Lineatrad

1. THE SAUCY SAILOR

"The Saucy Sailor" is a British folk song listed at number 531 in Steve Roud's catalog. Further information can be found in the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library at the English Folk Dance and Song Society, whose library contains 93 recordings of "Saucy Sailor," collected from various locations in southern England as well as Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. We used the Roud number to find a reference to the song's various titles: there are 101 records, including "Jack Tar" (sung by Bob Copper), "I'm To Cross," "Come My Own One," and "I Love Me Bonny Sailor Lad." In a nutshell, it tells the story of a sailor, so battered he smells of tar, intent on marrying a girl who, of course, rejects him. She changes her mind when he reveals that he has accumulated a great deal of wealth, but then tells her, not without malice, that the wealth will go to another. It would seem that impertinent sailors have a better chance with women if they declare their fortunes in gold and silver in advance. There is much research and study on the origins of this song, on the figure of this sailor, on the variations of the various lyrics, although the story told is essentially the same. But the goal here is, more simply, another: to compare some performances of this song, to consider the ways in which it has been reworked, presented, and musically arranged. However, many artists have performed it, and so, completely arbitrarily, we will limit ourselves to selecting a few versions that we find significant. Aside from a few versions that crossed the ocean to North America, most of them come from England and the Somerset region in particular: Cecil Sharp collected them in his book Folk Songs from Somerset (1915), which was used by Peter Bellamy in 1968 as a reference for performing this song on his first album. Other versions come from Sussex, and Steeleye Span, who sang "Saucy Sailor" for the first time on their 1972 album Below the Salt, claim to have referenced George Butterworth's collection published in the Journal of the Folk Song Society (1907). Johnny Daughty later sang "The Saucy Sailor" in a 1976 home recording made by Mike Yates; this song was released by Topic in 1977 on Daughty's album of traditional Sussex coastal songs, Round Rye Bay for More. He had heard and learned "Saucy Sailor" from his grandmother, who sang it often at home, and when Mike Yates showed up at his house to record some traditional songs, he didn't think twice: it was as if the song had remained etched in his memory. It was a great surprise, both for Yates and perhaps for himself, that he was able to perform it so effectively. Yates couldn't believe his ears when Doughty revealed that he hadn't sung it in sixty years. Chronologically speaking, Peter Bellamy's 1968 solo interpretation is undoubtedly effective: his nasal, scratchy vocals are like the waves of a stormy sea, the wind shaking the bulkheads of a ship, the nostalgia of a sailor longing to return home. Following in his footsteps in 1972, Steeleye Span entrusted Maddy Prior with the lead vocals for a sea shanty that certainly doesn't sound like a carefree sailor's song. Her vocals are clear, crystalline, the delicately handled acoustic guitars and piano are evocative, the bass is never intrusive and, in addition to the rhythmic effect, adds depth to the stage. In 1976, the song was recorded by Johnny Daughty for solo vocals, and it seems more suited to him than to Steeleye Span: her unaccompanied performance is more open to variation. It's no coincidence that the melodic structure is completely different from Steeleye's, and if it weren't for the lyrics, one might think it was a different composition. Yet both versions originate from Sussex. Steeleye Span claim to have relied on George Butterworth, a collector who amassed over 450 materials, including songs, dance tunes, and dances, and who founded the English Folk Dance Society in 1911. He also collected and organized an album of Sussex folk songs and, in collaboration with Cecil Sharp, published several books of country and Morris dances. On the cover of Below the Salt, the band states that the version of "Saucy Sailor" comes from the Journals of the Folk-Song Society collected by Butterworth in Sussex in 1907, but those with access to the manuscripts are unable to identify which version Steeleye used. Perhaps this isn't very important considering the beautiful arrangement, but the fact remains that in 1907, the Journals published four different versions of that song, two of which were by Butterworth. No information is available on who collected those lyrics; philologists will have material to work with. But to conclude this brief listening guide to a classic of the British tradition, we must mention the interpretation by Cochi Quarta & The Octopus on Seventh Voyage. Cochi, who was one of the founders of Roisin Dubh, one of the first folk groups formed in Italy in the 1970s, reinterprets "Saucy Sailor" with a guitar arrangement—or rather, two guitars, overdubbed, one more on the left channel and the other on the right, in a loop that we wish would be infinite. For the sheer wonder, of course.

