John Kirkpatrick | |
|---|---|
 Kirkpatrick in 2011 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | 8 August 1947 |
| Origin | Chiswick, London, England |
| Genres | Folk |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instruments | |
| Years active | 1959–present |
| Member of | Brass Monkey |
| Formerly of | |
John Michael Kirkpatrick MBE (born 8 August 1947) [1] is an English musician, playing free reed instruments such as the accordion and concertina and performing English folk songs and tunes.
John Kirkpatrick was born in Chiswick, London, England. [2] As a child he sang in the choir and played piano. In 1959, he joined the Hammersmith Morris Men, in the second week of their existence, beginning a career-long love of folk music. In 1970, he became a regular at a folk club in the Roebuck pub in Tottenham Court Road and led the resident group, Dingle's Chillybom Band. The club hosted a film show of Morris dancing and Ashley Hutchings turned up. It was the beginning of a long musical relationship. In 1972 he teamed up with Ashley and others on the album Morris On. In 1972, Kirkpatrick recorded his first solo album Jump at the Sun which included Richard Thompson on acoustic guitar. [3]
In 1973, Kirkpatrick moved to Shropshire and married Sue Harris. After seeing a dance team called Gloucestershire Old Spot Morris Dancers, he formed Shropshire Bedlams to perform local dances in the Border Morris style. [1] In the early weeks some girls turned up and rather than have a mixed morris team, Harris took the girls aside to form Martha Rhoden's Tuppenny Dish; both teams are still flourishing and celebrated their fortieth anniversary in 2015. By this time Kirkpatrick was an expert player of melodeon, Anglo concertina, and button accordion. Ashley Hutchings' project Battle of the Field floundered when the Albion Country Band broke up. They had recorded not quite enough material for an album. Kirkpatrick had appeared on several of the tracks with Martin Carthy and offered to record two extra tracks with his wife in 1973. It was not released until 1976 but is highly regarded[ by whom? ]. Harris sang and played oboe and hammered dulcimer, an unusual combination. In 1974, Kirkpatrick and Hutchings produced a themed album The Compleat Dancing Master, a history of English country dancing. In 1976, he teamed up with Carthy for Plain Capers, a collection of morris dance tunes.
In 2009, he appeared in the BBC series, Victorian Farm, which was set in Acton Scott in Shropshire, performing traditional country songs such as "The Farmer's Boy". [4]
In 1977, Steeleye Span recruited both Kirkpatrick and Carthy, partly to replace fiddler Peter Knight. [1] Kirkpatrick appearing on the albums Storm Force Ten and Live at Last; [1] in concert with them, he would perform solo morris dances. In the same period, Kirkpatrick released two albums as a duo with Sue Harris. [1] He became part of Richard Thompson's backing band in 1975. This brought him such publicity that he was in heavy demand as a session musician. He recorded with Pere Ubu, Viv Stanshall, Jack the Lad, Gerry Rafferty, Maddy Prior and others. [1] In 1980 he released his only single, "Jogging Along with My Reindeer". Two more albums with Sue Harris appeared in 1981, but the constant touring, as a duo and as part of other groups, was putting a strain on the marriage. They had four sons together, but parted in the mid 1980s. In 1988, he and Sue published Opus Pocus, a collection of many of their own compositions from the previous 20 years, and a selection of some of the (then) more obscure traditional English tunes which had influenced them.
In 1979, Kirkpatrick had appeared in the National Theatre Company's stage show Lark Rise to Candleford together with Carthy and trumpeter Howard Evans. [1] Prior to this the use of brass instruments in English folk music was a rare event, but all three had found it thrilling and a couple of years later formed Brass Monkey with Martin Brinsford from the Old Swan Band. [1] The group is an occasional gathering rather than a fixed company. Roy Bailey, like Leon Rosselson has frequently recorded songs of social commentary, frequently on an anti-war theme. He has made several records with Roy Bailey, as well as in a group called Band of Hope. He recorded with Frankie Armstrong in 1996 and 1997. They share a love of early English ballads. He performed with accordion wizard Chris Parkinson as the Sultans of Squeeze, and the pair have released one album.
In 1997, he decided to front his own "rock-folk" band, and put together a line-up consisting of Graeme Taylor (guitar, electric guitar, banjo, mandolin – ex Gryphon, The Albion Band and Home Service), Mike Gregory (drums, percussion – ex Albion Band, Home Service), Dave Berry (electric bass, double bass, tuba) and Paul Burgess (fiddle, recorders – from the Old Swan Band). They made two albums: a live album "Force of Habit" containing many of Kirkpatrick's arrangements of Morris tunes, plus other material from his back catalogue, plus a studio album "Welcome To Hell" featuring new material.
Since 1993, Kirkpatrick has recorded seven solo albums. He often unearths obscure English tunes and songs from folk ceremonies. Recently[ when? ] he has started to explore Balkan and Hungarian dance tunes. He has produced one of the only teaching videos for English (D/G) melodeon, also on DVD. A further teaching resource is his 2003 book of traditional tunes, English Choice, and two accompanying CDs.
He is remarried. One of his sons, Benji Kirkpatrick, is a member of Faustus, a former member of Bellowhead and Magpie Lane, and has recorded as a solo guitarist. He has succeeded his father as a member of Steeleye Span. All four of his sons do morris dancing. As a composer, choreographer and musical director, Kirkpatrick has contributed to over 60 plays in the theatre and on radio.
Kirkpatrick was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2021 New Year Honours for services to folk music. [4]
The tracks Kirkpatrick performs on in the Three Score and Ten boxed set are "The Rose Of Britain's Isle" / "Glorishears" from the Rose Of Britain's Isle; "The Maid and the Palmer" as part of Brass Monkey; and "George's Son" featuring Brass Monkey from See How it Runs.
