mind of both Elbow, and Kate Rusby's ‘My Young Man,' which is also completely heart-stopping: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AjblYI9KEY And finally, Darren references Turkey In The Straw and the debate that comes and goes in the Old Time world, I suspect, about whether it's possible to unweave a melody from the words it has traditionally been attached to. This is the NPR feature on the song's origins: https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/05/11/310708342/recall-that-ice-cream-truck-song-we-have-unpleasant-news-for-you?t=1565685084013 I wonder too, as Jenny says, if there are some songs, melodies – whatever – that we should just bury once and for all, because they're so damaging. Which, when all's said and done, seems fine to me. Jenny M Thomas, Dan Witton and Chris Lewis, thanks again. Bush Gothic's live filming is happening on Monday September 2nd at the Retreat Hotel in Abbotsford. You can get tickets here: https://www.facebook.com/events/the-retreat-hotel-abbotsford/music-clip-filming-concert-bush-gothic/898136590560546/ And you can get hold of their albums at their bandcamp page: https://bushgothic.bandcamp.com/ ... If you liked this episode and think you got some worth from it, then please pledge $2 over at www.patreon.com/blarneypilgrims. Of course, you don't have to become a patron to listen, but we guarantee you'll enjoy each episode more because you'll be safe in the knowledge that you're a deadset legend. If you can't afford to pledge on Patreon, and we totally understand if you can't, all is not lost. You can still support the show by sharing it on your socials, posting about it in your favourite forums or simply by telling your mates about it down the pub. Till next time. Darren & Dom www.patreon.com/blarneypilgrims www.blarneypilgrims.com facebook.com/BlarneyPilgrimsPodcast @blarneyPilgrimsPodcast

Every winter, Rachael and Becky Unthank and their extended families invite their fans to join them for singing weekends in their native Northumberland. Some fifty people stay together at a bunkhouse where pianist/producer Adrian McNally does the cooking, and Rachel and Becky lead singing workshops. The weekend includes a session in the atmospheric local pub, where Matthew joins the group for a singalong. Then Rachel takes him for a walk on her favourite beach at Low Newton By The Sea, where she sings “The Flower of Northumberland” and “Here’s The Tender Coming”.

A tantalising taste of all six beautiful episodes of Season 3, featuring The Lost Words Spell Songs: Jackie Morris and Beth Porter in Pembrokeshire; Martin Simpson in Scunthorpe; The Unthanks on the Northumberland Coast; John Smith in Brixham; Lisa Knapp in Tooting and Duncan Chisholm at Sandwood Bay.

Welcome to Live From Progzilla Towers Edition 290. In this special edition we spoke to Big Big Train leader Greg Spawton and heard music by ELO, The Unthanks with Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band, Glenn Campbell, Prefab Sprout , Del Amitri , Elbow, Van Der Graaf Generator, Genesis, Mew, ABBA, Big Big Train & Gandalf’s Fist.

Welcome to another Slow Radio podcast. In this episode, there are the mesmerising sounds of storm Erik tearing through the rigging and halyards on the boats in Blyth harbour, Northumberland. We glide to Ouse Washes in the Fenland country where Bewick's swans, coots, lapwings, reed buntings and skylarks fill the air with song. And in the evening heavy seas of Gossabrough on Yell Island, Northern Shetland, there are eiders, Arctic terns, fulmars, skylarks and wrens. The music includes Tom Waits’s No One Knows I’m Gone performed by The Unthanks, Troyte (Elgar’s evocation of a thunderstorm), Hoagy Carmichael’s Skylark, Alan Hovhaness’s Prayer of St. Gregory and Jim Ghedi’s folk masterwork Fortingall Yew.

For Rachel Unthank a lifetime interest in the magpie provides inspiration for this Tweet of the Day. Along with her sister Becky, Rachel is part of the family affair The Unthanks from the North East of England. As one of the leading exponents of traditional music The Unthanks are equally at home playing to Tyneside folk club one night, 2000 Londoners the next before inspiring the next generation of songwriters at a primary school. They see their work as delivering an oral history for the modern audience. Which is perfect for Tweet of the Day, as Rachel recalls how her son drew her a special button to represent a magpie, and why offering an old lady a lift may inspire some deep held beliefs on the role of magpies in bringing bad luck as they cross your path.. You can hear more from Rachel in her Tweet of the Week podcast, downloadable from BBC Sounds Producer Andrew Dawes

Becky Unthank, folk singer with the Unthanks, compiles her edition of Tweet of the Week. Here, she explores how musicians can take their inspiration from birds, and the personal attachments and stories she has to birds. This omnibus edition contains the following repeated episodes; Curlew - presented by Martin Hughes-Games Dipper - presented by Sir David Attenborough Magpie - presented by Eleanor Matthews Peregrine Falcon - presented by Kit Jawitt aka Yolo Birder Woodpigeon - presented by Hugh Thomson

For Becky Unthank her interest in birds goes beyond just watching them while out in the countryside, as she has recently named her son wren to reflect her love of the natural world. Along with her sister Rachel who will present her own Tweet of the Day next week, The Unthanks is a family affair from the North East of England. As one of the leading exponents of traditional music they have been nominated for the Mercury Music Prize and represent the only British folk group in the The Guardian's and Uncut's best albums of last decade. Categorizing their music is difficult, but The Unthanks see their work and songs as less a style of music and more delivering an oral history for the modern audience. Which is perfect for Tweet of the Day, as Becky Unthank recalls how her son was named wren and also how she has been inspired by the story of the King of the Birds. You can hear more from Becky in her Tweet of the Week podcast, downloadable from BBC Sounds Producer Andrew Dawes

Tom delves in to folk music's mysterious history before Prom 27, celebrating folk music across Britain and Ireland with Sam Lee and The Unthanks.

During the last ten years, The Unthanks have redefined what might be expected of English folk music. Their sequence of albums has reimagined traditional material in vivid new arrangements and reached into surprising new sources - for example, the songs of Molly Drake. But at the core of the group are the voices of Rachel and Becky, sisters born seven years apart. Rachel and Becky share their sense of belonging to the landscape of the north-east, their inevitable attraction to melancholy and the qualities that allow each other's voice to blend so effortlessly. And, in their studio in a Northumbrian farm-yard, they sing their signature melodies and a duet that most typically sounds for the two of them. Produced by Alan Hall A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.

The one and only JimBob's Music Massacre continues with this latest episode featuring self-styled 'Best-Bassist-From-Barnsley' Chris Price from the Unthanks. This comedy music podcast stretches the lyrics of your favourite songs to breaking point as hosts Jim & Bob are joined by guest musicians to help highlight the issues. This week they take on the lyrical might of Busted and wonder exactly what life would be like in the future and also feal uneasy as they come to terms with the implications of a Beach Boys song. This is the penultimate episode in a series that playfully teases your favourite artists about lyrics that don't quite make sense!! This one's a right laugh. Listen to it!!

Jim and Bob's weekly comedy podcast JimBob's Music Massacre continues; featuring song lyrics and live music as they try to decipher all those not-quite-right lyrics that artists thought they'd got away with...until now!! This week they are joined by guest artist Chris Price from the Unthanks to discuss how well Billy Bragg's song Sexuality might have gone down on the picket lines of South Yorkshire (where Chris hails from and the guys contemplate Chris might just be the best bassist ever to emerge from there). They also get themselves stuck into the infinitely regressive loop that is the song 'What Makes You Beautiful' by One Direction, which might just be the thing that saves humanity from a Terminator-style robotic-dystopia!! This live-music podcast analyses lyrics and sees the hosts joined by a guest musician each episode to perform the dubious segments of the songs. They then embark on light-hearted bantz and surreal tangents to make you chuckle and keep you entertained (in easily digestible, snack-sized chunks-of-content).

Het is weer eens Ladies Time met o.a. Courtney Mary Andrews, Ruthie Foster en Dayna Kurtz. Maar vooral veel folkdames als Karen Dalton,Lankum en The Unthanks.