2. THE RAMBLING BOYS OF PLEASURE

"The Rambling Boys of Pleasure," composition 386 in Steve Roud's catalog, is a ballad that William Butler Yeats learned from his father and later rewrote as a poem titled "Down by the Sally Gardens." The title in Italian could be translated as "The Rambling Boys of Pleasure," but, as we know, every language contains definitions that don't always find their equivalent in another. Roud's catalog contains 11 historic sound recordings of this ballad, nine of which come from Ireland and two from England. And we intend to begin this brief review by listening to "The Sally Gardens," by Scottish singer Heather Heywood. Heather, who gave the song this title in homage to Yeats, was born in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, a mining region of Scotland. She once said: "We lived in a mining area, and I heard a lot of mining songs. I liked them. At school shows (even though I performed reluctantly) I sang about mining disasters while everyone else sang Elvis. After a while, the teachers asked me if I could sing a happy song for a change, but I stuck to what I liked best. It was a Martin Carthy album, which she had heard when she was 19, that showed her that something was moving in the folk music scene. She was overwhelmed, but also relieved to discover that she wasn't the only one who appreciated those songs. Her marriage to folk enthusiast Pete Heywood quickly introduced her to the then-evolving folk scene, and the day she sang a Maddy Prior number, she received a resounding response. After that, in her words, "she never looked back": "I have mixed feelings about group performances. I half-like it, because you're not so exposed, but then you have to remember to adapt to others. Being alone is a little lonely (sometimes better if you have a companion), but at least you have more control. Truth be told, I'm not a group person. I even have trouble in church, with choirs. As usual, I close my eyes and walk away. I think they're tired of me; I can't follow the regular notes they want!". Heather Heywood has only released three solo albums, aside from a few scattered compilations. In 1987, she was finally persuaded to make the recording that so many people had requested over the years. She was reluctant to go into the studio, but once in, her three-day performance, from September 7th to 9th, was remarkable. The result was an album titled Some Kind of Love, which generated enormous interest and excellent reviews. It was the tenth album released by Greentrax and featured the following lineup: The Sally Gardens, Lord Lovat, Song for Ireland, Some Kind of Love, Let No Man Steal Your Thyme, Bonnie Laddie Ye Gang By Me, My Bonnie Moorhen, The Cruel Mother, Wid Ye Gang Love. The opening track was "The Sally Gardens," a powerful piece not only thanks to Heather's vocal performance but also to the fiddle arrangement by Brian McNeill, who also produced the album. McNeill is also remembered for his long career with the Battlefield Band, one of the leading groups of the Scottish folk revival. Planxty performed "You Rambling Boys of Pleasure" on their 1979 album After the Break. In the liner