Martin Carthy with Jon Wilks: 12 December 2023

Posted by Kevin Boyd, 20 December 2023

This was the last of the year’s shows with Jon Wilks (a couple more are scheduled for the new year), and although I wasn’t present in Sheffield, the show was streamed via Live To Your Living Room. 

Disclaimer: I was travelling home while watching the stream and lost connection a couple of times while travelling through the various tunnels between Bradford Interchange and Manchester Victoria, so I may have missed a few details, but the following were definitely discussed: 

Soho in the 1960s; Russell Quaye and Hylda Sims; learning that the 1959 call up had been cancelled; the ‘Birth of the teenager’ (JW), the Skiffle Cellar and Les Cousins at 49 Greek Street and the people who played there; Paul Simon contacting Brentwood folk club and offering himself for £5 a week; Americans learning to perform to an audience; “if he’s rubbish you can sack him”; The Sound of Silence being an ‘accidental smash hit’; competition between folk singers who all had a ‘signature piece’; recording his first album; signing to Fontana Records and being ‘interviewed’ by the director of Philips; wanting to sing folk songs; producer Terry Brown; why did he drop High Germany from his repertoire?; going through his repertoire during lockdown; meeting Bob Dylan at the King & Queen while playing with the Thamesiders; Long John Baldry singing at an Alexis Korner gig; Ollie Beak; Dylan singing Talking John Birch Society Blues, receiving a standing ovation at the King & Queen but ‘[going] down like a lead balloon’ at the Singers Club; Scarborough Fair influencing Girl From the North Country; Lord Franklyn influencing Bob Dylan’s Dream; Scarborough Fair was ‘my show-off piece’; how Pauls Simon ‘paid tribute ‘ to Martin’s version; signing away Scarborough Fair; Dorothy Carthy inviting Paul Simon for dinner and Art Garfunkel arriving; the ‘emotional baggage’ (JW) attached to singing Scarborough Fair; Mark Anderson singing Scarborough Fair and being recorded singing Bonny Moorhen by Alan Lomax in Weardale; playing Scarborough Fair with Paul Simon at the Hammersmith Apolo (the ‘only time [he’s] played it right.

The second half covered: Travis picking; the ‘Carthy thumb’ (JW); Big Bill Broonzy; Libba Cotten and ‘Freight Train’; guitar tunings; the ‘milk white steed’ in folk songs; the opening lines of ‘Famous Flower of Serving Men’; Napoleon songs; Eliza and ‘The Grand Conversation on Napoleon’; How there are ‘no Wellington songs’ in the tradition, while there are ‘dozens of laments for Napoleon’; the Imagined Village and Paul Weller; Simon Emmerson.

First Half:

1. Greek Street (Jon Wilks)
2. High Germany 
3. Scarborough Fair

Second Half:

1. October Song (Jon Wilks) 
2. Lovely Joan 
3. Nancy of London 
4. Dream of Napoleon
5. My Son John

These shows with Jon have been great and I really hope they get to do some more (there are, in fact, a couple of shows scheduled for January 2024, but that appears to be the all for the time being). Jon is the perfect host: knowledgeable, enthusiastic and intuitively knowing when to intervene to drive the conversation along or when to simply allow Martin to lead the conversation. 

Martin Carthy with Jon Wilks: 20 November 2023

Posted by Kevin Boyd, 21 November 2023

The second half of the Remember Me To The One Who Lives There tour with Jon Wilks made its way to the Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool last night. The basic structure of the evening was similar to some of the earlier gigs on the tour. Familiar ground was occasionally covered but there were enough unusual and distinctive detours to make everything feel fresh and interesting, and the whole thing felt a little bit tighter and more structured than previous shows.   

