TalkAwhile - The Folk Corporation Forum

Apologies if this was already posted elsewhere and I missed it. Looks like we have something to very much be looking forward to in November. From the press release:

Shirley Collins – legendary folk singer and one of England’s most respected song collectors –  has announced her return to recording after 38 years. The new album, Lodestar, will be released on November 4th, and with it, Shirley has created the unlikeliest release of the century so far.

Lodestar is a collection of English, American and Cajun songs dating from the 16th Century to the 1950s, recorded at Shirley’s home in Lewes by Stephen Thrower and Ossian Brown of Cyclobe and produced and musically directed by Ian Kearey.

The first track to be shared from Lodestar is ‘Cruel Lincoln’. Shirley explains the history of the song: “This is an ancient ballad, found only rarely in England. The theory is that Cruel Lincoln was a mason who was not paid for the work he did for ‘the Lord of the Manor’ and so extracted a terrible revenge”. It also features bird song recorded at the back of Shirley’s cottage.

Born in Hastings in 1935, Shirley was fascinated by folk songs as she was growing up, songs she heard on the radio or sung by her grandparents in Anderson shelters. She left home for London to immerse herself in the burgeoning folk scene; at a party held by Ewan MacColl she met Alan Lomax, and in 1959 she joined him in the USA on the renowned field trip ‘Southern Journey’, recording American folk songs and blues, a formative journey for her personally and professionally.

On her return to the England, Shirley cemented her role at the forefront of the Folk Revival,  recording over a dozen albums including the influential Folk Roots, New Routes with avant-garde guitarist Davy Graham, and No Roses, from which The Albion Country Band was formed. However, in the 1980s, Shirley lost her singing voice – later diagnosed as a form of dysphonia - and withdrew from performing live. It was only in 2014, after coaxing from David Tibet (Current 93), that Shirley sang in public for the first time since 1982.

Though Shirley Collins (MBE) has been absent from the music scene for many years, her impact has not diminished, the likes of Graham Coxon, Jonny Greenwood, Stewart Lee and Angel Olsen laud her and a documentary The Ballad of Shirley Collins is currently in progress. Additionally, she was given the ‘Good Tradition’ award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2008, elected President of the English Folk Dance & Song Society in the same year and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Music from Sussex University this year. Shirley released her first memoir, America Over the Water, in 2004 and is currently working on her second book.

Now Shirley Collins has sung once more (with a mischievous delight in defeating expectation), the accepted canon of her great recordings will have to be comprehensively recalibrated, yet again.

“Shirley is a time traveller, a conduit for essential human aches, one of the greatest artists who ever lived, and yet utterly humble” Stewart Lee


The phenomenal first track to be released, 'Cruel Lincoln,' can be streamed via Shirley's site (http://www.shirleycollins.co.uk/) and I've already made my pre-order. What wonderful news!

Good on her!

Jules

May just give this a try.

Listening to the new track now. Utterly mesmerising. Yes, the voice has a little more wobble in it than it used to, but time has largely been kind to Shirley's pipes. The production/setting is really sympathetic.  Gets a big thumbs up from me.

Jules

Been ludicrously excited all day after reading this first thing.  Just listened...very happy.  Seeing her live (supporting C93) in 2014 was a dream come true.  I'm in  :)  [Update: Literally...I'm all deluxed up]

The deluxe edition looks like it'll be worth far more than they're asking for it... Of course, I'd probably pay about anything for this album.  :)

Amazing that you had a chance to see Shirley support Current 93 -- was given access to the pro-shot video as part of the Kickstarter campaign and still watch it regularly. The fellow running the Kickstarter told me that David Tibet intends to release the performance on vinyl. I'm certainly hoping that still happens!

I've been after Thunder Perfect Mind, featuring SC,  for a while, but the C93 catalogue is all over the place, or lost.

Where do we preorder the New Shirley album, folks??

From the link in the first post  :)

Out of interest, has anyone heard any news about Shirley’s film?  It should have been out by now shouldn’t it?

