11. The Watersons – Sound Sound Your Instruments Of Joy (04:32)
12. The Watersons – Heavenly Aeroplane (02:25)
13. The Watersons – Emmanuel (02:49)
14. Mike Waterson – Swansea Town (04:27)
15. Norma Waterson – The Unfortunate Lass (04:29)
16. Lal Waterson – The Welcome Sailor (03:18)
17. Lal Waterson & Norma Waterson – Young Billy Brown (02:25)
18. The Watersons – The Khaki And The Blue (03:18)
19. The Watersons – The Whitby Lad (03:14)
20. Mike Waterson – The Black And Bitter Night (07:17)
Disc 3
1. The Watersons – The Prickle Holly Bush (04:09)
2. Peter Bellamy – When I Die (02:46)
3. The Watersons – I Went To Market (03:36)
4. Martin Carthy & Mike Waterson – The Furze Field (03:15)
5. The Watersons – The King's Song (01:27)
6. The Watersons – Swarthfell Rocks (05:02)
7. Lal Waterson & Norma Waterson – Meeting Is A Pleasure (02:24)
8. Mike Waterson – Doing A Bit (02:31)
9. The Watersons – Young Banker (03:12)
10. The Watersons – Chickens In The Garden (02:38)
11. Martin Carthy – A Stitch In Time (02:38)
12. The Watersons – All I Have Is My Own (02:22)
13. Mike Waterson – Brave General Wolfe (04:46)
14. Norma Waterson & Eliza Carthy – May Song (02:18)
15. The Watersons – Harvest Home (02:23)
16. The Watersons – Gower Wassail (03:23)
17. Mike Waterson – Rumpsy Bumpsy Toralee (02:35)
18. The Waterdaughters – John Ball (03:25)
19. The Waterdaughters – A Stur Mo Chroi (03:56)
20. The Watersons – Stormy Winds (03:18)
21. The Watersons – A Mole In A Hole (04:38)
Disc 4
1. The Watersons – Hilda's Cabinet Band (02:19)
2. Mike Waterson – The Rambling Irish Man (04:34)
3. The Watersons – There Are No Lights On Our Christmas Tree (03:51)
4. Norma Waterson – Coal Not Dole (03:05)
5. The Watersons – The White Cockade (03:34)
6. The Watersons – Cob A-Coaling (02:00)
7. The Watersons – T Stands For Thomas (03:54)
8. Blue Murder – I Bid You Goodnight (03:14)
9. Mike Waterson – McIlroy The Emerald Cowboy (04:25)
10. Mike Waterson – Jack Frost (02:28)
11. Waterson:Carthy – Pleasure And Pain (05:12)
12. Waterson:Carthy – Stars In My Crown (03:03)
13. Waterson:Carthy – Flowers Of Knaresborough Forest (05:34)
14. Norma Waterson & Eliza Carthy – Ain't No Man Worth The Salt Of My Tears (02:01)
15. Waterson:Carthy – Black Muddy River (04:07)
16. Lal Waterson & Maria Gilhooley – Just A Note (01:48)
17. Norma Waterson & Martin Carthy – Earth (03:06)
18. Eliza Carthy – Stumbling On (03:38)
19. Norma Waterson – Poor Boney (02:43)
20. Blue Murder – Bright Phoebus (02:53)
21. Oliver Knight – A Sweet Lullaby (05:19)
The ultimate collection from four decades of the most famous and influential family of folk musicians in England. "Mighty River Of Song" is four music CD's with 86 tracks of The Watersons as a group, solos, duos, trios, guests, group offshoots and almost all permutations of the group members you can imagine. Fifty of these tracks are previously unreleased or out of print. There is also a DVD of the acclaimed "Travelling For A Living" documentary, a breathtaking "on the road" film from the mid '60s, a 52 page lavish full colour booklet profusely illustrated with a wealth of archive photos and extensive notes, and a fully illustrated "family tree" style discography.
It's an unfortunate, if amusing, coincidence that Topic saw fit to entitle this set Mighty River Of Song just as Christopher Guest and co. release their folk revival spoof A Mighty Wind in the cinemas. Of course the film looks at the American side of the 60s folk phenomenon, but it would be very easy to regard the English legacy of the Watersons as something that seems just as worthy, naïve, anachronistic and easy to mock; especially when you gaze at the booklet's various grainy shots of intense young people in dowdy clothes with their fingers firmly stuck in their ears, gathered around a single microphone in some back room of a pub. You'd be entirely wrong. Not for nothing were these siblings dubbed the 'Folk Beatles'. They were a modernising force in traditional folk, making it relevant to a younger generation and their legacy, while rooted in tradition and archival research, almost single-handedly opened the door for the healthy genre-defying scene we know and love today.