The first half covered Russell Quaye and the City Ramblers Skiffle Group playing at the Skiffle Cellar in Greek Street, Soho in the 1950s; Martin’s delight at discovering that ‘the call-up’ (conscription to the armed forces) was scheduled to end in the late-50s; a frustratingly brief mention of meeting two of The Beatles in Bob Dylan’s hotel room (we never learned the extent of their interaction or, crucially, which two Beatles were involved); meeting Dylan for the first time in late-1962 (Martin believed it was ’63, but Jon insisted it was ’62 – Jon is definitely right!); the infamous samurai sword incident; playing The Spinners’ Liverpool folk club in 1961; the rivalry between The Spinners and The Campbells (and, by extension, The Dubliners and The Corries); Bob Dylan not quite learning the guitar to Scarborough Fair; Dylan liking Lord Franklin and Scarborough Fair, leading to the writing of Bob Dylan’s Dream and Girl From The North Country; playing the Hammersmith Apollo with Paul Simon (in 2000) and the long conversation they had after that gig; Martin being asked by Ruth Barrett* to sing Scarborough Fair for the 2014 Remember Me BBC drama.

* Martin was a little unsure of the surname here – I heard (and my notes read) ‘Ruth Garrett’, but I may have mis-heard – either way, a quick IMDb check confirms the surname as ‘Barrett’.  https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2418470/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cr10

In the second half they discussed the ‘travis picking’ (or ‘clawhammer’, as Martin sometimes refers to it) guitar technique; the influence of Big Bill Broonzy on Martin’s guitar playing; Martin’s love of Brownie McGhee; the Les Cousins club in Greek Street and some of the people who played there; Paul Simon first visiting the UK and offering his services as a resident folk singer; Simon moving to the same address (184 Haverstock Hill) as Martin and Dorothy Carthy; Davey Graham and the DADGAD tuning; how Martin’s frustration with DADGAD led to him developing his current CGCDGA tuning; playing Old Tom Of Oxford with the Bampton Morris team; how CGCDGA is similar to standard cello and viola tunings; the significance of the ‘milk-white steed’ in traditional songs; his two stints playing with Steeleye Span; how he loves the Steeleye Please To See The King album; re-joining Steeleye in the late-70s with John Kirkpatrick and the ‘elves incident’ (“No elf shit”); playing electric guitar; how old (traditional) songs tell ‘uncomfortable truths’; re-writing the ending to Prince Heathen; the song Cruel Mother – Jon referenced Cecelia Costello’s version and Martin referenced Lucy Stewart’s version; Martin’s 64-year career; Napoleonic songs. 

First Half:

1. Greek Street (Jon Wilks)
2. High Germany
3. Scarborough Fair

Second Half:

1. October Song (Jon Wilks)
2. Lovely Joan
3. The Dream Of Napoleon
4. When I Was A Little Boy

The tour continues into December, with a couple of dates now added in January 2024:

Jon discusses the song Cruel Mother in more detail with Rosie Hood in the Old Songs podcast here:  

The Old Songs Podcast: Ep13 – ‘The Cruel Mother’, ft. Rosie Hood

You can hear Martin’s version of Scarborough Fair from the 2014 BBC drama Remember Me below:

Martin Carthy with Jon Wilks: 4 November 2023

Posted by Kevin Boyd, 5 November 2023

The Remember Me To The One Who Lives There tour with Jon Wilks continued to the Square Chapel in Halifax on this night. The format was a little different to the earlier Manchester gig, partly by design, as tonight’s show consisted of two halves with an interval rather than a single, longer performance, and partly through Martin improvising much of the latter part of the evening.

The first half touched on some familiar subjects but covered some new ground: growing up in Hampstead; recording his first album with Terry Brown (including the news that Topic Records will re-issue that album on vinyl in 2024); how Paul Simon became involved in the British folk scene. A diversion around Robin Williamson regarding October Song led to Jon confessing to knowing the song and promising to sing it in the second half, which he did.

