Folkal Point

Last updated
Folkal Point
Origin Bristol, England
Genres
Years active1970s [lower-alpha 1]
2019 (reunion)
LabelsMidas Recordings (initially)
Hoxa Recordings (subsequently)
Past membersCherie Musialik (lead vocals)
Stuart Amesbury (guitar, vocals)
Mark Steed (lead guitar, backing vocals)
Paul Cook (guitar, backing vocals)
Brian Murray (bass, MR.003 recordings only)
Website The official website of Folkal Point
Official YouTube channel

Folkal Point are a folk and folk rock band from Bristol, England which was active throughout the early 1970s. [1] The band was formed in 1971 and released its eponymous debut studio album one year later in 1972 through the now defunct British label Midas Recordings. [2] [3]

Contents

The band's name is a play on words. The actual focal point of the band was the lead singer, namely Cherie Musialik, according to an interview with her and fellow band member Stuart Amesbury on YouTube dating to early 2022. [4] The sound of the band is described as 'psych-folk' on the band's official website, although this term would not have existed when the band first formed. [5] The band also exhibits influences of folk baroque. [6]

Biography

1970s

The band was formed in Bristol and was active throughout the early 1970s, being rooted in the genres of folk and folk rock, with a focus on English folk music. The band was a quartet composed of the following members (all schoolkids at the time): Cherie Musialik (lead vocals), Stuart Amesbury (guitar and vocals), Mark Steed (lead guitar, banjo and backing vocals), and Paul Cook (guitar and backing vocals). [7]

The eponymous debut studio album was released in 1972 through Midas Recordings, it included covers of compositions from; Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, and Tom Paxton. Stylistically, it's a mixture of traditional English folk music and contemporary North American acoustic music. While the studio album was not a commercial success, having sold only 250 copies (a further 250 were lost to water damage following a fire at the record company), the record is now noted as a highly collectable example of the genre to this day. [8] [9] The sound engineer overseeing the recording sessions was label owner, Alan Green. [10] Despite the limited number of units originally pressed in 1972, over the passing of time, the album became one of the most sought after British folk albums. [10] Throughout the early 1970s, the band had performed regularly for BBC Radio Bristol. [11]

Amongst traditional songs which the band performed on the Folkal Point LP is the ballad Lovely Joan and the better known ballad Scarborough Fair. In 2018, the Folkal Point album was re-mastered by Hoxa Sound. [12]

2000s

Stuart Amesbury and Cherie Musialik have worked with renowned British folk guitarists Bert Jansch and John Renbourn(both, formerly of Pentangle) during the early 2000s, in the context of acoustic music promotions at the Alma Tavern Theatre in Clifton, Bristol. And, as Touch PA Systems / CRH Music continue to provide sound for countless musical legends touring on the Americana circuit.

2010s

The band reunited in June 2019 for the Clifton International Festival of Music which is held annually at various venues around the Clifton suburb of Bristol, playing to an enthusiastic capacity audience under the marquee at the Lansdown Hotel.

Trivia

Stuart Amesbury and Cherie Musialik have worked in a technical capacity with ex-Led Zeppelin member and multi-instrumentalist John Paul Jones during his involvement with North American all female, old time string band, Uncle Earl, particularly in support of their album, Waterloo, Tennessee. Mark Steed had been the manager of Button Guitars music shop and luthiery in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, just outside of Bristol. There is an interesting BBC Radio Bristol interview between presenter, Keith Warmington and Mark Steed that can be found on the band's official website. [13]

The band's music can be found on the usual digital platforms and with various online merchants. The 1972 album, has been re-mastered and re-issued numerous times in many forms, including vinyl.

Discography

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Formed in 1971.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandy Denny</span> English folk rock singer-songwriter (1947–1978)

Alexandra Elene MacLean Denny was an English singer-songwriter who was lead singer of the British folk rock band Fairport Convention. She has been described as "the pre-eminent British folk rock singer".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pentangle (band)</span> British folk rock band

Pentangle are a British folk band, formed in London in 1967. The original band was active in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and a later version has been active since the early 1980s. The original line-up, which was unchanged throughout the band's first incarnation (1967–1973), was Jacqui McShee (vocals); John Renbourn ; Bert Jansch ; Danny Thompson ; and Terry Cox (drums).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bert Jansch</span> Scottish folk musician (1943–2011)

Herbert Jansch was a Scottish folk musician and founding member of the band Pentangle. He was born in Glasgow and came to prominence in London in the 1960s as an acoustic guitarist and singer-songwriter. He recorded more than 28 albums and toured extensively from the 1960s to the 21st century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Renbourn</span> English guitarist and songwriter

John Renbourn was an English guitarist and songwriter. He was best known for his collaboration with guitarist Bert Jansch as well as his work with the folk group Pentangle, although he maintained a solo career before, during and after that band's existence (1967–1973). He worked later in a duo with Stefan Grossman.

Sally Patricia Oldfield is an Irish singer-songwriter. She is the sister of composers Mike and Terry Oldfield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacqui McShee</span> Musical artist

Jacqueline "Jacqui" McShee is an English singer. Since 1966, she has performed with Pentangle, a jazz-influenced folk rock band.