The relationship between fathers and daughters has been the subject of countless cultural explorations down the centuries, from Elektra's distress to Bonjour Tristesse. Some of them are idealised ('To Kill A Mockingbird', 'All the Lights We Cannot See'); some highly damaging and dysfunctional ('This is England', 'The Beggar's Opera'); some, as any A'Level pupil who's studied 'King Lear' can attest, are both. What is clear in all these cases is just how particular and powerful the relationship can be, and in this highly personal programme Lauren Laverne heads home to team up with her own dad, Les, to talk about their relationship and how it matches up with some of these cultural imaginings. Among anecdotes about growing up in Sunderland and later on Les playing roadie to Lauren's gigs with the likes of the Ramones, we also hear from artists who in one way or another are engaging with the dad/daughter relationship now, including Helen MacDonald, Glyn Maxwell and The Unthanks. Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Geoff Bird.

Mic & Mixer still not reunited with a computer processor, so episode 71 is another music only episode. Also, no room made for the latest offerings from The Unthanks; Kathryn Williams; Royal Blood; Hidden Orchestra; Luca de Alberto & Penguin Café, all of which have merit, especially to my ears the Hidden Orchestra jazzy ambiance to bird sounds. Only one track in this episode is not a 2017 release from the last few weeks – and that's a rerelease of Bullion's 2007 work based on the Beach Boys Pet Sounds album. Of the albums selected to play a track here – my favourite album is the Sufjan Stevens collaboration. All are rather good with an “excellent” grading given by me to the Pumarosa; Anathema & Cigarettes After Sex albums. The episode ends with a track from the album of Dorothy Trogdon poems adapted for song by Diagrams, better known as the lead singer of Tunng, Sam Genders – I think this album deceptively good. BTW - The Unthanks album is of similar make-up in that it gives an airing to Nick Drakes mother, Molly's poems and songs. The episode image is of me in (19)71 - all hair and no substance! The tracks selected are listed below. Enjoy. Peter Tracks: 01. My Gruesome Loving Friend 4:03 Pumarosa The Witch Alternative 02. Race to the Bottom 3:42 Ha Ha Tonka Heart-Shaped Mountain Rock 03. The Weather 3:59 Pond The Weather Psych Rock 04. Leaving It Behind 4:28 Anathema The Optimist Rock 05. The Push and Pull 2:34 Joan Shelley Joan Shelley Singer/Songwriter 06. In Cold Blood 3:27 alt-J Relaxer Electronica 07. Everyone Knows 4:22 Slowdive Slowdive Rock 08. Any Party 5:23 Feist Pleasure Boy Indie Rock 09. Uranus 6:52 Sufjan Stevens, Bryce Dessner, Nico Muhly & James McAlister Planetarium Alternative 10. Don't Talk 2:21 Bullion Pet Sounds: In The Key Of Dee Hip Hop/Rap 11. Molotov_Mp3 3:47 Jason Isbell TNS Country & Folk 12. Omission 3:02 The Magpie Salute Woodstock Sessions Indie Rock 13. Apocalypse 4:50 Cigarettes After Sex Cigarettes After Sex 14. Failing At Feeling 4:29 BNQT Volume One Rock 15. Out Of My Mind 3:58 Saint Etienne Home Counties 16. Missing Wires 4:48 Soulwax FROM DEEWEE Alternative/Pop/Electronic 17. Truth Is a Beautiful Thing 5:08 London Grammar Truth Is a Beautiful Thing dream pop 18. Under the Graphite Sky 4:49 Diagrams Dorothy Folk

