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FOCUS ON TRADITION

Part One of a five-part set of linked reviews of traditonal folk song concerning source singers and the folk revival.

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Traditional folk music was not quite my first serious musical interest and I have not always been faithful to it. There was even a period in the late 90s when I rejected it almost completely. It has never-the-less informed and often dominated my musical interests for the greater part of my life. Thanks largely to the enthusiasm and influence of the artist and singer Andrew King, that interest has recently been rekindled, especially in the 'source singers' of the folk tradition.

The traditional folk music Revivalists of the 50s, 60s and 70s attempted to make folk music popular by adopting the most popular musical instrument of the day - the guitar - and they eventually produced electric folk rock which is where the Revival had reached when I discovered it in the late 60s.

Lurking behind this successful popularisation were archival recordings of source singers. These were 'humble' and typically elderly people whose best singing years were often behind them. They functioned as the source of words and melody but seldom of style.

For many years, the principal range of source recordings was the thematically organised set of vinyl LPs issued by Topic in the late 60s under titles such as Songs of Ceremony etc.

In 1998 Topic issued The Voice of the People series on CD, a 20-volume anthology of traditional music from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales compiled by Dr Reg Hall and providing an unrivalled resource for those interested in capturing the style as well as the content of solo, unaccompanied folk song.

But Topic is not the only company in this field. Thanks mainly to the accessibility of contemporary high-technology, a number of other source recordings have become available, more in fact than were available at the height of the Revival.

Rik - 5 July 2001

TOPIC RECORDS
http://www.topicrecords.co.uk

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