Son of Morris On

Last updated

Son of Morris On
SonOfMorrisOn.jpg
Studio album by
Ashley Hutchings and others
Released1976
Genre Folk music
Label Harvest
Producer Ashley Hutchings
Ashley Hutchings and others chronology
Morris On
(1972)
Son of Morris On
(1976)
Grandson of Morris On
(2002)

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.

Contents

Like the previous Morris On (1972) and subsequent "Descendant Of" Morris On albums, it features English Morris dance tunes and songs, played with a combination of traditional instruments (concertina, melodeon, fiddle, etc.) and modern ones (electric guitar, bass, drums). In common with later records, dancers complete with bells and sticks were also included extensively in the sessions. In retrospect, Hutchings remarked that with Son Of Morris On it was 'attempted to move the Morris forward a little', compared with the Morris On album which featured 'very little dancing' and had a certain rawness to it, which Hutchings found developable and 'endearing' at the same time. [1]

A couple of Morris tunes had already been played by early incarnations of Ashley Hutchings' Albion Country Band. The coupling of Jockey To The Fair and Room For The Cuckoo was part of a Morris dance medley in 1972, which was framed by an acoustic and electric setting of Fieldtown Processional. A BBC recording of this medley appears on volume 2 of Ashley Hutchings' The Guv'nor compilation. [2] Saturday Night [3] and a version of Winster Processional (Furry Dance) [4] were performed in the same year as well.

The cover photo by Peter Vernon mirrors that of the original Morris On album with a photograph of the principal participants (left to right: Michael Gregory, Phil Pickett, Ashley Hutchings, Simon Nicol and John Tams) in morris-associated costumes, but with modern accessories.

The album was produced by Ashley Hutchings.

It has been compared favourably with the original Morris On album. Paul Saunders in a review for the BBC Radio 2 website described it as 'a far more subtle and interesting affair'. [5]

Track listing

  1. 'Winster Processional' (0.56)
  2. 'Monck's March' (2.53)
  3. 'Old Hog or None' (1.15)
  4. 'As I Was Going to Banbury' (1.23)
  5. 'The Happy Man' (3.02)
  6. 'Fieldtown Processional / Glorishears' (2.50)
  7. 'Bob and Joan' (0.15)
  8. 'Ladies of Pleasure' (1.38)
  9. 'Bring Your Fiddle' (2.17)
  10. 'Jockey to the Fair / Room for the Cuckolds' (2.36)
  11. 'Saturday Night' (2.20)
  12. 'Roasted Woman / Rigs of Marlow / Getting Upstairs' (3.06)
  13. 'Y'e Wild Morris / The Wild Morris' (1.39)
  14. 'The Postman's Knock' (1.59)
  15. 'Ring O' Bells' (2.41)
  16. 'The Gallant Hussar' (3.21)
  17. 'Bonnets So Blue' (1.54)
  18. 'Old Hog or None (reprise)' (1.17)

CD bonus tracks from the 1994 CD (Harvest CZ 535) and 2003 CD (Talking Elephant TECD051):

  1. 'Y'Acre of Land' (3.34) [6]
  2. 'Cotswold Tune' (2.59) [7]

Personnel

Related Research Articles

<i>Rise Up Like the Sun</i> 1978 studio album by The Albion Band

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Leslie (musician)</span> British folk rock musician

Christopher Julian Leslie is a British folk rock musician. He joined Fairport Convention in 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Albion Band</span> British folk rock band

The Albion Band, also known as The Albion Country Band, The Albion Dance Band, and The Albion Christmas Band, were 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.

<i>No Roses</i> 1971 studio album by Shirley Collins and The Albion Country Band

No Roses is an album by Shirley Collins and the Albion Country Band. It was recorded at Sound Techniques, and Air Studios in London, in the summer of 1971. It was produced by Sandy Roberton and Ashley Hutchings. It was released in October 1971 on the Pegasus label.

<i>Anthems in Eden</i> 1969 studio album by Shirley and Dolly Collins

Anthems in Eden is a 1969 album by Shirley and Dolly Collins, with the Early Music Consort of London, directed by David Munrow. The album originally consisted of a 28-minute set of folk songs plus seven other individual pieces performed by the same group. The musical arrangements for these eight pieces included early music instruments, such as viols, recorders, sackbuts and crumhorns. In 1976, six new songs were recorded with a different assortment of accompanists, to replace the original seven individual songs. This 1976 album consisting of the 28-minute set plus the six new songs was released by Harvest Records under the title Amaranth. Subsequent releases have combined all fourteen pieces under the original title, Anthems in Eden.

<i>Liege & Lief</i> 1969 studio album by Fairport Convention

Liege & Lief is the fourth album by the British folk rock band Fairport Convention. It is the third album the group released in the UK during 1969, all of which prominently feature Sandy Denny as lead female vocalist, as well as the first to feature future long-serving personnel Dave Swarbrick and Dave Mattacks on violin/mandolin and drums, respectively, as full band members. It is also the first Fairport album on which all songs are either adapted (freely) from traditional British and Celtic folk material, or else are original compositions written and performed in a similar style. Although Denny and founding bass player Ashley Hutchings quit the band before the album's release, Fairport Convention has continued to the present day to make music strongly based within the British folk rock idiom, and are still the band most prominently associated with it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Nicol</span> Musical artist

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.

<i>Morris On</i> 1972 studio album by Ashley Hutchings and others

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.

<i>Battle of the Field</i> 1976 studio album by The Albion Country Band

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.

Grandson of Morris On is a thematic album produced by Ashley Hutchings and others.

<i>Great Grandson of Morris On</i> 2004 studio album by Ashley Hutchings and others

Great Grandson of Morris On, produced by Ashley Hutchings, and recorded and released in 2004, is the fourth volume in the series of Morris dance tunes. Spiers and Boden experienced a blaze of publicity shortly after recording their contribution to this album, which later appeared on the compilation album The Magic of Morris. There are more amateur musicians on this album than on the previous volumes in the series.

<i>The Prospect Before Us</i> 1977 studio album by The Albion Dance Band

The Prospect Before Us is a British folk rock album, by The Albion Dance Band, which was released in 1977 on the EMI Harvest label.

The Guv'nor vol 4 is a compilation of recordings by Ashley Hutchings.

The Guv'nor vol 3 is a compilation of recordings by Ashley Hutchings.

<i>The Guvnor vol 1</i> 1994 compilation album by Ashley Hutchings

The Guv'nor vol 1 is a compilation of recordings by English folk musician Ashley Hutchings.

<i>The Cropredy Box</i> 1999 live album by Fairport Convention

The Cropredy Box is an album by Fairport Convention recorded at their annual live concert in Cropredy, Oxfordshire, England to celebrate the band's thirtieth anniversary in 1997. Featuring many songs for which the band had become noted, the set also features performances from many former members including violinist Dave Swarbrick, original vocalist Judy Dyble, and Ralph McTell. Commentary is provided by their first manager, Joe Boyd, and Ashley Hutchings.

The Etchingham Steam Band were a folk group formed by Ashley Hutchings and Shirley Collins in England in 1974 after the Albion Country Band had disbanded in late 1973.

<i>Acousticity</i> (The Albion Band album) 1993 studio album by Albion Band

Acousticity, released in 1993, was the first album in a new, stripped down format by the long-running folk rock outfit the Albion Band. It combines the song writing talents of the band members with traditional tunes and music from some of the best folk artists available at the time. It marked the beginning of a new lease of life for the long running and highly influential Albion Band, shaping the small group format that would be the basis of their line-up until their suspension in 2002.

Fairport Chronicles is a 1976 compilation album of the British folk-rock band Fairport Convention, including songs from 1968 to the departure of the last original member in 1972. The double album is unique in that it was only released in the USA, features original material and American covers over the traditional material usually associated with Fairport, and includes songs from side projects. All of the material was originally issued in the USA on A&M Records, which explains the exclusion of songs taken from their first, pre-Sandy Denny album, which was only later released in the United States.

<i>Live at the BBC</i> (Fairport Convention album) 2007 compilation album by Fairport Convention

Live at the BBC is a compilation album by English folk-rock band Fairport Convention released in 2007. It includes tracks recorded for the BBC for various radio programmes between 1968 and 1974 and consists of four CDs in a fold-out package with a fifty-page booklet including song lyrics and numerous contemporary photographs.

References

  1. Liner notes (written by Ashley Hutchings in January 2003) of the 2003 Son Of Morris On CD re-issue by Talking Elephant (TECD051)
  2. "Ashley Hutchings: The Guv'nor".
  3. Setlist protocol of a concert by the Albion Country Band with Richard & Linda Thompson on December 29, 1972, http://tela.sugarmegs.org/_asxtela/asxcards/AlbionCountryBand1972-12-29UniversityCollegeLondonUK.html
  4. Setlist protocol of a concert by the Albion Country Band on August 23, 1972, http://tela.sugarmegs.org/_asxtela/asxcards/AlbionCountryBand1972-08-23KudosBoathouseLondonUK.html
  5. P. Sanders, Review: Ashley Hutchings and Various Artists: Son of Morris On", BBC Radio 2 Website, retrieved on 13/01/09.
  6. live recording
  7. recorded by the Albion Band, presumably during the July 1978 sessions for the Albion Band single A-side Pain Or Paradise, which too was recorded at Chipping Norton Studio, Oxfordshire