The second half included an extended discussion of Child Maurice (aka Bill Norrie); lengthy praise for Norma and Eliza, with particular reference to how Norma was always right in her decisions regarding songs and song choice and how Waterson:Carthy really started to make sense and come alive for Martin once he began to realise this; particular praise for Norma’s singing of Death And The Lady; the importance of Big Bill Broonzy on Martin’s guitar style; the discovery of Elizabeth Cotten and her unique guitar technique; the part Lovely Joan played in Martin finally hitting upon his unique guitar tuning. This led to him being invited to play Lovely Joan, which he quickly followed with When I Was A Little Boy – a highlight for me because I absolutely love his guitar in this and I suspect it followed Lovely Joan as they both contain references to a ‘milk-white steed’, which he had highlighted in the earlier introduction. At this point, he would normally have been expected to sit down and continue the discussion with Jon, but he obviously wanted to play more so he remained standing and continued the conversation from the front of the stage. He discussed Eliza’s love on Napoleon songs, which led to him singing The Dream of Napoleon. He sang A Stitch In Time as a request from a friend in the audience and finished with John Barleycorn.

The tour continues with more shows towards the end of November and at the beginning of December.

First Half:

1. Greek Street (Jon Wilks)
2. High Germany
3. Scarborough Fair

Second Half:

1. October Song (Jon Wilks)
2. Lovely Joan
3. When I Was A Little Boy
4. The Dream Of Napoleon
5. A Stitch In Time
6. John Barleycorn

Martin Carthy with Jon Wilks: 20 October 2023

Posted by Kevin Boyd, 21 October 2023

This took place at the beautiful Hallé St Peters in Ancoats as part of Manchester Folk Festival and was the first night (with the exception of a brief try-out at the Sidmouth Festival earlier in the year) of Martin and Jon’s Remember Me To The One Who Lives There tour. It was also my first Martin Carthy gig in a little over four years, which is the longest gap between Martin gigs for me since the late-1980s. 

These shows take the format of an extended interview (or more accurately, an informal discussion) interspersed with a handful of songs. Although unscripted and apparently unrehearsed, Jon does his best to steer the conversation towards a series of specific points that are accompanied by anecdotes that may be familiar to some, but which are clearly unknown to a significant section of the audience. 

Tonight we heard (amongst other things) about Lonnie Donegan’s part in the 1950s skiffle boom and his influence on a generation of guitarists; the night Martin heard Sam Larner sing Lofty Tall Ship at Ewan MacColl’s Ballads and Blues club on Edgware Road; how he started singing High Germany again for the first time in years during lockdown*; a little about guitar technique, tuning and ‘Travis picking’; how Paul Simon didn’t really steal Scarborough Fair; a slightly rambling diversion on how Martin saved the life of Eliza’s pony; a spoken recitation of the first half-dozen-or-so verses of Famous Flower Of Serving Men**; how When First I Came to Caledonia is almost the perfect song and how Norma claimed this (and other songs) from Martin; and a brief history of Napoleon in English and Irish folk songs.

I’ll be at two further shows on this tour, so it will be interesting to see how the format develops and what other familiar (or otherwise) anecdotes are incorporated into future shows. 

I didn’t take my camera to this show, but I did manage to grab a few iPhone snaps. 

Set List:

1. Greek Street (Jon Wilks)
2. High Germany
3. Scarborough Fair
4. The Dream of Napoleon
5. John Barleycorn (encore)

* I’m not convinced of the accuracy of this, as evidenced by several set lists from 2016 to 2019 on this site.

** This provoked a weird response in me, which I won’t elaborate on here, but which I’ve never experienced before and was somewhat disconcerting.

Martin Carthy live stream, 8 December 2022

Posted by Kevin Boyd, 12 December 2022

Here’s a link to the YouTube clip of Martin’s recent streamed gig at Rosslyn Court in Margate.

