Shirley Collins
Encyclopedia
- For the former MPP, see Shirley Collins (politician)Shirley Collins (politician)Shirley Jean Collins is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. She served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a Liberal from 1987 to 1990, and was a cabinet minister in the government of David Peterson....
Shirley Elizabeth Collins MBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 5 July 1935) is a British folksinger who was a significant contributor to the English Folk Revival of the 1960s and 1970s. She often performed and recorded with her sister Dolly
Dolly Collins
Dorothy Ann Collins, known as Dolly Collins , was an English folk musician, arranger and composer. She was the older sister of Shirley Collins....
, whose accompaniment on piano and portative organ
Portative organ
A portative organ is a small pipe organ that consists of one rank of flue pipes, sometimes arranged in two rows, to be played while strapped to the performer at a right angle...
created unique settings for her sister's plain, austere singing style.
Biography
Shirley Collins and her older sister, Dolly, grew up in the HastingsHastings
Hastings is a town and borough in the county of East Sussex on the south coast of England. The town is located east of the county town of Lewes and south east of London, and has an estimated population of 86,900....
area of East Sussex in a family which kept alive a great love of traditional song. Songs learnt from their grandfather and from their mother's sister, Grace Winborn, were to be important in the sisters' repertoire throughout their career.
On leaving school, at the age of 17, Collins enrolled at a teachers' training college in Tooting
Tooting
Tooting is a district in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is situated south south-west of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-History:...
, south London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. However, in London she also involved herself in the early folk revival and in 1954, at a party hosted by Ewan MacColl
Ewan MacColl
Ewan MacColl was an English folk singer, songwriter, socialist, actor, poet, playwright, and record producer. He was married to theatre director Joan Littlewood, and later to American folksinger Peggy Seeger. He collaborated with Littlewood in the theatre and with Seeger in folk music...
, she met 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...
, the famous American folk collector, who had moved to Britain to avoid the McCarthy witch-hunt
McCarthyism
McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s and characterized by...
which was then raging in America. Lomax and Collins made a folk song collecting trip in the Southern states
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
which lasted from July to November 1959 and resulted in many hours of recordings, featuring performers such as Almeda Riddle
Almeda Riddle
Almeda Riddle was an American folk singer.Born and raised in Cleburne County, Arkansas, she learned music from her father, a fiddler and singing teacher. She collected and sang traditional ballads throughout her life, usually unaccompanied...
, Hobart Smith
Hobart Smith
Hobart Smith was an American old-time musician. He was most notable for his appearance with his sister, Texas Gladden, on a series of Library of Congress recordings in the 1940s and his later appearances at various festivals during the folk music revival of the 1960s...
, and Bessie Jones and culminated in the discovery of Mississippi Fred McDowell
Mississippi Fred McDowell
Fred McDowell known by his stage name; Mississippi Fred McDowell, was an American Hill country blues singer and guitar player.-Career:...
. Recordings from this trip were issued by Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
under the title "Sounds of the South", and some were reenacted in the Coen brothers
Coen Brothers
Joel David Coen and Ethan Jesse Coen known together professionally as the Coen brothers, are American filmmakers...
’ film Oh Brother, Where Art Thou. The experience of her life with Lomax and the making of the recordings in religious communities, social gatherings, prisons and chain gangs was described in Collins's book America Over the Water (published 2004).
Back in Britain, Collins proceeded with her own singing career, and in a series of influential albums, she helped to introduce many innovations into the English folk revival. In 1964, she recorded the landmark jazz-folk fusion of Folk Roots, New Routes, with guitarist Davy Graham
Davey Graham
David Michael Gordon "Davey" Graham, originally spelled Davy Graham, , was a British guitarist and one of the most influential figures in the 1960s British folk revival...
. 1967 saw the essentially southern English song collection, The Sweet Primeroses, on which she was accompanied for the first time by Dolly Collins's portative organ.
In 1969 there was another collaboration, this time with The Young Tradition
The Young Tradition
The Young Tradition were a British folk group of the 1960s, formed by Peter Bellamy, Royston Wood and Heather Wood. They recorded three albums of mainly traditional British folk music, sung in arrangements for their three unaccompanied voices.-Biography:...
(featuring Peter Bellamy
Peter Bellamy
Peter Franklyn Bellamy was an English folk singer. He was a founding member of The Young Tradition but also had a long solo career, recording numerous albums and touring folk clubs and concert halls...
, Heather Wood and Royston Wood) and Dolly Collins, The Holly Bears the Crown. However, the album was not released to the public until 1995.
Collins's seminal recording is considered by many to be Anthems in Eden
Anthems in Eden
Anthems in Eden is a 1969 album by Shirley and Dolly Collins, with the Early Music Consort of London, directed by David Munrow. The album originally consisted of a 28-minute set of folk songs plus 7 other individual pieces performed by the same group. The musical arrangements for these 8 pieces...
, released in 1969. It featured a suite of songs centred on the changes in rural England brought about by the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Dolly Collins created arrangements featuring David Munrow
David Munrow
David Munrow was a British musician and early music historian.- Biography and career :Munrow was born in Birmingham and was the son of Birmingham University dance teacher Hilda Norman Munrow and Albert Davis 'Dave' Munrow, a Birmingham University lecturer and physical education instructor who...
and various other players from his Early Music Consort
Early Music Consort
The Early Music Consort of London was founded by Christopher Hogwood and David Munrow in 1967 and disbanded in 1976 following Munrow's death. It produced many influential collections of early music, typical of which was The Art of the Netherlands issued as a 3-record set in 1976.-Selected...
. The highly unusual combination of ancient instruments included rebec
Rebec
The rebecha is a bowed string musical instrument. In its most common form, it has a narrow boat-shaped body and 1-5 strings and is played on the arm or under the chin, like a violin.- Origins :The rebec dates back to the Middle Ages and was particularly popular in the 15th and 16th centuries...
s, sackbut
Sackbut
The sackbut is a trombone from the Renaissance and Baroque eras, i.e., a musical instrument in the brass family similar to the trumpet except characterised by a telescopic slide with which the player varies the length of the tube to change pitches, thus allowing them to obtain chromaticism, as...
s, viol
Viol
The viol is any one of a family of bowed, fretted and stringed musical instruments developed in the mid-late 15th century and used primarily in the Renaissance and Baroque periods. The family is related to and descends primarily from the Renaissance vihuela, a plucked instrument that preceded the...
s and crumhorn
Crumhorn
The crumhorn is a musical instrument of the woodwind family, most commonly used during the Renaissance period. In modern times, there has been a revival of interest in Early Music, and crumhorns are being played again....
s and hinted that the guitar was not the only appropriate accompaniment for the folk song. Several critics have suggested that it is impossible to imagine that electric accompaniment for traditional song, as successfully purveyed by 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...
and Steeleye Span
Steeleye Span
Steeleye Span are an English folk-rock band, formed in 1969 and remaining active today. Along with Fairport Convention they are amongst the best known acts of the British folk revival, and were among the most commercially successful, thanks to their hit singles "Gaudete" and "All Around My Hat"....
, could have developed quite as it did without the pioneering Anthems In Eden.
All these recordings strove to marry a deep love and understanding of the English folk music heritage with a more contemporary attitude to musical settings. Anthems In Eden was followed by Love, Death and the Lady
Love, Death and the Lady
Love, Death and the Lady is an album by Shirley and Dolly Collins.This is a companion-piece to Anthems in Eden , but with a darker tone to it. Many of the same instrumentalists are present , but used more sparsely. The figure of Death appears as a character in the title track...
, and No Roses
No Roses
No Roses is an album by Shirley Collins and the Albion Country Band. It was recorded at Sound Techniques, and Air Studios in London, in the summer of 1971. It was produced by Sandy Roberton and Ashley Hutchings...
, recorded in 1971 with the Albion Country Band
Albion Country Band
The Albion Band, also known as The Albion Country Band and The Albion Dance Band, were an English electric folk band, brought together and led by musician Ashley Hutchings...
, and a total of 27 musicians.