FolkCast: the podcast that brings you the worlds of folk, folk-rock, singer-songwriter and roots music. In this edition of FolkCast we sing a couple of songs of the merry, merry month of May, we go to Gracelands, we wonder where the time has gone, we visit the court house to hear our brother speak, before not visiting Denver. Then we get wild in the country. It could be England, it could Ireland, it could be Wales … or it could be Transylvania! We go on a bug hunt with a flying Yeti and hear an Insanely Mental Instrumental with a mammoth title. There’s a song by a Victorian postman, and there’s a song about a Victorian miner. And then we break it all down and pack it all away with the final journey of a 1969 split screen camper van. That’s our bill of fare: we’ve got folk, folk-rock, singer-songwriter, roots … and hardly any country music! FolkCast is produced and presented by 'Folkie Phil' Widdows Music featured: Bedfordshire May Carol by Jack Sharp from the album “From Here: English Folk Field Recordings” (2017) https://stickinthewheel.bandcamp.com/album/from-here-english-folk-field-recordings Woods in May by The Unthanks from the album “Diversions Vol. 4: The Songs and Poems of Molly Drake” (2017) http://www.the-unthanks.com Galway To Graceland by Paul Walker & Karen Pfeiffer from the album “Marble Town” (2017) https://www.paulwalkermusic.co.uk Who Knows Where The Time Goes by Emily Maguire from the album “A Bit Of Blue” (2017) http://www.emilymaguire.com He’ll Fight by Speak, Brother, single release, (May, 2017) http://speakbrother.co.uk/home Denver by Joe Martin, from the EP “Small World” (2017) http://www.joemartinmusic.com In The Country by Police Dog Hogan, from the album “Wild By The Side Of The Road” (2017) https://policedoghogan.com Holyhead Ferry by Pairdown, from the album “Reach To Ring” (2017) https://pairdown.bandcamp.com/album/reach-to-ring SOUNDBITE Góbéfest - The UK’s first Transylvanian Hungarian festival of arts, music and culture Friday 12th - Sunday 14th May 2017, Albert Square, Manchester http://www.gobefest.com Music featured: 1.Ez van! - That's the way it goes 2. Sziva¦ürva¦üny - Rainbow 3. Fel - Towards the sky 4. Mindenkinek - To all Fireflies by Fly Yeti Fly from the album “Shine A Light In The Dark” (2017) http://flyyetifly.com/ INSANELY MENTAL INSTRUMENTAL Iain Macphail's Compliments To Chrissie Leatham / Cooper Of Stannerton Heugh / One-Horned Sheep by Alistair Anderson & Northlands from the album “Alistair Anderson & Northlands” (2017) http://www.alistairanderson.com/index.htm More Happy Than A King by Nick Wyke & Becki Driscoll from the album “The Songs Of Edward Capern” (2017) http://www.englishfiddle.com/the_songs_of_edward_capern/ Old Miner by Canny Fettle from the album “Still Gannin' Canny” (2017) http://www.cannyfettle.com Parachutes by India Electric Co from the EP “ECM1” (2017) http://indiaelectricco.com End Of The Road ('69 Campervan) by Jimmy Lee Morris, from the album “Gallery” (2017) http://www.jimmyleemorris.com For full details and clickable links to artists’ websites, see the ShowNotes at www.folkcast.co.uk

The North East of England's Case for Culture is a bold plan to raise £300 million for art projects. Instead of being an adjunct to development culture is seen as the key to the region's redevelopment. But only a few years ago Newcastle cut its arts budget entirely. Organisations are exploring new ways of working. Jim Beirne of Live Theatre takes John Wilson to the pub the theatre runs, the profits of which pay for a new play every year. It also owns restaurants and prime office space, to fund its theatre and outreach projects. The Northumbrian piper Kathryn Tickell has just launched a new organisation, Magnetic North East, to foster the identity, music and traditions of the North East. It has released an album of songs and tunes, new and old, about the River Tyne, by artists ranging from Jimmy Nail to the Unthanks. Last Friday it held a grand concert in the region's village hall - Auditorium One of The Sage, featuring famous North East artists such as Paul Smith of the band Maximo Park, young folk musicians and a host of children giving a world premiere of a work by David Almond.Kathryn Tickell, John Mowbray - the High Sheriff of Tyne and Wear, and a prime mover in the Case for Culture, David Almond, who wrote Skellig, the Olivier Award winning playwright, Shelagh Stephenson, whose new play is set in her hometown of Tynemouth, all contribute to John Wilson's exploration, as he rambles around Newcastle, of the role of art in the regeneration of the North East of England.Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Julian May.

