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

"...special edition of a new book Shirley is currently writing. Part songbook, part travelogue, part psychogeography, By the Mark On His Hand will explore her relationship with the English countryside she so dearly loves."

um! still need to track down a copy of ameica over the water.

Anyone kicked on on this yet?

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/shirleycollins/the-ballad-of-shirley-ppcollins

Anyone kicked on on this yet?

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/shirleycollins/the-ballad-of-shirley-collins

Oops, sorry.

totally looking forward to the new book!
will pre-order!

13 days left on this Kickstarter and not even halfway to goal! Whatta bummer! Cmon people! I'm pledging 50 - lotsa great stuff in that tier

Shirley O)))

America Across The Water was a great read so would love another volume of memoir.

Hadn't heard about this new thing until I just saw updates on this thread

Yeah, I'm in for 50 too. Personally I'm not sure the rewards are properly described or pitched correctly tbh - 50 is a fair bit for the first really worthwhile tier, noting the 30 tier was added quite recently, which feels too high for a generic entry cost.

(See also the GBP-O Vodun film KS, which has ridiculous tiers.)

I wanted to get a tier for my dad as a present but explaining to him that the present I just bought him, means he gets a book in 2015 that I paid £30 for and he doesn't even get a copy of the film he has backed would derail any inclination I might have of backing this

I agree that the rewards, how they are communicated and the reason for the money is fuzzy as all hell.

If they want backing for the film, the rewards need to be tied to the film, not books/compilation CDs/ 7" repressings.

do a download of the compilation for £5, an ebook for £10 and a blu ray of the doc for £15.

I had to unfollow the movie on twitter because I was starting to feel really irritated with the persistent requests/retweeted requests
shirley is one of my favorite singers in the whole world ever and seeing her name over and over and over and over with a request for money was bumming me out

they've added a new £15 tier for a d/l of the film, but yeah the reward structure is a bit of a mess. I backed at £30 for the book a few days back… but I have no recollection of how I decided that was the tier for me. I like books I guess.

I see Tibet's weighed in today on his mailing list with a plea for more backers.

They're getting closer, ~£5k to go. I backed for £30 too, would have been nice to get the film download included with that but oh well a book may or may not appear through my door long after I've forgotten about it.

They made it.

And have said the first stretch goal is at £50k. This is a really badly run KS.

I never thought they would make it. Did loads of people pile in or was it a minority who paid the bulk?

I only just got my first taste (aside from Current 93 guest star stuff) a week ago with the Shirley & Dolly Harvest 2-disc collection. Really loving Anthems In Eden.

Sold two £1000 pledges and a £2500 one. A couple of days ago someone paid £800 or thereabouts for a £200 reward.

i too am fatigued by the kickstarter folks' constant stream of email and facebook updates. i still gave them money because why not.

but why are they still soliciting money after having reached their goal?

Shirley en español!!

http://cultura.elpais.com/cultura/2015/02/17/actualidad/1424198534_860391.html

track listing for that shirley tribute

Track Listing

SIDE A
Bitchin Bonnie Billy Bajas - Pretty Saro
Trembling Bells - Richie's Story
Stewart Lee & Stuart Estell - Polly On The Shore
Johnny Flynn - Rambleaway
Lee Ranaldo - The Plains Of Waterloo

SIDE B
Alasdair Roberts and David McGuinness - A Blacksmith Courted Me
Graham Coxon - Cruel Mother
Meg Baird - Locks And Bolts
Angel Olsen - The Blacksmith
Ela Stiles - The Murder Of Maria Marten

SIDE C
Stuart Estell - Just As The Tide Was Flowing
Bonnie Dobson and The Lords of Thyme - Hares On The Mountain
Rachael Dadd - Polly Vaughan
Josephine Foster - Love Is Pleasing
The Owl Service and Laura Cannell - Edi Beo
Jackie Oates - Banks Of The Bann

SIDE D
Crying Lion - Shepherd's Arise
Ned Oldham - The Blacksmith
Ulver - Poor Murdered Woman
Sally Timms With The Mini Mekons - Go From My Window
C Joynes - It Was Pleasant And Delightful
Sharron Kraus - Gilderoy (Heart's Delight)

SIDE E
Joe Murphy - Adieu To All Judges And Juries
Slate Islands - Proud Maisrie
Sophie Williams - Charlie
Rozi Plain - Long Years Ago
Paul Smith - Geordie
Olivia Chaney - Oxford Girl

SIDE F
Orlando and Tom Furse - My False True Love
Barbarossa - Dearest Dear
Belbury Poly - Cambridgeshire May Carol
Eric Chenaux - Just As The Tide Was Flowing
Tunng and Farao - Never Again
Findlay Brown - Sweet England

& the details:

An album of Shirley Collins covers featuring contributions from Graham Coxon, Lee Ranaldo, Bitchin Bonnie Billy Bajas (Bonnie Prince Billy), Stewart Lee, Eric Chenaux, Josephine Foster, Johnny Flynn, Stuart Estell, Trembling Bells and many more..

