Maartin Allcock
Encyclopedia
Maartin Allcock also known as Martin Allcock, is a multi-instrumentalist
musician and record producer
.
, Allcock studied music at Huddersfield and Leeds. He began playing professionally in January 1976, playing in dance bands and folk clubs. His first tour was in 1977 with Mike Harding
as one of the Brown Ale Cowboys. He went to Brittany in 1978, for a temporary stay, but inevitably ended up remaining longer than intended, and learned to cook while there. On returning to Manchester he studied and qualified to become a chef, working in the Shetland Islands
in 1980.
In 1981 he joined the Bully Wee Band, a Celtic folk
group, which led to an 11-year stint as lead guitar
ist with the electric folk
band, Fairport Convention
from October 1985 to December 1996, and concurrently four years as keyboard
ist with rock band Jethro Tull
from January 1988 to December 1991. In summer 1991 he also played keyboards for The Mission
. Nowadays he works freelance from his home on the west coast of Snowdonia as a session man and record producer.
, Beverley Craven
, Judith Durham
, Breton guitarist Dan Ar Braz
(six albums), Ralph McTell
, Dave Swarbrick
, Yusuf Islam and Dafydd Iwan
. He began producing Welsh music in 2005 and has produced ten albums for Sain Records
in Caernarfon. He is UK bass guitar
ist and tour manager for Nashville songwriter Beth Nielsen Chapman
.
As a record producer:
Multi-instrumentalist
A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays a number of different instruments.The Bachelor of Music degree usually requires a second instrument to be learned , but people who double on another instrument are not usually seen as multi-instrumentalists.-Classical music:Music written for Symphony...
musician and record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
.
Biography
Born in Middleton, Greater ManchesterMiddleton, Greater Manchester
Middleton is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, England. It stands on the River Irk, south-southwest of Rochdale, and north-northeast of the city of Manchester...
, Allcock studied music at Huddersfield and Leeds. He began playing professionally in January 1976, playing in dance bands and folk clubs. His first tour was in 1977 with Mike Harding
Mike Harding
Mike Harding is an English singer, songwriter, comedian, author, poet and broadcaster. He is known as 'The Rochdale Cowboy' after one of his hit records...
as one of the Brown Ale Cowboys. He went to Brittany in 1978, for a temporary stay, but inevitably ended up remaining longer than intended, and learned to cook while there. On returning to Manchester he studied and qualified to become a chef, working in the Shetland Islands
Shetland Islands
Shetland is a subarctic archipelago of Scotland that lies north and east of mainland Great Britain. The islands lie some to the northeast of Orkney and southeast of the Faroe Islands and form part of the division between the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the North Sea to the east. The total...
in 1980.
In 1981 he joined the Bully Wee Band, a Celtic folk
Celtic music
Celtic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...
group, which led to an 11-year stint as lead guitar
Lead guitar
Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
ist with the electric folk
Electric folk
Electric folk is the name given to the form of folk rock pioneered in England from the late 1960s, and most significant in the 1970s, which then was taken up and developed in the surrounding Celtic cultures of Brittany, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the Isle of Man, to produce Celtic rock and its...
band, Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention are an English folk rock and later electric folk band, formed in 1967 who are still recording and touring today. They are widely regarded as the most important single group in the English folk rock movement...
from October 1985 to December 1996, and concurrently four years as keyboard
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
ist with rock band Jethro Tull
Jethro Tull (band)
Jethro Tull are a British rock group formed in 1967. Their music is characterised by the vocals, acoustic guitar, and flute playing of Ian Anderson, who has led the band since its founding, and the guitar work of Martin Barre, who has been with the band since 1969.Initially playing blues rock with...
from January 1988 to December 1991. In summer 1991 he also played keyboards for The Mission
The Mission (band)
The Mission are a gothic rock band formed in 1986 from the splinters of the freshly dissolved rock band The Sisters of Mercy.The band was started by frontman Wayne Hussey and bassist Craig Adams , soon adding...
. Nowadays he works freelance from his home on the west coast of Snowdonia as a session man and record producer.
