Ewan Maccoll
Ewan MacColl may well have been the most influential person in the British folk song revival. From his early manhood until his death in 1989, he remained passionately committed to folk, though not exclusively; he was also a poet, playwright, organizer, activist, songwriter, husband, and father. MacColl was born James Henry Miller in Salford, England in 1915. His father was a lowland man who spoke Scots English, his mother a highlander who spoke Gaelic. Both of his parents were singers. MacColl left school at 14 to busk and act in the streets, and was quickly discovered by the BBC. Soon he was not only singing, but also writing programs for the radio. He founded the first folk club in England, the Ballads and Blues Club, as well as the Critic's Group, an influential early singing group that included such singers as Frankie Armstrong, Anne Briggs, and John Faulkner.
MacColl was one of the foremost interpreters of traditional songs ever recorded. The most ambitious project he undertook was to record a representative sampling of Professor Francis James Child's English and Scottish popular ballads. While his early repertoire was mainly of street songs and traditional material, he was also an important songwriter. Most impressive was his competence in producing expressions that had an appeal to all levels of society; his songs have been covered by performers as diverse as Dick Gaughan, the Pogues, Roberta Flack, and Elvis Presley, and many have been collected in several versions from the oral tradition. They range from savage political satire to tender love songs, and are supremely effective at producing the desired emotions.
Beyond his activities as a singer and songwriter, MacColl was an actor and a playwright. In 1947, George Bernard Shaw commented, "Apart from myself, MacColl is the only man of genius writing for the theater in England today." His playwriting and songwriting joined seamlessly in his "radio ballads," radio plays that bordered on ballad operas. Many of his most lovely and best-remembered songs were written for these plays, some of which have been released in album form.
MacColl was married to Peggy Seeger, herself a singer of folk songs (and half-sister to American icon Pete Seeger). Together MacColl and Seeger, sometimes accompanied by their children, also skilled musicians and singers, recorded quite a few albums as well. Many of MacColl's albums are out of print products of long-defunct record companies. Some, however, are readily available. All, like MacColl himself, are important factors in the history of the folk revival, to be cherished by all who encounter them. This great singer made many, many albums over many years. All of them are recommended for fans of great singing, though some may be a bit specialized (i.e., unaccompanied singing in broad Scots dialect) for some listeners.
© Steve Winick /TiVo
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Backup the Best of Ewan Maccoll
Pop - Released by BackUp Best Sounds on May 23, 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Traditional English Folk & Sport Songs
Ewan Maccoll, A. L. Lloyd, Roy Harris
Folk - Released by Lumi OMP on Dec 16, 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Traditional Songs and Ballads
Folk - Released by Folkways Records on Jan 1, 1964
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The English and Scottish Popular Ballads: Vol. 2 - Child Ballads
World - Released by Folkways Records on Jan 1, 1956
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jacobite Songs: The Two Rebellions 1715 and 1745
Folk - Released by Supreme Media on Oct 10, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Kilroy was Here
World - Released by Folkways Records on Jan 1, 1980
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Ewan Maccoll: The Whole Story, Vol. 4
Folk - Released by Supreme Media on Oct 10, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ballads from the Highlands (feat. Peggy Seeger)
Folk - Released by Orange Leisure on Oct 17, 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year from Ewan MacColl, Vol. 2
Miscellaneous - Released by White Christmas on Dec 4, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Broadside Ballads, Vol. 1
Folk - Released by Diamond Days on Oct 10, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Ballads (Murder, Intrigue, Love, Discord)
Folk - Released by Topic on Oct 26, 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Galloway Tam & Other Songs, Vol. 1
Folk - Released by Supreme Media on Jan 1, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Ballad of John Axon
Ewan Maccoll, Charlie Parker, Peggy Seeger
Folk - Released by Supreme Media on Oct 30, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chorus from the Gallows
Folk - Released by Supreme Media on Jan 1, 1960
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo