Shirley Collins. Classic. Dud is not an option here, I'm afraid.

One hates to be dreary and pedantic about these things but I neither liked nor disliked Shirley Collins straightaway. As it is, I love her albums but I find it difficult to listen to her voice over an entire album - I think it's the fact that she sings slightly out of tune all the time.

i think i've come around to thinking that the first side of "anthems in eden" is her best work overall. though there are things on "power of the true love knot," "adieu to old england" (this is the one that no one ever seems to mention), and "for as many as will" (and several others, though not the first two 59/60 lps) that are magnificent.

A heart-rending emotional journey into the cultural roots of traditional American Music with legendary archivist Alan Lomax. Highly respected English folk singer Shirley Collins describes her year long stint as Lomax's assistant and their diligent work uncovering the traditional music of America's heartland. They covered Virginia, Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas and Georgia - along the way encountering Mississippi Fred McDowell, Muddy Waters and many others.

i wish she'd write about her own music and her relationship to traditional english music and its various revivals. that interests me as much if not more (if only because the america stuff has been covered so well by so many).

ok i have a noisy cat begging for my attention...be back later.

"dada is correct abt "rise up like the sun". "poor old horse" is probably worth the price of the album on its own.

did i say that? i dunno.

i don't like shirley with drums really. i don't like "amaranth" much, largely because of the echoey production.

i like shirley with dolly's arrangements, basically.

Amaranth is probably the worst (read least great) shirley collins music I have. I like the folk-rock arrangements on "no roses" tons, but I think it's probably enough of shirley w/that type of sound. Have you got the "etchingham steam band" cd amateurist? That's kind of...interesting, but not great.

you know i'm sort of suspicious of english folk-rock (i've really lost the taste for fairport/sandy denny/et al) in part because it's admirers don't seem to be critical at all; i've hardly read a bad review of a british folk-rock album. it doesn't seem like a world that encourages really serious musical experimentation, as opposed to kitschy "ambitious" stabs (like peter bellamy's "transports," arr. dolly collins, which i'm really NOT getting into).

all this to say that "no roses" sounds like a failure to me, in fact it almost pains me to listen to. but damned if i can find a single negative review of it.

i really don't think shirley has the audience she deserves.

Have you read the (rather lengthy) interview she did Johan @ perfect sound forever? real interesting read. i want to hear more of her albums. we had a copy of anthems in eden at the store and it was great. the only one i own is power of the true love knot. greaaat stuff. i wanna read her book, also.

ha, try criticizing Steely Dan or Tusk on here and let the hate roll down on you. Also, post thompson/denny Fairport gets lots of criticism, especially from the 80s on (and most of it is deserved)
I think part of the reason it gets a free pass to the extent that it does is because it's so small & insular a scene, I mean I don't care for polka, but I'm not going to spray hate on amazon reviews and such. If Brit folk-rock had ever broken in a big way, non-believers would go out of their way to take it down. This music really just appeals to a small section of the public, those who get it love it, those who don't pay it little mind.

it doesn't seem like a world that encourages really serious musical experimentation, as opposed to kitschy "ambitious" stabs (like peter bellamy's "transports," arr. dolly collins, which i'm really NOT getting into).

well it is FOLK music, to an extent, the "bold" experimentation was to deviate from the acoustic norm and dip into the "tainted" rock scene. Trad based things are rarely open to too much tinkering, part of the weakness, also part of the charm.

all this to say that "no roses" sounds like a failure to me, in fact it almost pains me to listen to. but damned if i can find a single negative review of it.

Well the Murder of Maria Marten is anything but a failure, it is just a MONSTER track. The rest doesn't quite excite as much, but it is certainly above average folk-rock.

Sounds like it's not that you're "suspicious" of English folk rock so much as you just don't like it!

you know i'm sort of suspicious of english folk-rock in part because it's admirers don't seem to be critical at all

I think a lot of people who discovered it (esp. outside the UK) and were just extremely enthusiastic about it and some of their critical faculties may have gone out the window temporarily

had never heard her, but picked up the new Harvest Years comp as an introduction...have to admit, took a little while to "adjust" my ears (some of this stuff is so archaic as to make Fairport Convention sound like dubstep..I know, I know: what did I expect?), but now that I'm into it, I'm into it!...(she was quite the looker, too)...

Yeah I don't know how that comp is sequenced (or what exactly is on it) but I could see some of her stuff being a bit "unadorned" for ears trained by folk rock. I have almost every album (not the boxed set though.) Love, Death & The Lady is my favorite, probably.

Happy birthday Shirley! 75 today.

Happy birthday Shirley!

Tomorrow is Shirley's birthday!!

Jul 5th * �7.00 * SHIRLEY COLLINS' BIRTHDAY PARTY

Now here is something really special!
In the first half, Shirley will be presenting a shortened version of her latest multi-media show, You Never Heard So Sweet.
In the second half she will introducing performances by friends including some of the best known names on the folk scene:-
THE COPPER FAMILY
MARTYN WYNDHAM-READ & IRIS BISHOP
RATTLE ON THE STOVEPIPE
NAOMI BEDFORD & PAUL SIMMONDS
IAN KEAREY & DAN QUINN (of DUCK SOUP)

Happy happy happy happy birthday, Shirley!

