Produced by Ian Robb and James Stephens;
Recorded by James Stephens at Stove Studio, Chelsea, Quebec, Canada;
Additional recording by Make Lee at BlueMoon Studios, Banbury, Oxfordshire, and And Donald Person for Golden Hind Music, Schenectady, N.Y;
Mixed by David Bignell and James Stephens at Heat of Sound, Ottawa;
Mastered by David Cain at Soundmaster Studios, Ottawa;
Liner notes by Tim Radford;
Back cover photo by Charlie West;
Illustration and design by Paul Brierley, Firefly Design, Devon, England

Musicians

Tim Radford: vocals;
Finest Kind (Ian Robb, Ann Downey & Shelley Posen): additional vocals [1-2];
Ian Robb: English concertina [2, 10, 12, 16-17], additional vocals [17];
James Stephens: mandolin [2, 4], octave mandolin [4], fiddle [9-10, 17], cittern [10, 12, 16], fretless bass [10];
Brian Sanderson: sousaphone, pocket cornet and E-flat horn [2];
Chris Leslie: fiddle [6];
Jeff McClintock: piano [9];
John Roberts: Anglo concertina [14]

Tracks

1. Come, Come My Friends (Roud 1677) (2.13)
2. John Barleycorn (Roud 164; G/D 3:559) (4.06)
3. The Bird in the Bush (Roud 290) (2.01)
4. The Three Ravens (Roud 5; Child 26) (7.17)
5. Fair Maid of Australia (Roud 1872) (2.17)
6. Winter Man (2.48)
7. New Year (2.07)
8. The Month of January (Roud 175; Laws P20; G/D 6:1176) (4.34)
9. Cupid’s Garden (Roud 297; G/D 5:970) (6.05)
10. The Brokendown Gentleman (Roud 383) (4.24)
11. Love in June (Roud 1202) (2.02)
12. Lymington Round & Round (3.54)
13. The Spotted Cow (Roud 956) (2.33)
14. Washing Day (Roud 3747) (3.03)
15. George Collins (Roud 147; Child 42, 85) (3.32)
16. The Rolling of the Stones (Roud 38; Child 49) (3.45)
17. Here Is My Home (3.04)

All tracks trad. except
Track 6 Chris Leslie;
Track 7 Jehanne Mehta;
Track 12 Rick Keeling;
Track 17 Si Kahn

Liner Notes

Traditional folk music means many things to many different people. However, most agree that it is the product of the hearts and minds of ordinary people, transmitted orally within a community and gradually molded to fit the time. Having both place and purpose, devoid of commercialism, traditional music is something to perform because it has roots.

Although I’d been singing for years, including rock bands in the 1960s, in 1970 my life changed when a great friend and major influence Dave Williams introduced me to the Gardiner and Hammond Brothers folk song collections from Hampshire and Dorset (via the great books by Frank Purslow), and then played me recordings of Harry Cox. Suddenly there was a greater purpose for singing, and access to a new method of expression. My own roots took hold: a Hampshire son of a Hampshireman, singing unaccompanied songs collected in Hampshire, songs from some of the villagers and townspeople who lived in places very well known to me while growing up, and from an area where all my family lived for generations.

This feeling for sense of place continued and was indeed enhanced on moving in 1973 to Oxfordshire, the home of Morris Dancing. It happened by becoming involved with the revived village dance traditions in both Adderbury and Kirtlington. Singing suffered in this move, as more and more time was spent dancing. But vigorous dancing is a young man’s game and as age and hard pavements take their toll on limbs and joints, so we revert to more sedentary passions. On moving to the U.S.A. in 1996, the feeling for place—old place—grew into a wish to be even more linked to the past and home. So singing takes hold again. This recording is an expression of where my life has been and where it is now, its songs reflecting many of the places and people I’ve been fortunate to encounter over time. A love of these stories in song, often huge and mysterious and so connected to where they came from, is my major motivation. Some songs are old and continue to be old, some draw their inspiration from a time gone by, and some have no great age at all, but are just connected to people met or heard or lived with. I hope you enjoy them all with me, whatever your own definition of folk music may be.

Songs, toasts and recitations collected by George B. Gardiner in 1906-07 from the Hampshire gardener George Blake (1829-1916).