Prepare to enter a world where folk music and pop music collide. Where Michael Jackson flirts with British traditional folk music, Greg Russell & Ciaran Algar join forces with Daft Punk, The Watersons share the stage with Van-halen, the Prodigy embrace sea shanties, and the Unthanks experiment with death metal.At 2016's Folk East Festival in Suffolk, David Eagle took to the decks to DJ, uniting the two disparate worlds of folk and pop together in unholy musical matrimony. This is what happened.Tracklist■ The Watersons – sound sound your instruments of joy■ Young Tradition – Byker Hill■ Britney Spears – Baby One More Time■ The Watersons – Light Dragoon■ Cuban Boys – Cognoscenti vs Intelligentsia■ Nero – Me And You■ Daft Punk – Digital Love■ Greg Russell & Ciaran Algar – George■ Carly Rae Jepsen – Call Me Maybe■ Johnny Collins, Dave Webber, Pete Watkinson – Fire Marengo■ The Prodigy – Spitfire■ Missy Elliot – 4 MY PEOPLE■ Nickel Creek – Smoothie Song■ Kissy Sell Out – You're on Fire■ Van Halen – Jump■ The Watersons “Hal-An-Tow”■ Diana Ross – Chain Reaction■ Add N to (X) – Monster Bobby■ Watersons – Willy Went to Westerdale■ Mr Blobby – Mr Blobby■ Peter Bellamy – Bungay Roger■ Jackson 5 – I Want You Back■ Limp Bizkit feat Method Man,Redman & Dmx – Rollin'■ Bellowhead – Roll The Woodpile Down■ Limp Bizkit – Rollin' (Air Raid Vehicle) –■ Frankie Lain – Rawhide■ Michael McGoldrick – Mackerel & Tatties■ Bee Gees – Stayin' Alive■ Meghan Trainor – All About That Bass■ The Unthanks – Lucky Gilchrist■ Venetian Snares – Nepetalactone■ Venetian Snares – Hajnal■ Dream Theater – The Glass Prison■ Rachel Unthank & The Winterset – Lull 1: Newcastle Lullaby■ Rachel Unthank & The Winterset – Lull 2: My Lad's a Canny Lad■ Roaring Forties – We Made The Steel■ Swedish House Mafia – One■ Countdown Theme■ Isla Cameron – As I roved out■ Muse – Time Is Running Out■ Mawkin:Causley – Come My Lads■ Madonna – Holiday■ Alela Diane & Alina Hardin – Matty Groves■ Mark Ronson – Uptown Funk ft. Bruno Mars■ Treacherous Orchestra – Superfly■ Avicii – Levels (Skrillex Remix)■ The High Kings – Step It Out Mary■ Nero – Me & You (Dirtyphonics Remix)■ Rachel Unthank & The Winterset – Blackbird■ Michael Holliday – Oh Shenandoah■ Johnny Collins, Dave Webber, Pete Watkinson – Goodbye, Fare Thee Well■ 4Square – Follow The Heron■ Chumbawamba – Buy Nothing Day■ Exmouth Shanty Men – Bye-bye, my Roseanna■ The Young'uns – Roll Down■ Johnny Collins, Dave Webber, Pete Watkinson – Shallow Brown■ Johnny Collins, Dave Webber, Pete Watkinson – Leave Her Johnny■ Ewan MacColl – Joy of Living:■ Johnny Collins, Dave Webber, Pete Watkinson – Farewell Shanty■ The Spinners – Pleasant and delightful■ Sonny_J – Sonrise■ Ewan MacColl, Charles Parker, Peggy Seeger – The Engine Had Reached The Distance■ Spoken word samples included Martin Carthy, Martin Freeman and Richard Hawley, and contributions from O'Hooley & Tidow, Gilmore & Roberts, Martin Simpson, Greg Russell, and The Hut People. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Prepare to enter a world where folk music and pop music collide. Where Michael Jackson flirts with British traditional folk music, Greg Russell and Ciaran Algar join forces with Daft Punk, The Watersons share the stage with Van-halen, the Prodigy embrace sea shanties, and the Unthanks experiment with death metal. At 2016's Folk East Festival in Suffolk, David Eagle took to the decks to DJ, uniting the two disparate worlds of folk and pop together in unholy musical matrimony. This is what happened. Get ready to hear folk music like you've never heard it before. TRACKLIST: The Watersons – sound sound your instruments of joy Young Tradition – Byker Hill Britney Spears – Baby One More Time The Watersons – Light Dragoon Cuban Boys – Cognoscenti vs Intelligentsia Nero – Me And You Daft Punk – Digital Love Greg Russell And Ciaran Algar – George Carly Rae Jepsen – Call Me Maybe Johnny Collins, Dave Webber, Pete Watkinson – Fire Marengo The Prodigy – Spitfire Missy Elliot – 4 MY PEOPLE Nickel Creek – Smoothie Song Kissy Sell Out – You're on Fire Van Halen – Jump The Watersons “Hal-An-Tow” Diana Ross – Chain Reaction Add N to (X) – Monster Bobby Watersons – Willy Went to Westerdale Mr Blobby – Mr Blobby Peter Bellamy – Bungay Roger Jackson 5 – I Want You Back Limp Bizkit feat Method Man,Redman and Dmx – Rollin' Bellowhead – Roll The Woodpile Down Limp Bizkit – Rollin' (Air Raid Vehicle) – Frankie Lain – Rawhide Michael McGoldrick – Mackerel and Tatties Bee Gees – Stayin' Alive Meghan Trainor – All About That Bass The Unthanks – Lucky Gilchrist Venetian Snares – Nepetalactone Venetian Snares – Hajnal Dream Theater – The Glass Prison Rachel Unthank And The Winterset – Lull 1: Newcastle Lullaby Rachel Unthank And The Winterset – Lull 2: My Lad's a Canny Lad Roaring Forties – We Made The Steel Swedish House Mafia – One Countdown Theme Isla Cameron – As I roved out Muse – Time Is Running Out Mawkin:Causley – Come My Lads Madonna – Holiday Alela Diane And Alina Hardin – Matty Groves Mark Ronson – Uptown Funk ft. Bruno Mars Treacherous Orchestra – Superfly Avicii – Levels (Skrillex Remix) The High Kings – Step It Out Mary Nero – Me And You (Dirtyphonics Remix) Rachel Unthank And The Winterset – Blackbird Michael Holliday – Oh Shenandoah Johnny Collins, Dave Webber, Pete Watkinson – Goodbye, Fare Thee Well 4Square – Follow The Heron Chumbawamba – Buy Nothing Day Exmouth Shanty Men – Bye-bye, my Roseanna The Young'uns – Roll Down Johnny Collins, Dave Webber, Pete Watkinson – Shallow Brown Johnny Collins, Dave Webber, Pete Watkinson – Leave Her Johnny Ewan MacColl – Joy of Living: Johnny Collins, Dave Webber, Pete Watkinson – Farewell Shanty The Spinners – Pleasant and delightful Sonny_J – Sonrise Ewan MacColl, Charles Parker, Peggy Seeger – The Engine Had Reached The Distance Spoken word samples included Martin Carthy, Martin Freeman and Richard Hawley, and contributions from O'Hooley And Tidow, Gilmore And Roberts, Martin Simpson, Greg Russell, and The Hut People.