Still short of finding.

Yes, lack of money is still a problem. Update here ... https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/shirleycollins/the-ballad-of-shirley-collins/posts/1667334

Please do come along to the event on 15th September at The Electric Theatre in Guildford, Surrey if you can. "It is a celebration of Shirley and the Inspired album and will be promoted by one of our biggest reward backers". No, that's not me but someone who is well-respected in the area of promoting folk music in Surrey and environs...

Having listened to Cruel Lincoln I wonder how much attention and praise it would get if it didn't have Shirley Collins name attached to it.  For me the best thing I can say about it is that its unremarkable and assuming that its representative I certainly won't be buying the album.

Others clearly disagree, perhaps they could say why it's so great and essential.

I disagree, but I can't convince you that it's great.  You either feel it or you don't.

Jules

Thanks David. Couldn't see for looking, as they say. Deluxe version is a must, I fear.

Does anyone know what the 'coupon code' referred to in the order form is??

Don't want to be convinced Jules, just want to know what others see in it.

It is what it is.  We're listening to the same recording, but we take away different things.  That's what I meant.  I can't lend you my ears and brain.   ;)

Jules

Sadly I had to stop it after 5 seconds. :'(

It depends what one is trying to hear in it, I think...as to whether you reckon its great or not...if you're trying hard to hear Shirley of 40 or 50 years ago, you're bound to be disappointed.  If, on the other hand, you know and understand her story (especially with regard to her giving up singing), you like living to a well lived in voice and you're excited by the very fact this thing exists then you're going to love it.  Horses for courses and all that.

But that's the thing for me. I do know the story, didn't expect "old Shirley" and am pleased for her that she's singing again. But I wouldn't buy an album just because of the back story, it has to stand up in its own right. And it doesn't for me. To my ears it sounds tentative, flat and unengaging.

Well I think it's good, but to be fair there is a loyalty factor at work. I don't expect her voice to sound as it did 40 years ago - whose voice does? Ian Anderson's? Roy Harper's? Vashti Bunyan's- - her voice, actually was never very strong in the first place, but I love it all the same. Trying to be objective, if that's possible, I think the track has great charm. If you've never been a fan, you may be destined never to 'get it'.

Pre-Ordered the deluxe edition, can't wait  ;D

Ditto absolutely.  8) :)

Your question is justified. The iconic status that Shirley Collins has acquired over the years, probably has influence when listening to Cruel Lincoln
Shirley Collins always has been a singer that you either liked or disliked, I suppose. Jules claims that her voice wavers a little more than it used to. I think that her voice singing Cruel Lincoln actually is steadier than it was forty years ago. I must admit that I never was a great fan of her singing. Her efforts in preserving and promoting traditional English song deserve more praise than her actual singing, as far as I am concerned.

Having said that, she sounds great for a lady who is 81 years of age!
But earth moving or otherwise otherwordly? Not really.

There's a new video out for 'Death and the Lady.' You can find it nested within this article: http://dangerousminds.net/comments/death_and_the_lady_shirley_collins_is_the_secret_queen_of_england

'An error occurred', unfortunately, but thanks Austin.  8)

It plays for me, in IE11

Not sure if you've tracked it down yet, but here's a YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKTWxI_DJOE

Really fantastic version of the song and I adore the imagery throughout the video. Was pleasantly surprised that Shirley appears in it at length.

That is "fantastic" ?

Oh dear...

To each their own, but I happen to think so.  ;)

Great stuff...thanks  :)

Fantastic.
Could listen to that all day long.
Can't wait for the album

(This is a general not a specific point I'm making here)

I've been thinking about this and wondering if there is an element of (hopefully unconscious) sexism about all this?  I mean, Laughing Len gets lauded from the rafters and Bob gets 4 star reviews singing rubbish crooning covers from what sounds like an afternoon session recorded in the shower.  We know both of them have the voices of the people they are now, not the ones they had 50 years ago, and yet we aren't prepared to accept the same from Shirley after all she's been through?  