"Her music did kick off for me a whole sort of... renewed passion or interest or love of my own country's music. Thank you Shirley!" - Graham Coxon

"Shirley has kept us in the loops of unexpired lyric power, sibling collaboration, and musical continuance and heritage. And what a smile." - Will Oldham

"Even though I am a folk fan, I like lots of different music and Shirley's in the top ten of all artists for me, irrespective of what they're supposed to be classified as.”- Stewart Lee

"Shirley is deserving of every accolade that's thrown at her... she's the best."- Linda Thompson

"There are these unique voices, these unique songs that would not have survived if it were not for Shirley... she has kept that entire tradition alive." - Alan Moore

Earth Recordings are extremely proud to announce the release of ‘Shirley Inspired’. July 2015 will see Shirley Collins celebrate her 80th year - an age that would seem frankly ridiculous for a woman as spritely as her, had it not been for all she's achieved. From her seminal field-recording trip to America to her lauded musical career; from her role as historian and protector of the folk tradition, to the very fact that this record can exist - more than half a century after her career began - all of these things are testament to the breadth of her influence.

And so we arrive at 'Shirley Inspired'. It would be almost lazy to the talk about the resurgence of folk music or the 'new folk' sound - the recordings found here are so much more than that. This is the very essence of folk - songs handed down from person to person, interpreted by modern musicians - as a way of keeping these songs alive.

Make no mistake these are modern versions; we've the soulful dirge of Bitchin Bonnie Billy Bajas' 'Pretty Saro'; the rabble-rousing minimalism of Stewart Lee (yes him) and Stuart Estell's 'Polly On The Shore'; the prism-like vocals of Ela Stiles' 'Murder of Maria Marten'... even Graham Coxon's traditional affair evokes something altogether more rebellious, his clawing, feral style is much in evidence here. This compilation was an inheritance of sorts: borne to us from the kickstarter appeal that funded 'The Ballad of Shirley Collins' - a film that is currently being made about the First Lady of Folk Music's life. We here at Earth now have the privilege of giving these songs a tangible existence in the shape of this special recording.

The woman herself had this to say: "I've been overwhelmed by the generosity of the singers and musicians who responded to the invitation to be part of the Shirley Inspired collection. Their choice of songs is fascinating, the interpretations of them fresh and various, beautiful and sometimes challenging! Listening to these recreations shows me again that English folk music has timeless power and significance."

Proceeds of this album go directly towards the production of 'The Ballad of Shirley Collins', a film by Fifth Column. Tracks kindly donated by the musicians involved.

As someone pointed out upthread these are not "Shirley Collins covers", they are new recordings of traditional English folk songs which Shirley Collins also happens to have recorded. No-one, least of all Shirley herself, would claim that these are "her" songs.

not a dig at you tylerw but at whoever wrote that blurb

finally we get bitchin bajas, ulver and the mekons on the same comp

hey that's fine by me.
and yeah, obviously not "covers" -- i guess "an album of traditional English folk songs inspired by the Shirley Collins repertoire" isn't catchy enough for a press release.

well presumably they'll be emulating collins et al's arrangements of these traditional songs which were not always the most strict trad interpretations

where's david tibet?!

also what are owl service like

For some reason (envy?) I can't stomach the thought of listening to this tribute album. I think it's also bc I'm emotionally attached to the original arrangements and I am too emotionally feeble to let new ppl perform those arrangements. "Love is Pleasin" is perfect for J Foster though, that's for sure.

listening to a promo of it -- it's good!
meg baird an early highlight. lee ranaldo a lowlight. and i love lee ranaldo.
graham coxon is pretty convincing in this mode, too. is his solo stuff along these lines?