Oh shit, that's my friend Ian. Whereabouts is this thing happening?

ROYAL OAK
3 Station Street,
Lewes
BN7 2DA

If you go, please tell Shirley happy birthday for me!

listening to love, death & the lady: happy birthday shirley collins and may there be many more!

That venue is only about 3 miles away from where I'm sat right now, which makes me feel all the more lame for inevitably not going.

When I lived in Brighton I used to go there quite a lot for the folk nights with Shirley, the Copper Family, Martin Carthy and so on. Great little place.

Never been! The thought of bowling up by myself to that sort of cosy, intimate space gives me the willies.

http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~tinvic/intro.jpg

"Here, budge up a bit Norma would you..."

I only ever went on my own, primarily because no-one else would go with me...

Damn, you should've given me a shout.

Not going = not cool

If I had a zillion dollars, I would fly across the ocean to celebrate Shirley Collins' birthday with her and the Copper family in a tiny intimate venue.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SHIRLEY!

She's 77 today btw.

She looks about 10 years younger though! There were some nice birthday celebration photos of her online somewhere or other.

Her beauty always shines forth like a fountain of snow!

Yes, she sounds great! Looking forward to hearing her sing Canadee-i-o

love it — i think her voice sounds great now. obviously lower range, but it's still unmistakably Shirley.

So there's at least one song on the new album about Paddington then?

i thought this was fantastic, apparently written in the 60s by her first husband, rediscovered on some ancient tape of her and Davy Graham and rerecorded with Nathan Salsburg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aa2oIMUKIPM

interview / favourite albums thing in the quietus:

https://thequietus.com/articles/28545-shirley-collins-interview-favourite-music?page=1

Awesome.

One of the many awesome things about that interview is that a couple of the albums she picks have album covers so awful or generic yet I still want to hear them all right now. Can't judge a book, etc.
http://s3.amazonaws.com/quietus_production/images/articles/28545/i__1594058957_resize_460x400.jpg

lol i have that cd but i never added it to my collection in discogs because my god it's ugly (just like 95% of folk cds tbh). nic jones is super great though

She's a treasure <3

Can vouch for Lankum's Between The Earth And Sky being really great, dark and droney. As for the rest (apart from Vaughn Williams) I've no idea but am ready to be surprised.

her new 2020 song came up recently in Discovery and blew me away, now I forget the name of course

great interview!!! classic shirley <3 <3 <3
https://toneglow.substack.com/p/022-shirley-collins

really nice interview, still so classic. new album is great!

i liked the part about how she and her sister used to sleep in the metal box to protect themselves from air raids
poignant and gnarly, just like a good folk song!!

I was just totally bowled over by Heart's Ease, and I've never really listened to much Collins before. I think I've heard No Roses and maybe one Shirley & Dolly one? -- looking forward to exploring more. I suppose I was poised to be emotionally moved by the fact that on the cover she looks quite a bit like my late grandmother, but there's definitely something special about hearing an octogenarian sing these old songs right now, or any songs maybe (I also like the new Dylan much more than I expected to). Enjoying that interview now, thanks LL!

yes this is really really nice, RIYL other recent "nu-trad-folk" releases like Lankum (unsurprising but cool to learn she's a fan), BLH or some Unthanks. it's been said but she really does sound amazing for her age.

public service announcement - she's doing a concert at the barbican next weekend, which you can watch via a paid livestream:

https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2021/event/shirley-collins-the-lodestar-band-live-from-the-barbican

Ooooooh! Thanks for the alert!

Wowza

been rinsing this one lately

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Sn3ZgtIsFw

Usual stab of anxiety whenever this thread gets bumped? CHECK!

But aye, what a glorious album.

sorry Chinaski, but she has a new album coming out in May!

https://shirleycollins.bandcamp.com/album/archangel-hill

One of the most important voices in British folk music Shirley Collins returns with Archangel Hill, her third album for Domino. Due for release on May 26th, it showcases another peerless collection of songs chosen by Collins, some from traditional sources but others from favourite writers of hers.

Produced by Ian Kearey - Shirley Collins’ musical director - the arrangements were shared between Collins, Kearey, Pip Barnes, as well as Dave Arthur and Pete Cooper, players from The Lodestar Band.

All of the songs on Archangel Hill were recorded last year except for “Hand And Heart”, which was taken from a live performance at the Sydney Opera House in 1980 and features an arrangement by Shirley’s beloved and talented sister Dolly Collins.

Hooray! Go Shirley!

yay. had somehow not noticed dave arthur played on the last two albums.

also just learned that there's been a new & updated iteration of the electric muse book/comp including the circa folk roots/new routes track that i think only came as a bonus on the deluxe version of heart's ease.

https://www.discogs.com/release/19452991-Various-The-Electric-Muse-Revisited-The-Story-Of-Folk-Into-Rock-And-Beyond

Yaaaaay get it Shirley!!

https://shirleycollins.bandcamp.com/album/archangel-hill

nobody? very good record imho