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Bright Phoebus

[ Roud - ; Mudcat 154689 ; Mike Waterson]

Mike, Lal and Norma Waterson, Tim Hart, Maddy Prior, and Martin Carthy sang Bright Phoebus in 1972 on Lal & Mike Waterson’s album Bright Phoebus. They were accompanied by Mike Waterson and Martin Carthy, acoustic guitars, Richard Thompson, lead guitar, Ashley Hutchings, bass guitar, and Dave Mattacks, drums. This track was included in 2002 on CD 2 of the Topic 4CD compilation The Acoustic Folk Box. Blue Murder (Mike & Norma Waterson, Eliza & Martin Carthy, and Coope Boyes & Simpson recorded it again for the tribute album Shining Bright: The Songs of Lal & Mike Waterson. An alternative recording from the same recording session was published in 2004 on the Watersons’ 4CD anthology Mighty River of Song. A 1971 demo version sung by Lal and Mike accompanied on guitar only was included in 2017 on the original album’s reissue’s bonus CD.

This is the Waterson Family singing Bright Phoebus on Friday, 2 October 2009 at Liverpool Philharmonic Hall:

Dave Burland sang Bright Phoebus in 1975 on his Rubber Records album Songs and Buttered Haycocks and in 2017 on his and the Awkward Squad’s FatCat album Okkard.

John Pashley’s Phoenix New Orleans Parade Band (John Brunton, tenor saxophone; Eugene Farrar, trombone; Philip Kampen, sousaphone; Howard Maude, bass drum; John Pashley, trumpet; Dave Stanley, snare drum) also sang Bright Phoebus in 2002 on the Topic tribute album Shining Bright: The Songs of Lal & Mike Waterson.

Lyrics

Mike Watersons et al sing Bright Phoebus

Today bright Phoebus she smiled down on me for the very first time;
For the very first time she smiled on me.
Today bright Phoebus she smiled down on me for the very first time;
For the very first time she smiled on me.

No more clouds, no more rain, gone the clouds, she smiled again.
Today bright Phoebus she smiled down on me for the very first time;
For the very first time she smiled on me.

This morning cockerel crowed and he woke me for the very first time;
For the very first time he crowed for me.
He flapped his wings and he strut around for me for the very first time;
For the very first time he crowed for me.

No more clouds, no more rain, gone the clouds, she smiled again.
Today bright Phoebus she smiled down on me for the very first time;
For the very first time and she smiled and she smiled and she smiled on me.