Old Swan Band
Encyclopedia
Early years
Its origins lie in the early 1970s with the English country dance band OakOak (band)
Oak were an English folk band in the early 1970s which had a major influence on the folk revival in the UK, despite being together for only two years.Oak were:* Tony Engle * Danny Stradling...
, one of a tiny handful at that time that combined melodeon
Melodeon (organ)
A melodeon is a type of 19th century reed organ with a foot-operated vacuum bellows, and a piano keyboard. It differs from the related harmonium, which uses a pressure bellows. Melodeons were manufactured in the United States sometime after 1812 until the Civil War era...
with fiddles
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
. Two members of Oak, husband and wife Rod and Danny Stradling (melodeon and vocals), went on to form The Cotswold Liberation Front, which became The Old Swan Band in 1974. They recruited fiddler Paul Burgess, percussionist Martin Brinsford and the Fraser Sisters (Fi and Jo). Fi (short for Fiona) is a fiddle player and singer; her sister Jo (aged 13 when she joined the band) plays saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
, clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
and whistle
Whistle
A whistle or call is a simple aerophone, an instrument which produces sound from a stream of forced air. It may be mouth-operated, or powered by air pressure, steam, or other means...
s, and is also a singer and composer.
The new band took the English country dance scene by storm. Up to this point the English Folk Dance and Song Society had set the tone for polite decorum at Cecil Sharp House
Cecil Sharp
Cecil James Sharp was the founding father of the folklore revival in England in the early 20th century, and many of England's traditional dances and music owe their continuing existence to his work in recording and publishing them.-Early life:Sharp was born in Camberwell, London, the eldest son of...
. With a drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
mer and sax player, The Old Swan Band brought punchiness to a very English repertoire of tunes (and occasional songs), drawn from recordings of traditional
Traditional music
Traditional music is the term increasingly used for folk music that is not contemporary folk music. More on this is at the terminology section of the World music article...
English country musicians such as Walter Bulwer, Scan Tester
Scan Tester
Scan Tester was an English folk and English country musician.-Overview:Lewis "Scan" Tester was born in Chelwood Gate, near Horsted Keynes, Sussex. At about the age of five he acquired the nickname "scantelope"...
, the Copper family
Copper Family
The Copper Family are a family of singers of traditional, unaccompanied English folk song. Originally from Rottingdean, near Brighton, Sussex, England, the nucleus of the family now live in the neighbouring village of Peacehaven.-History:...
and Reg Hall.
Albums
The title of the Old Swan Band's first album, released in 1976, was their manifestoManifesto
A manifesto is a public declaration of principles and intentions, often political in nature. Manifestos relating to religious belief are generally referred to as creeds. Manifestos may also be life stance-related.-Etymology:...
– "No Reels". This was a way of saying you would not find fancy reels
Reel (dance)
The reel is a folk dance type as well as the accompanying dance tune type. In Scottish country dancing, the reel is one of the four traditional dances, the others being the jig, the strathspey and the waltz, and is also the name of a dance figure ....
and jig
Jig
The Jig is a form of lively folk dance, as well as the accompanying dance tune, originating in England in the 16th century and today most associated with Irish dance music and Scottish country dance music...
s or any frantically paced tunes here. In their wake came several other folk dance bands that combined brass instruments with fiddles - the New Victory Band
New Victory Band
The New Victory Band was an English Country Dance band during the late 1970s/early 80s.The original line-up consisted of the members of Muckram Wakes , Pete and Chris Coe, and Ian and Linda Wordsworth....
, the Cock and Bull Band and Ramsbottom.
After two more albums Rod and Danny Stradling left the band. The band became fiddle-dominated and after recording an EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
in 1983, did not return to the recording studio
Studio
A studio is an artist's or worker's workroom, or the catchall term for an artist and his or her employees who work within that studio. This can be for the purpose of architecture, painting, pottery , sculpture, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, radio or television...
until 2004 – a gap of twenty-one years, during which time the band's members also worked on other projects and with other bands.
The 2004 album, Swan-Upmanship was, as before, decidedly non-Celtic
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...