Produced by Bonnie Milner and Tim Radford;
Mastered by Mark Thayer at Signature Sound, Pomfret, Connecticut, USA;
Front photograph: ‘Emery Down 1904’, © The Frith Collection

Album booklet

Musicians

Tim Radford: vocals (unaccompanied except [27]);
Jan Elliott: concertina, tenor and bass recorders;
Jeff Davis: fiddle, mandocello

Tracks

1. Young Taylor, Huzza (Roud 2411) (2.47)
2. ’Twas Over Hills (Roud 406; Laws M13; G/D 5:1012) (2.45)
3. The Orange and The Blue (Roud 279; G/D 6:1138; Henry H165ab, H624) instrumental / Our Queen toast (1.15)
4. Here’s Adieu to All Judges and Juries (Roud 300) (2.50)
5. The Broken-Down Gentleman (Roud 383) (2.13)
6. Rosemary Lane (Roud 269; Laws K43; G/D 7:1429; TYG 10) instrumental (1.19)
7. My Bonny, Bonny Boy (Roud 293; G/D 6:1141; Henry H215) instrumental (1.33)
8. Jealousy (Roud 218; Laws P30; G/D 2:210) (3.58)
9. My True Love Is Lost (Roud 587) (2.47)
10. In a British Man o’ War (Roud 372) (4.13)
11. Under a Rose (Roud 17506) (2.26)
12. Sir Hugh (Roud 73; Child 155) instrumental (1.13)
13. I Am a Sailor (Roud 568; Laws P34; G/D 2:341) (8.04)
14. Lord Bateman (Roud 40; Child 53L; G/D 5:1023; Henry H470) instrumental / May a Tree toast (1.27)
15. The Jolly Highwayman (Roud 1553) recitation (2.06)
16. George Blake’s Alphabet (Roud 17824) (2.03)
17. Forty Long Miles (Roud 608; G/D 5:983; TYG 36) instrumental (1.00)
18. Maria (Roud 1478) (3.16)
19. Charles Dickson (Roud 526; Laws K11; G/D 1:23; Henry H571) (2.06)
20. Attention Give Both High and Low (Roud 1796; Laws N16) instrumental (1.25)
21. Colin and Phoebe (Roud 512) (3.21)
22. George Collins (Roud 147; Child 42, 85) (3.04)
23. The Lost Lady Found (Roud 901; Laws Q31) instrumental (1.31)
24. Adieu to Old England (Roud 1703; G/D 6:1083) (2.29)
25. The Rocks of Scilly (Roud 388; Laws K8) (3.12)
26. Churches and Chapels toast / A Virgin Most Pure (Roud 1378) instrumental (1.54)
27. Hark Hark Let Us Behold (Roud 17508) with recorder accompaniment (2.00)
28. To Drink toast / Drink Old England Dry (Roud 882) (1.26)

All tracks trad.

Maritime songs collected by George B. Gardiner in Hampshire, England, 1905-1909

Produced and recorded by John Roberts and Lisa Preston;
Cover illustration: ‘Fleet Forming Line Abreast at Spithead’, wood engraving, published in Illustrated London News, 1853;
Artwork by Paul Marsh

Album booklet

Musicians

Tim Radford: vocals;
Jacek Sulanowski, Tom Goux: chorus [1, 4, 7, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20-21];
John Roberts: Anglo concertina [3, 10, 13, 17, 21], harmony vocals [6, 8], chorus [21]

Tracks

1. Boney (Roud 485) (1.13)
2. I Am a Brisk Young Sailor (Roud 1042) (3.07)
3. From Spithead Roads (Roud 17781) (2.00)
4. Blow, Boys Blow (Roud 703; G/D 1:2) (2.22)
5. Beautiful Nancy (Roud 18525) (3.41)
6. The Loss of the Ramillies (Roud 523; Laws K1; G/D 1:28) (2.22)
7. Sally Brown (Roud 2628) (2.24)
8. Come, Come, My Brave Boys (Roud 17782) (2.24)
9. The Fair Maid of Bristol (Roud 17811) (2.59)
10. Our Ship She’s Called the Convoy (Roud 4706; Henry H539) (2.25)
11. The Sailor’s Bride (Roud 13808) (1.32)
12. A Long Time (Roud 318) (2.20)
13. The Greenland Whale Fishery (Roud 347; Laws K21; G/D 1:9) (2.58)
14. Rio Grande (Roud 317) (4.16)
15. Lovely on the Water (Roud 1539) (4.02)
16. Come Roll the Cotton Down (Roud 2627; G/D 1:3) (2.15)
17. From Sweet Dundee (Roud 613) (2.19)
18. Ranzo (Roud 3282) (2.49)
19. The Margaret and the Mary (Roud 2464) (4.42)
20. Whiskey for My Johnny (Roud 651) (1.38)
21. Homeward Bound (Roud 927; G/D 1:5; Henry H53a) (2.16)

All tracks trad.