Session work and production
Allcock's session career includes more than 200 albums, including Robert PlantRobert Plant
Robert Anthony Plant, CBE is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career...
, Beverley Craven
Beverley Craven
Beverley Craven is a British singer-songwriter best known for her 1991 UK Top 5 hit single "Promise Me". Her most recent album, Close To Home, was released in 2009...
, Judith Durham
Judith Durham
Judith Durham, OAM is an Australian jazz singer and musician who became the lead vocalist for the Australian popular folk music group The Seekers in 1963. She left the group in mid-1968 to pursue her solo career...
, Breton guitarist Dan Ar Braz
Dan Ar Braz
Dan Ar Braz, born Daniel Le Bras , is a French guitarist and the founder of Héritage des Celtes.- The apprenticeship years :...
(six albums), Ralph McTell
Ralph McTell
Ralph McTell is an English singer-songwriter and acoustic guitar player who has been an influential figure on the UK folk music scene since the 1960s....
, Dave Swarbrick
Dave Swarbrick
Dave Swarbrick is an English folk musician and singer-songwriter. He has been described by Ashley Hutchings as 'the most influential [British] fiddle player bar none' and his style has been copied or developed by almost every British, and many World folk violin players that have followed him...
, Yusuf Islam and Dafydd Iwan
Dafydd Iwan
Dafydd Iwan , is a Welsh folk singer and politician. He was the president of Plaid Cymru .Dafydd Iwan Jones was born in Brynaman in Carmarthenshire, Wales, and is the elder brother of politician Alun Ffred Jones. He spent most of his youth in Bala in Gwynedd before attending the University of...
. He began producing Welsh music in 2005 and has produced ten albums for Sain Records
Sain
Sain , in full – Recordiau Sain Cyf is a Welsh record label, which was in the Welsh folk revival....
in Caernarfon. He is UK bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
ist and tour manager for Nashville songwriter Beth Nielsen Chapman
Beth Nielsen Chapman
Beth Nielsen Chapman is an American singer-songwriter, mostly known for her numerous hits recorded by country and pop music performers.-Early history:...
.
With Fairport Convention
- Here Live Tonight (Australia; 1986)
- Expletive Delighted (1986)
- More Live Tonight (Australia; 1986)
- Cropredy Capers (Video; 1987)
- Meet On The Ledge (1987)
- The Other Boot (1987)
- In Real Time (Live '87)
- In Real Time (Video; 1987)
- The Third Leg Woodworm (1988)
- Red & Gold (1989)
- The Five Seasons (1991)
- Legends (Video; 1991)
- 25th Anniversary Live (2CDs; 1992)
- Jewel In The Crown Woodworm (1995)
- Old.New.Borrowed.Blue (1996)
Other collaborations
- Ralph McTellRalph McTellRalph McTell is an English singer-songwriter and acoustic guitar player who has been an influential figure on the UK folk music scene since the 1960s....
, "Bridge Of Sighs" (1987) - Simon NicolSimon NicolSimon John Breckenridge Nicol is a guitarist, singer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He was a founder member of British folk rock, or electric folk group Fairport Convention and is the only founding member still in the band...
, "Before Your Time" (1987) - Ralph McTell, "Love Songs"(1989)
- Kieran Halpin, "Crystal Ball Gazing" (1989)
- Beverley CravenBeverley CravenBeverley Craven is a British singer-songwriter best known for her 1991 UK Top 5 hit single "Promise Me". Her most recent album, Close To Home, was released in 2009...
, "Beverley Craven" (1990) - Steve Ashley, "Mysterious Ways" (1990)
- Dan Ar BrazDan Ar BrazDan Ar Braz, born Daniel Le Bras , is a French guitarist and the founder of Héritage des Celtes.- The apprenticeship years :...
, "Songs" (1990) - Dan Ar Braz, "Frontieres de Sel" (1991)
- Kieran Halpin, "Mission Street" (1991)
- Ralph McTell, "Silver Celebration" (1992)
- Ralph McTell, "The Boy With The Note" (1992)
- Dan Ar Braz, "Les Îles de la Memoire" (1992)
- Dan Ar Braz, "Rêve de Siam" (1992)
- Dan Ar Braz, "Xavier Grall" (1992)
- Simon Nicol, "Consonant Please Carol" (1992)
- Robert PlantRobert PlantRobert Anthony Plant, CBE is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career...
