FolkWorld Issue 40 11/2009; Texts from the Topic Website
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Three Score & Ten
Topic Records at 70
2009 is a landmark year for many independent record labels. It sees the anniversaries of Motown and Island (both 50), Rough Trade (30) and Real World (20). But it is Topic Records that celebrates its 70th anniversary. This makes it the oldest, truly independent record company in the world. To mark this achievement Topic is proud to publish 'Three Score and Ten,' a 7 CD set charting seven decades of recording and social history.
The story of the world’s oldest truly independent record label begins with the early aspirations of the Workers’ Music Association. The WMA was founded in 1936 as an educational offshoot of the British Marxist Party, when five London Socialist choirs met to perform together. During the 1930s, against the rise of fascism and totalitarianism, there was an upsurge of interest in socialism and internationalism amongst British intellectuals. The formation of the Workers’ Music Association was in the same year as the new Left Book Club was founded to ‘help in the struggle for world peace and against fascism’. On 31st January 1936, George Orwell had set out by public transport and on foot for Wigan, where he spent February researching how people lived; taking systematic notes of housing conditions and wages earned, visiting a coal mine, and spending days at the local public library consulting public health records and reports on working conditions in mines. The Road to Wigan Pier was published by the New Left Book Club the following year.
Against this backdrop the Workers’ Music Association sought to promote the composition and performance of music which expresses the ideals and aims of mankind towards the improved organisation of society; music which exerts an influence against the social injustices of our present society. Within three years the WMA established the Topic imprint to release “gramophone records of historical and social interest”. The first record to be released, in September 1939, on the Topic imprint was a 10″ 78rpm disc – The Man That Waters The Workers’ Beer performed by Paddy Ryan backed by an arrangement of The Internationale performed by the Topic Singers and Band led by Will Sahnow.
Today, Topic has an unequalled reputation as the foremost publisher of British traditional music . Topic's impressive catalogue includes some of the classic albums of traditional and contemporary folk music, from English, Scottish & Irish folk singers & musicians.
Topic Records A-Z
"Road Movies" Energy, Experience, Youth, Tradition - The Albion Band is the foremost contemporary folk group in England with a glorious history stretching back over twenty years. The current line-up follows the tradition of including some of the most talented and creative musicians in Britain today. The band remains true to its roots in the English tradition and true to its reputation for classic contemporary Folk Rock.
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Steve Ashley @ FolkWorld: |
 Tom Anderson @ FolkWorld: FW#34, #35, #35 Aly Bain @ FolkWorld: FW#3,#23,#23,#24,#30,#37
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Margaret Barry @ FolkWorld: |
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Battlefield Band @ FolkWorld:
FW#5,
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"Almost A Gentleman": Years before Monty Python, a red-nosed comedian in disreputable tails and an improbable moustache created a world all his own. With his spoofs of well-loved poems, raucous street-corner singing and surreal narratives of life in the saveloy-and-gin class, Billy Bennett brought a spirit of daring and rebellion to English music hall and variety stages in the 1920s and '30s. Billy Bennett can now be seen as a street-wise surrealist and his remarkable humour shines as bright today as it did then. The CD is remastered to the highest standard from the best condition original 78-rpm discs.
"No One Stands Alone": The seven piece group Blue Murder, made up of Waterson:Carthy, Coope, Boyes and Simpson and Mike Waterson, has been described as "Harmony Heaven" and one listen is enough to explain why - seven of the greatest English folk voices performing together with passion and spirit. The repertoire ranges between great traditional standards, selected compositions and original songs by some of the band members. Whilst much of the album is the full glory of the seven voices, about half of the tracks have the added benefit of Martin Carthy's understated but impeccable guitar work.
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Brass Monkey @ FolkWorld: |
 Eliza Carthy @ FolkWorld: Martin Carthy @ FolkWorld: |
King Of The Highland Pipers: Connoisseurs recognise what amateurs feel instinctively, that John Burgess is the finest living exponent of the Scots bagpipes, equally impressive whether playing marches, airs, jigs, strathspeys or the majestic repertory of the pibroch, the classical music of the Highlands.
Eliza Carthy, daughter of Martin Carthy and Norma Waterson, is the most impressive and engaging performer of her generation. Not only an inventive, innovative singer and fiddle-player, she is a musical conceptualist who treats the bequest of the folk tradition with respect and knowledge - and, sometimes, with refreshing irreverence. "An international star of English Folk in the 21st century" The Times. Albums available: "Anglicana", "Red", "Rice", "The Kings Of Calicutt", "Heat, Light And Sound".
