Frost and Fire

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The Watersons: A Yorkshire Christmas Her White Gown Lal Waterson & Oliver Knight: Once in a Blue Moon Hilda’s Cabinet Band The Watersons on Richard Thompson et al.: Hard Cash; But the songs that affect me most on this record are sung by Lal and Mike alone. On ‘Christmas Day Is Drawing Near’, Lal sings this moralising Christian song in a voice that suggests a heartbreaking submission to its sentiments. She surrenders to its mournful minor key, underlining the terrors of subservience. You hear the strange movements of the song’s melody in her songwriting in Bright Phoebus seven years later. Mike Waterson on The Watersons: For Pence and Spicy Ale (CD reissue) Shady Lady Lal & Mike Waterson: Bright Phoebus; Seasons of anxiety, seasons of joy. The common people had their rites of propitiation and triumph, older than the rituals of the church and closer bound to their daily lives. This album takes us through a year’s calendar, displaying songs that accompanied these ceremonies, season by season.

The Watersons on The Season Round Holly Bears a Crown, The The Watersons: A Yorkshire Christmas Holmfirth Anthem, The The Watersons: The Watersons; When they talk about the purists that sniff at the most recent folk revival, they are also unforgiving. Waterson presses a button on the side of her reclining chair as she talks about it, and her legs lower to a sitting position, as if she is ready to pounce. The Watersons: Mighty River of Song Wilson’s Arms Lal Waterson & Oliver Knight: Once in a Blue Moon;The Watersons: Mighty River of Song Ploughboy, The (The Khaki and the Blue) The Watersons: A Yorkshire Garland; What’s New for the 17th of September: WWII (and other) mysteries; jazz, Americana, Celtic music and more; Doc Martin; summer beer and ale This latest version comes in a sleeve which is a replica of the original, with minor adaptations, complete with the original sleeve notes from A.L.Lloyd. For many, however, the fact that this vinyl edition has been re-cut at 45 rpm will be the most important factor. I am no sound expert, but having consulted producer and mastering maestro Tony Poole he confirms the fact that 45rpm will always be higher fidelity than 33 and a third, and the fact that each side of the album is less than 20 minutes long means optimal quality, notwithstanding the fact that the entire album only has vocal information and no bass or instruments which would need compressing. The Watersons: Frost and Fire (CD reissue) Cornfield Lal Waterson & Oliver Knight: Once in a Blue Moon Country Life The Watersons: For Pence and Spicy Ale;

The songs are roughly set around the calendar, as the album’s subtitle says, and as noted by A.L. Lloyd in his original liner notes: The Watersons: Early Days Yold Yellow Legged Marry Waterson & Oliver Knight: The Days That Shaped Me Yorkshire Tup, The The Watersons: A Yorkshire Garland;

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Then, ‘Pace-Egging Song’ details the traditional practice, during springtime(!) of “begging for eggs” (Thank you, original liner notes!). Christian Easter melts into mythology with a pagan belief in the egg’s symbolism for renewed life. It all boggles the mind with yet another (almost) sacred melody. And ‘Seven Virgins (The Leaves Of Life)’, sung by Norma, oozes Christian beliefs, yet touches its spiritual natural roots that still, even after all these years, manage to bless the circular and very magical nature of all things sublime. Original members were Norma, Mike, and Lal Waterson, with their cousin John Harrison from Kingston High School. They had a skiffle band in the early 1960s but moved on to playing more traditional material. They were briefly known as "The Folksons". Various Artists: New Voices: An Album of First Recordings by Harry Boardman, Maureen Craik, The Waterson Family (1965)

Mike Waterson on Round Cape Horn Marvellous Companion Christine Collister & Oliver Knight on Shining Bright; Lal Waterson: Teach Me to Be a Summer’s Morning Shallow Brown The Watersons on Peter Bellamy: Wake the Vaulted Echoes;

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Norma’s lead on the gorgeous ‘Jolly Old Hawk’, a Twelfth Night carol, has a similar effect on the listener. These songs don’t appear to emerge from the exertions of the lungs of these singers; they seem to exist within and without them. The delicate family harmony that unfolds around the lyric “his wings were grey” also has all the warmth of a grandparent’s arms.

Norma Waterson on A Woman’s Voice God Bless the Master The Watersons: Sound, Sound Your Instruments of Joy;Many of the songs were suggested to the band by A.L. Lloyd, the self-taught folklorist who went on to become co-founder and artistic director of Topic Records and co-compile The Penguin Book Of English Folk Songs with Vaughan Williams. Mike Waterson once called him “a guru to us”; Lloyd also directed the subject matter of their songs. “We sang one and he said, ‘Mm, we shan’t use that one. It’s too subservient.”