This year marks the 20th anniversary of the release of Martin Simpson’s‘The Bramble Briar.’
A native of Scunthorpe in Lincolnshire, Martin Simpson had left to live out his
American dream 12 years earlier, living in such diverse places as New Orleans,
upstate New York and Santa Cruz, California.
Already recognised as one of the
great acoustic guitarists of his generation when he left, he immersed himself
in American music and honed his skills playing throughout the USA. This album
heralded his return to the motherland with a bang. Universally lauded, it won
the BBC Radio 2 Folk Award for The Best Album of The Year in 2002. Martin was
also awarded the prize for Best Musician that year and again in 2004.
Tune in to Fine Folk on Lincoln City Radio 103.6FM
(www.lincolncityradio.com)
on Tuesday 16th February at 7pm to listen to Alan Ritson interviewing Eamon
O'Leary and discussing the imminent release of his latest CD/Digital Album 'The
Silver Sun' on February 26th with Reveal Records through Proper Music
Distribution.
This eponymous 1971
debut album by Anne Briggs, largely unavailable for 48 years, is widelyregarded as a pillar of any folk collection. Re-issued here as part of
the Topic Treasures series –
the label’s classic and notable albums expanded in deluxe format – with rare
images, new liner notes(by esteemed journalist and Briggs authority, Ken Hunt).
This debut album contains some of
Briggs’ most notable songs, including ‘Blackwater Slide,’ which she famously
taught to Bert Jansch, (who recorded it on his ‘Jack Orion’ album) and ‘Go Your
Way,’ co-written with Jansch. As with the 1971 original, the sleeve here
contains song notes by the highly-regarded English folk singer and collector of
folk songs, A.L. Lloyd.
Anne Briggs began
singing in local folk clubs in her teens. In 1962, she became part of the
Centre 42 – a leftist group of artists, writers, actors and musicians whose aim
was to make arts and culture accessible to the masses. Ewan MacColl first heard
Briggs’ remarkable voice and persuaded her to join the group and tour. There
Briggs met MacColl’s comrade, A.L. ‘Bert’ Lloyd who became her mentor,
producing her debut EP, ‘The Hazards Of Love,’ and recording Briggs for Topic
landmark albums, ‘The Iron Muse’ and ‘The Bird In The Bush.’
Briggs went on to
record a follow-up album, ‘The Time Has Come,’ for CBS which, at the time, sold
poorly and was rapidly deleted. Two years later, she recorded again but blocked
the subsequent album’s release, disheartened as she was by her singing. She
retired from the limelight, seemingly for good, although Topic’s 2019 re-issue
of this debut heralded a huge resurgence of media and fan interest in this most
reclusive of folk doyennes.
The Official Folk Albums Chart Show —
Tonight 1st February 2021 - 7pm GMT
Folk on Foot
website, YouTube and podcast feed. Commissioned by English Folk Expo and
compiled by the Official Charts Company.
See which albums have made the Official Folk
Albums Chart this month, with Folk on Foot. Packed with stories, music and
insights, this is always a joy to watch. You might also spot us making an
appearance this week…
Free to access, but you can support the podcast by becoming a patron.
The Topic Records "Introduction" series of compilations are the ideal way to familiarise yourself with some of Topic Records’ biggest artists and they make great gifts for any budding folk fans.
An Introduction to June Tabor & An Introduction to Anne Briggs on Topic Records...
The second two releases in the Topic Introduction series are available now/..
An Introduction to June Tabor (TICD003) An introduction to the magical work of June Tabor. Covering songs from her many record releases on the Topic Record label between 1976 to 2011. June Tabor is quiet simply one of Britain’s greatest interpreters of popular Folk song and has been described by Elvis Costello as ‘The great voice of English folk music’.
Track list: 1. While Gamekeepers Lie Sleeping / 2. The Band Played Waltzing Matilda / 3. The Devil and Bailiff McGlynn / 4. No Man’s Land / Flowers of The Forest / 5. Unicorns / 6. The Scarecrow / 7. Aqaba / 8. Hedger And Ditcher / 9. Shallow Brown / 10. A Place Called England / 11. Maybe Then I’ll Be A Rose / 12. Oh! Alas, I Am In Love / 13. The Rigs Of Rye / 14. Finisterre / 15. The Dark End Of The Street
An Introduction to Anne Briggs (TICD004) An introduction to the magical work of Anne Briggs. Tracks include early recordings featured on albums ‘The Iron Muse’ and ‘The Bird In The Bush’ as well as material from her Hazards of Love E.P. and stunning solo album simply titled Anne Briggs. There is also the inclusion of tracks from her long-lost album ‘Sing A Song For You’.
