Fairport Convention and some other Folk

Love, Death and the Lady - The Life and Music of Shirley Collins
A half-hour profile of a singer-songwriter, then seemingly a half-hour of her in performance, though the show could have done with a few more explanations for things.

Dirty Old Town at 75
Mike Sweeney looks into the story of this Salford classic written by folk legend Ewen McColl. His widow Peggy Seeger was able to say a lot, and was also present to record a new version with an orchestral backing. Other contributors included biographers, arrangers, archivists, and actress Maxine Peake.

Tiree Music Festival - Sharon Shannon & Skerryvore
The latter band were the main act, really, as some of them were from the area, but Sharon joined them on her piano accordion for a few numbers. Quite good.

Perthshire Amber - Mischa MacPherson Trio
A short set from this celtic outfit, at Blairgowrie Town Hall.

Tiree Music Festival - Blazin' Fiddles
A return gig in 2016, having last played there in 2012. They spoke of how the scene had changed over the past decade, as new acts come in who are slicker. But they were entertaining enough in their way.

Skipinnish aig Barrowland
A Scottish bunch hit the big time in Glasgow, and get an entertaining hour of performance material, and band members have names like Norrie and Angus, and they get special guests from other Scottish bands like Runrig. I thought it was quite good.

Skipinnish Agus Caraidean
At the Glasgow Barrowland Ballroom, a shorter set, with Angus & Andrew discussing attitude to rehearsals along the way.

Skipinnish at the Castle
Edinburgh Castle, no less, as they were celebrating their 25th anniversary, so maybe they've been more successful than I would realise.

Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers ft Edie Brickell
This 2014 show from Riverside, California, saw Steve obligingly linking the material, which was full of stuff like Daddy Played The Banjo and Auden's Train.

This Land
The thorny world of copyright, through the example of Woody Guthrie's This Land Is Your Land. It reminded me a bit about the saga of Leadbelly's material, too. Pete Seeger and Nora Guthrie were called on from archive to help tell the tale.

A Little Night Music - Michael & Linda Thompson : Sing Nocturnes
A half-hour from 1981 as the then-married couple sing vartious songs that were new to me, on the night theme.

Soul Music - The Skye Boat Song
Various people talk about the usage of the song, its history, how people from Skye feel about it, and one woman whose adoption story became bound up with it.

Tonight In Person presents Pete Seeger
The legend came to a BBC studio in the mid-60s to sing songs like Rock Island Line and Skip To My Lou, and to talk of Leadbelly and others.

Soul Music - Song to the Siren
A Tim Buckley track which inspired some mixed people who told its story and how it had an impact for them.

BBC Four Sessions: Martin Carthy and Friends
This 2002 concert from Union Chapel saw many combinations of performers, with Norma Waterson, Eliza Carthy and Dave Swarbrick among the friends. They managed to do The Raggle Taggle Gypsies along the way.

Judy Collins - Folk America at the Barbican
A shorter gig from 2009 with Judty offering Both Sides Now and others.

Radio 2 - Live In Hyde Park - Kate Rusby
She got a half-hour spot in 2015 for her material.

The Suitcase
Sean Cooney, of The Young 'uns, talks about a project the band have of inviting audience members to leave suggestions for songs in a suitcase they bring with them to gigs. He reads out some of the suggestions, and finally performs a song he and the band put together, about Borrowed Boots.

Tonight In Person: Judy Collins
She came on in 1965, on her 1st trip to the British Isles. She had a mix of numbers, but did cover In My Life too.

Soul Music: Diamonds and Rust
Joan Baez' tribute to her relationship with Bob Dylan also managed to include Judy Collins' feelings on the song, and her friend Joan. The anecdotes were largely about failed relationships.

Rhythm on 2 - Peter, Paul & Mary
A 2-part performance from 1983 in Southport, where they seemed to front-load the hits in the first half, and they closed both shows with Leaving On A Jet Plane. I was pleased to catch Well Well Well in the 2nd half.

The Old Grey Whistle Test - John Martyn
He got slightly less time than most seen recently, on his 1978 appearance, but an irascible and entertaining performer all the same.

Soul Music - The Parting Glass
A Scots (or Irish) tune from the 17th or 18th century, associated with farewells. Karine Polwart spoke of how it helped her through a very rough time, Finbar Furey of the Furey Bros told some of its history, and others from Canada and Australia had bittersweet feelings about it.

Desert Island Discs: Shirley Collins
Lauren Laverne handled this tale from Aug 2023. Shirley and her sister Dolly were a doughty team until Dolly died of a heart attack in her 60s. Shirley suffered with dysphonia for decades, partly through 2 rough marriages. She helped find some of the lost folk songs of the American Deep South in the middle of the last century. Her choices seemed more obscure than is often the case with this show (Mississippi Fred McDowell, and Richard & Linda Thompson were about as mainstream as it got).

The Folk Show w/Mark Radcliffe - Ralph McTell
He had a 25 minute chat with the legend marking his 80th birthday, though sadly his wife just died in October. He has an Irish tour planned for 2025, and when Mark suggested adding the UK to it, his answer was that there were hopes for the world, not just the UK. He's battling through the pain of arthritis. Mark played a couple of old performances from the 1970s, and also a new song, Sabrine. His son acts as his manager. Mark also mentioned that Na Trads had just happened, and that Celtic Connections is of course next month.

Rock Goes To College: John Martyn
Pete Drummond introduced the modest legend at Reading University, where he had a steady set in 1978, most of which he introduced, in between guitar tunings. Very much a solo turn.

Hoolie 2024
2 shows from the Glasgow Hydro, introduced by Julie Fowlis. There was a theme wherein the acts were all celebrating anniversaries, which together added up to a century. Tenuous enough. Manran, Capercaillie, Rura, Skerryvore and Talisk were theose bands, and there was also tribute to the late Fergie MacDonald too.

Ar Ceol 2024
A Scottish Trad Music Special, as Megan McLellan compered performances from various events through the year, including Valtos, Ewen  Henderson, Julie Fowlis, Pine Tree Flyers, Skipinnish and more.

Folk America at the Barbican: Roger McGuinn
The Byrd came to town in 2009 for this "Greenwich Village Revisited" shindig, and he managed to get through a fair run of material in a short span, offering anecdotes along the way about Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, the Clancy Brothers, and Odetta.