FolkRadio UK Mixtapes: Psych-Folk Special

This mix was a psych-folk special from 2018.

Play List:

Pentangle – Sally Free And Easy
Tony Caro and John – Eclipse of the Moon
Sweeney’s Men – Go By Brooks
The Incredible String Band – First Girl I Loved
Spriguns – Laily Worm
Trees – Streets of Derry
Mata Hari – Easy
Trembling Bells – This is How the World Will End
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Pentangle “Willy O Winsbury”

Willie O Winsbury is Child Ballad 100 (Roud 64). The song, which has numerous variants, is a traditional Scottish ballad that dates from at least 1775, and is known under several other names, including “Johnnie Barbour” and “Lord Thomas of Winesberry”.

Traditional lyrics

The king had been a prisoner

And a prisoner long in Spain

And Willy of the Winsbury

Has lain long with his daughter at home

“What ails you, what ails you, my daughter Janet?

Why you look so pale and wan?

Oh, have you had any sore sickness

Or yet been sleeping with a man?”

“I have not had any sore sickness

Nor yet been sleeping with a man

It is for you, my father dear

For biding so long in Spain”

“Cast off, cast off your berry-brown gown

You stand naked upon the stone

That I may know you by your shape

If you be a maiden or none”

And she cast off her berry-brown gown

She stood naked upon the stone

Her apron was low and her haunches were round

Her face was pale and wan

“Oh, was it with a lord or a duke or a knight

Or a man of birth and fame?

Or was it with one of my serving men

That’s lately come out of Spain?”

“No, it wasn’t with a lord or a duke or a knight

Nor a man of birth and fame

But it was with Willy of Winsbury

I could bide no longer alone”

And the king has called on his merry men all

By thirty and by three

Says, “Fetch me this Willy of Winsbury

For hanged he shall be”

But when he came the king before

He was clad all in the red silk

His hair was like the strands of gold

His skin was as white as the milk

“And it is no wonder”, said the king

“That my daughter’s love you did win

For if I was a woman as I am a man

My bedfellow you would have been

And will you marry my daughter Janet

By the truth of your right hand?

Oh, will you marry my daughter Janet?

I’ll make you the lord of my land”

“Oh yes, I will marry your daughter Janet

By the truth of my right hand

Oh yes, I will marry your daughter Janet

But I’ll not be the lord of your land”

And he’s mounted her on a milk-white steed

And himself on a dapple grey

He has made her the lady of as much land

As she shall ride in a long summer’s dayhttps://lyricstranslate.com

The Artistry of Danny Thompson: Part 1, The 1960s

Chronicling the magnificent career of bassist Danny Thompson, this article focuses on his work in the 1960s, including Pentangle, Nick Drake, The Incredible String Band and others.

I have been toying with the idea of writing an article about Danny Thompson for a while. His playing is a common thread across so many albums I cherish, that dedicating an artist profile article to him seemed inevitable. But where to begin, what to cover? There are over 400 album credits with his name on it, spanning almost six(!) decades. The task seemed monumental, given my inability to avoid digging deep into my chosen subjects. I finally decided to take the plunge and go for it. So here is the first article in a series (what else?) that will cover a few decades of his unique career. This one here is dedicated to his work in the 1960s.

Danny Thompson was born in 1939, taking his name after ‘Danny Boy’, the song his miner father loved to sing. He tried his hand with various instruments including trumpet, mandolin and guitar, but the first serious instrument was the trombone, an instrument of which he said: “It is the only one I had much success with, probably because it’s an instrument of judgement, just like the bass.” He gave up on the trombone due to his love of boxing: “I lost my first fight and swore I would never lose another one. And I didn’t, in 22 fights. That was one of the reasons I gave up the trombone, because a smack in the chops is not very good for that.” His desire to play with his mates in a skiffle band led him to the bass as a DIY project: “I made my own tea-chest bass and at 14 I would get on the London buses with it to go to gigs and play.” The entrepreneurial lad had the foresight to build hinges into his bass, making it collapsible and easily transportable on a bus.

At the age of 15 Thompson bought Victoria. Don’t leave in disgust, no basic human rights are violated in this story. Victoria is a French bass circa 1860 built by Gand, a famous string instrument builder. This was the beginning of a beautiful love affair with a musical instrument. Thompson tells the story: “I bought her for a fiver from an old man who I promised to repay at five shillings a week. I collected her and the same night did a gig in a Wandsworth pub for fifteen shillings [three weeks’ money!]. On the way to the pub it was drizzling and she got quite wet and when I started to wipe the rain from her, all the beautiful varnish came through making the trumpeter remark: ‘blimey it’s probably a Strad or somethin’!” Victoria is not a Strad, but its worth was many folds what Thompson paid for it: “The next day he took me to Foote’s bass shop in Brewer St, Soho and they offered me £130. I took her back to the man and said ‘this is worth £130, not a fiver’. But he said ‘look son, if you want to play it, just give me the £5’. I think back to that a lot and think that it was meant to be, especially as it turned out that this was an extraordinary instrument that I now cherish. She’s been on countless recordings from the 1960s until now – and she is beautiful.” Danny Thompson remarked that for him to play on a different bass “it’s as though I’m being unfaithful. It feels like I was sleeping with some other woman while my wife is in hospital delivering my baby!” Continue reading