Gravenhurst was the musical pseudonym of the English singer-songwriter, record producer, multi-instrumentalist and journalist Nicholas John Talbot. Talbot, from Bristol, England, signed to Warp Records. He died aged 37. His cause of death is undisclosed.

Bill Leader is an English recording engineer and record producer. He is particularly associated with the British folk music revival of the 1960s and 1970s, producing records by Paddy Tunney, Davey Graham, Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, Frank Harte and many others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beau (guitarist)</span> British singer-songwriter and twelve-string guitar player

Beau, born Christopher John Trevor Midgley, is a British singer-songwriter and twelve-string guitar player, who first became known in the late 1960s through his recordings for John Peel's Dandelion Records label. He released two albums on Dandelion – Beau (1969) and Creation (1971), plus the single "1917 Revolution" which had greater success abroad than it did in the United Kingdom. "1917 Revolution" is said to have been the inspiration for America's "A Horse with No Name".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wizz Jones</span> British musician (born 1939)

Raymond Ronald Jones, better-known as Wizz Jones, is an English acoustic guitarist, and singer-songwriter. He was born in Thornton Heath, Surrey, England and has been performing since the late 1950s and recording from 1965 to the present. He has worked with many of the notable guitarists of the British folk revival, such as John Renbourn and Bert Jansch.

<i>Cruel Sister</i> (Pentangle album) 1970 studio album by Pentangle

Cruel Sister is an album recorded in 1970 by folk-rock band Pentangle. It was the most folk-based of the albums recorded by the band, with all the tracks being versions of traditional songs. Whereas their previous album had been produced by Shel Talmy, and featured quite a heavily produced, commercial sound, Cruel Sister was produced by Bill Leader, noted for his recordings of folk musicians.

<i>Reflection</i> (Pentangle album) 1971 studio album by Pentangle

Reflection is an album recorded in 1971 by folk-rock band Pentangle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Tilston</span> Musical artist

Steve Tilston is an English folk singer-songwriter and guitarist.

<i>It Dont Bother Me</i> 1965 studio album by Bert Jansch

It Don't Bother Me is the second album by Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch, released in November 1965. The album was produced by Nathan Joseph and Bill Leader, although Leader was left uncredited.

<i>Bert and John</i> 1966 studio album by Bert Jansch

Bert and John is an album by the folk musicians Bert Jansch and John Renbourn, released in 1966. The two would later play together in the group Pentangle. An expanded version of the album was later released in America in 1969 by Vanguard as Stepping Stones. It featured two extra tracks, "It Don't Bother Me" and "My Lover".

"Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" is a jazz instrumental composed by Charles Mingus, originally recorded by his sextet in 1959 and released on his album Mingus Ah Um. It was subsequently released on his 1963 album, Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus as "Theme for Lester Young" and 1977's Three or Four Shades of Blues. Composed in E-flat minor, Mingus wrote it as an elegy for saxophonist Lester Young, who had died two months prior to the recording session and who was known for wearing unusually broad-brimmed pork pie hats. These were "busted down" by Young himself, from hats that might better be described as Homburgs, but which he only purchased in "Negro districts". This was since, according to an interview with Young in the November 1949 edition of Our World, "You can't get the right type in a 'gray' neighborhood".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sue Draheim</span> American fiddler

Sue Draheim was an American fiddler, boasting a more than forty year musical career in the US and the UK. Growing up in North Oakland, Draheim began her first private violin lessons at age eleven, having started public school violin instruction at age eight while attending North Oakland's Peralta Elementary School. She also attended Claremont Jr. High, and graduated from Oakland Technical High School in 1967.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Renbourn discography</span>

John Renbourn was an English guitarist and composer. His discography consists of 20 studio albums, 5 live albums, 19 compilations, and 2 videos. In addition, his compositions and guitar work have been featured on a number of albums by other artists.

<i>Sumer Is Icumen In: The Pagan Sound of British and Irish Folk 1966–75</i> 2020 compilation album

Sumer Is Icumen In: The Pagan Sound of British and Irish Folk 1966–75 is a 2020 compilation album released by Grapefruit Records, an imprint label of Cherry Red Records. It consists of British folk revival music influenced by the counterculture of the 1960s; the song material has a focus on eerie and mystical elements.

References

  1. ↑ "Folkal Point". AllMusic . Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  2. ↑ "Folkal Point". Discogs.com. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  3. ↑ "Folkal Point". Apple Music . Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  4. ↑ Victor Rouă (24 February 2022). "Let's Get Rocked! - Interview with Folkal Point (24 February 2022)". YouTube . Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  5. ↑ "Songs from the album included in compilations". Folkal Point's official website. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  6. ↑ Victor Rouă (4 September 2023). "Folkal Point – A Great Yet Underrated English Folk Rock Band". The Rockpedia. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
  7. ↑ "Folkal Point". Rate Your Music website. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  8. ↑ "Folkal Point on Last.fm". Last.fm. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  9. ↑ "Folkal Point". Light in the Attic. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  10. 1 2 "The Long Journey". Folkal Point's official website. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  11. ↑ "About us". Folkal Point's official website. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  12. ↑ "Folkal Point". Spotify.com. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  13. ↑ "Folkal Point's official website - Folkal Point Archives section" . Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  14. ↑ "Authorised album re-issues". Folkal Point's official website. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.