Track list: 1. The Recruited Collier / 2. The Doffing Mistress / 3. Polly Vaughan / 4. Rosemary Lane / 5. Gathering Rushes In The Month Of May / 6. The Stonecutter Boy / 7. Blackwater Side / 8. Go Your Way (My Love) / 9. The Cuckoo / 10. Reynardine / 11. Young Tambling / 12. Maa Bonny Boy / 13. Sing A Song For You / 14. The Bonambuie / 15. Tongue In Cheek
The 14th release in Topic’s acclaimed ‘An
Introduction To…’ series celebrates the classic English folk singer,
fingerstyle guitarist and fiddle player, Nic Jones. Compiled by Nic
himself, the album includes sleeve notes by Colin Irwin (fRoots/The Guardian)
and two previously unreleased 2013 studio tracks, ‘Now’ and ‘I Only Spoke
Portuguese.’
Nic Jones has won awards galore, has made some
fantastic albums and played with the likes of June Tabor, Martin Carthy,
Richard and Linda Thompson, Peter Bellamy and Shirley Collins to name but a
few. There is no doubt he would have made even more fantastic music had it not
been for a tragic car crash that robbed this world of his magic touch. 1980 saw
the release of his classic album Penguin Eggs on Topic Records but less than
two years later, fate took a disastrous turn. After a gig and while traveling
home his car collided head-on with a brick lorry. Virtually every bone in his
body was broken. The shock waves reverberated around the entire folk world. The
battle to rebuild his body and his life was long and tortuous. He would never
play again, that was for sure.
Except. Except, eventually – well, almost thirty
years eventually – he did.
Coerced, encouraged, protected and inspired by his remarkable wife Julia, he
was able to put the pieces back together again. First lured to play a few
festivals and then in 2013 with the help of his son Joe Jones and Belinda
O’Hooley, record a few new studio tracks, two of which appear on this release
for the first time.
Nic insisted on compiling this introduction to his
work, a mix of material from the Topics classic Penguin Eggs and Game Set Match
albums, tracks included are ‘Humpback Whale’, ‘Seven Yellow Gypsies’, ‘Dives of
Lazarus’ as well as the magical never released before 2013 studio recordings of
‘I Only Speak Portuguese’ and ‘Now.’
I think it’s best to have Nic have the last word.
“I think this selection of tracks represents very
well my working repertoire during the years I was a professional performer. In
music, I have always liked stories, encapsulated in a rhythmic way. I have
enjoyed the visions, true or false, black or white, philosophical or emotional,
played to the best on my old guitar… So here are a few of those songs that will
take you all around the world and, hopefully, set your own visions alight” – Nic
Jones January 2019
Martin Simpson celebrates the release of his new album, Home Recordings, this Friday with an online album launch. See below for details and links to buy tickets.
See this special online concert in conjunction with the
Martin Simpson releases his new album "Home Recordings"
on 13 November and the latest single from the album is out today, find out
more below.
Martin
Simpson Home
Recording Out 13 November
Martin
Simpson’s next album was going
to be a live one. But the lockdown put paid to all that. Even so, this cloud
does have a silver lining.
And what a silver lining it is. Unable to play to audiences
(Martin can average over 100 gigs a year) or go into a recording studio, the
only solution was to record a new album at home.
Were it not for the gaggle of geese flying overhead (you can
hear them on ‘Lonesome Valley Geese’) and the birds happily tweeting on the
closing track, you perhaps wouldn’t know this wasn’t a studio album. Recorded
by his regular producer, now neighbour, Andy Bell, the aptly-named, ‘Home Recordings’
finds Martin singing and playing, literally amongst his beloved guitar and
banjo collection and out on his Peak District-facing porch.
Find the first two singles "October
Song" and "The
Times They Are A-Changin'"
“Martin is solo
throughout except for some sparingly used backing vocals and the sound of
Home Recordings somehow takes me back to when I first heard him playing as
support to Steeleye Span in the early 70s. I think this record will be close
to hand for quite some time.” - Folking.com
“This is an album to listen to over and over and which could only
really be improved upon had there been some interference from the cat.”
- Northern Sky (★★★★★ 5 stars)
““Home Recordings” is an unassuming title - but untold riches lie behind the
front door.”