For more than 30 years Martin Carthy has been the most visible, versatile and, at times, controversial figure in English folk music. Whether in the folk club, on the concert stage or in a TV studio, there are few roles he has not played, from ballad singer to folk-rock guitarist. While his settings of traditional songs with guitar have influenced a generation of performers, he is also an authoritative interpreter of newly composed material.
Shirley Collins's sweet, self-effacing singing keeps her closer to the core of traditional folk song than many a more histrionic singer. Yet her work has been extraordinarily diverse: she has collaborated with the guitarist Davy Graham, the Incredible String Band, the Albion Country Band and her sister Dolly. "Sweet England", her very first album, originally released in 1959, is a mixture of English and American traditional songs with banjo and guitar accompaniments. The Sweet Primeroses: these limpid versions of Southern English songs established Shirley Collins as a unique and influential voice on the folk scene.
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Christine Collister @ FolkWorld: |
The Copper Family of Rottingdean in Sussex has roots in traditional song that are at least two hundred years old. Their rare southern English harmony is presented at its most outstanding in these classic performances from the 1950s and early '60s. Bob and Ron Copper came to prominence outside their immediate local environment when recordings of the duo were released during the early part of the folk revival.
Bob Copper @ FolkWorld: FW#28 |
The Bonny Labouring Boy: Harry Cox is, simply, the most important and the finest among the great English traditional singers. This release brings together 54 tracks from recordings made between 1945 and 1970 to produce a 2 CD set. Combined with a 60 page booklet containing a detailed biography, extensive notes and song texts, the result is over 2 hours of previously unissued recordings. "The quality of the repertoire and the standard of the singing are quite breathtaking. Even amongst the high standards that Topic have been setting in their recent releases of traditional music, this is outstanding" - FRoots Magazine
Renowned on both sides of the Atlantic for his uncompromising, gritty talent, Bob Davenport’s recording history goes back over four decades and has produced raw, idiosyncratic nuggets. His unique poetic realism has been a profound influence on such disparate artists as Richard Thompson and Ray Davies. Never one to court fashion, Bob has remained true to the living tradition while being on the cutting edge of revivalism. When word got round that Bob Davenport was recording a new album, the cream of the current folk scene queued for a chance to participate. The final list includes appearances by Richard Thompson, Chumbawamba Acoustic, Martin Carthy, Linda Thompson, Mike and Norma Waterson, John Tams, Coope, Boyes and Simpson and Fi Fraser. The resulting album is raw, real and original.
"Ramblin' Jack" Elliott: Woody Guthrie's most famous sidekick (and an early influence on Bob Dylan) celebrates his old friend in poignant versions of his most celebrated songs, then joins singer and banjoist Derroll Adams in a session of classic old-time country songs.
 Dick Gaughan @ FolkWorld: |
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Bob Fox @ FolkWorld: |
Restlessly imaginative, passionate in his beliefs, guitarist Dick Gaughan is a commanding presence on the Scots folk music scene. His subtle singing and intricate guitar playing create a fabric of arresting beauty and colour. Traditional and contemporary songs sung with grace and feeling are interspersed with bagpipe jigs and fiddle reels transposed to guitar in the multifaceted collection "Gaughan". Handful Of Earth, a mixture of love songs, odes of parting and political commentaries such as Worker's Song and World Turned Upside Down, is Gaughan's most complex and emotionally penetrating album, and has come to be recognised as a masterwork. Album of the Decade.' - Folk Roots
The Fiddle Music of County Sligo. A Musical Biography of Michael Gorman (1895-1970) by Reg Hall. Michael Gorman, a close associate of Michael Coleman before the latter emigrated to America, was a key figure in the great Irish folk music tradition of southern Sligo. His music, together with that of his nephew Michael (flute), his brother Martin (voice) and neighbours Tom Gannon (fiddle) and Gerry Whimsy (tin whistle), typifies that tradition's classic period of creativity and definition. His later major contribution to Irish music-making in London is reflected in recordings with Mick Flynn (flute), Margaret Barry (voice & banjo), Jimmy Power (fiddle), Paddy Breen (flageolet), Tommy Maguire (accordeon) and Patsy Goulding (piano).