Welcome to Live From Progzilla Towers Edition 161. In this edition, we spoke with Mike Kershaw and heard music by Mike Kershaw, Del Shannon, Genesis, Radiohead, Tom Waits, The Unthanks, Thin Lizzy, Jean-Michel Jarre, Yes, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Blue Öyster Cult & Isao Tomita.

The music writer Laura Barton visits four corners of Britain and listens closely to the music found in different landscapes. In this first episode, Laura visits parts of the rugged countryside of Northumberland and the coastal city of Sunderland on Tyne and Wear to explore how music and landscape are intimately related. In an environment defined by a beautiful coastline and great northern rivers, Kathryn Tickell, the violinist and Northumbrian piper, and Adrian McNally of the folk group The Unthanks share their experiences of performing and arranging traditional tunes that seem to have emerged from the sea and been hewn from the soil. Members of the Sunderland band Frankie and the Heartstrings take Laura on a tour of the shop they established in the heart of the old industrial city to sell coffee, artworks and records, as well as to provide a rehearsal and gig space. They also perform acoustically in the famous Watch House, from which volunteer lifeboatmen would keep an eye on the Roker seashore. And Peter Brewis of Field Music, based in a former industrial unit on the banks of the River Wear, tells Laura about the distinctive accents of music from this part of the North-East. Produced by Alan Hall A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.

Elvis Costello wrote the song during the Falklands War yet, David Honigmann says, its specific political subtext didn't deter Suede, The Unthanks and others from covering it. Credits: Domino Recording, Universal Music Catalogue)/Elvis Costello, Topic Records Ltd, RabbleRouser Music See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Esta edición de Future Beats se estrena en emisión online el Día Mundial de la Radio y estará disponible en podcast en San Valentín. Así que hemos preparado una edición con avances y novedades discográficas que certifican nuestro amor desmedido por la radio y la música. Hoy os presentamos: El sensacional debut de Ibeyi de la mano del agudo Richard Russell (XL Recordings); la perspicacia y valentía de Paul Weller en un nuevo trabajo revolucionario; la voz cósmica de LuzmilaCarpio a través de la batidora latino-futurista de ZZK Records...Y los nuevos y muy recomendables álbumes de José Gonzalez, Steve earle, The Unthanks, Samba Touré y Zoufri Maracas.PLAYLIST:1. Ibeyi - Mama Says2. Luzmila Carpio - Amaotayku Avelino Sinani (El Buho Remix)3. Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Multi-Love4. Paul Weller - White Sky5. José Gonzalez - Stories We Build, Stories We Tell6. Samba Touré - Farikoyo7. Steve Earle - You're The Best Lover That I Ever Had8. Zoufris Maracas - Et Si Demain9. The Unthanks - Died For Love10. Ibeyi - Oya

PODCAST: 15 Feb 2015 01 - My Friends Are Rich - India Electric Co. - The Girl I Left Behind Me02 - Spider And The Wolf - Naomi Bedford -  A History Of Insolence03 - The House Carpenter - Martin Simpson04 - Liz Carol’s Reel - Danù - Buan05 - Tomorrow Will Follow Today  - Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman - Tomorrow Will Follow Today06 - The Poor Stranger - The Unthanks - Mount The Air07 - Grey Gallito - Salsa Celtica - El Camino08 - False Knight On The Road - Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes09 - Bonny Bunch Of Roses - Sam Lee - The Fade In Time10 - Hornpipes - Ian Carmichael - Ten Years On11 - Hanging Johnny / Nail Em Up - Jay Terrestial and Firepit Collective - To The Lost12 - The House Carpenter (Gypsy Davy) - Altan - The Widening Gyre13 - Poor Old Man - Stick In The Wheel - Bones Ep14 - Beeswing - Jigjam - Oh Boy!15 - 'Tain't No Sin (Dance Around In Your Bones) - Quake City Jug Band - Cordon Bleu

Welcome to Live From Progzilla Towers Edition 81. In this edition, we heard music by Little Atlas, Jeavestone, Legendary Pink Dots, Eloy, The Lens, Pervy Perkin, Bruce Woolley & The Camera Club, Thomas Giles, Tangerine Dream, Also Eden, Isildurs Bane, Stop Motion Orchestra, The Unthanks, Monomyth & Tony Patterson And Brendan Eyre.

Yay! Robin and Michael are even closer to death than before and YOU can hear some of their final moments, if you feel like it. Robin loves The Unthanks and knows why, Michael loves Darren Hayman but can't explain why. Also, they talk alot about excrement. YOU'LL LOVE IT! Next week is the REM special. Do you love REM? Write and tell us why at vitriolamusic@gmail.com THANK YOU!

