Mike Waterson

A key and beloved figure in the British folk scene, Mike Waterson was best known as a member of the premier family folk group the Watersons, whose distinct harmonies and largely a cappella arrangements made them pivotal figures of the British folk revival of the 1960s. Born on January, 17, 1941 in Hull, East Yorkshire, Waterson began singing and performing in a skiffle group with his sisters Norma and Lal in the early '60s. The trio, who eventually morphed into a foursome with the addition of Norma's husband and fellow folk icon Martin Carthy, eventually made the transition to traditional material, and beginning with 1965's Frost and Fire, went on to release a string of acclaimed and highly influential albums. In 1972, with the Watersons on hiatus, Mike and Lal went into the famed Cecil Sharp House with some of British folk's most revered players and cut the folk-noir classic Bright Phoebus, an eccentric and genre-hopping collection of original material that's been hailed as the English folk equivalent of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The Watersons continued to tour and record -- Mike recorded a well received eponymous solo LP in 1977 -- but by the early 1980s, the group had decided to cease operations. 1987 saw the formation of English folk supergroup Blue Murder, which featured Mike, Martin Carthy, Norma Waterson, Eliza Carthy, Jim Boyes, Lester Simpson, and Barry Coope. The outfit went on to become festival favorites, and even released an LP, No One Stands Alone, in 2002. The ensuing years saw Waterson writing and performing with various iterations of family and friends. His final stage performance was in 2010 at the Bromyard Folk Festival. He passed away the following year at the age of 70 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
© James Christopher Monger /TiVo