 Davy Graham @ |
Joe Heaney: The Road From Connemara. One of the world's greatest ever traditional folk singers. Double CD of previously unissued material recorded by Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger in 1964, when Joe Heaney was at the height of his powers. 39 tracks and a 60 page booklet, which includes a full transcript as well as detailed notes on the man, his songs and his tradition.
High Level Ranters: This Northumbrian quartet has been one of the most enduring and popular groups in British folk music. Each of its members is an artist of the first rank. Versatility is the keynote of "Northumberland Forever" as the Ranters display their range of skills on a vivacious collection of characteristic Northeastern songs and tunes. "The Bonnie Pit Laddie" subtitled 'A Miner's Life in Music & Song', is a pageant of songs illustrating a history of hard times and high times, oppression and stubborn pride. The Ranters are joined in this treasury of industrial folksong by Dick Gaughan and the Lancashire singer Harry Boardman.
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Nic Jones Penguin Eggs: This mature work of a brilliant song-interpreter and guitarist, packed with fresh songs and novel settings, is rendered all the more valuable by the scarcity of his recordings. When Bob Dylan appropriated his arrangement of Canadee-I-O, it was just one sign of Jones' status among musicians as well as lay listeners. It may be the best British acoustic folk album ever made Stuart Maconie, BBC Radio 2
Plain Capers: The music of the Morris dance is one of the deep underlying rhythms of English country life. John Kirkpatrick captures both its formal beauty and verve in a selection of tunes from Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and neighbouring areas, played on Anglo concertina and a variety of accordions, with support by Martin Carthy, Sue Harris, Fi Fraser and Martin Brinsford. A Short History Of John Kirkpatrick: Drawn from eight original albums of the '70s and '80s, this 19-track survey finds Kirkpatrick singing and playing a hugely varied repertory of English songs and tunes, some solo, some with Sue Harris (hammered dulcimer) and others in the bands Umps & Dumps and Brass Monkey.
Oliver Knight is probably best known as collaborator with his mother, Lal Waterson, on their landmark albums Once in a Blue Moon (TSCD478) and A Bed of Roses (TSCD505). He has also had a long and illustrious career as a composer, musician, arranger and record producer / engineer.
Sam Larner was born in 1878 in the village of Winterton in Norfolk. For most of his life he was a fisherman and developed his repertoire and style from the locality and his workmates. "Now Is The Time For Fishing": Originally recorded on location in 1958, '59 & '60 by Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger and released in 1961, this record has come to be regarded as one of the most important recordings of an English traditional folk singer ever made. Alongside classic traditional repertoire, the CD features songs associated with the fishing industry as well as sea-lore and rhymes.
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Walter Pardon was one of England's great traditional singers. He lived all his life in the cottage where he was born in 1914 in the village of Knapton, Norfolk and spent all his working life as a carpenter. In 1974, a tape of his singing was received by the singer Peter Bellamy and this led to him being recognised as an outstanding singer of remarkable style and repertory. He was subsequently recorded extensively for a number of LPs on the Leader, Topic and Home Made Music labels and appeared in folk-clubs and festivals including the one held at the Smithsonian Institute of Folklife in Washington, DC in 1976. He appears in the series The Voice Of The People but "A World Without Horses" is the first full length CD to be made available and features classic traditional repertoire from one of the true masters of the craft.
Colin Reid burst upon the scene with his 1998 debut album of solo guitar music and was acclaimed as the new guitar hero. He is, however, much more than an exceptional guitarist - he is an exceptional musician and, as this new album proves, an exceptional composer. The best description of TILT comes from Colin Harper's review on MOJO - "this set triumphs in its technicolor daring, where the guitar is an engine beneath the arrangements that drives forward the notion of quirky yet often moving compositions for small group and strings, from precisely where the Penguin Cafe Orchestra left off - an exceptional collection" The album works wonderfully as a kind of radio programme, moving from solo guitar to funky string quartet with guitar and on to vocals by Eddi Reader and Boo Hewerdine.
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Silly Sisters: The inspired collaboration of Maddy Prior and June Tabor, two of the most individual singers in folk music, is enhanced by musicians such as the Breton guitarist Dan Ar Braz, ex-Steeleye Span bass guitarist Rick Kemp and producer Andrew Cronshaw.
