Peter Douglas Kennedy
Encyclopedia
Peter Douglas Kennedy was an English
collector of folk songs in the 1950s. Peter's father, Douglas, was EFDSS director after Cecil Sharp
.
Kennedy was one of the presenters of the BBC folk music programme As I Roved Out, broadcast during the 1950s which featured collecting recordings of traditional singers. Together with Alan Lomax
, and assisted by Shirley Collins
he went on to edit "Folk Songs of Britain", a ten volume series of sound recordings, originally published in the USA on Caedmon Records from 1961 onwards, and later in the UK on Topic Records
in 1968. Some of the titles in this series were re-issued on CD by Rounder
in 2000. A curious, and frequently criticised feature of these albums is that songs are often presented by splicing together recordings of two or more singers. Kennedy also founded the record label Folktrax, issuing his own recordings on cassette, and later CD. His book Folk Songs of Britain and Ireland (London: Cassell, 1975) gave both the tunes and the words to 360 traditional songs, as well as brief notes about their origins, and references to other collected versions.
Kennedy's work raised some controversy amongst the folk music community. After his death, the magazine Musical Traditions went so far as to draw up a list of opinions for and against Peter's legacy. The number of items against him is 28; in favour, 8. For some people he appeared exploitative and difficult to deal with, but his scholarship was rarely questioned.
Folk musicians recorded by Kennedy:
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
collector of folk songs in the 1950s. Peter's father, Douglas, was EFDSS director after Cecil Sharp
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...
.
Kennedy was one of the presenters of the BBC folk music programme As I Roved Out, broadcast during the 1950s which featured collecting recordings of traditional singers. Together with Alan Lomax
Alan Lomax
Alan Lomax was an American folklorist and ethnomusicologist. He was one of the great field collectors of folk music of the 20th century, recording thousands of songs in the United States, Great Britain, Ireland, the Caribbean, Italy, and Spain.In his later career, Lomax advanced his theories of...
, and assisted by Shirley Collins
Shirley Collins
Shirley Elizabeth Collins MBE is a British folksinger who was a significant contributor to the English Folk Revival of the 1960s and 1970s...
he went on to edit "Folk Songs of Britain", a ten volume series of sound recordings, originally published in the USA on Caedmon Records from 1961 onwards, and later in the UK on Topic Records
Topic Records
Topic Records is a British folk music label, which played a major role in the second British folk revival. It began as an offshoot of the Workers' Music Association in 1939, making it the oldest independent record label in the world.-History:...
in 1968. Some of the titles in this series were re-issued on CD by Rounder
Rounder Records
Rounder Records, originally of Cambridge, Massachusetts, but now based in Burlington, Massachusetts, is a record label founded in 1970 by Ken Irwin, Bill Nowlin and Marian Leighton-Levy, while all three were still university students...
in 2000. A curious, and frequently criticised feature of these albums is that songs are often presented by splicing together recordings of two or more singers. Kennedy also founded the record label Folktrax, issuing his own recordings on cassette, and later CD. His book Folk Songs of Britain and Ireland (London: Cassell, 1975) gave both the tunes and the words to 360 traditional songs, as well as brief notes about their origins, and references to other collected versions.
Kennedy's work raised some controversy amongst the folk music community. After his death, the magazine Musical Traditions went so far as to draw up a list of opinions for and against Peter's legacy. The number of items against him is 28; in favour, 8. For some people he appeared exploitative and difficult to deal with, but his scholarship was rarely questioned.
Folk musicians recorded by Kennedy:
- Bob & Ron CopperCopper FamilyThe 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:...
- Lizzie HigginsLizzie HigginsLizzie Higgins was an Aberdeenshire ballad singer.Born Elizabeth Ann Higgins in Guest Row, Aberdeen, she was the daughter of settled Travellers the piper Donty Higgins and the singer Jeannie Robertson. In 1941, after her school was twice bombed, Lizzie moved with her mother to the rural town of...
- Jimmy MacBeathJimmy MacBeathJimmy MacBeath was an itinerant worker and singer of Bothy Ballads from the north east of Scotland. He was a source of traditional songs for singers of the mid 20th century Folk Revival in Great Britain.-Life:...
- John MacDonald
- Sarah MakemSarah MakemSarah Makem a native of Keady, County Armagh, Northern Ireland, was a traditional Irish singer.She was the wife of fiddler Peter Makem, mother of musicians Tommy Makem and Jack Makem, and grandmother of musicians Shane Makem, Conor Makem and Rory Makem...
- The McPeake Family of Belfast
- Cyril Poacher
- Bob Roberts
- Jeannie RobertsonJeannie RobertsonJeannie Robertson was a Scottish folk singer.-Hamish Henderson and Alan Lomax:It is not known where Jeannie Robertson was born but she did live at 90, Hilton Street in Aberdeen, where a plaque now commemorates her. Like many of the Scottish Travellers from Aberdeen, Glasgow and Ayrshire, she went...
- Herbert SmithHerbert SmithHerbert Smith LLP is an international law firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom. The firm has offices in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The firm was founded in the City of London in 1882 by Norman Herbert Smith and today has 240 partners and 1,300 fee-earners.-History:The firm was...
- Phoebe Smith
- Belle StewartBelle StewartBelle Stewart became known as a Scottish traditional singer.The general public knew little about Belle Stewart until 2006, when her daughter, Sheila Stewart, wrote the biography Queen Amang the Heather: the Life of Belle Stewart.Sheila Stewart corrects the frequently cited birthdate 17 July to the...
- Scan TesterScan TesterScan 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"...
- Bill Westaway
External links
- The Guardian Obituary June 19, 2006
- The Independent Obituary June 16, 2006
- Folktrax archive