Musical Traditions CDs Place cursor on red asteriskLike this for reviewer's comment.

... this small but very valuable catalogue - Vic Smith in fRoots
... a very significant contribution to folk-song scholarship - Dave Atkinson in Folk Music Journal
... some of the best collections available of traditional music - Steve Winnick in Dirty Linen


The Brazil Family
 
Down by the Old Riverside   [Booklet Notes]   [Tracklist]   [Review]   This really is the most important commercial release showcasing the English tradition to have appeared in many a long day. I cannot stress it enough : absolutely essential. Keith Chandler   Every one of the people on these CDs is worth listening to. Their store of songs is like the proverbial river, wide and deep, and just as refreshing. Musical Traditions deserve the highest praise for having the belief and the courage to issue deeply uncommercial things like this. Roy Harris in Taplas   The importance of these recordings can scarcely be overstated. They represent the very best of the last flowering of traditional song in England and praise needs to be heaped upon everyone involved in the recordings and the production of the high quality accompanying booklet. Vic Smith in The Folk Diary

MTCD345-7 + 48 page integral booklet in DVD case   £20.00

3 CDs, 89 tracks, 195. mins   Pre-production costs generously funded by the Greenwich Traditional Musicians Cooperative.

Our first 3-CD set.  A selection of songs, ballads and tunes from the Brazil Family of Gloucester.  A unique compilation of the repertoire of a single English Gypsy family,from the collections of Peter Shepheard, Gwilym Davies, Mike Yates, Hamish Henderson and Peter Kennedy.

Featuring: Danny Brazil, Harry Brazil, Lemmie Brazil, Hyram Brazil, Tom Brazil, Weenie Brazil, Alice Webb and her son, Angela Brazil, Doris Davies, Joan Taylor, Debbie and Pennie Davies.

 
 

     A Story to Tell:
Indispensible for anyone who thinks they know anything about traditional singing or music-making in England at all. Philip Heath-Coleman   160 minutes of toal immersion in the pub-based traditional music and song of East Suffolk villages in the '70s ... This is too good for the shops, but you can get it from the website ... Tony Hendry in The Living Tradition   [Review]   [Tracklist]   [Booklet Notes]   Keith Summers in Suffolk 1972-79

MTCD339-0 + 52 page integral booklet in DVD case   £16.00

2 CDs, 75 tracks, 160 mins

A 2-CD set issued as a complement to the Veteran Keith Summers VT154CD.  A selection of songs, ballads and tunes from Suffolk, from the collections of Keith Summers 1972-79.

Featuring: Jumbo Brightwell, Alec Bloomfield, Bob Scarce, Cyril Poacher, Jimmy Knights, Oscar Woods, Percy Ling, Billy List, Charlie Whiting, Font Watling, Fred Whiting, Eley Went, Fred List, Fred Pearce, Geoff Ling, George Ling, George Woolnough, Harkie Nesling, Reg Reeder and many others.

 

Meeting's a Pleasure, Vols 3&4
 
Folksongs of the Upper South   [Booklet Notes]   [Tracklist]   [Review]   Sometimes it takes dedication to appreciate music like this but, once that work is done, these recordings repay you handsomely. Brian Peters in EDS   The sheer variety of songs, tunes and performers to be found on these CDs is astonishing ... the whole package is a joy. Gordon Potter in The Living Tradition

MTCD343-4 + 44 page integral booklet in DVD case   £16.00

2CDs, 62 tracks, 141 mins

Second pair of a 4-CD set.  A selection of songs, ballads and tunes from Kentucky and nearby areas, from the collections of Mark Wilson, Gus Meade and John Harrod.

Featuring: Buell Kazee, J P and Annadeene Fraley, Sarah Gunning, Jim Garland, Blanche Coldiron, The Dixon Sisters, Asa Martin, Nimrod Workman, Roscoe Holcomb, Snake Chapman, Wash Nelson, Mary Lozier and many others.

 

All four Volumes of Meeting's a Pleasure
when ordered together - £30.00

 		     
 

     Meeting's a Pleasure, Vols 1&2
Sometimes it takes dedication to appreciate music like this but, once that work is done, these recordings repay you handsomely. Brian Peters in EDS   The sheer variety of songs, tunes and performers to be found on these CDs is astonishing ... the whole package is a joy. Gordon Potter in The Living Tradition   [Review]   [Tracklist]   [Booklet Notes]   Folksongs of the Upper South

MTCD341-2 + 48 page integral booklet in DVD case   £16.00

2 CDs, 69 tracks, 140 mins

First pair of a 4-CD set.  A selection of songs, ballads and tunes from Kentucky and nearby areas, from the collections of Mark Wilson, Gus Meade and John Harrod.

Featuring: Buell Kazee, J P and Annadeene Fraley, Sarah Gunning, Jim Garland, Blanche Coldiron, The Dixon Sisters, Asa Martin, Nimrod Workman, Roscoe Holcomb, Snake Chapman, Wash Nelson, Mary Lozier and many others.

 

Lizzie Higgins
 
In Memory of ...   [Booklet Notes]   [Tracklist]   [Review 1]   [Review 2]   The quality shines through throughout this collection, from the tracks of muckle sangs, or songs verging on the muckle, to merry little ditties almost like interludes, which range in turn reflects the broad spectrum in which Lizzie performed. A fitting celebration of a gifted traditional singer ... a collection of gems both rough and polished ... a big part of the nation's heritage. Alasdair Maclean in The Scots Magazine  

MTCD337-8 + 36 page integral booklet in DVD case   £16.00

2CDs, 34 tracks, 155 mins     Runner-up in fROOTS Critics Poll 2007

A memorial album of this great Aberdeenshire singer, containing 34 recordings of the best of her songs not currently available on CD, many of which have never been published before.

The 36-page booklet contains a brief biography and an appraisal of Lizzie's singing style by Dr Ian Olson, full song notes and transcriptions - and lots of photos.

 
 

     Songs from the Golden Fleece
These recordings are a joyful and communal experience ... they give an accurate impression of evenings in Stroud's Golden Fleece ... one can still sense the presence of all the other participants. You feel like you're part of the gang - they all sing as if they know you're listening! Chris Bartram in MT.   [Review]   [Tracklist]   [Booklet Notes]   A song tradition today

MTCD335-6 + 28 page integral booklet in DVD case   £16.00

2 CDs, 38 tracks, 136 mins

A selection of songs, ballads and a story from one of today's singing pubs.

Featuring Bob Bray, Audrey Smith, Roger Grimes, Ken Langsbury, Chris Molan, Harry Langston, Martin Graebe, Shan Cowan, Danny Stradling, Rod Stradling, Jeff Gillett.  All tracks are newly recorded in digital stereo.

 

Stephen Baldwin
 
"Here's One You'll Like, I Think"   [Booklet Notes]   [Tracklist]   [Review]   I have been again reminded of the astonishing - actually intimidating - high standard of so much of MT's production. I know of no other place, online or in-print, where material of such detail, authority, and value is published in its entirety. Dr Christopher Smith - Music History and Literature Director, Texas Tech University School of Music.   I sincerely hope that this magnificent work informs fiddlers and other musicians who have any interest at all in their musical roots. Flos Headford in ED&S   I thought I'd just say how much I've enjoyed this. The quality is remarkably good, and the format is elegant. The booklet was informative and of great interest, particularly to one who knows the area. Roy Palmer

MTCD334 + 28 page integral booklet in DVD case   £12.00

59 tracks, 73 mins

Containing all the 59 known recordings of Gloucestershire's Stephen Baldwin - village and Morris dance fiddler.
The 28-page booklet contains pretty-well all that is known about him and his family, as well as some information about his musical neighbours in the Forest.
There are also 13 photos, including three previously unpublished ones from 1947, and an examination of Baldwin's unique fiddle style.

 
 

     Around the Hills of Clare
  Songs and a recitation from the Jim Carroll and Pat Mackenzie Collection

[Tracklist]   [Booklet Notes]

MTCD331-2 + 44 page integral booklet in DVD case   £16.00

2 CDs, 47 tracks, 156 mins

Jim Carroll and Pat Mackenzie's 1973-2004 recordings of 16 singers from west Co Clare.
Includes Tom Lenihan, Nora Cleary, Straighty Flanagan, Ollie Conway, Martin Howley ...
Published in collaboration with An Góilín traditional singers' club.

 

The Birds Upon the Tree
 
and other traditional songs and tunes   I could sing the praises of this release for eternity - Keith Chandler   [Booklet Notes]   [Tracklist]   [Review]

MTCD333 + 24 page integral booklet in DVD case   £12.00

27 tracks, 76 mins

A further selection from the Mike Yates Collection, featuring Fred Jordan, Packie Manus Byrne, George Fradley, Charlie Bridger, Scan Tester & Rabbidy Baxter, Archer Goode, George Spicer, Bob Blake, Debbie & Pennie Davis, Freda Palmer, Harry Cockerill, Ray Driscoll, Jacquey Gabriel, Alice Francombe, Ivor Hill & family.  22 of the 27 tracks are previously unreleased.



 
 

     The Hardy Sons of Dan
There are singers here who startle me in their musical sensitivity - they're like good fiddlers. Finbar Boyle - Claddagh Records.   Football, hunting and other traditional songs from around Lough Erne's shore

[Tracklist]   [Booklet Notes]   [Review 1]   [Review 2]

MTCD329-0 + 40 page integral booklet in DVD case   £16.00

2 CDs, 37 tracks, 135 mins

Keith Summers' great 1977-83 recordings of 14 singers from Fermanagh and surrounding areas.  Includes Maggie Murphy, Phil McDermott, James and Paddy Halpin, Mary Anne Connolly, Big John Maguire ...

 

Oak
 
Country Songs and Music   ... it has been a real joy listening to both of the Oak CDs - thanks a million for putting this material out ... What a joyous noise ... I listened over and over to them ... I have a fair CD collection, but this one really stands out. John Ledger - Aberdeen   [Booklet Notes]   [Tracklist]   [Review]

MTCD327-8 + 24 page integral booklet in DVD case   £16.00

2 CDs   32 tracks, 106 mins

A double CD set containing all the songs and tunes from the seminal 1971 LP Welcome to Our Fair plus virtually everything else they ever sang or played, in live recordings from clubs in Cheltenham, Benfleet - and their final gig in Walthamstow.

It was Oak that really confirmed to me the importance and value of the tradition - Jon Dudley (Copper Family)

 
 

     Here's Luck to a Man ...
Another valuable contribution to the storehouse of recorded English rural traditional song. I recommend it without hesitation. Tom Walsh - in MT   Gypsy Songs and Music from South-East England

[Tracklist]   [Booklet Notes]   [Review]

MTCD320 + 36 page integral booklet in DVD case   £12.00

39 tracks, 79 mins

Mike Yates' great 1970s recordings of Mary Ann Haynes, Jasper, Minty, Levi and Derby Smith, Joe and Lena Jones, Alice Penfold, Bill Ellson, Chris Willett.  A superb companion piece to From Puck to Appleby, below.

 

From Puck to Appleby
 
Songs of Irish Travellers in England   Quite simply the most important and vital album of traditional song to emerge for some time. Geoff Wallis, in fRoots   [Booklet Notes]   [Review]   [Tracklist]

incorporating 'Early in the Month of Spring'

MTCD325-6 + 40 page integral booklet in DVD case   £16.00

2 CDs   45 tracks, 158 mins

A superb 2-CD set containing most of Jim Carroll and Pat Mackenzie's 1973-1985 recordings of Irish Travellers in and around London - ballads, songs and stories.  15 of these tracks originally appeared on the VWML cassette 'Early in the Month of Spring'

 
 

The New Catalogue Sampler
[Tracklist]   [Review]   [Booklet Notes]   Full of great examples of the strength of traditional singing styles and the repertoire ... The real pleasure is in the flow, in soaking up the lesser knowns, the relaxed deliveries, the ambience of recordings made in the singers' natural surroundings ... And then reading the notes opens up more windows on it all. Highly recommended. lan Anderson, in fRoots

MTCD319 + 28 page integral booklet in DVD case   £10.00   26 tracks, 80 mins

The new 2005 version of the previous Sampler, now including tracks from most of our releases, right up to MTCD333.

Test-drive 'some of the best collections available of traditional music' ... one hour and twenty minutes worth for only a tenner!

 

 

Far in the Mountains
 
Volumes 3 & 4   A wonderful collection which can be enjoyed on so many levels and deserves a wide audience. I, for one, will be drawn back to it many times. Shirley Collins - in fRoots   [Booklet Notes]   [Review]   [Tracklist]

The Appalachian Collection

MTCD323-4 + 40 page integral booklet in DVD case   £16.00

2 CDs   58 tracks, 149 mins

Second two volumes of a 4-CD set containing most of Mike Yates' 1979-1983 Appalachian recordings - ballads, songs, stories and music - in stereo.

 
     

All four Volumes of Far in the Mountains
when ordered together - £30.00
 

Far in the Mountains
[Tracklist]   [Review]   [Booklet Notes]   The sound quality is excellent - no digitally restored 78s here - and the detailed booklets are superb. The atmosphere of these relaxed visits is also caught - chickens crowing in the background, fires crackling, the creak of the rocking chair ... Nick Pilley - in Old Time News   Volumes 1 & 2

The Appalachian Collection

MTCD321-2 + 40 page integral booklet in DVD case   £16.00

2 CDs   80 tracks, 150 mins

First two volumes of a 4-CD set containing most of Mike Yates' 1979-1983 Appalachian recordings - ballads, songs, stories and music - in stereo.

 

George Dunn
 
Chainmaker   We are once more in Musical Traditions's debt for allowing us to hear another classic traditional singer in all his glory. As usual, a thoroughly informative and fascinating booklet accompanies. Very strongly recommended. Paul Burgess - in Folkwrite   [Booklet Notes]   [Review]   [Tracklist]

MTCD317-8 + 48 page integral booklet in DVD case   £16.00

2 CDs   51 tracks, 128 minutes

The great Black Country singer - a selection of virtually all the songs he recorded in the early seventies for Roy Palmer, Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger, and Charles Parker.

 

 

 
 

Kevin and Ellen Mitchell
[Tracklist]   [Review]   [Booklet Notes]   This is a double CD of the highest quality singing you could wish to hear. A real bargain. Roy Harris - in Living Tradition An album of inestimable value. Geoff Wallis - in fRoots   Have a Drop Mair

Ballads and songs from Ireland and Scotland

MTCD315-6 + 32 page integral booklet in DVD case   £16.00

2 CDs   39 tracks, 159 mins

Traditional Irish and Scotish songs and ballads from two great singers.
All newly recorded by Rod Stradling in 2000-1 in sparkling digital stereo.

 

 

 

Ray Andrews
 
Classic English Banjo   A deft finger-style banjo picker who makes everything from Tin Pan Alley tunes to a Beethoven minuet sound natural and easy ... the CD gives us a wonderful glimpse at an unusual and little-known tradition. Steve Winnick - in Dirty Linen   [Booklet Notes]   [Review]   [Tracklist]

MTCD314 + 32 page integral booklet in DVD case.   £12.00

26 tracks, 74 mins

Almost every tune he is known to have recorded - tapes from the mid-seventies and eighties, mostly previously unreleased.

 

 

 
 

Joe Rae
[Tracklist]   [Review 1]   [Review 2]   [Booklet Notes]   Showcases not only ballad singing but also story-telling, and each of Joe Rae's skills looks all the better in the light of the other ... a fine addition to your collection. Steve Winnick - in Dirty Linen   The Broom Blooms Bonny
Ballads, songs and stories from Ayrshire

MTCD313 + 20 page integral booklet in DVD case.   £12.00

15 tracks, 74 mins

Eight 'big ballads', three traditional folktales and four songs, recorded by Mike Yates in 2001 - all in sparkling digital stereo.

 

 

 

Up in the North
and Down in the South
 
Various performers from the N & S of England   These CDs are brilliant. You'd think they were recorded last week! It's great to hear new material, and the previously unissued items were well worth waiting for. Ron Coe
[Booklet Notes]   [Review]   [Tracklist]

MTCD311-2 + 40 page integral booklet in DVD case.   £16.00

2 CDs   53 tracks, 148 minutes

A selection of otherwise unavailable songs and tunes from the Mike Yates Collection 1964-2000, 19 of which are previously unreleased.