Maybe the best way for a novice to approach this material is via the excellent aforementioned booklet. Written by Ken Hunt, its erudite combination of history and chronological interviews will have you transfixed by the group's story before you've even heard a note. Appropriately for a family committed to telling lost generations' tales of legend and working class life, Mike, Lal and Norma's own history makes compelling reading. Orphaned at an early age and raised by their grandmother, the children were born of Irish and Gipsy blood, steeped in folklore and fiercely loyal to each other. Their first forays into music, like many of their generation was via trad jazz and skiffle, but by the early sixties they'd teamed up with friend John Harrison and established their own Hull-based venue, the Blue Bell. It was here, and around the nascent folk scene that they honed what made them stand out from the crowd: their approach to harmony and singing.
Much is made of their singing in the Mixolydian mode. To the uninitiated this means their voices blend and merge with no fixed parts. Unlike earlier famous singingrelatives such as the Copper Family they allowed the melody to almost randomly shift from brother to sister and back again. One is left with a sense of an almost telepathic ability to weave in and out of a song, breathing new life into it, with only Mike's distinctive yelps adding a punctuation to the verses. To the modern ear these now sound as though they spring directly from the source, but in the mid-60s it was a revolutionary sound.
Four discs contain a superb selection of live and studio cuts taking in the forty plus year story and almost all permutations of the line up. Life on the road was never glamorous or financially rewarding - the excellent 1967 documentary Touring For A Living which accompanies the set on DVD was referred to, half-jokingly as Grovelling For A Pittance - and by the late 60s Norma was working as a DJ in the Bahamas. Only when Mike and Lal recorded the legendary collection of new songs, Bright Phoebus (here represented by some lovely demos), did the family reconvene, albeit with new members such as various offspring and Norma's new husband, Martin Carthy. From this point we're introduced to Blue Murder, the Waterdaughters, the mighty Waterson Carthy (featuringEliza) and, most poignantly, Lal's final work with son Oliver.
If the sound of unaccompanied singing about whaling, hunting, pagan ritual, Christian ritual or just plain hard work sounds a little dry to you, just remember that not only did this family make folk rock possible but they were admired by such rock luminaries as Traffic and had a huge effect on English music in the late 20th century. Their ability to make a narrative spring to life and their rugged determination to seek out and protect our heritage remains as relevant and engrossing as ever.This is an essential document. --Chris Jones
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FILE LIST
Filename
Size
Art/The Watersons - Mighty River Of Song - Book.pdf
85.5 MB
Art/The Watersons - Mighty River Of Song - CD Booklets.pdf
38.3 MB
CD1/01 - The Watersons - Here We Come A-Wassailing.flac
7.2 MB
CD1/02 - The Folksons - Blood Red Roses.flac
9 MB
CD1/03 - The Watersons - Let The Bulgine Run.flac
11.1 MB
CD1/04 - The Watersons - The Ploughboy.flac
13.2 MB
CD1/05 - The Watersons - Holbeck Manor Cock Fight.flac
7.1 MB
CD1/06 - The Watersons - The Greenland Whale Fishery.flac
10.6 MB
CD1/07 - The Watersons - The Derby Ram.flac
12.4 MB
CD1/08 - The Watersons - Hal-an-Tow.flac
10.1 MB
CD1/09 - Mike Waterson - John Barleycorn.flac
15.2 MB
CD1/10 - Lal & Norma Waterson - The Barley And The Rye.flac
6.2 MB
CD1/11 - The Watersons - The Thirty-Foot Trailer.flac
15 MB
CD1/12 - The Watersons - I Am A Rover.flac
20.8 MB
CD1/13 - The Watersons - Rap Her To Bank.flac
7.1 MB
CD1/14 - The Watersons - Three Score And Ten.flac
15.6 MB
CD1/15 - The Watersons - The Jolly Waggoners.flac
12 MB
CD1/16 - The Watersons - Twanky-Dillo.flac
16.4 MB
CD1/17 - The Watersons - The Whitby Lad.flac
17.6 MB
CD1/18 - The Watersons - The Morning Looks Charming.flac
12.3 MB
CD1/19 - The Watersons - Willy Went To Westerdale.flac
11.3 MB
CD1/20 - The Watersons - The White Cockade.flac
21.8 MB
CD1/21 - Lal Waterson - Stow Brow.flac
13.9 MB
CD1/22 - Lal & Mike Waterson - The Bird.flac
9.1 MB
CD1/23 - Lal & Mike Waterson - Red Wine Promises.flac
11.3 MB
CD1/24 - Lal & Mike Waterson - Song For Thirza.flac
15.1 MB
CD1/folder.jpg
270.8 KB
CD2/01 - The Watersons - Pace-Egging Song.flac
20.6 MB
CD2/02 - The Watersons - Boston Harbour.flac
9.4 MB
CD2/03 - The Watersons - Sweet William.flac
14.6 MB
CD2/04 - The Watersons - Souling Song.flac
22.5 MB
CD2/05 - Lal & Norma Waterson - Barney.flac
16.2 MB
CD2/06 - Mike Waterson - Three Day Millionaire.flac
7.2 MB
CD2/07 - The Watersons - The Good Old Way.flac
18.3 MB
CD2/08 - The Watersons - The Light Dragoon.flac
15.6 MB
CD2/09 - Lal & Norma Waterson - Jenny Storm.flac
13.6 MB
CD2/10 - Mike Waterson - Tam Lyn.flac
52.8 MB
CD2/11 - The Watersons - Sound, Sound Your Instruments Of Joy.flac
26.1 MB
CD2/12 - The Watersons - Heavenly Aeroplane.flac
13.8 MB
CD2/13 - The Watersons - Emmanuel.flac
15.4 MB
CD2/14 - Mike Waterson - Swansea Town.flac
22.6 MB
CD2/15 - Norma Waterson - The Unfortunate Lass.flac
21 MB
CD2/16 - Lal Waterson - The Welcome Sailor.flac
15.4 MB
CD2/17 - Lal & Norma Waterson - Young Billy Brown.flac
13.7 MB
CD2/18 - The Watersons - The Khaki And The Blue.flac
18.5 MB
CD2/19 - The Watersons - The Whitby Lad.flac
18.7 MB
CD2/20 - Mike Waterson - The Black And Bitter Night.flac
37.4 MB
CD2/folder.jpg
282.8 KB
CD3/01 - The Watersons - The Prickle Holly Bush.flac
21.4 MB
CD3/02 - Peter Bellamy - When I Die.flac
16 MB
CD3/03 - The Watersons - I Went To Market.flac
21.2 MB
CD3/04 - Martin Carthy & Mike Waterson - The Furze Field.flac
16 MB
CD3/05 - The Watersons - The King's Song.flac
6.9 MB
CD3/06 - The Watersons - Swarthfell Rocks.flac
30.9 MB
CD3/07 - Lal & Norma Waterson - Meeting Is A Pleasure.flac
10.5 MB
CD3/08 - Mike Waterson - Doing A Bit.flac
11 MB
CD3/09 - The Watersons - Young Banker.flac
19.6 MB
CD3/10 - The Watersons - Chickens In The Garden.flac
14.6 MB
CD3/11 - Martin Carthy - A Stitch In Time.flac
12 MB
CD3/12 - Mike Waterson - All I Have Is My Own.flac
10.8 MB
CD3/13 - The Watersons - Brave General Wolfe.flac
27.6 MB
CD3/14 - Norma Waterson & Martin Carthy - May Song.flac
14.9 MB
CD3/15 - The Watersons - Harvest Home.flac
13.3 MB
CD3/16 - The Watersons - Gower Wassail.flac
18.8 MB
CD3/17 - Mike Waterson - Rumpsy Bumpsy Toralee.flac
11.6 MB
CD3/18 - The Waterdaughters - John Ball.flac
19.3 MB
CD3/19 - The Waterdaughters - A Stur Mo Chroi.flac
19.2 MB
CD3/20 - The Watersons - Stormy Winds.flac
18.5 MB
CD3/21 - Blue Murder - Mole In A Hole.flac
20.5 MB
CD3/folder.jpg
294.8 KB
CD4/01 - The Watersons - Hilda's Cabinet Band.flac
13.4 MB
CD4/02 - Mike Waterson - The Rambling Irish Man.flac
23.3 MB
CD4/03 - The Watersons - There Are No Lights On Our Christmas Tree.flac
18.9 MB
CD4/04 - Norma Waterson - Coal Not Dole.flac
15.5 MB
CD4/05 - The Watersons - The White Cockade.flac
23 MB
CD4/06 - The Watersons - Cob A-Coaling.flac
11.9 MB
CD4/07 - The Watersons - T Stands For Thomas.flac
21.3 MB
CD4/08 - Blue Murder - I Bid You Goodnight.flac
19.3 MB
CD4/09 - Mike Waterson - McIlroy The Emerald Cowboy.flac
25 MB
CD4/10 - Mike Waterson - Jack Frost.flac
10.3 MB
CD4/11 - Waterson;Carthy - Pleasure And Pain.flac
29.2 MB
CD4/12 - Waterson;Carthy - Stars In My Crown.flac
17.9 MB
CD4/13 - Waterson;Carthy - Flowers Of Knaresborough Forest.flac
25.7 MB
CD4/14 - Norma Waterson & Eliza Carthy - Ain't No Man Worth The Salt Of My Tears.flac
11.9 MB
CD4/15 - Waterson;Carthy - Black Muddy River.flac
25.2 MB
CD4/16 - Lal Waterson & Maria Gilhooley - Just A Note.flac
9.6 MB
CD4/17 - Les Barker, Norma Waterson & Martin Carthy - Earth.flac