notes, they noted, "You Rambling Boys of Pleasure was learned from the singing of Len Graham and the late Joe Holmes from County Antrim, and also from Ian Stevenson from Derry, to whom we owe heartfelt thanks. This is the song that W.B. Yeats half-remembered and rewrote as Down by the Salley Gardens." This is the classic type of melancholic ballad, particularly suited to Andy Irvine's poignant voice (as well as "As I Roved Out" and Bonnie Woodhall on other albums), a voice capable of stirring emotions and transporting us to a distant past. Furthermore, the arrangement at the end includes the entry of flutes (whistles by Matt Molly and Liamo O'Flynn), which give the song a further evocative depth. After the Break is the fourth studio album by the Irish folk band, originally released in 1979. As the title suggests, this was the first album released after the group's initial split in 1975 (although Dónal Lunny and Christy Moore had previously left, separately). The album was produced by Lunny and engineered by Brian Masterson, who had worked with the band since their earliest shows. It is the first of two albums to feature future Chieftains member Matt Molloy on flute, who had previously played with Lunny in the Bothy Band. "You Rambling Boys of Pleasure" appears on several Planxty live recordings between 1979 and 1982. It was later released in 2016 on their DVD Between the Jigs and the Reels and in 2018 on their CD "One Night in Bremen," a Radio Bremen recording of the live concert the band performed on April 24, 1979 (the same year as "After the Break") at the University of Bremen canteen. The recording is of very good quality, and compared to the vinyl album, the sound is much softer, both on the instruments and on Andy's vocals. It should also be noted that the harmonium played by Christy Moore in this concert lends a very intense atmosphere to the song. Bert Jansch performed "Rambling Boys of Pleasure" on his 1990 album "The Ornament Tree," released by Run River. The album has a smooth sound, far from the violent guitar strums we've become accustomed to with Jansch. Violins and flutes accompany him, and the song choices are firmly anchored in tradition. Ballads like the title track and "The Rambling Boys of Pleasure" tell stories of lost love and warn against the pitfalls of wandering. Jansch, as always, has a great voice, and the guitar arrangement is excellent, although in this case, in our opinion, the comparison with Andy Irvine's version doesn't hold up. The latter is therefore preferable, although Bert's work is enhanced by artists of great depth: Richard Curran on violin, Peter Kirtlery and Dave Turner on guitar, and especially Steve Tilston on mandolin. John Jones sang "Rambling Boys of Pleasure" on his 2015 Westpark album, Never Stop Moving, a version closer to Planxty's than Jansch's. The ballad was arranged by Jones himself with Benji Kirkpatrick, son of John Kirkpatrick and Sue Harris. Benji plays guitar, accompanied by Al Scott's bouzouki, Lindsey Oliver's bass, and Sophie Walsh's harp. John Jones's voice has a distinctive timbre and surprises at the end with an unusual and original tonal variation .

