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
Similar artists
-
The Jacobite Rebellions
Folk - Released by Topic on Apr 27, 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ewan Maccoll: The Whole Story, Vol. 1
Folk - Released by Supreme Media on Oct 10, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Essential Masters
Folk - Released by Master Classics Records on May 1, 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Classic Scots Ballads
Folk - Released by Tradition Records on Nov 1, 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The 12 Days of Christmas with Ewan Maccoll, Vol. 2
World - Released by All I Have To Do Is Dream on Dec 9, 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
-
The Ballad Of John Axon
Ewan Maccoll, Charlie Parker, Peggy Seeger
Folk - Released by Diamond Days on Oct 30, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Turpin Hero
World - Released by Marylebone Records on Jul 30, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Songs Of Robert Burns (Original Album 1959)
Pop - Released by Folk, Blues & Beyond on Oct 20, 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Angleterre : Chants de travail (Mono Version)
World - Released by BNF Collection on Jan 1, 1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Ewan Maccoll: The Whole Story, Vol. 2
Folk - Released by Supreme Media on Oct 10, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The History of Ewan Maccoll, Vol. 3
Folk - Released by Diamond Days on Oct 10, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The History of Ewan Maccoll, Vol. 5
Folk - Released by Diamond Days on Oct 10, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Popular Scottish Songs, Vol. 2
Folk - Released by Diamond Days on Oct 10, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Popular Scottish Songs, Vol. 2
Folk - Released by Supreme Media on Oct 10, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Popular Scottish Songs, Vol. 1
Folk - Released by Diamond Days on Oct 10, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chorus from the Gallows
Folk - Released by Diamond Days on Jan 1, 1960
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The English and Scottish Popular Ballads: Vol. 3 - Child Ballads
Pop - Released by Folkways Records on Jan 1, 1956
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bold Sportsmen All
A. L. Lloyd, Ewan Maccoll, Roy Harris
Folk - Released by Topic on Jan 1, 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Galloway Tam & Other Songs, Vol. 2
Folk - Released by Supreme Media on Jan 1, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo