The Critics Group
Encyclopedia
The Critics Group, also known as The London Critics Group, was a group of people who met to explore 'how best to apply the techniques of folk-music and drama to the folk revival' under the direction of Ewan MacColl
and Peggy Seeger
, with some participation from Bert Lloyd
and Charles Parker. Running for eight years from the mid 1960s to the early 1970s this was not a conventional musical group as it had no permanent line-up.
It started out as a study group for singers, meeting once a week at MacColl & Seeger's home in Beckenham, attempting to raise the standards of singing. One of the main activities of the meetings was group criticism and discussion of each other's performances which subsequently earned the group its name, coined by Charles Parker when pressed for a name by a radio interviewer.
Many of the meetings were recorded, and some of these recordings are held as part of the The Charles Parker Archive which is held in the Birmingham City Archive and Heritage Service.
The group organised regular Club nights at the Union Tavern in the Farringdon Road which attracted musicians from all over the world. The best part of these evenings was often the 'lock ins' which developed into impromptu musical sessions until the early hours of the morning. Under the guidance of McColl, a noted draatist, Seeger and Parker, they went on to produce an annual show called the Festival of Fools
which always attracted critical notice in the national press. Staged each Christmas for five years, they satirised events of the previous year through sketches and songs, loosely based around folk customs and songs. They were performed in the back room of a North London pub, the New Merlin's Cave.
Members of the group included Frankie Armstrong
, Bob Blair, Brian Byrne (UK), Helen Campbell (UK), Jim Carroll (UK), Phil Colclough
, Aldwyn Cooper, Ted Culver, John Faulkner (UK), Richard Humm, Allen Ives, Sandra Kerr
, Paul Lenihan, Pat Mackenzie, Jim O'Connor, Maggie O'Murphy, Tom Paley
, Brian Pearson, Michael Rosen
, Buff Rosenthal, Susanna Steele, Denis Turner, Jack Warshaw, Terry Yarnell.
The group released a number of recordings on the Argo
label.
In 1972 the principal performing members of the Critics Group broke away from MacColl's leadership and formed the left-wing theatre group Combine, which produced weekly events in an east London pub, the Knave of Clubs. They created songs, plays and other events in a similar manner to the Critics, culminating in the Vietnam Victory Show of April 1975 which celebrated the final liberation of Saigon.
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...
and Peggy Seeger
Peggy Seeger
Margaret "Peggy" Seeger is an American folksinger. She is also well known in Britain, where she lived for more than 30 years with her husband, singer and songwriter Ewan MacColl.- The first American period :...
, with some participation from Bert Lloyd
A. L. Lloyd
Albert Lancaster Lloyd , usually known as A. L. Lloyd or Bert Lloyd, was an English folk singer and collector of folk songs, and as such was a key figure in the folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s....
and Charles Parker. Running for eight years from the mid 1960s to the early 1970s this was not a conventional musical group as it had no permanent line-up.
It started out as a study group for singers, meeting once a week at MacColl & Seeger's home in Beckenham, attempting to raise the standards of singing. One of the main activities of the meetings was group criticism and discussion of each other's performances which subsequently earned the group its name, coined by Charles Parker when pressed for a name by a radio interviewer.
Many of the meetings were recorded, and some of these recordings are held as part of the The Charles Parker Archive which is held in the Birmingham City Archive and Heritage Service.
The group organised regular Club nights at the Union Tavern in the Farringdon Road which attracted musicians from all over the world. The best part of these evenings was often the 'lock ins' which developed into impromptu musical sessions until the early hours of the morning. Under the guidance of McColl, a noted draatist, Seeger and Parker, they went on to produce an annual show called the Festival of Fools
Festival of Fools
The Festival of Fools is an annual Street Festival held in Belfast , usually during the May Bank Holiday weekend. It first started in 2004 and includes performances from around the world...
which always attracted critical notice in the national press. Staged each Christmas for five years, they satirised events of the previous year through sketches and songs, loosely based around folk customs and songs. They were performed in the back room of a North London pub, the New Merlin's Cave.
Members of the group included Frankie Armstrong
Frankie Armstrong
Frankie Armstrong is a singer and voice teacher.She has worked as a singer in the folk scene and the women's movement and as a trainer in social and youth work...
, Bob Blair, Brian Byrne (UK), Helen Campbell (UK), Jim Carroll (UK), Phil Colclough
Phil Colclough
Phil Colclough is an English contemporary folk singer and songwriter. His best known works, cowritten with his wife, June Colclough , are "Song for Ireland" and "The Call and the Answer"....
, Aldwyn Cooper, Ted Culver, John Faulkner (UK), Richard Humm, Allen Ives, Sandra Kerr
Sandra Kerr
Sandra Kerr is an English folk singer.Sandra Kerr was born in Plaistow, Newham, London. She was a member of The Critics Group from 1963 to 1972.She sings and plays English concertina, guitar, appalachian dulcimer and autoharp....
, Paul Lenihan, Pat Mackenzie, Jim O'Connor, Maggie O'Murphy, Tom Paley
Tom Paley
Tom Paley is an American guitarist, banjo and fiddle player. He is best known for his work with the New Lost City Ramblers in the 1950s and 1960s.-Biography:Paley was born and raised in New York City, United States...
, Brian Pearson, Michael Rosen
Michael Rosen
Michael Wayne Rosen is a broadcaster, children's novelist and poet and the author of 140 books. He was appointed as the fifth Children's Laureate in June 2007, succeeding Jacqueline Wilson, and held this honour until 2009....
, Buff Rosenthal, Susanna Steele, Denis Turner, Jack Warshaw, Terry Yarnell.
The group released a number of recordings on the Argo
Argo Records (UK)
Argo Records was a record label founded in 1951 by Harley Usill , and musicologist Cyril Clarke with £500 capital, initially as a company specialising in "British music played by British artists" , but it quickly became a company primarily specialising in spoken-word recordings and other esoteric ...
label.
In 1972 the principal performing members of the Critics Group broke away from MacColl's leadership and formed the left-wing theatre group Combine, which produced weekly events in an east London pub, the Knave of Clubs. They created songs, plays and other events in a similar manner to the Critics, culminating in the Vietnam Victory Show of April 1975 which celebrated the final liberation of Saigon.
Discography
- Poetry and Song Volumes 1-14 1966/7 Argo ZDA 50 - ZDA 63 (For use in secondary schools (11 - 16 years), edited by James Gibson and recorded in association with MacMillan & Co. Ltd.)
- A Merry Progress to London 1966 Argo ZFB 60
- Sweet Thames, Flow Softly 1966 Argo ZDA 47 (John Faulkner, Sandra Kerr, Terry Yarnell, Ted Culver and Jim O'Connor)
- Waterloo-Peterloo 1968 Argo ZFB 68 (Frankie Armstrong, John Faulkner, Brian Pearson, Denis Turner and Terry Yarnell with Sandra Kerr, Jim O'Connor and Peggy Seeger)
- Female Frolic 1968 Argo ZDA 82
- As We Were A-Sailin 1970 Argo ZDA 137
- Ye Mariners All 1970 Argo ZDA 138
Available Recordings
- 'Sweet Thames Flow Softly' Vocalion CDSML 8424 (review)