3. WILLIE O' WINSBURY

"Willie O'Winsbury" (Roud 64, Child 100) is a ballad of Scottish origin that took root in southwestern England, where several versions have been collected. Many variations exist, and many artists have performed it: it dates back to at least 1775 and is known by several other names, including Johnnie Barbour and Lord Thomas of Winesberry. The tale is uplifting: a king is absent for a while, his daughter becomes pregnant by the hero, either William or Thomas (depending on the variants). The king threatens to hang him but is struck by his beauty and offers him his daughter's hand, gold, and land. The hero then agrees to marry the king's daughter but magnanimously refuses the gold and land that don't belong to him. The end. As always, leaving the task of analyzing the many variations to British experts, we will focus on the music, as always, with the aim of encouraging listening to this composition. Our journey begins with singer Nick Dow, who has lived a life that is nothing short of extraordinary. After a difficult childhood in South London, he has lived by his wits since leaving home at eighteen, traveling halfway around the world, living on the road with Traveling Folk and learning their songs, working as a television and film extra, radio host, painter, writer, folklorist, guitar teacher, and general merchandise dealer. In short, he's done it all, and it's a pleasure to hear his life story at concerts. Nick Dow sang "The Rich Shipowner's Daughter" on his 1986 album A Mark Upon the Earth, explaining why the song is better known as "Lord Thomas of Winesberry." Nick sings it solo, a warm, mellow, at times rough, deep, and, in short, intense voice. In the back cover notes, he writes: "This version is surprisingly different and has a melody that develops with each verse. It derives from the singing of Robert Cinnamond of Belfast, who had a striking singing style that can be traced back to the 14th century. The only other singer to have sung in a similar style was recorded on a wax cylinder in Lincolnshire by Percy Grainger in 1908 (Mr. George Wray). To my shame, I have not attempted to recreate the style of the original, but have focused on the narrative and reduced the tempo to a standard 4/4, allowing the melody to adopt new characteristics, thus (I hope) continuing the tradition without indulging in the humiliation of its transformation (an event we witness all too often in folk clubs, by singers more interested in themselves than in the song)." Your comment is striking in its polemic against those who sing for themselves and have no interest in the song. The topic is much debated, and points of view are very diverse. Two years before Nick, in 1984, Steve Turner sang Lord Thomas of Winesbury on his album Eclogue released by Fellside; here Turner's voice is accompanied by an organ sound that creates a particularly evocative atmosphere. But it was Sweeney's Men (Andy Irvine, Johnny Moynihan, and Terry Woods) who recorded "Willie o' Winsbury" in 1968 on their first LP. It is perhaps the most classic and beautiful of the versions, later covered by Pentangle. Andy Irvine sang it again on his 2010 album, Abocurragh, accompanied by Donal Lunny on guitar and keyboards, and Liam O'Flynn on uillean pipes and flutes. This version, too, is unique and beautiful. In the booklet, Andy made the following observation: "I learned this piece in the 1960s from Professor Child's collection of traditional ballads, which was like the Bible at the time (Child 100). I collected words from various versions and, searching for the melody, came across the one numbered 101 (Willie or Douglas Dale). I recorded it alone on Sweeney's Men's first self-titled album in 1968, accompanying myself on guitar." During the same years, Johnny Moynihan, a member of Sweeney's Men, was engaged to Anne Briggs, one of the finest voices in British folk, who also recorded "Willie o' Winsbury" in 1971 for her first solo album. Her voice is accompanied by Johnny's bouzouki, but, to be critical, the interpretation here is rather diaphanous, lacking depth. A.L. Lloyd, a renowned traditional music researcher who played a key role in the folk revival of the 1950s and 1960s, wrote the liner notes: "English singers have called this tune Johnny Barbary or Tom the Barber, but from Somerset to Aberdeen its defining characteristic is that the seduced girl's father, often, as here, the king, is so taken with the young man's appearance that he forgives everything. Cecil Sharp, publishing a West Country version, suppresses this lovely but ambiguous motif. Ah well, who cares. Johnny Moynihan adds his bouzouki to Anne's in the accompaniment." It's worth noting that significant "who cares" shifts the focus from the song's content to its performance. Pentangle would perform a very intense rendition of this tune the following year, 1972, on their album Solomon's Seal. Aside from Renbourn and Jansch's superb arrangement skills, the real star here is bassist Danny Thompson: his playing is as evocative as the darkness of the night, with aggressive lines that create emotional tension, occasionally breaking the rarefied atmosphere of bygone days. Dick Gaughan, inspired by Anne Briggs, also covered "Willie o' Winsbury" on his self-titled album released by Topic. His voice, accompanied by an open-chord guitar, is as warm and intense as ever. It's now 1978, and in the liner notes, the singer-songwriter states: "I never could have imagined singing this a few years ago, but I found a couple of verses for the middle section that change the emphasis of the song. I first heard Anne Briggs sing it on a different melody, but I don't remember where I got that melody. The guitar is tuned DADGAD, and the accompaniment is an idea my wife Dorris gave me." Interestingly, the story behind this song was illustrated by Sam Hester, a Canadian graphic designer from Calgary, who fell in love with Richard Thompson's music one day and decided to create a comic strip after listening to his version of "Willie O'Winsbury." Thompson drew inspiration for this song from Fairport Convention's "Farewell, Farewell," a band he played with, which uses the same lovely, haunting melody.