Interestingly, the second song is High Germany, which he claims he started singing again after lockdown, but I have set lists here showing that he sang this on each of the five solo gigs I saw between 2016 and 2019. It was one of a handful of older songs he resurrected during that period in what I had assumed was preparation for a new album. Still waiting!!

Set List:

• Her Servant Man
• High Germany
• Scarborough Fair
• A Sailor By My Right [Flame Of Fire]
• Don’t Go In Them Lion’s Cage Tonight
• Willie’s Lady
• Lovely Joan

Martin Carthy at the BBC

Posted by Kevin Boyd, 26 January 2022

Partly in response to the recent news that the Carthy family have been struggling to survive the pandemic, Colin Harper has started the process of pulling together the necessary strands for a ‘Martin Carthy at the BBC’ box set. Colin is crowd-sourcing any available off-air recordings that may be gathering dust in attics and spare rooms.

If you have any recordings that are in reasonable shape, particularly any ‘Folk on 2’ episodes from c. 1981-90 (but basically anything that was originally broadcast on the BBC), please get in touch with Colin. Don’t assume they’re already in the archive, lots of pre-21st century recordings have been wiped or only exist in substandard off-air recordings.

Below is Colin’s social media post and underneath that, in case anyone has a stash of recordings with dates but no contents specified, I’ve listed what I think is a complete list of all known Folkweave or Folk on Two shows that featured Martin. These all include Martin solo unless stated. I have some of the post-1987 episodes and a smattering of the earlier stuff and I’m already in touch with Colin. Happy hunting!!

If you have anything that fits the brief you can contact Colin via his website or at: colinharper123 [at] gmail [dot] com

Colin Harper wrote:

In the early 20th century, folk music enthusiasts went bumbling around Suffolk looking for people of a certain age who might have held on to old songs… In the early 21st century, the equivalent (in this case, me) go bumbling around social media looking for people who may have held on to old cassettes of Martin Carthy BBC broadcasts…

Yes, a ‘Martin Carthy at the BBC’ box set is in the very earliest of stages – expressions of interest from artist and label, but nothing more than that as yet. So expect Sue Grey’s report first… The chicken/egg aspect of this is to establish ‘what’s there’. I’ve already roughed out five discs of off-air material from three online sources, and I anticipate a list of BBC-held material in the next few days.

From experience of working on several similar sets, anything from roughly 2005 on is likely to be retained at the BBC; anything prior to that is a lottery.

Where I’m hoping people around here might be able to help is with Martin’s ‘Folk on Two’ appearances. There were 12 studio sessions and broadcasts from clubs/festivals between 1981-90, for instance. ‘Folk on Two’ stuff never seems to appear in the BBC database of audio survivals… but lots of people taped episodes off-air at the time and these cassettes might well be in your loft. Have a rummage – let’s see if we can crowd-source a sensational tribute to the great man!

FOLKWEAVE:

24 November 1965
1 August 1974
26 September 1974 (Watersons – possibly with MC)
27 March 1975 
25 September 1975
December 1979

FOLK ON 2:

16 February 1981
11 May 1981 (Watersons)
27 July 1981
8 March 1982 (Watersons)
15 April 198230 August 1982
4 January 1983 (Watersons)
25 January 1983
20 December 1983
10 July 19843 November 1984
2 February 1985
8 May 1985
29 October 1986
14 January 1987 (Watersons)
7 October 1987 (MC and Chris Wood)
17 February 1988 (Watersons)
13 July 1988 (MC presents)
20 July 1988 (MC presents)
27 July 1988 (MC presents)
12 October 1988 (Carthy & Swarbrick)
9 November 1988 (Blue Murder)
19 April 1989 (Carthy & Swarbrick)
19 April 1989 (interview only)
27 September 1989
7 November 1990 (Carthy & Swarbrick)
27 March 1991 (‘round table’ discussion)
24 April 1991 (Carthy & Swarbrick)
12 June 1991 (‘Traditional Workshop’)
28 January 1992 (MC discusses Peter Bellamy)
28 July 1993 (Band of Hope)
18 May 1994 (Waterson:Carthy)
2 April 1997
23 April 1997 (Waterson:Carthy)
15 October 1997 (Carthy & Swarbrick)
17 December 1997 (Carthy & Swarbrick – excerpt from 15 October 1997 episode)