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Sheila Stewart @ FolkWorld: |
Sheila Stewart From The Heart Of The Tradition: In her own words, probably the last in the line of a rich oral tradition of song, story and Scots Traveller culture. She is also one of the greatest singers of traditional song.
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Dave Swarbrick @ FolkWorld: |
 June Tabor @ FolkWorld:
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John Tams @ FolkWorld: |
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Tarras @ FolkWorld: |
Time Magazine has said "Linda Thompson may be rock's best woman singer", and anybody with an interest in contemporary music would expect that description to be expanded to include folk music. Collaborators include Teddy Thompson guitars & vocals, Richard Greene fiddle, Van Dyke Parks accordion & Hammond B-3 organ, Kate Rusby acoustic guitar & vocals, Kathryn Tickell Northumbrian pipes, Eliza Carthy fiddle & vocals, Chris Cutler drums, Rufus Wainwright vocals, Kamila Thompson vocals, Richard Thompson electric guitar and vocals, John Doyle acoustic guitar, Danny Thompson double bass, Martin Carthy acoustic guitar, Jerry Donohue electric guitar, Geraint Watkins Hammond B-3 organ, Dave Mattacks drums
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Tim Van Eyken @ FolkWorld: |
The original Watersons were Mike and his sisters Norma and Lal, with their second cousin John Harrison. That is the lineup heard on Early Days and most of Frost and Fire, classic recordings from the 1960s. After a period off the scene, the group re-emerged in 1973 with Harrison's place filled by Martin Carthy; these are the Watersons of For Pence & Spicy Ale and Green Fields.
 The Watersons @ FolkWorld: |
Lal Waterson, an original member of The Watersons, and her son, guitarist Oliver Knight, have written some of the most captivating new songs to have been heard on the folk scene in many years. Other members of the Waterson clan often joined them on their records. "Once In A Blue Moon" - An entirely original collection of songs inspired by love, landscape, family and questing imagination. 'Up with Nick Drake and Richard Thompson in the very front rank of English songwriters.' - MOJO 'The most innovative English folk-related album of recent years' - THE INDEPENDENT. "A Bed Of Roses" was Lal Waterson's last recording before her death in 1998.
The Watersons, the most influential and best loved English vocal group of its day, disbanded in the late 1960s only to reform again in 1973. In 1975, they released their finest recorded work, For Pence And Spicy Ale (TSCD462). Fired up and full of music, Mike Waterson stepped out of the shadows of The Watersons to record his only solo album. Upon its release in 1977, Melody Maker, which was the most popular music paper of the time, wrote of the album, "Almost every track emerges as an epic...no song defeats him...a monumental work". Regarded as one of the best singers to emerge from the English folk song revival, Mike Waterson's voice is known to all those who are familiar with The Watersons. Here, however, the focus is on Mike alone and he brings depths to his material not possible on group projects. This reissue includes two extra tracks from the 1966 Watersons album, A Yorkshire Garland.
Norma Waterson, a doyenne of British Folk Music, described in Mojo magazine as "possibly the finest English singer alive today". "Bright Shiny Morning" is produced by her daughter, rising star Eliza Carthy, "Bright Shiny Morning" is a solo project which not only highlights Norma's passion for traditional material, but proves her to be one of this country's finest exponents. Norma continues to breathe life into material often centuries old. Aside from her wonderful, rich and distinctive voice, Norma Waterson's particular skill is in her choice of songs and how she makes each one relevant to a modern audience. Norma's career, which began in the early 60s with folk supergroup The Watersons, has continued to blossom and grow and today she commands considerable respect amongst a wide and devoted following.
Waterson:Carthy was created from the dynamic fusion of two generations, Norma Waterson and Martin Carthy and their daughter Eliza Carthy: living proof of the tenacity - and vivacity - of the oral tradition. "A Dark Light": England's leading folk group return with their latest outstanding collection. The core trio of Martin Carthy, Norma Waterson & Eliza Carthy are joined by new member Tim van Eyken on vocals and melodeons. Also contributing to the album are Martin Simpson on guitar, Ben Ivitsky on fiddle and Barnaby Stradling on acoustic bass guitar. A Dark Light reflects the influence on the group of some of the great singers from the tradition, and therefore features a selection including songs from The Copper Family, Packie Byrne, Seamus Ennis and Sam Larner.