- Rocking Magpie
Topic Records on Spotify
If you're a
Spotify listener, please consider following Topic Records,
Sunday 25
October - 7.30pm GMT (Broken Down Gentlemen)
Sunday 1
November - 7.30pm GMT (Death And Other Animals)
Good Honest Music
Join Paul Sartin, Benji Kirkpatrick and Saul Rose as they
present exclusive performances of all three of their albums in full, as well as
exploring the backgrounds to the albums and giving you a chance to ask any
burning questions!
Tickets
for the full concert series £35, individual concerts £15. Gig is streamed via
Zoom.
Wrackline, the new album from Fay Hield, looks at traditional stories involving the
‘otherworld’ of fairies, ghosts and the animal kingdom, the new work explores our emotional responses to the space between their realm and our own. Working through imaginary space to make things real. “We all search to connect with others – we are entranced by those we cannot connect with and find ways to tell their stories to explain our own.”
The album is set to be released this September and will contain some interpretations of traditional songs and responses to carefully selected songs exploring their meaning and drawing on personal experience and beliefs.
Fay is accompanied on the new album by a stellar cast of some of the finest folk musicians working today; Rob Harbron, Sam Sweeney, Ben Nicholls and Ewan McPherson.
Signed copies of Wrackline are available to pre-order from our store on Propermusic.com.
This eponymous 1971 debut album by Anne Briggs, largely unavailable for 48 years, is widely regarded as a pillar of any folk collection. Re-issued here as part of the Topic Treasures series - the label’s classic and notable albums expanded in deluxe format with rare images, new liner notes (by esteemed journalist, Ken Hunt) - ‘Anne Briggs’ heralds a huge resurgence of interest in this most reclusive of folk doyennes.
This debut album contains some of Briggs’ most notable songs, including ‘Blackwater Slide,’ which she famously taught to Bert Jansch, (who recorded it on his ‘Jack Orion’ album) and ‘Go Your Way,’ co-written with Jansch. As with the 1971 original, the sleeve here contains song notes by the highly-regarded English folk singer and collector of folk songs, A.L. Lloyd.
Limited edition 180gm gold vinyl back in stock on December 6th 2019.
We were thrilled to see Vision & Revision: The First 80 Years of Topic Records at number 3 in the Folk rundown of MOJO's Essential Guide to 2019.
The deluxe double album features the cream of British folk artists interpreting a song of their choice from our vast back catalogue and includes never-before-released tracks by Martin Simpson, Richard Thompson, Lankum, Peggy Seeger, John Smith, Sam Lee, Martin Carthy, Olivia Chaney, Lisa O’Neill, Oysterband, Nancy Kerr, Chris Wood, Josienne Clarke & Ben Walker, Lisa Knapp, Kitty Macfarlane, Sam Kelly & The Lost Boys, Emily Portman & Rob Harbron, Rachael McShane & The Cartographers, Eliza Carthy & Olivia Chaney and The Oldham Tinkers.
It's your last chance to visit the Folk In Focus exhibition of iconic photographs which runs until the 5th January at Cecil Sharp House.
Focusing on the seminal artists who’ve helped shape contemporary folk music as we know it, the exhibition includes era-defining shots of Anne Briggs, Shirley & Dolly Collins, The Watersons, Nic Jones, June Tabor, Martin Simpson, Eliza and Martin Carthy, Peggy Seeger, Ewan MacColl and many more. Featuring photographs by Brian Shuel, John Harrison, Elly Lucas, Judith Burrows, Dave Peabody, Eammon O’Doherty and George Van Win, the exhibition runs until 5th January 2020 at Cecil Sharp House, 2 Regent’s Park Road, London, NW1 7AY. Free entry.
On Tour
Martin Simpson continues his Rooted tour throughout November and into December. Rachael McShane & the Cartographers have announced new dates in March and April next year and Eliza Carthy heads out with the Restitute Band in April.
Eliza Carthy & TRachael McShane & The Cartographers 01 April 2020 - Halifax, Square Chapel Centre 02 April 2020 - Manchester, The Stoller Hall 03 April 2020 - Pontardawe, Pontardawe Arts Centre 05 April 2020 - Basingstoke, The Haymarket 08 April 2020 - Bristol, St George’s 09 April 2020 - Oxford, The North Wall 10 April 2020 - York, The Crescent 11 April 2020 - Settle, Settle Victoria Hall 06 June 2020 - Portsoy, Portsoy Town Hall