, "Fate Of Nations" (1993) - Ralph McTell, "Alphabet Zoo" (1993)
- Beverley Craven, "Love Scenes" (1993)
- Beth Nielsen ChapmanBeth Nielsen ChapmanBeth Nielsen Chapman is an American singer-songwriter, mostly known for her numerous hits recorded by country and pop music performers.-Early history:...
, "Beth Nielsen Chapman" (2nd Album) (1993) - Les BarkerLes BarkerLes Barker is an English poet. He is best known for his comedic poetry and parodies of popular songs, however he has also produced some very serious thought-provoking written work....
, "Gnus and Roses" (1994) - Ralph McTell, "Slide Away The Screen" (1994)
- Dan Ar Braz, "Theme For The Green Lands" (1994)
- Ashley HutchingsAshley HutchingsAshley Stephen Hutchings is an English bassist, vocalist, songwriter, arranger, band leader, writer and record producer. He was a founder member of three of the most noteworthy English folk-rock bands in the history of the genre; Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span and The Albion Band...
, "Twangin' 'n' a-Traddin'" (1994) - Ashley Hutchings, "The Guv'nor's Big Birthday Bash" (1995)
- Billy ConnollyBilly ConnollyWilliam "Billy" Connolly, Jr., CBE is a Scottish comedian, musician, presenter and actor. He is sometimes known, especially in his native Scotland, by the nickname The Big Yin...
, "Musical Tour Of Scotland" (1995) - Judith DurhamJudith DurhamJudith Durham, OAM is an Australian jazz singer and musician who became the lead vocalist for the Australian popular folk music group The Seekers in 1963. She left the group in mid-1968 to pursue her solo career...
, "Mona Lisas" (1996) - Mandolin Allstars, "1st album" (1996)
- Steve TilstonSteve TilstonSteve Tilston is an English singer-songwriter.-Early years:Steve Tilston was born in Liverpool and raised in Leicestershire. Tilston was a graphic designer before taking up music in 1971, living in Bristol at the time, where he recorded his first album "An Acoustic Confusion". In the early...
/Maggie BoyleMaggie BoyleMaggie Boyle is a London-born Irish singer-songwriter.As a youngster she joined the Fulham branch of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann. Later she became an events organiser...
, "All Under the Sun" (1996) - Chris Leslie, "The Flow" (1997)
- The Simon Mayor QuintetSimon MayorSimon Mayor is a mandolinist and fiddle player, guitarist, and composer.- Works :With his solo debut The Mandolin Album in 1990 he embarked on a series of recordings to give the mandolin a uniquely British voice. The CD was made Recording of the Week on BBC Radio 2...
, "Mandolinquents" (1997) - WAZ!, "WAZ!" (1998)
- Dave Pegg And FriendsDave PeggDave Pegg is an English multi-instrumentalist and record producer, arguably most visible as a bass guitarist. He is the longest-serving member of the pre-eminent electric folk band Fairport Convention and has been bassist with a number of important folk and rock groups including The Ian Campbell...
, "Birthday Party" (1998) - Steve Gibbons, "The Dylan Project" (1998)
- WAZ!, "Fully Chromatic" (1999)
- David Hughes, "Recognised" (2000)
- Ralph McTell, "Red Sky" (2000)
- "Hope & Glory" (Soundtrack) (2000)
- Sally Barker, "Another Train" (2000)
- Emily Slade, "Shire Boy" (2001)
- Kieran Halpin, "Back Smiling Again" (2002)
- Alistair Russell, "A19" (2002)
- John Wright, "Dangerous Times" (2002)
As a record producer:
- Ralph McTellRalph McTellRalph McTell is an English singer-songwriter and acoustic guitar player who has been an influential figure on the UK folk music scene since the 1960s....
, Sand In Your Shoes (1995)