Steeleye Span are a British folk rock band formed in 1969 in England by Fairport Convention bass player Ashley Hutchings and established London folk club duo Tim Hart and Maddy Prior. The band were part of the 1970s British folk revival, and were commercially successful in that period, with four Top 40 albums and two hit singles: "Gaudete" and "All Around My Hat".
Martin Dominic Forbes Carthy MBE is an English singer and guitarist who has remained one of the most influential figures in English folk music, inspiring contemporaries such as Bob Dylan and Paul Simon, as well as later artists such as Richard Thompson, since he emerged as a young musician in the early days of the folk revival in the UK during the 1960s and 1970s.
Ashley Stephen Hutchings, MBE, sometimes known in early years as "Tyger" Hutchings, is an English bassist, songwriter, arranger, band leader, writer and record producer. He was a founding member of three noteworthy English folk-rock bands: Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span and The Albion Band. Hutchings has overseen numerous other projects, including records and live theatre, and has collaborated on film and television projects.
Shirley Elizabeth Collins MBE is an English folk singer who was a significant contributor to the British Folk Revival of the 1960s and 1970s. She often performed and recorded with her sister Dolly, whose accompaniment on piano and portative organ created unique settings for Shirley's plain, austere singing style.
Rise Up Like the Sun is a British folk rock album released in 1978 by The Albion Band. The album is in part a collaboration between John Tams on vocals and melodeon and Ashley Hutchings on electric bass. This is not the first album on which the two worked together but it remains the most fulfilling for listeners. To build the sound Hutchings brought in two of his former compatriots from Fairport Convention, Dave Mattacks on drums and tambourine and Simon Nicol on vocals and electric and acoustic guitars. In addition another ex-member of Fairport, Richard Thompson, contributed songs and backing vocals. Having assembled the principal contributors and an ambiance that encouraged their friends to drop in, Hutchings gave Tams the freedom to act as the project's musical director. They were joined by Philip Pickett on shawms, bagpipes, curtals and trumpet, Pete Bullock on synthesiser, piano, clarinet, sax, and organ, Michael Gregory on percussion, Ric Sanders on violin and violectra and Graeme Taylor on electric and acoustic guitars. Kate McGarrigle, Julie Covington, Linda Thompson, Pat Donaldson, Martin Carthy, Andy Fairweather-Low and Dave Bristow make guest appearances.
The Albion Band, also known as The Albion Country Band, The Albion Dance Band, and The Albion Christmas Band, is a British folk rock band, originally brought together and led by musician Ashley Hutchings. An important grouping in the genre, it has contained or been associated with a large proportion of major English folk performers in its long and fluid history.
Brass Monkey are an English folk band from the 1980s, who reunited in the late 1990s. They were innovative in their use of a brass section which was atypical for English folk music.
No Roses is an album by Shirley Collins and the Albion Country Band. It was recorded in the summer of 1971 and produced by Sandy Roberton and Ashley Hutchings, who was Collins' husband at the time. It was released in October 1971 on the Pegasus label.
Simon John Breckenridge Nicol is an English guitarist, singer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He was a founding member of British folk rock group Fairport Convention and is the only founding member still in the band. He has also been involved with the Albion Band and a wide range of musical projects, both as a collaborator, producer and as a solo artist. He has received several awards for his work and career.
Storm Force Ten is the tenth studio album by British folk rock band Steeleye Span, released in 1977 by Chrysalis Records. Until their 2013 album Wintersmith, released 36 years after Storm Force Ten, this album was the band's last production to reach the charts, topping out at 191 on Billboard's Pop charts. After Rocket Cottage, Bob Johnson and Peter Knight left the band. As there was still a contractual obligation, they invited Martin Carthy back again. Back in 1971 when Martin Carthy had joined he had recommended John Kirkpatrick but they decided on fiddler Peter Knight instead. This time they accepted his recommendation and Kirkpatrick's fiery accordion playing replaced Knight's fiddle.
Live at Last is a live album by the British folk rock band Steeleye Span. It is the first live album the band issued, after eight years of performing and releasing 10 studio albums. It was originally intended to be a farewell album. "This then is our eleventh and final album. Steeleye Span amicably disbanded five days after making this recording for reasons that are irrelevant here.”
Morris On is a folk/rock album released in 1972 under the joint names of Ashley Hutchings, Richard Thompson, Dave Mattacks, John Kirkpatrick and Barry Dransfield. Like the subsequent "Descendant Of" Morris On albums, it features English Morris dance tunes and songs, played with a combination of traditional instruments and modern ones. In common with later records, dancers complete with bells and sticks were also included in the sessions. The album's name echoes that of Rock On, another 1972 record in which Hutchings was involved.
Battle of the Field is a folk rock album by the Albion Country Band, recorded in summer 1973 immediately prior to the band's breakup and only released in 1976 following public demand.
This is a list of artists who have played at the various Fairport Convention Fairport's Cropredy Convention over the years.
Sue Harris is an English musician classically trained as an oboeist, but best known for her folk music performances with the hammered dulcimer.
The Guv'nor vol 3 is a compilation of recordings by Ashley Hutchings.
The Guv'nor vol 1 is a compilation of recordings by English folk musician Ashley Hutchings.
Son of Morris On is a British folk rock album released in 1976 under the joint names of Ashley Hutchings, Simon Nicol, John Tams, Phil Pickett, Michael Gregory, Dave Mattacks, Shirley Collins, Martin Carthy, John Watcham, John Rodd, The Albion Morris Men, Ian Cutler, and the Adderbury Village Morris Men.
Because It's There is an album by Martin Carthy, released in 1979. It was re-issued by Topic Records on CD in 1995.
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