Great Moments in British/Irish Folk-Rock History

Another playlist. Rejoice, therefore!

the immortal Sandy Denny

As many of you already know, I’m a big British/Irish folk-rock guy (and I am still hoping to record some of my own folk-rock tunes, including a cover of “Scarborough Fair” sometime this year). Since it’s Holy Week and I know a lot of people will be busy, rather than drop something heavy or overly thoughtful, I thought I’d share some of what I think of as great moments in the genre over the decades for your enjoyment. If, as Coleridge said, the object of poetry is to delight and inform, who’s to say Substack can’t also do that?

Fairport Convention, “Come All Ye”

I can’t love this song enough, From the first time I heard that drop-D twelve-string lick at the beginning of the song, I was ALL IN on Fairport and Liege & Leif, the album on which this is the opening track. It was written by Sandy Denny and bass-player Ashley Hutchings and beautifully captures the tradition of the ancient “Come all ye” while making it modern (for 1969) in every way.

Sandy Denny, “Who Knows Where the Time Goes”

Though Denny recorded this with Fairport, and I do love that original version, there is something about this one, recorded for the BBC after she left the group, that is so achingly beautiful it’s almost too much to handle. I love her so much it hurts.

Rod Stewart, “Cut Across, Shorty” and “Tomorrow Is Such a Long Time”

It is safe to say that I never would have started playing the mandolin, had I not heard “Maggie Mae” when I was 10 or 11. When I was 17, I met a girl who had a mandolin and she taught me a few chords. Almost right away I taught myself that signature mandolin part. I. WAS. HOOKED. But since “Maggie Mae” is so well-known, I thought I’d include a couple lesser-known tracks. “Cut Across, Shorty” is a reworking of Eddie Cochran’s hit from 1960, which Stewart and Co. (including barrelhouse banger Micky Waller on drums, the absolutely underrated Martin Quittenton on guitar, Ron Wood on guitar and bass, and Dick Powell—a fiddler Stewart picked up busking on the London subway) turned into barnstormer of folk-rock messiness and intensity. “Tomorrow Is Such a Long Time” is a cover of the Dylan song. Amazing what they could do with such primitive technology and a bottle of brandy.

The Waterboys, “Fisherman’s Blues” and “When Ye Go Away”

After the enormous artistic and critical success of 1985’s This Is the Sea, Scotsman and main Waterboy Mike Scott decided to move to Ireland and reinvent himself and his band. And, boy, did he! Turning from the Big Music of This Is the Sea, Scott sought inspiration in Irish trad music and thereby gave life and meaning to leagues of Irish musicians. He gave them their culture back. Ireland could probably use someone like that right about now, methinks.

Led Zeppelin, “Tangerine” and “Hey, Hey, What Can I Do?”

Zeppelin, though they could wax heavy upon a day, also had one foot in English folk traditions, as can be seen in these two tracks. They even invited Sandy Denny to sing on “The Battle of Evermore,” the only non-band member ever to appear on a Zeppelin track. John Paul Jones is one tasty mandolin player on these tracks.

Kate Bush, “Jig of Life”

Kate Bush, born to an English father and an Irish mother, often incorporates Celtic elements in her music, nowhere more obviously and powerfully than in this track from Hounds of Love, definitely my favorite of her albums. I will resist mentioning the story about when I told me wife I dreamt I was married to Kate Bush—in order to preserve my health.

The Alarm, “The Stand”

Welsh band The Alarm set off, well, an alarm when they showed up in the 1980s playing hard-driving folk-edged music without electric guitars (a political position they later modified). Trivia: In summer of 1981 or so, my friend rang me up to see if I could help run sound at a club for some band from Wales. It was The Alarm, but they didn’t have a record out in the US yet. They brought down the house and inspired me to focus more on writing acoustic music. Also: sales of Aquanet skyrocketed.

I Draw Slow, “Swans”

I only encountered Irish band I Draw Slow a few years ago when they showed up on one of my wife’s Spotify channels while she was cooking dinner. The band and their sound, fronted by siblings Dave and Louise Holden, immediately drew my attention. This is my tribe. They have a lot of great songs, but this one is remarkable because, in this video they recorded live, while moving, in the woods. They deserve an award just for that. It’s not easy to walk uphill and play guitar at the same time! Incidentally, Mike Sauter and I interviewed Dave and Louise not all that long ago. You can catch the interview here.

Steve Winwood/Traffic

Traffic’s version of the folk ballad (really a mystery religion!) “John Barleycorn Must Die” has been one of my favorite songs since my teenage years. It’s essentially the soundtrack to Sir James Frazer’s The Golden Bough. And, it being Holy Week and all, I would be remiss in my duties did I not include Winwood’s wonderful version of the Easter carol, “Now the Green Blade Riseth.” Definitely my favorite tune of this moment at the Wheel of the Year.

Of course, I could add LOTS of other songs. What would you add?

A blessed Easter to all of you.