The song from 1982 was written by Elvis Costello and Clive Langer for Robert Wyatt and has been recorded in several versions by Elvis Costello himself, Suede, June Tabor, Hue and Cry, Tamsin Archer and The Unthanks. The blend of subtle lyrics and extraordinary music makes this a political song like no other. It transcends the particular circumstances of its writing: the Falklands War and the decline of British heavy industry, especially ship-building. Clive Langer and Elvis Costello describe how the song came to be written and how the legendary jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player, Chet Baker, came to perform on Costello's version. Richard Ashcroft is a philosopher who wants the song, which he describes as a kind of secular hymn, played at his funeral because it gives a perfect expression of how he believes we should think about life. Not being able to feel the emotion of the song would, he feels, be like being morally tone-deaf. If you don't like this song, he'd find it hard to be your friend. The song's achingly beautiful final couplet about "diving for pearls" makes the MP Alan Johnson cry and has also inspired an oral history and migrant integration project in Glasgow. Chris Gourley describes how the participants found a way to overcome their lack of English and communicate through a shared understanding of ship-building practice. Other contributors include Hopi Sen, a political blogger who was an unusually political child, and the Mercury Prize winning folk group The Unthanks. They toured their version to towns with ship-building connections as part of a live performance of a film tracing the history of British ship-building using archive footage. Producer: Natalie Steed.

Newcastle Roots Music Radio brings you a monthly world roots and folk music podcast wherever you live! There's also a gig guide for those of you who live in Northeast England on the podcast and the related blog: http://www.rootsoftheworld.blogspot.co.uk/ This month's featured Northeast artist is Gareth Davies-Jones with flautist Calum Stewart showcasing the album "North by East". There's more northeast music from the Unthanks, music from Gambia via London, Norway/Finland, Canada, France, Turkey via Germany and more! This podcast comes from RootsoftheWorld. Follow me on Twitter @RootsoftheWorld and Facebook: Facebook.com/RootsoftheWorld The podcast is supported by PRS licence no LE-0006074

More adventures in music that combines the interesting, the esoteric, the obscure, the weird and the frankly wonderful. HalftonesEx-Wise Heads from SchemataEndless Chant Of The Siding Bridge In The Declining Day TwilightPikapika Teart from MoonberryTwo Is AmbientDarkroom from Some Of These Numbers Mean SomethingSir Richard's SongTrembling Bells from Oak Ash ThornStarlessThe Unthanks from LastCome With MeMidaircondo from Curtain CallSvadebnaya/Slavyanskaya 5Pikapika Teart from MoonberryGet Off Get OutAnathema from We’re Here Because We’re HereKarunaKaruna from Hyvää MatkaaEl PibeFernando Kabusacki from Luck

This week Libby Purves is joined by Klaus Kruse, Bryn Terfel, Sir Patrick Stewart and Becky Unthank. Klaus Kruse is a German director, scenographer, performer and poet. His research into audience/performance spatial relationships and the effecting potential of space within a theatrical experience led him to co-found 'Living Structures'. 'Cart Macabre' is their newest work and two years in the making, part theatre, part installation, it is on at The Old Vic Tunnels, described as "a nightmare fairground ride through a dreamlike landscape". Bryn Terfel is the Welsh bass-baritone who rose to prominence when he won the Lieder Prize in the 1989 Cardiff Singer of the World Competition. Now considered as one of the world's greatest living opera singers, his new album 'Carols and Christmas Songs' is released on Deutsche Grammophon and the new single 'White Christmas' is hotly tipped as the Christmas No. 1. Sir Patrick Stewart is the acclaimed actor, known for successfully bridging the gap between the theatrical world of the Shakespearean stage and contemporary film and television. He is about to bring 'Macbeth' to BBC 4, recreating the role he originally played when it was staged by the Chichester Festival Theatre, then in the West End and on Broadway, directed by Rupert Goold. Becky is one of the Unthank Sisters; highly acclaimed Northumbrian folk singers and clog dancers and the lead vocalists in "The Unthanks" band. This year they took a journey around England to experience living folk dance traditions in action. Along the way they discovered the most surprising dances, ceremonies and rituals. 'Still Folk Dancing...After All These Years' is on BBC 4.