Martin Carthy

Martin Carthy

A legend in his own lifetime, the most important English folk artist of his generation, and still playing folk clubs all over the world. Martin Carthy was born 21st May 1940, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England. Initially an actor, by the late fifties he had become guitarist and singer with Skiffle group the Thameside Four. Early visits to folk clubs and exposure to the work of Ewan MacColl and particularly A.L. "Bert" Lloyd drew him to then infant folk scene. His first recordings were with The Thamesiders on their 1963 EP but a wider influence was already in evidence. A young Bob Dylan, during his first visit to London in early 60s, had been very impressed by Martin's version of the song Lord Franklin. Dylan used the tune and the narrative style for his own song Bob Dylan's Dream. Paul Simon borrowed Martin's arrangement of Scarborough Fair to create a massive international hit for Simon and Garfunkel.

By the mid sixties Martin Carthy was recognised as a virtuoso folk guitarist and was resident at London's top folk club, the Troubadour. Around this time he teamed up with fiddler Dave Swarbrick, skillfully mixing traditional material with contemporary interpretation and establishing a musical rapport that remains undiminished to this day.

Essentially he is at his best in solo performance, his vocal style is cleanly articulated, slightly nasal with a natural vibrato, accompanied by a distinctive guitar style.

He also relishes the challenge of being part of a group. Over the years he has performed with Steeleye Span, with whom he first played electric guitar, The Albion Band, The Watersons (left), which also included his wife Norma Waterson, and Brass Monkey with accordionist John Kirkpatrick and trumpeter Howard Evans. His most recent his group activities have been a family affair, in Waterson Carthy he shares equal billing with wife Norma and fiddle playing daughter Eliza.

Martin Carthy has the ability to take a traditional song, adapt it, often with either a new tune or additional words, and say something contemporary and relevant whilst retaining the work's traditional roots. His intelligent approach made this music more accessible to wider audiences and enriched the British folk heritage.

Outside of the group Norma Waterson and Eliza Carthy have had considerable solo success.

		Norma Waterson's eponymous first solo album was produced by Richard Thompson in 1996 and was a considerable critical and commercial success. Rather than taking on exclusively traditional English material for which she is known, Norma delivers her own interpretations of songs by Elvis Costello, Jerry Garcia, Richard Thompson, Billy Bragg and Ben Harper, among others. The backing band is impressive, including Richard Thompson on guitar, Danny Thompson on bass, Roger Swallow on drums, husband Martin Carthy on guitar, and daughter Eliza on violin. This well balanced mix of traditional and contemporary songs and was nominated for the prestigious Mercury Music Prize.

Red and Rice was a double CD set released by Eliza Carthy in 1998. The Red CD is a mix of songs and tunes from various sources with a definite rockish instrumentation including synthesizers, whereas Rice is almost exclusively acoustic in a slightly more stripped-down, traditional fashion. Like her mother she was also nominated for the Mercury Music Prize. Looked on by many as the brightest hope on the English folk scene, Eliza's own material is of an increasingly high standard, in late 1999 she signed a major recording deal with Warner Brothers.

Visit Reinhard Zierke's excellent Website dedicated to The Watersons and their heirs.

Some of the above photos are courtesy of Steve Sheldon at Folk Icons where you will find the official Websites for Waterson-Carthy and a whole myriad of related artists. Check them out.