FTX-136 - THE SEEDS OF LOVE

A STUDY OF ENGLISH FOLKSONG

Here are some of the illustrations used in lectures by Peter Kennedy at Dartington College, Exeter and London University and at Colleges and Universities in Italy and the USA. They provide examples for the study of technique, style and performance, with some classic examples by "field" singers as well as by concert and contemporary folksingers, providing a useful study programme for both singers & students alike. Songs and ballads, both English and Anglo-American, are given in several different versions.

THE SEEDS OF LOVE

1. Shirley COLLINS rec London 1951 1st v only - 0'23"

2. Collected & arranged by Cecil Sharp, sung by Patrick SHULDHAM-SHAW with piano - 0'52"

3. Bill SQUIRES, Holford, Bridgwater, Somerset, rec by PK 1952 - 3'26"

HARES ON THE MOUNTAINS

4. Louis HOOPER, Hambridge, Somerset rec by Douglas Cleverdon 1942 (She & her sister, Lucy White, sang to Cecil Sharp in 1903) - 0'58"

5. Douglas KENNEDY with Peter K (gtr) rec 1961 - 1'33"

6. Horton BARKER, blind singer, Chilhowie, Virginia, USA 1956 (learned from Douglas Kennedy) - 0'51"

BLACK IS THE COLOUR

7- Jack LANGSTAFF (from Lizzie Roberts) with piano (arr CJS) - 2'21"

8. Guy CARAWAN (with gtr) rec by PK, London 1958 - 2'01"

9. Lizzie ROBERTS (who sang to Sharp 1916) with harmonium rec by Maud Karpeles, North Carolina, USA 1951 - 0'50"

A BLACKSMITH COURTED ME

10. Bunyan hymn to tune coll by Vaughan Williams from Sussex gypsy rec Harberton, Devon 1972 - 0'49"

11. Phoebe SMITH, gypsy relative of RVW's informant, rec by PK, Woodbridge, Suffolk hums tune, says words and sings one verse -- 3'20"

12. Maddy PRIOR with group, STEELEYE SPAN, CREST 22 1970 - 1'19"

THE RIDDLE SONG

13. Phoebe & Joe SMITH rec 1956 talk about themselves and their son, Joe, sings the question-verse of their own family version - 1'59"

14. Oscar BRAND & Jean RITCHIE (with gtr): sing Sharp's USA version rec N.Y.1957 - 1'21"

15. Jack LANGSTAFF (arr for piano by RVW) version coll by Hammond, Dorset 1908 - 1'44"

16. Texas GLADDEN rec Alan Lomax, Salem, Va USA 1941 "The Devil's Nine Questions"- 2'31"

17. Seamus ENNIS, of Dublin, rec by PK, London 1958: "Captain Wedderburn" 4'16"

BRIGG FAIR

18. Isla CAMERON rec by PK, London 1951 1v only - 0'21"

19. Joseph TAYLOR (75) rec by Percy Grainger, Saxby-all-Saints, Lincs 1906 - 0'28"

20. John TAYLOR, son of Joseph, rec 1944 - 0'48"

21. Mary TAYLOR (82), daughter, rec by PK 1953 - 0'31"

22. She talks about Grainger over his arrangement of "English Rhapsody" - 2'43"

23. Children's Choir Wisbech Cambs rec by PK 1956 (arr by Eric Thiman) - 2'01"

RUFFORD PARK POACHERS

24. Mary talks about her father's singing - 2'17"

25. Joseph Taylor rec by Percy Grainger, Saxby-all-Saints, Lincs 1906 - 1'31"

26. The Eastman Wind Ensemble with Grainger's instrumental piece, "Lincolnshire Posy" - 3'39"

THE NIGHTINGALE SONG

27. remembedred by Rebecca PENFOLD (gypsy aged 71) rec by PK, Winkleigh, Devon 1971 - 1'12"

28. Fred & Raymond CANTWELL rec by PK (with fid), Standlake, Oxon 1954 - 1'50"

29. Adge CUTLER & THE WURZELS, rec 1968: "Dorset is Beautiful" (words by Bob Gale) - 3'47"

30 (d) Jean RITCHIE (with Appalachian dulcimer & group), rec N.Y. 1975 2.20

BARBARA ALLEN

31. Fred JORDAN rec by PK, Diddlebury, Wenlock, Shropsh 1952- 0'37"

32. Charlie WILLS, shepherd, rec by PK, Symondsbury Bridport Dorset 1952 - 0'49"

33. May BENNELL rec by Seamus Ennis, Amersham, Bucks 1954 - 0'52"

34. Alec BLOOMFIELD rec by PK, Benhall, Framlingham, Suffolk 1952 - 0'37"

35. Bill WESTAWAY rec by PK, Belstone, Okehampton, Devon 1950 - 0'39"

36. Phil TANNER of Llangennith, Gower, S.Wales rec by Maud Karpeles, London 1949 - 0'51"

Recorded and edited by Peter Kennedy and first published on Folktrax Cassettes 1979.

This album, based on a talk given by Peter Kennedy, was specially prepared, at the suggestion of his father, Douglas Kennedy, in order to provide contemporary performers and folkmusic students with some guide-lines as to the many different ways that folksongs can be interpreted, after having been learnt, either from the original traditional singers, or via collector's notations and arrangements. It is dedicated to Michael Bell who did so much to encourage singers and guiding them into finding the most interesting versions of the songs.

THE SEEDS OF LOVE was the first song noted by Cecil J. Sharp, in Somerset in 1903. Bill SQUIRE's father sang this to Sharp. It was also the first song recorded by Peter Kennedy and his aunt, Maud Karpeles, when they went to Somerset together in 1952 looking for descendants of Sharp's informants at the beginning of the last century.

NOTE: A number of these recordings, taken from the Archive of The Traditions Library, appear on other FOLKTRAX compilations including: THE KENNEDY FAMILY FTX-041 - PHOEBE SMITH & FAMILY: FTX-100 - REBECCA PENFOLD: FT-042 - SEAMUS ENNIS: FTX-079 & JOSEPH TAYLOR: FTX-135.