Release Date: 27 October 2017
Label: Weatherbox
Packaging Type: Gate Fold Vinyl
No of Units: 2
Barcode: 5038622137816
Genres: Folk English Folk
Description
Packaged in its unique archive inspired gatefold sleeve and pressed on two 180g discs. This double vinyl package contains 20 tracks drawn from the catalogue of Britain's premier folk record label and features a series of outstanding performances by outstanding performers. The story of Topic is synonymous with the growth of folk as a musical and social movement in Britain over the last three quarter century and these recordings demonstrate the bridge between modern music and a traditional art form.
Before the advent of radio and long-playing records, let alone downloads and streaming, the not-so-ordinary working man or woman relied upon the oral tradition for his or her home entertainment. Songs and tunes were passed down over generations and honed by function and social interaction to produce a body of work of exceptional strength and beauty.
From the 1940s onwards, and with increasing pace, young and not-so-young people in the British Isles turned to this material as a means of musical expression and connection with their roots, as well as for the pleasure of crafting an art form that made direct contact with the listener - without manipulation by commercial pressures and obeisance to respectable society's view of what should be seen as "good music".
On these vinyl records you will find some of the most remarkable singers, songs and tunes – either drawn directly from the tradition or inspired by it. The music is totally contemporary yet with its feet firmly rooted in Britain's own unique culture.
Not all the music is strictly British, as the Folk Revival embraced other folk cultures, so Ramblin' Jack Elliott's version of Woody Guthrie's Talking Dustbowl Blues is here – demonstrating how folk music can deal with social issues of the day as well as harking back to earlier times. This attitude is also reflected in John Tams' Unity, Steve Ashley's Ships of Shame, Dick Gaughan's Both Sides the Tweed and even Ewan MacColl's Dirty Old Town.
There are reworkings of great traditional story songs - Anne Briggs' Blackwater Side, Nic Jones' Canadee-i-o and majestic performances by Martin Simpson – Never Any Good, Shirley Collins, Davy Graham, Martin Carthy, Eliza Carthy and The Watersons and The Full English's Man In The Moon.
June Tabor and Oysterband take a quite different approach and make the Joy Division song Love Will Tear Us Apart something completely their own.
Andrew Cronshaw, The Cheviot Ranters, Cilla Fisher ,Silly Sisters and Oak – the list goes on – a fulfilling and haunting introduction to the great legacy of the folk tradition and Topic Records
Tracklisting
Norma Waterson & Eliza Carthy With The Gift Band
Nic Jones
Eliza Carthy & The Wayward Band
Martin Simpson
June Tabor
Sarah Jane Morris
Various Artists
Anne Briggs
Various Artists
Various Artists
Various Artists
Various Artists
Various Artists
Various Artists
Various Artists
Various Artists
