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The Old Songs

Martyn Wyndham-Read et al.: The Old Songs (Greenwich Village GVR 225)

The Old Songs
Martyn Wyndham-Read et al.

Greenwich Village Records GVR 225 (LP, UK, 1984)

Recorded at Foel Studios, Llanfair, Caereinion, Powys during February 1984
Engineered by Brian Snelling
Mastered at P.R.T. Studios, London by Tony Bridge
Photography by Nigel Gatward, West Street Studios
Sleeve design by Chris Groom
Hand-lettering by Meryl Upton

Musicians

Martin Carthy: vocals [1, 4, 8, 10-11];
Martyn Wyndham-Read: vocals [2, 5, 7, 10];
John Kirkpatrick: concertina, vocals [3, 9-10];
Sue Harris: hammered dulcimer [6, 8];
Maggie Goodall: vocals [1, 4, 6-7, 9-10, 12];
Mick Doonan: flute;
Bob Thomas

Tracks

Side 1

  1. [MC, MG] Early One Morning (Roud 12682) (2.13)
  2. [MWR] Cockles & Mussels (Roud 16932) (3.37)
  3. [JK] Lavender Blue (Roud 3483) (3.59)
  4. [MC, MG] Rio Grande (Roud 317) (3.28)
  5. [MWR] Minstrel Boy (Roud 13867) (2.35)
  6. [MG] What Can the Matter Be (Roud 1279) (3.11)

Side 2

  1. [MG, MWR] Highland Laddie (The Blue Bells of Scotland) (Roud 13849) (2.58)
  2. [MC] The Ash Grove (Roud V18199) (2.55)
  3. [JK, MG] No, John (Roud 146) (2.41)
  4. [MWR, JK, MC, MG] Shenandoah (Roud 324) (3.40)
  5. [MC] John Peel (Roud 1239) (3.26)
  6. [MG] Skye Boat Song (Roud 3772) (4.08)

Tracks 1, 4, 8, 11 trad. arr. Martin Carthy;
Tracks 2, 5, 7, 10 trad. arr. Martyn Wyndham-Read;
Track 3 trad. arr. Sue Harris;
Track 6 trad. arr. Sue Harris, Maggie Goodall;
Tracks 9, 12 trad. arr. Maggie Goodall

Sleeve Notes by Martyn Wyndham-Read

Some notes just for the record. I’ve had this one in mind for a few years, and with the help of Martin, John, Sue, Maggie, Mick and Bob, Brian & Keith, it has finally appeared. Without their huge enthusiasm, and professionalism, it would just have stayed a nutmeg on a pear tree. My heart-felt thanks to all concerned.

These are all “old songs” that most of us will have learnt at school or in our early years, and are often our first encounter with “Folk Songs”. I believe that they have stood the test of time, and also of some of the treatments they have had to endure. We have performed them with instruments not generally associated with their other musical arrangements—hammered dulcimer, concertina, Irish pipes, Northumbrian pipes, melodeon, whistle, and guitar; we hope thereby that the younger generation will hear these sounds and become interested, and that they will want to discover more about traditional music and songs, and the wide range encompassed by the label “Folk”. But this record is not aimed solely at the young; it is meant for the enjoyment of all.

These songs were obtained from the vast collections of folk songs in the library of Cecil Sharp House, London.

I hope that you will have as much enjoyment with this record as we have had in the making of it.

Martyn Wyndham-Read