 ^Interesting, David, but I wonder if it isn't just that there have always been distinct camps about Shirley anyway. Some people have just never liked her voice, or thought she was much of a singer anyway. (Hasten to add i'm not one of these). I take your point about big names, though. Dylan could record the lord's prayer backwards and it would sell heaps on preorder.

I'd been thinking about this too, David. I think older women do have a lot harder time in the music industry than older men (though it's likely the case that I could remove the qualifier 'older' and still have a correct statement). It's much, much easier to conjure up examples of men in their 70s and 80s touring and recording (and being well received when doing so) than it is to think of women of that age who are doing the same. I'm sure there are a plethora of factors influencing that, and I expect implicit/unconscious sexism could be one. (Following you, David, I'm speaking generally too -- certainly not trying to make a sweeping statement about why friends on the forum might not like Shirley's new recordings.)

Bob may well get four star reviews for that stuff but he wouldn't from me.  I think it could also be argued that Laughing Len has never sung a note in his life so his current performances are not much different from his early ones.  I have lots of stuff by Shirley from various periods and love it all but the difference between those performances and her current ones is that, for me, currently she's not actually singing at all, more reciting with an inflection.  For some people that's clearly enough, others disagree and hear much more than that.

I do though have a slight suspicion that there's an element of

"It's Shirley Collins! She's singing!"
"But actually..."
"It's Shirley Collins! She's singing!"
"But..."

repeat ad nauseam

Jeremy -- interesting point on "recitation" vs. "singing." My personal definition of "singing" is pretty loose, and I know it isn't shared by many of my friends. I can understand arguments that Shirley is leaning towards recitation on these tracks. If that is the case, I'd still say that they are beautiful recitations that I'd listen to again and again.

(Side note: My first exposure to Shirley's voice came from her singing on Current 93 albums, and I loved her sound and presence immediately. Her voice there sounds quite close to how it sounds now. That being my initial "prototype" of Shirley's voice might help account for why I like this so very much -- indeed, for me, what I've heard so far stands easily shoulder-to-shoulder with her other work.)

Good post.  8)

Another one to love, and to loathe...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJBcmAGmMm0

Well, Shirley's going to perform the new album live.....

London Barbican - on sale now to members, tomorrow General Sale

Saturday February 18 2017
https://www.barbican.org.uk/music/event-detail.asp?ID=20474

Grauniad review https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/oct/27/shirley-collins-lodestar-album-review-austere-foreboding-folk-music

Also appearing on the Celtic Connections listings

'Like'   8)

It is bizarre though...as it reads like a 4 or even 5 star review but then gives it 3!

David Tibet made the same comment on Facebook. I agree, David(s)!

Got mine yesterday and gave it a listen last night. Sublime. The settings of the songs are perfect, and i can only think of one where Shirley sounds really off the mark. Pressing is excellent, sleeve art lovely.

She's interviewed in today's Sunday Times Culture magazine.

Straight into the album charts at Number 88  ;) :)

13 in the indie chart, I saw

Album of the Year in fRoots http://www.frootsmag.com/content/critpoll/

I don't know if this is the right place to mention it, but I got an emither today telling me that the Shirley Collins film is very nearly ready. :o

Nice little interview which I read in 'i' but was apparently in The Scotsman first.

"A lot of people now are calling themselves folk singers but they sing songs they have written themselves and it’s just not really the same thing at all. I only want to sing songs that have come down through the tradition to us."

http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/culture/music/interview-folk-singer-shirley-collins-on-finding-her-feet-after-losing-her-voice-1-4356963

Great interview thanks for posting this!

This might be of interest to some (signed Christmas flexi ltd to 250)

https://www.dominomusic.com/releases/shirley-collins/the-Christmas-song/flexidisc-Christmas-card

Looks like a duet with Colin Meloy is on the cards!

Fab!

He has form of course... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Meloy_Sings_Shirley_Collins

Shirley (and the Lodestar Band) has a live date at the De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill

6 Nov 2022

https://www.dlwp.com/event/shirley-collins/