England 1951-1958

“The vigor and charm of these living English folk songs may surprise most listeners, perhaps most of all the British,” wrote Alan Lomax in 1955. Many of these recordings were made with Peter Kennedy and / or with the cooperation of the English Folk Dance and Song Society and the Recorded Programs Library of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The earliest publication of this material in Columbia Records’ World Library of Folk and Primitive Music also included recordings made by Maurice Brown, Douglas Cleverdon, Brian George, Jack Dillon, E. J. Moeran, Geoffrey Bridson, and Olive Shapeley. The collection comprises ballads, sea chanteys, children’s songs, mummers’ plays and Christmas rituals; instrumentals for concertina, band, and Northumbrian smallpipes; and features Isla Cameron, Jim and Bob Copper, A. L. Lloyd, Ewan MacColl, Stanley Slade, Phil Tanner, and many others.