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Jazz Series: BLACK BRITISH SWING tells the story of the most exciting jazz musicians in 1930s and '40s England - how they came to Britain and took the popular music scene by storm. It is all too easily forgotten that Britain had its own hot jazz scene in the '30s and '40s when the American Kings of Swing seemed to take centre stage. The music was so popular in Britain that it lured the West Indian Jazz musicians here to record and tour to wildly enthusiastic British audiences. These audiences were stunned to find that these musicians were not pale imitations of American musicians, but great artists in their own right, able to match anything, anywhere in their day.
Voice Of The People: This series makes available nearly 500 recordings of English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh traditional music drawn from the archives of Topic Records and from private collections. Compiled as thematic anthologies, each volume stands on its own, but the series as a whole presents an extensive and varied picture of traditional singing, instrumental music-making and dancing throughout the course of the 20th century. Many of the singers and musicians and their recorded performances presented here are classic, but the inclusion of some less well-known performers and genres broadens the horizon by offering glimpses at some little-known nooks and crannies of traditional music-making.
World Series: The Music In the World Of Islam series is drawn from field-recordings by the ethnomusicologists Jean Jenkins and Poul Rovsing Olsen. They illustrate Islamic musical traditions across a vast landscape: 'Bedouins and nomads, farmers on the banks of the Nile, or in the Hindukush Mountains of Afghanistan or the High Atlas of Morocco or the fertile valleys of Pakistan and India, Turkish fishermen on the Black Sea coast and Malay and Javanese along the East China Sea or pearl divers on the gulf which divides Arabia from Iran, as well as the inhabitants of the great and ancient cities of Damascus, Baghdad, Cairo, Fez and Istanbul'.This release in the Topic World Series has been produced in conjunction with the International Music Collection of the British Library National Sound Archive. Started in 1955, The British Library National Sound Archive is one of the largest in the world and now holds over a million discs, 175,000 tapes and many other sound and video recordings. The International Music Collection of the NSA holds recordings of traditional, folk and world music. Its aim is to collect, preserve and make accessible a comprehensive collection of music from all over the world. It covers thousands of styles and genres, both traditional and modern, from hundreds of countries.
Acoustic Folk Box: Four decades of the very best acoustic folk music from the British Isles, compiled, researched and produced by David Suff for Deep Sea. The Acoustic Folk Box is an exciting four CD journey through the inspiring and provocative first four decades of the folk revival in Britain. There have been other anthologies but this is the first one devoted to the acoustic thread and features the leading artists of the genre.
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Label: Topic Records; TOPIC70; 2009 To celebrate this significant moment in Topic’s illustrious history, the label is proud to publish Three Score & Ten, a sumptuous 7 CD set complete with a hardback 108 page book, charting seven decades of recording and social history. Three Score & Ten is featuring tracks from Martin Carthy, The Watersons, Dave Swarbrick, June Tabor, John Tams, Dick Gaughan, Nic Jones, Anne Briggs, Brass Monkey, Martin Simpson, Eliza Carthy, The Copper Family, Linda Thompson, Shirley Collins, Frank Harte, Ewan MacColl, A.L. Lloyd, Davy Graham, Peter Bellamy, and many more. |
Photo Credits:
(1) Topic logo,
(13) Three Score & Ten
(by Topic Records);
(2) Tom Anderson &
Peerie Willie Johnson,
(3) Eliza Carthy,
(10) June Tabor,
(11) Waterson:Carthy,
(12) Frank Harte
(unknown);
(4) Bob Copper
(by The Copper Family),
(5) Dick Gaughan,
(7) Nic Jones
(from artist website);
(6) Davy Graham
(from Harper/Hodgett, Irish Folk, Trad & Blues - A Secret History);
(8) Ewan MacColl
(from Harker, Class Act - The Cultural and Political Life of Ewan MacColl);
(9) Leo Rowsome
(from Kevin Rowsome website).
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© The Mollis - Editors of FolkWorld; Published 11/2009
All material published in FolkWorld is © The Author via FolkWorld. Storage for private use is allowed and welcome. Reviews and extracts of up to 200 words may be freely quoted and reproduced, if source and author are acknowledged. For any other reproduction please ask the Editors for permission. Although any external links from FolkWorld are chosen with greatest care, FolkWorld and its editors do not take any responsibility for the content of the linked external websites.
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