Collins married her second husband Ashley Hutchings
Ashley Hutchings
Ashley 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...
in 1971. He left Steeleye Span
Steeleye Span
Steeleye Span are an English folk-rock band, formed in 1969 and remaining active today. Along with Fairport Convention they are amongst the best known acts of the British folk revival, and were among the most commercially successful, thanks to their hit singles "Gaudete" and "All Around My Hat"....
and the couple created the all acoustic Etchingham Steam Band
Etchingham Steam Band
The 'Etchingham Steam Band' were a folk group formed by Ashley Hutchings in 1974 after the breakup of the Albion Country Band. They were named after Etchingham in Sussex where Hutchings was living with his wife Shirley Collins...
with Terry Potter, Ian Holder and Vic Gammon. The Etchingham's repertoire was drawn from the traditional music of Sussex. With The Albion Dance Band
Albion Country Band
The Albion Band, also known as The Albion Country Band and The Albion Dance Band, were an English electric folk band, brought together and led by musician Ashley Hutchings...
, performing traditional material on a mixture of modern (electric) and mediaeval instruments, Collins recorded The Prospect Before Us.
1978's For As Many As Will was the last studio album recorded by Shirley and Dolly Collins. Collins retired from public performance, although she continues to lecture and to appear on radio as an authority on traditional music.
In 2004, she was awarded a Gold Badge by the English Folk Dance and Song Society
English Folk Dance and Song Society
The English Folk Dance and Song Society was formed in 1932 when two organisations merged: the Folk-Song Society and the English Folk Dance Society. The EFDSS, a member-based organisation, was incorporated as a Company limited by guarantee in 1935 and became a Registered Charity The English Folk...
and became patron of the South East Folk Arts Network in 2006. She was awarded the MBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
for services to music in the Queen's New Year's Honours List, announced 30 December 2006. On 14 April 2007, she was awarded an Honorary Degree by the Open University, for a "Notable contribution to education and culture", while in 2008 she was given the "Good Tradition" award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards
BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards
The BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards celebrate outstanding achievement during the previous year within the field of folk music. The awards have been given annually since 2000 by British radio station BBC Radio 2....
. In 2008, Collins was elected as president of the English Folk Dance and Song Society.
With actor Pip Barnes, she tours with her three illustrated talks "America over the Water" (about her field trip in the Southern States of America with Alan Lomax), "A Most Sunshiny Day" (about the traditional music of England and Sussex in particular) and "I'm a Romany Rai" (about the Gypsy singers and songs of Southern England).
Influence
Both the collaboration with Davy Graham (Folk Roots, New Routes) and the Anthems in Eden album are seen as milestones in the English folk revival.Shirley Collins's voice has a breathy, unearthly quality which alienates some people but draws in fans from unexpected quarters. The American folk-rock band 10,000 Maniacs
10,000 Maniacs
10,000 Maniacs is a United States-based alternative rock band, which formed in 1981 and continues to be active with various line-ups.-1981–1993:...
did a cover of "Just as the Tide was Flowing", closely modelled on the version on the No Roses album. David Tibet
David Tibet
David Tibet is a British poet and artist who founded the music group Current 93, of which he is the only full-time member. He had earlier collaborated with Psychic TV and 23 Skidoo...
of the apocalyptic folk band Current 93
Current 93
Current 93 is an eclectic British experimental music group, working since the early 1980s in folk-based musical forms. The band was founded in 1982 by David Tibet .-Background:Tibet has been the only constant in the group, though Steven Stapleton has appeared on...
released a collection of her recordings, entitled Fountain of Snow, and she sings on the final version of "Idumæa" on Current 93's 2006 album Black Ships Ate the Sky
Black Ships Ate the Sky
Black Ships Ate the Sky is a 2006 album by Current 93. The album features numerous guest vocalists, such as Antony Hegarty, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Marc Almond, and Shirley Collins. It features nine versions of the 1763 Methodist hymn "Idumæa", with lyrics by Charles Wesley, each featuring vocals by...
.
Billy Bragg
Billy Bragg
Stephen William Bragg , better known as Billy Bragg, is an English alternative rock musician and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, and his lyrics mostly deal with political or romantic themes...
said of her: "Shirley Collins is without doubt one of England's greatest cultural treasures."
Few singers of the English folk revival have attempted as much on record as Collins – an extraordinary combination of fragility and power. "I like music to be fairly straightforward, simply embellished – the performance without histrionics allowing you to think about the song rather than telling you what to think."
