Spencer the Rover is Alive and Well

About the Artist
The whole dismal story really begins way back in the dark days of "Skiffle"--when the Irish banjo player of an English Dixieland jazz band discovered the songs of Leadbelly and Woody Guthrie. Soon every English teenager was thrashing them out on guitar, washboard and tub-base. All of a sudden, anybody could make music and it was fun. John was having his fun in Worcestshire, in the Midlands of England, and emerged from all this with a strong interest in American and English traditional muic and in the new "folk songs" that spewed out in the wake of the amazing Dylan. He helped found a couple of folk clubs in his home of Stourport-on-Severn and in Bury, Lancashire, and sang in them, developing his knack for the guitar in everything from the inevitable Blues to the equally inevitable Angi. Tony started out well, listening to music hall songs at his mother's knee (though how a Salvation Army family learned these songs is a mystery}, but degenerated through "Skiffle" and Dylan to end up in 1966 singing in a Rock and Roll band, brass, electricity and all. John and Tony finally met in Ithaca, NY, in September 1968 when they both arrived from England to study at Cornell. They began to sing together in the summer of 1969 and have since performed at most of the major coffee houses, folk song societies, and folk festivals in the "top-right-hand-corner" of these United States. Most of their songs are drawn from the vast English tradition: ballads, lyric songs, music hall, sea shanties, etc. Many have choruses and are performed unaccompanied and in harmony, in a way that makes it easy for an audience to learn the chorus and join in. The Americans natural fascination for instruments has rubbed off on them, however, and they have begun to include American songs in their repertoire, and to incorporate all kinds of musical impedimenta.

Product Description:
Originally released in 1971, Swallowtail Records is pleased to release "Spencer the Rover is Alive and Well" on CD for the first time. John Roberts and Tony Barrand are true ambassadors of traditional English folk music.

Spencer the Rover is Alive and Well,John Roberts and Tony Barrand,Swallowtail Records,British Folk,Folk & Traditional,Pop,Sea Shanties,Traditional Folk

Average customer rating: Cornell Univeristy Rocks! Cornell Univeristy Rocks! Finally on CD

Spencer the Rover is Alive and Well John Roberts and Tony Barrand Manufacturer: Swallowtail Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD British Folk | Traditional British & Celtic Folk | Folk | Styles | Music General | Folk | Styles | Music Traditional Folk | Folk | Styles | Music General | Celtic | International | Styles | Music General | Folk | Indie Music | Stores | Music International Folk | International | Indie Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: Across the Western Ocean Dark Ships in the Forest We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions ASIN: B00005LDQC Release Date: 2001-05-15

Tracks:

1. Spencer the Rover
2. Creeping Jane
3. I Wish They'd Do it Now
4. Rambleaway
5. What a Mouth!
6. The Knight and The Shepherd's Daughter
7. Silicosis
8. The Coachman
9. The Lincolnshire Poacher
10. Warlike Seamen
11. Dahn the Plughole
12. Shine Your Buttons With Brasso
13. Martin Said to His Man
14. Fanny Blair
15. So Green As The Leaves
16. Babylon is Fallen
17. Thyme

Album Description

Originally released in 1971, Swallowtail Records is pleased to release "Spencer the Rover is Alive and Well" on CD for the first time. John Roberts and Tony Barrand are true ambassadors of traditional English folk music.

Customer Reviews:

Cornell Univeristy Rocks!.......2003-08-09

This really brings me back! These fellas were teaching assistants at Cornell University in the early 1970's ... when I was a nerdy engineering student. Now I'm a nerdy physician. I enjoyed the music then and I find it just as enjoyable now. I'm no expert on British folk music, but this is a nice album.

Cornell Univeristy Rocks!.......2003-08-09

This really brings me back! These fellas were teaching assistants at Cornell University in the early 1970's ... when I was a nery engineering student. Now I'm a nerdy physician. I enjoyed the music then and I find it just as enjoyable now. I'm no expert on British folk music, but this is a nice album.

Finally on CD.......2002-11-29

One of the best Brit Folk albums of all time, finally out on CD. I grew up listening to these guys at east coast folk festivals and clubs, and they did a lot of good stuff in the 70's but this first one is still the best, with all of your favourite Tony and John songs.

Music Album:

1. Spirits of the Voyage: Music From The Documentary Video [Soundtrack]
2. Stay in the Shade [CD-single] [Import]
3. Such A Common Bird
4. Sunday's Child [Import]
5. Swimming Deeper
6. The Cape Breton Connection
7. The Man From Eldorado - Songs and Stories of Robert W. Service
8. The Right to Be Here
9. The Shack Recordings
10. There's A Light In You

Music Album