 

 

 
 

Just Another Saturday Night:
Sussex 1960
[Tracklist]   [Review]   [Booklet Notes]  The whole production is an absolute triumph ... these CDs contain that rare beast - recordings of traditional performers performing ... to a roomful of their peers, spontaneously, naturally and with an extreme of skill. Paul Burgess, in Folk Write  Various performers

MTCD309-10 + 40 page integral booklet in DVD case.   £16.00

2 CDs   51 tracks, 148 mins

All the songs Brian Matthews recorded in Sussex pubs in 1959/60

 

 

 

Daisy Chapman
 
Ythanside   A commanding, magnetic narrator capable of holding the serious attention of rowdy audiences ... a treasure-house of both music and information, as well as a loving and heartfelt portrait. Steve Winick, in Dirty Linen   [Booklet Notes]   [Review]   [Tracklist]

MTCD308 + 32 page integral booklet in DVD case.   £12.00

23 tracks, 68 minutes

The great but rarely-heard Buchan, Aberdeenshire, singer
All the songs she is known to have recorded from 1965/70

 

 

 
 

Wiggy Smith
and other Smith Family members

[Tracklist]   [Review]   [Booklet Notes]   This CD is a superb contribution to the national sound archives and one that every serious student of English Traditional song should have in their collection. Tom Walsh, in MT   Band of Gold

MTCD307 + 28 page integral booklet in DVD case.   £12.00

33 tracks, 74 mins

All the songs they recorded for Peter Shepheard, Mike Yates,
Gwilym Davies and Paul Burgess in 1966/99

 

 

   
 
 

Walter Pardon
[Tracklist]   [Review]   [Booklet Notes]   There is so much on these CDs to give pleasure and satisfaction to the listener and a whole body of information for interested parties to take their investigations further ... I can only end by repeating my delight which, I'm sure will be shared by many, that Walter has been revisited with this degree of attention. Roly Brown, in Musical Traditions   Put a Bit of Powder on it, Father
the other songs of Walter Pardon

MTCD305-6 + 44 page integral booklet in DVD case   £16.00

2 CDs, 49 tracks, 146 mins

All the songs not currently available on CD elsewhere.
1978/82 tapes from Mike Yates

 

 

 

George Townshend
 
Come Hand to Me the Glass   It's great to have these recordings made available and you've done a good job on cleaning them up. The booklet is very informative. Perhaps Peter Kennedy could have taken a few tips from MT when 'preparing' his Harry Cox notes for 'What will become of England'! Paul Marsh, Forest Tracks Recordings   [Booklet Notes]   [Review 1]   [Review 2]   [Tracklist]

MTCD304 + 24 page integral booklet in DVD case.   £12.00

25 tracks, 72 minutes

All the songs he recorded for Brian Matthews in 1960/61

 

 

 
 

Cyril Poacher
[Tracklist]   [Review 1]   [Review 2]   [Booklet Notes]   Here it is, then, the real thing; as skilled, authentic and convincing an interpreter of English traditional song as the second half of the twentieth century can offer! Vic Smith, in fRoots   Plenty of Thyme

MTCD303 + 32 page integral booklet in DVD case   £12.00

31 tracks, 72 minutes

Every song he is known to have recorded.  1965/78 tapes from
Ginette Dunn, Tony Engle, Neil Lanham, Keith Summers, Mike Yates.

 

 

 

Bob Hart
 
A Broadside   This one scores over all the compilations by making such an in-depth study of someone who was clearly a major talent. The fascinating booklet and photos add to the interest. Vic Smith, in Folk Roots   [Review 1]   [Review 2]   [Booklet Notes]   [Tracklist]

MTCD301-2 + 36 page integral booklet in DVD case   £16.00

2 CDs   46 tracks, 144 mins

Every song he is known to have recorded.  1969 tapes from Bill Leader and Rod & Danny Stradling

 

 

 
 

Pop Maynard
[Tracklist]     Down the Cherry Tree

MTCD401-2 - no booklet   £10.00   2CDs   32 tracks   93 minutes

For completists: all the songs and fragments Brian Matthews recorded from him in 1959-60, 11 of which also appear on MTCD309-10