Fifty-Two Folk Songs

Indigo, the second virtual album documenting the 52fs project, is now available.

On this album, unlike its predecessor, I haven’t limited myself to unaccompanied singing; about half of the songs are accompanied, on flute, melodica, bongoes and computer, among other things.

The Indigo album contains the following songs:

1. Dayspring mishandled (Kipling / Bellamy)
2. Lord Allenwater
3. Derwentwater’s farewell
4. Danny Deever (Kipling / Bellamy)
5. Hughie the Graeme
6. Serenity (Joss Whedon)
7. Grand conversation on Napoleon
8. Plains of Waterloo
9. The bonny bunch of roses
10. Boney’s lamentation
11. St Helena lullaby (Kipling / Bellamy)
12. The death of Nelson
13. The unborn Byron (Peter Blegvad)
14. Two sisters
15. The wind and the rain
16. Percy’s song (Bob Dylan)
17. Sam Hall
18. Young Waters
19. The House of the Rising Sun (part 1)
20. The House of the Rising Sun (part 2)

The last two tracks are album exclusives, which can be heard nowhere else except as part of this album. When you’ve heard them, you’ll know why.

This ‘album’ can be downloaded from Bandcamp for a token payment of 52p (you see what I did there). This gets you 70 minutes of singing (most of which is in tune) and musical accompaniment (some of which is played quite competently). You also get a PDF file containing full lyrics plus assorted pictures, comments, musings and afterthoughts. (And album exclusives, don’t forget.)

Alternatively you can download the tracks individually and pay nothing at all, or just listen online (but remember the album exclusives). Or you could listen to something else instead. But you might as well give this a go.

52 Folk Songs: Indigo is here.

We end the Indigo album (almost) with two thoroughly nasty stories.

Child 94, Young Waters, is a chilling tale of the danger of excessive frankness in long-term relationships, particularly in cases where one’s partner has the power of life and death. I went to town a bit on the accompaniment, and I think the results are quite good (listen out for the recorder).

Dayspring Mishandled is another Bellamy/Kipling production, and not the last; perhaps the most unusual, though, as it’s written in fake Middle English. The message is horribly bleak (appropriately enough for the horribly bleak story in which it features): miss or abuse your first chance – mishandle your one and only dayspring (i.e. dawn) – and you can forget about anything going well for you ever again. Vocal harmony here, and a third part on recorder.

And there are extras – but more on that tomorrow.

Child 10, the Two Sisters, survived in a number of different variants. Here are two of them, which have nothing in common except their origins; in effect, they tell the first and second halves of the story.

Two sisters is an unusually brief and laconic telling of the story, or part of it; it ends quite suddenly. The recording features nothing but voices.

The wind and the rain is a highly untypical variant of an American version of the ballad; it has the end of the story, combined with a different first half. The recording features melodeon – a new instrument for me.

Percy’s Song, lastly, is the work of a 22-year-old Bob Dylan: clearly a man who knew his folksongs, including The wind and the rain. The recording features quite a variety of stuff.

We’re in the early 19th century for another week, with another Napoleon song (although not a traditional one) and one about Nelson. We’re also sitting at the feet of the great Peter Bellamy, not for the first time or the last.

The death of Nelson is either the whole of a traditional song or three-fifths of it – depending who you listen to – plus one verse from another song. (It all fits, anyway.) I learned it from Bellamy’s wonderful Maritime England Suite; I defy anyone to listen to Bellamy’s rendition of this song and not learn it.

St Helena Lullaby revisits Napoleon for the last time (at least for now); it seems fitting that we leave the Emperor with an overview of his entire life. By Kipling, arranged by Bellamy, recorded on Merlin’s Isle of Gramarye (which has recently been re-released). Doesn’t feature Nic Jones (or anyone else) on fiddle, although you can hear me on a cheap high G whistle.