Colin Meloy
Colin Meloy
Colin Patrick Henry Meloy is the lead singer and songwriter for the Portland, Oregon, folk-rock band The Decemberists. In addition to vocals, he performs with an acoustic guitar, 12-string acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bouzouki, harmonica, percussion and interpretive hand gestures.-Early life...
of The Decemberists
The Decemberists
The Decemberists are an indie folk rock band from Portland, Oregon, United States, fronted by singer/songwriter Colin Meloy. The other members of the band are Chris Funk , Jenny Conlee , Nate Query , and John Moen .The band's...
recorded a whole EP
Colin Meloy Sings Shirley Collins
Colin Meloy Sings Shirley Collins is the tour-only EP by Colin Meloy, lead singer of The Decemberists. Similar to his EP from 2005, where he covered six songs by Morrissey of The Smiths, Meloy covers six traditional arrangements from folk singer Shirley Collins.-Track listing:#"Dance to Your...
of Shirley Collins tunes. It was sold on Meloy's 2006 spring United States tour in limited quantities.
Discography
- Sweet England Argo (1959)
- False True Lovers Folkways RecordsFolkways RecordsFolkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987, and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways.-History:...
(1960) - Heroes in Love Topic EP (1963)
- The Sweet Primeroses Topic (1967)
- The Power of the True Love KnotThe Power of the True Love KnotThe Power of the True Love Knot is an album by Shirley Collins.The theme of this collection of songs is "the idea of true love as a power outside society's control", as Shirley writes on the liner notes. If the first track sounds slightly like "Eleanor Rigby", this is because Bram Taylor plays...
Polydor (1968) - A Favourite Garland Gama (1973)
- Adieu to Old England Topic (1974)
- Fountain of Snow Durtro (1992)
- The Classic Collection Highpoint (2004)
- Within Sound Fledg'ling (2003) (Box Set)
Shirley and Dolly Collins
- Anthems in EdenAnthems in EdenAnthems in Eden is a 1969 album by Shirley and Dolly Collins, with the Early Music Consort of London, directed by David Munrow. The album originally consisted of a 28-minute set of folk songs plus 7 other individual pieces performed by the same group. The musical arrangements for these 8 pieces...
EMI Harvest (1969) - Love, Death and the LadyLove, Death and the LadyLove, Death and the Lady is an album by Shirley and Dolly Collins.This is a companion-piece to Anthems in Eden , but with a darker tone to it. Many of the same instrumentalists are present , but used more sparsely. The figure of Death appears as a character in the title track...
EMI Harvest (1970) - Amaranth EMI Harvest (1976) – [incorporates Anthems in Eden]
- For as Many as Will Topic (1978)
- Harking Back Durtro (1979)
- Snapshots Fledg'ling (2006)
- The Harvest Years EMI (2008)
The Young Tradition and Shirley and Dolly Collins
- The Holly Bears The CrownThe Holly Bears the CrownThe Holly Bears The Crown is an album by The Young Tradition with Shirley and Dolly Collins.This album was recorded in London in 1969. A few weeks later musical and financial differences caused the break-up of The Young Tradition. The trio "The Young Tradition" sang a cappella folk songs in a...
Fledg'ling (recorded 1969/ released 1995)
Etchingham Steam Band (includes Shirley Collins)
- Etchingham Steam BandEtchingham Steam BandThe 'Etchingham Steam Band' were a folk group formed by Ashley Hutchings in 1974 after the breakup of the Albion Country Band. They were named after Etchingham in Sussex where Hutchings was living with his wife Shirley Collins...
Fledg'ling (1975)
Literature
- Shirley Collins, America Over the Water, SAF Publishing, 2004. ISBN 0-946719-66-7
External links
- Shirley Collins web site
- [ Shirley Collins at the Allmusic Guide]
- Collins Discography at Smithsonian FolkwaysSmithsonian FolkwaysSmithsonian Folkways is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution. It is a part of the Smithsonian's Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, located at Capital Gallery in downtown Washington, D.C. The label was founded in 1987 after the family of Moses Asch, founder of Folkways...