Both Ears & The Tail

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Cat No: TSCD572

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Release Date: 22 October 2007

Label: Topic

Packaging Type: Jewel Case

No of Units: 1

Barcode: 714822057226

Genres: Folk English Folk

Description
One of the great folk duos of all time, Martin Carthy & Dave Swarbrick joined up in early spring 1966 as a performing unit and were an immediate hit becoming, overnight, the most popular group in the burgeoning folk club scene in Britain.

Martin was already the most important solo singer / guitarist on the folk scene with two successful albums for Fontana (with Dave joining him on several tracks).

Dave was a member of The Ian Campbell Folk Group, one of the biggest folk groups at that time, causing a sensation with his virtuoso fiddle playing, reconciling traditional instrumental styles with modern ideas and technique.
The launching of the fully democratic duo of Martin & Dave boosted the performing temperature to combustion point, bringing the excitement of rock gigs to the folk clubs. Both Ears And The Tail was recorded live at The Folkus Folk Club in Nottingham in 1966 in the first flush of their success with both audience and performers hardly able to catch their breath.

This recording only came to light in 1999, 33 years after it was recorded and was astonishing in its fire and clarity. Many of the songs they performed that night were to be found on those early Martin Carthy albums, but on stage the interplay between Martin and Dave virtually re-wrote all the material. Martin and Dave played as a duo for three years, recording three albums in the late 1960s. Dave went on to join Fairport Convention in 1969 with 'Liege And Lief' being his premiere recording as a full time member. He was the backbone of the group for many years, leaving in 1984.

The buzz Martin and Dave felt in playing with each other brought them back together several more times with a couple of albums in the early 1990s and then again in 2006 with their masterpiece 'Straws In The Wind'. Now, more than 30 years after they first got together, they are still recording and playing gigs together.
Tracklisting