Bert Lloyd

[michael sam wild]

The long awaited book by Dave arthur has just come out. It's published by Pluto Press. For concertina players there is some interesting material on Alf Edwards who accompanied a lot of early 1950s revivalists on his EC. The account of the filming of Moby Dick was excellent. bert liked the concertina because of its perceived authenticity for accompanying traditional songs, which was by the 50s at least not the case.

 

On page 282 Lloyd is quoted as writing in a sleeve note that the concertina was no more traditoinal than a guitar or any other portable instrument. He thought it suited his kind of song and interfered less with the rhythm.

Edited June 13, 2012 by michael sam wild

[Steve Mansfield]

Just finished reading it yesterday, and I've reviewed it on Amazon thusly -

 

The life story of one of the central figures of English folk music is examined in this thorough but very accessible biography.

This is certainly no uncritical hagiography - Dave Arthur examines Lloyd's tendency to embroider the truth of aspects of his own early life, his willingness to actively blur the distinction between the source material as it was collected and the arranged or reconstructed songs Lloyd performed and disseminated, and the inevitable colouration that Lloyd's strong political beliefs brought to his work and the obstacles those beliefs placed in his career path.

Against this, however, Arthur rightly points out that such criticisms are made with the benefit of fifty years of the scholarship that Lloyd himself played a part in formalising. He also brings us closer to the man himself, showing Lloyd's unstinting generosity towards fellow performers (even when he personally disliked the results) and researchers, the obvious and genuine affection that almost everyone who encountered him felt for him, and the enormous, pivotal position Lloyd occupies in the history of the post-war English folk revival. Through narrating this latter aspect of his life, the book also acts as a potted history of the early revival itself. Lloyd's interactions with other key figures, such as his complex relationship with Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger and with Alan Lomax, are detailed, and the book gives a great insight into the processes, personalities and politics that shaped the folk revival.

Lloyd was also a prolific radio scriptwriter and journalist, a researcher into folklore across much of the world, and had interests and influence in a range of other spheres; Arthur juggles the various parts of Lloyd's life with great organisational skill, preferring sometimes to give the arc of a particular aspect of Lloyd's life rather than slavishly following the chronology, but successfully avoiding the twin dangers of confusion and excessive repetition.

This is a highly readable biography, meticulously researched without becoming drily academic, affectionate yet critical. The Bert Lloyd who emerges from these pages is at once both more accessible and more impressive than the Marxist pedagogue portrayed by some of his detractors. It is a biography that deserves to be read, not only because it is an important portrait of a crucial figure in the recent history of folk and traditional music, but also because it is a well-written, entertaining and highly informative read.

 

[Edited for formatting]

Edited June 12, 2012 by Steve Mansfield

[michael sam wild]

Thanks Steve.He was so prolific in his work and his creative contributions such as Tam Lin, Sovay Sovay, Jack Orion , Recruited Collier,Blackwater Side, Hand Weaver and the Factory Maid, etc etc, along with McColl's work have added to the gene pool of 'Traditional' song. Nowadays nobody questions the tweaking of old material, they do tend to admit it nowadays as we have so much more access to original material and 'informants'

 

 

 

By the way , I was intrigued to see the reference to singer Louie Hooper of Langport . I didn't know she played concertina. On page 270 is a mention that Cecil Sharp bought her a concertina , now on display at Cecil Sharp House .She was recorded in 1941 by BBC producer Douglas Cleverdon

 

 

 

 

edited 14 June to rectify some confusion

Edited June 14, 2012 by michael sam wild

[Pippa]

Thanks for posting this, Michael and Steve - I'd not heard about it before, and have just ordered a copy. His singing's been part of my life for longer than I care to remember.

 

Pippa