4. THE MAID ON THE SHORE

Whether the girl is beautiful or not (the difference lies in the different versions), the ballad "The Maid on the Shore" (Roud 181) still retains a powerful evocative power today, thanks in our opinion to the many voices and musicians who have interpreted it, especially along the path from Peggy Seeger to John Renbourn and Jacqui McShee. Originating in Newfoundland and New England, a region of the United States of America located in the northeastern part of the country, this song, taken from the vast repertoire of A. L. Lloyd, has its roots in the Gaelic tradition of which it is probably the English-language version. As for the meaning of the lyrics, we gladly leave to British philologists the thankless task of comparing the tiresome jumble of different interpretations, according to which our heroine becomes the bird-woman prostitute who bewitches unwary sailors; a young girl who frees herself from an unpleasant situation by resorting to a mixture of cunning and magic; a benevolent, or perhaps malevolent, or more simply amoral mermaid; and finally a woman who accepts the riches of a ship's captain but then chooses freedom and abandons him, taking all the gold and silver with her. Peggy Seeger sang "The Fair Maid by the Shore" on her 1957 Topic Eleven album American Ballads and Songs; the song was re-released in 1996 on the CD Classic. Peggy Seeger, released by the Fellside label. Alan Lomax, in the liner notes to the original album, writes: "Without accompaniment, Peggy sings one of the very few songs about mermaids available in the English language." It should be added that Seeger's solo voice in this performance is not only crystalline but reveals many nuances relating to density, intensity, vibrato, mellowness, and delicacy. This version would be revived by Jacqui McShee, who performed "The Maid on the Shore" in 1980 on The Enchanted Garden, an album by the John Renbourn Group released by Transatlantic and recorded by David Lord at Crescent Studios in Bath. The album did not generate much enthusiasm, even though it was later digitally reissued in Germany in 1989 and by Castle in 2005. The cover, beautiful but anonymous, comes from the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. However, McShee's voice is nothing short of splendid, both in its range and tonal variations, and the evocative power increases when considering the arrangement consisting of Renbourn's guitar, Tony Roberts' flute, and John Molineux's dulcimer. A very different version is that of Martin Carthy, who sang "Fair Maid on the Shore" in 1966 on his Second Album, a truly unforgettable album originally released by Fontana and including compositions such as "Bruton Town," "Farewell Nancy," and "Lord Franklin." Martin's voice is perfectly complemented here by Dave Swarbrick's violin, which becomes a natural extension. The same piece was later performed live with Swarbrick on June 16, 1966, at the Folkus Folk Club in Nottingham and later released on the CD Both Ears and the Tail (Gadfly editions). The concert was recorded by sound engineer Keith Brake. The recording was later recovered by Swarbrick, who produced this work in 2001, and then mastered by his friend Martin Jenkins at Barrelhouse Studios. The cover design is by Jill Banks. It is a dense and emotional concert, and the sound is good, except for the noise caused by an object falling heavily to the floor during the performance of "The Hens March." Martin Carthy wrote in the liner notes to the original edition that in the volume Tunes of the Child Ballads, Bertrand Harris Bronson cites "Fair Maid on the Shore" as a variation on the theme of the ballad "Broomfield Hill." But where he saw similarities is only his own understanding; we can't find them. We must also mention Eliza Carthy, who learned "The Maid on the Shore" from Cyril Tawney's CD and recorded it with the Ratcatchers (Jon Boden, Ben Ivitsky, and John Spiers) for her 2005 album, Rough Music. After two years of assiduous collaboration at live concerts, Eliza draws on Boden and Spears's exquisite arrangements for an album that is both listenable and enjoyable. The booklet is enhanced by Tom Howard's beautiful photographs. The performance of "The Maid on the Shore" is purely vocal, based on the a cappella chorus of the voices. Two final quotes. The first concerns the Askew Sisters, namely sisters Emily and Hazel Askew, who have become known as two of the most important interpreters and performers of British traditional music. The duo, a violin and an accordion, performed "The Maid on the Shore" in 2014 on the CD In the Air or the Earth (RootBeat) with a highly original arrangement: the lyrics in this case are taken from the numerous versions collected in the United States and Canada. The second quote concerns "I Ferrovieri," namely Chiara Pezzella and Francesco Moncalvo, who created a particularly interesting video of this song: https://www.facebook.com/reel/587274797690105

