MAY/MIGHT: JUST AS THE TIDE WAS A'FLOWING

Disclaimer: This post might well contain folk music.

May, both the day and the month, is big in british folk, with any number of songs relating to happenings in the the days thereof, many more specifically to actual individual days. Why not so April or June? I don't know, and there probably are examples in and of each, but I suspect it has to do with the whole pagan shebang of Mayday, a date long important before any international workers apprehended the date. Walpurgisnacht and Beltane vie with the Floralia for the earliest affectations, each being, broadly, celebrations of spring into summer.  Thus, and unsurprisingly, many of the songs set in May are based around sex and fertility, with, often, the snatched deflowering of maidens fair, overtly or in allegory.

This is one of my favourites, the initial amalgam of Shirley Collins, linnet voiced doyenne of the early 60s folk movement, and Ashley Hutchings, soon to be her husband, and the guv'nor of the whole  english electric folk-rock movement a near decade later, founding, in turn, Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span and the various incarnations of the Albion (Country and/or Dance) Bands.

This first iteration of the Albion b(r)and was a remarkable mix, melding many of his chums from Fairport/Steeleye alongside such mavericks as Lol Coxhill, free jazz sax maven, and some of the champions of the unaccompanied choral song tradition, the Watersons.  (Shirley had earlier included the song on a recording with her sister, Dolly, in which the genesis of the version below is ever more apparent.)

This next version, an unashamed tribute to the first, to the extent of later royalties having to cross hands for the appropriation of the arrangement, was my first exposure to the wonderful and still extant 10,000 Maniacs. Short and simple, carried by the ghostly vocal of Natalie Merchant and the swell of keyboard in the instrumental middle eight, this was enough for me to give up my then immersion in only folk to explore the rest of their catalogue, as it appeared, in turn leading me on to the delights of the then not unassociated act, R.E.M. (Natalie and Michael Stipe were factionalised, or not, by their respective publicity machines into being a couple, 10k M often appearing as support to the more famous group, and Natalie sharing a vocal on 'Photograph', for a charity recording.) Whilst some of the sparkle may have dropped since Natalie left to plough her own furrow, 10k M forge on, with a thoroughly decent 2015 offering, 'Twice Told Tales', containing only songs culled from the trad.arr folk tradition, give or take a lyric by W.B. Yeats.

Sort of full circle, I guess, in the never more incestuous canon of the UK folk scene, Eliza Carthy, daughter of Martin, who appears on 'No Roses', as do her uncle and auntie, Mike and Lal Waterson. (Carthy is married to Norma, the 4th and final member of the celebrated Watersons.) Here she slows the song right down, and imbues it with a drama missing from the two earlier and jauntier versions, her voice retaining, however, the same degree of melancholia. 'Anglicana' was, arguably, her breakthrough solo recording, but she remains a powerful force on the circuit, with her Wayward Band.
As a footnote, the Watersons themselves were no stranger to May songs, with, strangely enough, this also turning up on 'No Roses.'

Keep it simple, get this, this and this. (Yep, all of 'em.)

Heritage: Eliza Carthy

Eliza Carthy: Fisher Boy

[purchase]

Billy Bragg and Eliza Carthy: My Father's Mansions

[purchase]


Old friend and once-upon-a-time Star Maker Machine contributor Divinyl may be up to her eyebrows in grad school, but she still had time to check in via FaceBook to express excitement about this week's theme, offering alongside her kudos and hellos a short wish-list of folks she hoped we might get to. Her first suggestion, Rufus Wainwright, has already been covered with aplomb by Anne, and despite impeccable if relatively localized famous parentage, her second and third choices - the Unthanks and Martha Tilston - are a bit recent for our usual standards, having started their recording careers post-millennium.

Eliza Carthy, on the other hand, fits both our high standards and our practice. And so today's secondhand recommendation, though last on Divinyl's list, comes first on mine, with my full endorsement.

I've written about Eliza Carthy and her family within the year, in fact, over at Cover Lay Down, and Darius posted a song of hers way back in February of last year, so I won't go too deeply into her work here, except to note that, like Rufus and Anita, Eliza comes from a long and broad musical lineage - she's the daughter of Martin Carthy and Norma Waterson, niece of Mike and Lal Waterson - and started out as a wee lass performing alongside family, with mother, aunt, and cousin. Since then, she has put out several solo albums, and records and tours with both the larger family and as Waterson:Carthy with her parents. But regardless of who she is paired with, or not, one listen, and you, too, will have little doubt that the tendency towards traditional Brit-folk of the Yorkshire revivalist sort runs rich in her veins.

As this week's theme asks us to focus on progeny specifically, I've selected two favorite "sans family" pieces as introduction: the former a simple mid-nineties take on a traditional tune featuring Eliza's bold vocals, the latter featuring her potent fiddling, alongside Billy Bragg's voice, on a Pete Seeger song which resonates exceptionally well in the lyrical tones of those from across the pond.

Cold: Snowed In Edition

A strange thing happened to me today. I started my day outside, shoveling ten inches of new snow. When the job was done, I came inside. Intellectually, I knew that the work I had done meant that we were free to leave the house if we wished. But, emotionally, I felt snowed in. I knew that we could go, but I knew that we wouldn’t. This feeling sometimes overcomes songwriters too, especially regarding relationships. Here are two of the finest examples I know of of what I mean.

Eliza Carthy: Whispers of Summer

[purchase]

You might have noticed my posting earlier this week of a song by Martin Carthy. Eliza is his daughter, but her work as a solo artist is quite different from his. Here, she describes the aftermath of a broken relationship. Summer exists for her only as a memory or a dream. In her waking life, winter holds sway.

Dar Williams: February

[purchase]

Dar Williams’ winter scene is even bleaker. It is so cold that even her memory is being frozen away. The song is the most vivid description of being emotionally stuck that I have ever heard of. The last verse talks about a new lover and preparing for winter. But the listener is left to wonder: is this a renewed hope, or a flashback?