We thought – my generation of musicians – that we'd all get old and grey and there'd be nobody left. And then all this new generation of young musicians came up, and we all said, 'Thank God.' So if people say traditional music has got to be like that, or like that, then you're going to freeze it. You may as well put something in a museum or bury it in the ground in a time capsule and dig it up so many years later to see what it was like then. You can't do that with tradition. You have to hope each generation brings their own thing to it, so it keeps going forever." But the songs that affect me most on this record are sung by Lal and Mike alone. On ‘Christmas Day Is Drawing Near’, Lal sings this moralising Christian song in a voice that suggests a heartbreaking submission to its sentiments. She surrenders to its mournful minor key, underlining the terrors of subservience. You hear the strange movements of the song’s melody in her songwriting in Bright Phoebus seven years later. Jo Freya’s Lal Waterson Project: Lal Flower of Sweet Strabane Norma Waterson: Bright Shiny Morning; Norma Waterson on The Folk Awards 2001 Flowers of Knaresborough Forest, The Lal & Norma Waterson: A True Hearted Girl; Pareles, Jon; New York Times News Service (10 December 1987). "A NEW VOICE FOR AN OLD TRADITION". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved 6 January 2022.

Norma Waterson on Bespoke Songs, Lost Dogs, Detours & Rendezvous: The Songs of Elvis Costello Bitter Withy, The The Watersons: Sound, Sound Your Instruments of Joy; The Watersons perform in the original classic lineup – Lal, Mike and Norma Waterson and John Harrison. The Watersons: Frost and Fire (CD reissue) Cornfield Lal Waterson & Oliver Knight: Once in a Blue Moon Country Life The Watersons: For Pence and Spicy Ale; Oliver Knight on The Folk Collection T Stands for Thomas Lal & Norma Waterson on The Watersons: For Pence and Spicy Ale; The Watersons: Mighty River of Song Ploughboy, The (The Khaki and the Blue) The Watersons: A Yorkshire Garland;Mike Waterson on The Watersons: Mighty River of Song Meeting is a Pleasure Lal & Norma Waterson: A True Hearted Girl; Norma Waterson on The Watersons: Mighty River of Song Cold Coasts of Iceland Coope Boyes & Simpson: Twenty-Four Seven Columbine Lal Waterson & Oliver Knight: A Bed of Roses; Blue Murder: No One Stands Alone Rumpsy Bumpsy Mike Waterson on From the Humber to the Tweed Rumpsy Bumpsy Toralee Mike Waterson on The Watersons: Mighty River of Song Run to Catch a Kiss Marry Waterson & Oliver Knight: The Days That Shaped Me The songs are roughly set around the calendar, as the album’s subtitle says, and as noted by A.L. Lloyd in his original liner notes: This latest version comes in a sleeve which is a replica of the original, with minor adaptations, complete with the original sleeve notes from A.L.Lloyd. For many, however, the fact that this vinyl edition has been re-cut at 45 rpm will be the most important factor. I am no sound expert, but having consulted producer and mastering maestro Tony Poole he confirms the fact that 45rpm will always be higher fidelity than 33 and a third, and the fact that each side of the album is less than 20 minutes long means optimal quality, notwithstanding the fact that the entire album only has vocal information and no bass or instruments which would need compressing.

Belated release of the 1965 BBC documentary on video. Later released on DVD as part of the Mighty River of Song box set (2004) The Watersons were an English folk group from Hull, Yorkshire. They performed mainly traditional songs with little or no accompaniment. Their distinctive sound came from their closely woven harmonies. They have been called the "most famous family in English folk music". [1] Style [ edit ] Jo Freya’s Lal Waterson Project: Lal Birds Will Still Be Singing, The Norma Waterson: Norma Waterson; Peter Bellamy & The Watersons on The Watersons: Mighty River of Song I Wish I Had Never Lal & Norma Waterson: A True Hearted Girl I Wish You Were Here Again Mike Waterson on Bob Davenport: The Common Stone Blue Murder on The Watersons: The Definitive Collection Al Bowlly’s in Heaven Norma Waterson: The Very Thought of You All For Me Grog The Watersons: The Watersons;The Watersons: A Yorkshire Christmas Her White Gown Lal Waterson & Oliver Knight: Once in a Blue Moon Hilda’s Cabinet Band The Watersons on Richard Thompson et al.: Hard Cash; The Watersons – from left: John Harrison, Norma, Lal and Mike Waterson, in the studio in 1964. Photograph: Brian Shuel/Redferns The Watersons: Mighty River of Song Brave General Wolfe The Watersons: Mighty River of Song Brave Ploughboy, The The Watersons: Green Fields Brave Wolfe The Watersons: The Watersons; L Land Where You Never Grow Old, The Blue Murder: No One Stands Alone Leaves in the Woodland, The Norma Waterson on The Transports at Whitby Let the Bulgine Run The Watersons: Mighty River of Song Light Dragoon, The The Watersons on Folkfestival ’76 Dranouter; The Watersons: Early Days All I Have Is My Own (The Brisk Lad) Mike Waterson on The Watersons: Mighty River of Song Altisidora Lal Waterson & Oliver Knight: Once in a Blue Moon Amazing Grace The Watersons on Peter Bellamy: Both Sides Then;