5. FOGGY DEW

"Foggy Dew" (Italian: "The Morning Mist") is a song originating in southern England but also popular in the southern United States during the 19th century. Cecil Sharp collected eight different versions of it, most of which come from Somerset. The lyrics tell of a relationship between a weaver and a girl he is courting. It appears at number 558 in Steve Roud's catalogue. It has been recorded by countless traditional groups and singers, making it difficult to provide an exhaustive account; therefore, we will limit ourselves to analyzing a few versions. Albert Lancaster Lloyd is known not only as a folk singer but above all as a researcher of traditional music who played a key role in the British folk revival of the 1950s and 1960s. In 1956, he recorded "Foggy Dew" after learning it from Douglas Morling of Eastbridge, Suffolk, and it was this recording that inspired a popular 2019 version by Ye Vagabonds, an Irish folk duo consisting of brothers Diarmuid and Brían Mac Gloinn, described as "the vanguard of a new wave of Irish folk." They won three awards at the 2019 RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards: Best Album (The Hare's Lament), Best Folk Group, and Best Track (which, incidentally, was "Foggy Dew"). The song was released as the second track on The Hare's Lament, a record kindly donated to me by two dear friends. I'd like to start listening there. Let's start by saying that there are much more complete versions of the song, which tell many more details of the story in many more verses, but this literally hypnotic interpretation leaves, as the liner notes say, more room for the imagination, and for this reason Brian MacGloinn preferred to keep it that way. The voice blends wonderfully with the sound of the bouzouki, which, combined with the background drone of a smallpipe, seems to "swell" until it fills the surrounding air. Martin Carthy performed "Foggy Dew" on his album Waiting for Angels, as well as at the charity concert recorded by Richard Valentine at Ruskin Mill in Nailsworth, London, on December 4, 2004. The accompanying CD was released in a limited edition and is now sold out. In the liner notes, Martin states that he heard the song from Mike Waterson, who occasionally sang it to the tune he had learned from a Norfolk singer, Phil Hammond. He adds: "The melody here is by the incomparable Harry Cox, who sang 'The Barley Straw' to that tune. Harry's voice is exquisite (always), but the emotion of that song doesn't leave me very happy, so I stole the melody and this is the result." Martin Carthy's performance is captivating for the fullness of his voice and guitar sound, thanks also to engineer Oliver Knight, who recorded the album at Panda Sound, and to producers Ben Ivitsky and Eliza Carthy, Martin's daughter. The emotional performance also owes much to the atmosphere created by Ivitsky's percussion and Martin Simpson's slide guitar. Other notable artists who have performed this ballad include Ewan MacColl (b. 1958) and Shirley Collins (b. 1958). McColl sang it with Isla Cameron on the album English and Scottish Love Songs, but also live in St. Louis, Missouri, in April 1986, and it was released in 1990 on her album Black and White. A.L. Lloyd, in the liner notes for this album, states that "originally, the girl in the song was afraid of a ghost, and the young man took her in his arms 'to keep the bogeyman away.'" The expression "morning mist" comes from a completely different song. This version is by an old Hampshire singer, David Clements." Shirley Collins, on the other hand, recorded the song twice in 1958 and 1959. The first version was released in 1960 on False True Lovers and in 2004 on her anthology Classic Collection; the other is the title track of her 1959/60 EP The Foggy Dew, later included in her 2002 compilation Within Sound. Alan Lomax noted that Shirley Collins preferred the version Sharp found in Calloway, Virginia, which is certainly less raw than the American one. Shirley herself said, "I think this is the most beautiful version of the song you can find. For me, it's the only version that doesn't have a sneer; it's really tender and loving." Her performance is as intense as ever, accompanied by a solo banjo. Finally, it's worth mentioning Dave Burland, who sang "The Shape of a Girl (The Foggy Dew)" in 2001 on Ashley Hutchings's CD Street Cries, released by Topic, which includes a collection of dark traditional songs set in the present day. This is also a very intense version, Dave's voice is accompanied by Joe Broughton's violin and Joe Giddey's cello.

Agostino Roncallo