Aiden Forde

Aiden (centre) with Finbar Furey (left) and Neil Cox (right)

I first became aware of Aiden Forde through his membership of the Ian Campbell folk grouo. As a long-time fan of the Campbells, I knew the group had been through many personnel changes over the years. This latest one in 1977 included Aiden, and, at a somewhat later stage, Neil Cox. Neil was a friend of Aiden's since their schooldays together in the Erdington district of Birmingham. Aiden remembered how they used to skip woodwork lessons on Friday afternoons so that they could practise together. Neil too died tragically young in 1996.

Aiden was born in Tuam, Co. Galway in 1957. He came over to Birmingham from Ireland when only a baby. His parents died when he and his two brothers were quite young. Aiden's playing of the guitar and fiddle and his developing singing talent earned him a place in the Campbell group at the age of 19. He developed over the years into an accomplished folk musician and singer, playing with many different groups, including the Ian Campbell group, the Lorna Campbell folk trio, Drowsy Maggie and later with Pat Brennan in Sunday lunchtime sessions in Birmingham pubs.

A notable highlight of his performing life was a tour of Italy and Sicily with Dave Swarbrick (his fiddle hero) in the early 1980s. More recently, he and Neil Cox backed Finbar Furey on a tour of Britain.

I got to know Aiden and his partner of 15 years Celia Jarrett really well while gardening for Celia at her house in the Moseley area of Birmingham. Celia was a special needs teacher in Birmingham for many years. Aiden had constructed a small pool as a present for Celia at the bottom of the long semi-secluded garden. On one occasion, Aiden offered his help trimming a tall hedge by balancing on top of some stepladders and sweeping an electric hedge trimmer backwards and forwards at some risk to his own health and safety! I remember commenting at the time that he did it very artistically.....if rather dangerously.

Whatever he did - history degree, painting and decorating, folk music - Aiden did it with spirit, artistic flair and enthusiasm. In 1993, Aiden produced a wonderful album of music and songs entitled ‘Dublin, you're breaking my heart’. The title song was one that Aiden co-wrote with Ian Campbell. The album was made with the help of many of Aiden's musical friends. Another of the songs 'The Sands of Sudan' was a powerful indictment of the West's ‘charity reaction' to poverty and starvation in the Third World, poverty and starvation which is often caused by the policies of governments and companies based in the West. This song was subsequently recorded by Ronnie Drew on the Dubliners album '40 years a-greying'.

The line-up on Aiden's album was: Aiden Forde, Neil Cox, Mick Bisiker, Chris Cochran, Christine Aldridge, Lizzy Manley, Ralph Allin and Ted Bunting. There were thirteen tracks, of which four songs were written or co-written by Aiden. Aiden showed himself as well able to handle both traditional and more contemporary material. The album was produced by Aiden, Mick Bisiker and Keith Butterfield at the Falstaff Studio in Birmingham.

In a review, Alex Monaghan said:
Ten of the thirteen tracks are straightforward guitar-vocalist stuff, with some nice touches of piano and strings from various backing musicians. However, Aiden has more than six strings in his repertoire: his fine fiddling is featured on two tracks, a Parisian waltz and a Scottish schottische, and the thirteenth track combines song and fiddle. As you would guess from the title, much of Aiden's material is shamelessly sentimental. Traditional tear-jerkers such as "Mary from Dungloe" and "Carrickfergus" alternate with more recent compositions in the same vein. The two songs of his own which Aiden includes are of a quite different kind, dealing with social and environmental issues in a fairly hard-hitting way: lines such as "We just carry on turning our world into a wasteland" certainly don't sentimentalise anything. Most of the songs are traditional, and most of them are Irish. The two distinctly Scottish songs have a more lively and humorous feel, and also show off Aiden's mandola playing, especially in the version of "The Tenpenny Bit" which fits neatly on the end of "Rattling Roaring Willie". The singing is of a very high quality, whether Scots or Irish, old or new: Aiden's voice is very easy on the ear, the words are clear and every note is there. It could be said that many of the songs are given a similar treatment, and that there isn't much variety in tone, but that is perhaps Aiden's style. All in all, this is an enjoyable and well-produced album.

Aiden and Pat Brennan later organised a fundraising concert at the Irish Centre in Birmingham. The charity to benefit was one connected with helping children in the developing countries affected by war and poverty. £4000 was raised from a crowd of several hundred people who came to the concert. That night, Ronrie Drew sang Aiden's song ‘The Sands of Sudan', a moment which must have been particularly satisfying and proud for Aiden and for those who appreciated what he and Pat Brennan had achieved in organising that concert.

Aiden's partner, Celia Jarrett, died in January 1999. After Celia's death, Aiden found it more and more difficult to cope with the pressures of life, despite help from his many friends on the Birmingham folk scene. He took his own life in April 2000 aged 42 years.

I miss Aiden as a friend and an artist, as I’m sure many, many others will miss him. He contributed wonderful music and song in many different settings all over Britain, Ireland, Europe and North America. His tragic death at such a young age is a sad loss to all who knew him.