Martin’s 80th Birthday roundup

Posted by Kevin Boyd, 27 May 2021

Now the dust has settled on the celebrations around Martin’s 80th birthday – which was on 21 May in case you missed it – I thought it would be a good opportunity to give a roundup of what happened online and on the airwaves to mark the occasion.

Thank Goodness It’s Folk 

In a special edition of the show, Sam Hindley and James Fagan interviewed Martin, who chose 12 pieces of music that have inspired and informed his own life in music.

The Folk Show with Mark Radcliffe

Half of the 19 May BBC radio 2 programme was taken up with an interview with Martin by host Mark Radcliffe. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000w310

Kaleidoscope

Not birthday-related but Sean Rafferty speaks to Martin and Eliza ahead of their appearance at the Brighton Festival.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000wdkc

Folk London

Folk London had a lengthy piece by Sarah Lloyd including a new interview with Martin.

Martin Carthy at 80: ‘Trial and error? I’ve built an entire career on it’

Genevieve Tudor 

There was no unique content in this episode, but Genevieve played several of Martin’s  songs to celebrate his birthday.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09h7tyn

New merch shop

Scarlet Media have set up a merch shop to try to raise some funds as Martin has been out of work (like all performers) since March 2020: 

https://www.scarletmedia.co.uk/martin-carthy-merch

Twitter:

Eliza’s Twitter feed was the place to go for birthday greetings on the day (and, in fact, for a few days before):

Tweets by elizacarthy

I also marked the occasion here with a special page header:

There were also a number of programmes celebrating Bob Dylan’s 80th birthday on 24 May and Martin was included in some of them:

Front Row

Martin was one of several musicians and celebrities discussing Dylan on a special edition of the BBC radio 4 programme. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000w5wl

Bob Dylan’s Big Freeze

Another repeat of the classic 2008 BBC radio documentary on Dylan’s first trip to the UK in the frozen winter of 1962. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00fnnwg

Photo Archive: Carthy & Swarbrick, 1989

Posted by Kevin Boyd, 7 June 2020

I recently dug out some aging slides taken at a Carthy & Swarb gig at Rotherham Arts Centre on 23 September 1989. They’re not the best quality but I thought they would be worth sharing for reasons of historic interest.

This was part of the second annual UK tour (the ‘Second Farewell Tour”) following on from the previous year’s reunion gigs. Support was by Dave Burland. 

I made a recording of the complete show and although the only copy was stolen many years ago I still have a note of the set list:

First Set:

1. Arthur McMride And The Sergeant
2. All In Green
3. Sovay
4. The Bride’s March, etc.
5. The Dominion Of The Sword
6. Carthy’s March
7. A-Begging I Will Go
8. Ship In Distress
9. Porcupine Rag
10. Peggy And The Soldier

Second Set:

1. Tunes 
2. Bill Norrie
3. Oh Dear, Oh
4. Lovely Willie
5. Prince Heathen
6. Byker Hill 
7. The Bows Of London (encore)

“Versions” Spotify playlist

Posted by Kevin Boyd, 30 May 2020

Here’s a little something to keep you occupied during lockdown.

“Versions” is a career-spanning Spotify playlist showcasing different versions of the same, similar or related songs from Martin Carthy’s solo, duo and band recordings.

Wash your hands to the Famous Flower of Serving Men… and wash and wash and wash…

Posted by Kevin Boyd, 9 March 2020

I posted this on the Facebook and Twitter feeds a couple of days ago and it seems to have been popular so I though it should have a permanent home here.

#CoronaVirusMemes #WashYourHands #StaySafe