Interview in today's Observer:

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/may/31/shirley-collins-sing-past-generations-standing-folk-music

nice read, thanks.

from the comments: In the summer of 1961, as a favour Shirley typed the manuscript of Len Deighton's debut novel The Ipcress File for his agent Jonathan Clowes, whom she knew through sister Dolly and Austin John Marshall. 0_o

!!

she's been getting more press in the past two years, it seems, than in all the previous decades combined. and she doesn't even really sing anymore. weird.

& http://thequietus.com/articles/18060-shirley-collins-interview

yes, i need to sit down with that one. so great to see this sort of coverage!

just finished reading, really good. wotsit & sons!

this quote from the guardian interview is golden:

Collins then toured the country alone, catching overnight trains home to make the school run. “There were so many adventures,” she says. “I was picked up one night as I sat on Bradford station, just me and my banjo. Two really heavy Yorkshire policemen asked me what I was doing. They thought I was a prostitute!” Her next thought is classic Collins. “I thought, ‘How many banjo-playing prostitutes are there?’”

I like this from that Quietus interview
"SC: I've always had this feeling, you see, that the music is so wonderful that it deserves the best accompaniment it can get. You can't damage it. The songs are never at risk, either with Dolly or with Albion or with Fairport. It was just enhanced all the time, but given a new way of bringing it to other people who wouldn't listen to it if it was just sung as it had always been. It needed some freshness and youth and modernity to it, but without losing its essence, without losing its English soul. And that was just enhanced by those musicians. Because they got it as well, whereas some people just don't get it. "

which reminds me of a thing I heard from Gadamer about the continual reinvention of tradition keeping it fresh. It would always be of some level of relevance to the current generation and have some reflection of that rather than being monolithic and abstract.

can't agree with the pentangle dis, but given her aversion to jazz... makes sense.

that harvest showcase with the edgar broughton band, et al. must have been a sight/sound to behold.

happy 80th birthday, shirley! there's a big party in her honor at the southbank centre -- are any of you nearby that place?

LL i don't know if you saw this fb post from david tibet:

A truly and utterly astonishing birthday celebration for The Secret Queen Of England Shirley Collins last night at London's South Bank. Too much beauty to recount, but it was moving beyond my words to hear Shirley sing "Washed Ashore" and "Death And The Lady", accompanied by Ian Kearey at the afternoon discussion between Shirley and the lovely Stewart Lee—my favourite "comedian". And Trembling Bells were wonderful too...more about it all sooner or later.
I utterly recommend too the programme for the event, with so many beautiful photos of Shirley and friends, and a 7" too. It doesn't seem to be online yet, but email Fledg'ling for details

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jul/06/all-in-the-downs-review-a-memorable-shirley-collins-celebration

those early shirley collins 7" eps topic and fledg'ling have been putting out are really nicely done, btw.

(also belated hb to sc!)

wowowow she sang "death and the lady"?!
amazing

Thinking I should probably go to this: http://www.musicglue.com/cecilsharphouse/events/31-oct-15-shirley-collins-birthday-bash-cecil-sharp-house/

I forgot about this thread when this turned up on Dime
http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=536363

All IN THe downs the 80th Birthday celebration compered by Stewart Lee with the 2nd half being a run through of No Roses featuring Trembling Bells and 2 members of Blur as the backing band.

First half of this is a set of individual Shirley related songs sung by various people including Stewart Lee and John Kirkpatrick who also appears in the No Roses set.

Have known about this for a while, but since it's now been mentioned in the new Mojo...

***NEW ALBUM ON ITS WAY SOON***

Yeah since that is the only mention about the Mojo feature so far, there is a several page feature on her in there tying in with the 80th birthday. NOt as good as the Ugly Things piece that first really turned me onto her but possibly a decent introduction.
Looking forward to the book anyway, so hope it happens. Maybe I need to buy the 3cd tribute to contribute to costs for that.

Have been wondering since reading the Mojo piece where I heard about Anthems In Eden first since I know I picked it up on lp in the late 80s for some reason. But thought the Ugly Things article was my main introduction to her. Could just be that Within Sound came out not that long afterwards so I suddenly became a lot more familiar with her.
I need to pick up another copy of that lp though.

Is she singing on the new album?

Saw her Lomax talk last year and she was just fucking brilliant company. It was a hot night and a tiny venue and towards the end she was clearly struggling until she eventually announced she was going to be sick. She disappeared for ten minutes then came back and did a Q&A. What a lady.

Is she singing on the new album?

I don't really know any great detail about it cos I only heard it secondhand, but I believe it's new recordings.

would be odd if she *wasn't* singing, wouldn't it? guess i'd take an instrumental banjo record from shirley.