Frost and Fire

Product Information

We’ve divided our cycle of customs according to the calendar seasons–winter, spring, summer, autumn and winter again. Less formally, we might better have divided them according to the economic seasons–the ploughing, sowing, augmentation and harvesting of crops. For it’s due to their relation with economic life, not to any mystical connection, that the song-customs have persisted right up to our own time. Just as one doesn’t need to be an ancient Greek to be moved by the plays of Aeschylus, so it’s not necessary to be anything other than an ordinary freethinking twentieth century urban western man with a proper regard for humankind, to appreciate the spirit and power of these songs. To our toiling ancestors they meant everything, and in a queer irrational way they can still mean much to us. In their post-court hearing press release, Celtic Music also promised a “programme of re-releases to cast new light on valuable folk music performances from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s” in 2018. It remains eagerly awaited. Mike Waterson on The Watersons: For Pence and Spicy Ale (CD reissue) Shady Lady Lal & Mike Waterson: Bright Phoebus;

The Watersons were an English folk group from Hull in Yorkshire. They performed mainly traditional songs with little or no accompaniment. Their distinctive sound comes from their closely-woven harmonies.The importance of Epiphany or Twelfth Night is represented by Jolly Old Hawk, before Mike takes the lead once more on Pace-Egging Song, as we move to Easter with Pace-eggers begging for eggs, (and strong beer), long a symbol in pagan belief as a symbol of life and renewal of life, especially at springtime. This is followed by the spring-time ballad Seven Virgins (The Leaves of Life). Sung with mournful beauty by Norma, the song relates to a visit made by Mary to visit her son ay Calvary, in the company of seven virgins, although as Lloyd notes, the parallels between the resurrection of Christ and the slaying and renewal of kings in pagan belief as portrayed in mumming plays is transparently obvious. The Watersons on The Season Round Heavenly Aeroplane The Watersons: Sound, Sound Your Instruments of Joy; And speaking of resurrection, rebirthed record collectors take note: This Frost And Fire gets a timely revisit with Topic Records issuing the vinyl pressing at 45rpm “ for optimum sound quality”. Earsdon Sword Dance Song’ is the original that Steeleye Span morphed into their quite familiar ‘A Calling On Song’. And in ‘John Barleycorn’, Mike Waterson sings of three men coming from the west, their fortunes for to try, making a solemn that John Barleycorn must die. They throw clods upon his head; they let him lie until the rain soaks him; they are amazed that he springs up again. The cycles of the seasons continue relentlessly, barbarously. The humans join in, their scythes sharp at his knee, grinding him between stones, fittingly seamlessly into the ecosystem.

Mike and Norma Waterson on Peter Bellamy: Wake the Vaulted Echoes Green Grows the Laurel Norma Waterson: Bright Shiny Morning Greenland Whale Fishery, The The Watersons on New Voices; What’s New for the 20th of August: Some favorite mysteries; jazz, country, RT, and a musical grab bag; a hoedown, a big dragon, Hellboy, and of course ice cream!

A family folk ensemble from Hull, Yorkshire, Norma, Mike and Lal Waterson formed the crux of the group, joined by their cousin, John Harrison, who occasionally performed guitar accompaniment. For the most part, they were known for their head-turning four-part vocal performance, often unaccompanied, of traditional songs from around the United Kingdom. Then, ‘Pace-Egging Song’ details the traditional practice, during springtime(!) of “begging for eggs” (Thank you, original liner notes!). Christian Easter melts into mythology with a pagan belief in the egg’s symbolism for renewed life. It all boggles the mind with yet another (almost) sacred melody. And ‘Seven Virgins (The Leaves Of Life)’, sung by Norma, oozes Christian beliefs, yet touches its spiritual natural roots that still, even after all these years, manage to bless the circular and very magical nature of all things sublime. But the songs that affect me most on this record are sung by Lal and Mike alone. On ‘Christmas Day Is Drawing Near’, Lal sings this moralising Christian song in a voice that suggests a heartbreaking submission to its sentiments. She surrenders to its mournful minor key, underlining the terrors of subservience. You hear the strange movements of the song’s melody in her songwriting in Bright Phoebus seven years later. Norma Waterson on Folk Festival Sidmouth There Are No Lights on Our Christmas Tree The Watersons: Mighty River of Song There Is a Fountain of Christ’s Blood Norma Waterson: Norma Waterson Thirty-Foot Trailer, The The Watersons: Travelling for a Living; Mike Waterson on Round Cape Horn Marvellous Companion Christine Collister & Oliver Knight on Shining Bright;

That also said, and it’s just an idea, but these are the songs that birthed Richard Thompson’s brilliant song from Henry’s ‘The Old Changing Way’. That’s a rather nice pedigree. We should all ring a bell for these songs, recalling the words that were sung, the corn that they sowed. I hope that someone out there will be catching them, jumping between Frost And Fire, seeing the bright phoebuses shining down on us, for the very first time.The Watersons: Mighty River of Song Ploughboy, The (The Khaki and the Blue) The Watersons: A Yorkshire Garland; Jo Freya’s Lal Waterson Project: Lal Windham The Watersons: Sound, Sound Your Instruments of Joy Windy Day Marry Waterson & Oliver Knight: The Days That Shaped Me Winifer Odd Lal & Mike Waterson: Bright Phoebus;

Mike Waterson on The Watersons: Mighty River of Song Meeting is a Pleasure Lal & Norma Waterson: A True Hearted Girl;

Reviews

Norma Waterson: An Introduction to Song of the Other Ranks Mike Waterson on Bob Davenport: The Common Stone Sorry the Day I Was Married The Watersons: A Yorkshire Garland;