– almost all the tunes were drawn from the English tradition. The line-up on this recording was John Adams (trombone, fiddle), Martin Brinsford (percussion), Paul Burgess (fiddle), Fi Fraser (fiddle), Jo Freya (tenor saxophone, whistle), Neil Gledhill (bass saxophone), Flos Headford (fiddle) and Heather Horsley (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...
).
Other projects
Rod Stradling recorded with the English Country Blues Band, the English Country Dance Band, Tiger MothTiger moth
Tiger moths are moths of the family Arctiidae.Tiger moth may also refer to:*de Havilland Tiger Moth, an aircraft; an aerobatic and trainer tailwheel biplane*de Havilland DH.71 Tiger Moth, an earlier monoplane produced by de Havilland...
and Edward II and the Red Hot Polkas
Edward II (band)
Edward II is an English band named for King Edward II, which play a fusion of world music, English folk and reggae. Active from 1985, the band broke up after losing several key members in 1999, relaunching as "e2K" in 2000...
. He became editor of Musical Traditions, a highly respected magazine whose archive
Archive
An archive is a collection of historical records, or the physical place they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime, and are kept to show the function of an organization...
s are now available online http://www.mustrad.org.uk/.
The Fraser Sisters recorded as a duo. Jo Fraser changed her name to Jo Freya
Jo Freya
Jo Freya is an English saxophonist, clarinetist and singer.She was born Jo Fraser, but changed her name to Jo Freya as a condition of joining the actors' union Equity, which does not allow two of its members to share the same name...
as a condition of joining the actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
s' union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
Equity
British Actors' Equity Association
Equity is the trade union for actors, stage managers and models in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1930 by a group of West End performers....
, which does not allow two of its members to share the same name. Broadening her repertoire to embrace Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an influences, she joined Blowzabella
Blowzabella
Blowzabella are an English band who play bagpipes, hurdy-gurdies and an array of acoustic instruments to produce an inimitable, driving, drone-based sound influenced by British and European traditional dance music.-History:...
and its spin-off Scarp
Scarp
-Landforms and geology:* Cliff, a significant vertical, or near vertical, rock exposure* Escarpment, a steep slope or long cliff that occurs from erosion or faulting and separates two relatively level areas of differing elevations...
; she also plays with Token Women (as do her sister Fi and Heather Horsley) and with her own pan-European group called Freyja.
Martin Brinsford went on to join Brass Monkey, with Martin Carthy
Martin Carthy
Martin Carthy MBE is an English folk singer and guitarist who has remained one of the most influential figures in British traditional music, inspiring contemporaries such as Bob Dylan and Paul Simon and later artists such as Richard Thompson since he emerged as a young musician in the early days...
.
Paul Burgess and Flos Headford were founder-members of the Mellstock Band.
Discography
- No Reels - (1976) - Free Reed Records FRR 011
- Old Swan Brand- (1978) - Free Reed Records FRR 028
- Gamesters, Pickpockets and Harlots - (1981) - Dingle's, LP DIN 322
- Still Swanning... After All These Years - (Compilation albumCompilation albumA compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
) - Free Reed Records, FREE-CD31 - Swan-UpmanshipSwan-UpmanshipSwan-Upmanship is an album by the Old Swan Band.Although these obscure tunes come from England, Ireland, Scotland, France and Sweden, the band puts a distinctively English stamp on all of them. Firstly they are taken at a steady, unhurried pace. This is a dance, not a race. Secondly, the style of...
- (2004) - WildGoose, WGS320CD - Swan For The MoneySwan For The Money- Track listing :# "The Green-Clad Hills/ Jimmy Garson's March" #: A tune collected in Orkney by Peter Kennedy, and one from England# "Mrs O'Dwyer's / Packie Russell's"...
- (2011) - WildGoose, WGS378CD
Anthologies
- This Label is not Removable - A Celebration of 25 years of Free Reed - (2001) - Free Reed Records, FRTCD 25
- Stepping Up: A History of the New Wave of English Country Dance Music - (2004) - TOPIC-CD752
- fRoots 24 - (2004) (fRoots magazine sampler)