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The Good Old Way
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The Good Old Way Topic Records TPSS412 (LP, UK, 1980) |
A TWOTONES Production;
Mastered by Tim Young, CBS Studios;
Design and notes by Tony Russell
Tracks
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Sleeve Notes
The Good Old Way is a collection of songs and tunes by some of the leading figures in British folk music. We hope that as well as being an enjoyable hour's worth of music it gives an impression of thegreat range of ideas and approaches found among today's folk artists.
Folk music has not always been valued enough for its sheer diversity. Popular images of the singer, or of the club where he or she performs, tend to be stereotypes, mostly of a kind that does justice to neither. In fact the folk singer is sometimes a remarkable person, and the folk club is certainly a remarkable institution.
Remarkable not because the entertaiment it offers is necessarily inexpensive, or well presented, or even especially good, though often it's all of these. It is direct, intimate, personal - but, above all, it is diverse. The folk club is one of the sturdiest shelters of both regional differences and personal singularity. Folk singers, at their best, are unashamedly and irretrievable from somewhere. Their songs and stances are rooted in specific communities and express a particular character.
We believe this is something to be kept and enjoyed, something valuable to the community as a whole precisely because it doesn't grow from the community as a whole. The record deliberately takes a sweeping view, but it all the time reminds us that what makes folk music eloquent is that it speaks in a dozen accents at once.
(Tony Russell)