I was a 17/18 year old hardcore country blues fan in the West country when Frost and Fire came out,” remembers the musician and former fRoots editor, Ian A. Anderson. “It was one of the first English folk records I heard that really impressed me, partly because to my blues-attuned ears it sounded really weird, it was gutsy, had an unfathomable wildness and clearly some sort of “authenticity” – whatever I thought that was. I don’t think the provenance of the songs entered my consciousness at the time – it was just a good noise. I only heard this stuff because folk clubs were where country blues players got booked, and so your ears got opened to other possibilities. The weirder the better. I thought Shirley Collins was weird, and it was only after a while I realised it was because these people sang in English – local English – rather than fake American, Scottish or Irish, as was the norm.” The Watersons recording Frost and Fire in Bill Leader’s bedroom. Photo credit: Brian ShuelFrost And Fire: A Calendar of Ritual and Magical Songs is re-released on 28.10.2022 on Topic Records. Of course, ‘Harvest Song: We Gets Up In The Morn’ brings the song cycle to autumn. Then, ‘Souling Song’ touches the pulsed history of All Souls, All Saints, and (my much beloved) always spooky Hallowe’en.

In their post-court hearing press release, Celtic Music also promised a “programme of re-releases to cast new light on valuable folk music performances from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s” in 2018. It remains eagerly awaited. Mike Waterson on The Watersons: Mighty River of Song Broom of Cowdenknowes, The The Watersons on New Voices; Now, for the novice: This album was a big bang 1965 Melody Maker Album of the Year that spawned Shirley and Dolly Collins’ Anthems Of Eden, No Roses by the Albion Band, Pentangle’s everything, Fairport’s Liege & Leif, Mike and Lol Waterson’s’ Bright Phoebus, Mr. Fox, Robin and Barry Dransfield, Steeleye Span, anything on the Fellside label, the Incredible String Band, Hedgehog Pie, Trees, solo singers like Vin Garbutt, Roy Harper, Pete Morton, and everything else, including my current Midwest Americana occasional craving for Marmite, a Theakston Old Peculiar, and a McVitie’s Digestive. Yeah, the village green grass is always greener. What’s New for the 20th of August: Some favorite mysteries; jazz, country, RT, and a musical grab bag; a hoedown, a big dragon, Hellboy, and of course ice cream! The Watersons: Mighty River of Song Wilson’s Arms Lal Waterson & Oliver Knight: Once in a Blue Moon;

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Norma’s family band, the Watersons, helped to spearhead the folk revival in the 1960s, playing London’s Royal Albert Hall and touring across the UK. She managed them, prioritising the values of real life above any professional commitments: one week of gigs were always followed by a week off so they could practise together, read books, and spend plenty of time with their children. Her younger sister Lal, brother Mike and she were its core, and they sang together as they had ever since they were children (they were brought up by their grandmother, from a Gypsy family, after their parents died young). Their voices had a bone-jolting beauty together: the title of their first album, Frost and Fire, conveyed their elemental power, as did the ballads they chose to sing on it. Various Artists: New Voices: An Album of First Recordings by Harry Boardman, Maureen Craik, The Waterson Family (1965) And speaking of resurrection, rebirthed record collectors take note: This Frost And Fire gets a timely revisit with Topic Records issuing the vinyl pressing at 45rpm “ for optimum sound quality”. Then, ‘The Derby Ram’ (with lead voice by Michael) resurrects the rather pagan choral tradition of worshiping animals and, in this case, butchering a rather large ram. The lyric is laced with rather dark jocund humour: (to give just a sample): “ Now all the men in Derby came a-begging for his eyes/To punt down the Derby Streets, for they were football size”. It’s easy to forget how folk collectors were also editors with agendas. In some ways, it doesn’t matter here. The Watersons’ voices don’t suggest any penchant towards pliancy. They reject any sentimentality and schmaltz. They are unabashed, unpretentious dirty projectors.