Anglicana
Released in 2002 on Topic Records TSCD539 (CD, UK)
Click here to buy this album for £12 + p&p
Produced by Eliza Carthy and Ben Ivitsky
Engineered by Ben Ivitsky at Bamboo Hut, Edinburgh, Adrian Bradley at Twickenham Sound Studios, Twickenham, and for Little Gypsy Girl, Oliver Knight at Panda Sound, Robin Hood's Bay
Mixed by Ben Ivitsky, Kester Lyddon and Adrian Bradley at Twickenham Sound Studios, Twickenham.
Media transfer and technical help: Dave Wah at Bamboo Hut, Edinburgh
Mastering by Denis Blackham at Country Masters
Photography by Tom Howard
Design by John Haxby
All tracks published by Topic Records Ltd.
Eliza wrote Dr MCMBE for Martin Carthy on his 60th birthday.
Musicians
Eliza Carthy, fiddle, vocals, octave violin [2], piano [9];
Barnaby Stradling, acoustic bass [1 ,6, 10];
John Spiers, melodeon [1, 5, 6];
Jon Boden, fiddle [1, 5, 6];
Donald MacDougal, guitar [1];
Donald Hay, drums and percussion [1, 6, 10], hammer and girders [6];
Ben Ivitsky, viola [2], guitar [3, 5], semi-acoustic guitar and trombone [10];
Tim van Eyken, melodeon [2], guitar [2, 7], harmonica [5];
Maria Gilhooley, Norma Waterson, vocals [4];
Will Duke, concertina [4];
Dan Quinn, melodeon [4];
Tom Salter, electric guitar [5];
Martin Carthy, guitar [8];
Martin Green, piano accordion [10];
Doug Duncan, trumpet [10];
Greg Ivitsky, also saxophone [10];
Heather Macleod, Mary McMaster, vocals [10] | Eliza CarthyTrack Listings:- Worcester City
- Just As the Tide Was Flowing
- Limbo
- Little Gypsy Girl
- No Man's Jig / Hanoverian Dance / Three Jolly Sheepskins
- Pretty Ploughboy
- Bold Privateer
- Dr MCMBE
- In London So Fair
- Willow Tree
All tracks Trad. arr. Eliza Carthy except
Track 3, 10 Trad. arr. Eliza Carthy and Ben Ivitzky,
Track 8 Eliza Carthy
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Track Notes & extra detailsWorcester City
I first heard Joseph Taylor when my Dad played me Creeping Jane, another of his songs. He was the first traditional singer to have a commercial release after Percy Grainger recorded him and put out Brigg Fair on a wax cylinder. I always loved his voice and style, singing to me from 1908; don't ever let anyone tell you that traditional singers know nothing about music or performance! In the story I think that if I was her I'd have clocked him and tried to get back to his house and the antidote, rather than giving him the satisfaction of dying in his arms... might not have been as good a story, but Steven Spielberg might have been with me.
Just As the Tide Was Flowing
From the singing of Harry Cox. The Voice of the People series (on Topic Records) has been a massive source of material for me for this album. Limbo
Thanks to Dad again for this one. It comes from a book called Marrowbones put out by the EFDSS. Little Gypsy Girl
Joseph Taylor again. This sounds to me a bit like little orphan Annie singing about how swell her life is going to be. I imagine her and all her mates sitting around the fire having a good laugh at the end of it. No Man's Jig / Hanoverian Dance / Three Jolly Sheepskins
The first and last tunes in this set are from Sleights in North Yorkshire, which, like many places in my area, had a longsword dance tradition collected by Cecil Sharp. The set is dedicated to the Goathland Plough Stotts, whose dedication to the continuation of the tradition I always wonder at and admire most when I have to get up on a freezing January morning to join them. Welcome to the new lads! All three tunes I learned from a book called One Thousand English Country Dance Tunes. Pretty Ploughboy
I love the fact that she grabs him at the end of the song and doesn't let go; not only does she go find her true love and rescue him from the press gang, but she pays for him as well, and we all know how girls are with bargains. Harry Cox sang this. Bold Privateer
My Dad said he has been meaning to give me this song for about five years. I eventually held him in a savage stranglehold until he gave it up. It comes from a collection by John Broadwood, relative of Lucy. All the songs in the collection come from Surrey and Sussex, and Broadwood swears that they were obtained from genuine country people and peasants. Dr MCMBE
I wrote this for my Dad's 60th birthday, though I admit he did not get it in time. He did get it in time for his honorary doctorate though, so happy birthday Dr Dad. In London So Fair
I couldn't keep up the old exclusivity for long! This song comes from the singing of the wonderful Mary Ann Carolan, one of the greatest Irish singers of all time. My Mum goes gooey at the repeated line, where all is right with the world again. Big thanks to Russell Hunter and Sylvia Rae for the use of their old Steinway and their living room and beautiful view of the sea. Willow Tree
This song is dedicated to Danny Stradling, because she thought that she had put it together as she sang it and I knew when I heard May Bradley sing it that it felt very familiar, and neither of us could place it! I remember Danny singing this through staying with the Stradlings over the years. Being on the end of their fabulous hospitality and working with their son has been a lovely and big part of my life. She is also a monster tambourine player. |
