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. The Watersons on Chants de Marins IV: Ballads, Complaintes et Shanties des Matelots Anglais Pleasure and Pain Norma Waterson: Norma Waterson; 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; Then things get wonderfully weird: ‘The Holly Bears A Berry’ connects the plant with a “ dying and resurrected god” (Thank you, always, liner notes!). And, by the way, in Nordic mythology, that blind god Hod was deceived by that nasty fellow Loki to kill the really nice guy Balder with a mistletoe dart. Go figure. Norma Waterson on The Folk Awards 2001 Flowers of Knaresborough Forest, The Lal & Norma Waterson: A True Hearted Girl;

What to say about the performances? Suffice to say it’s no surprise that this album was so influential and popular in its time. These four people can sing, and they do so with enthusiasm and zero pretension. Mike has a unique, slightly adenoidal voice that, like Dylan’s, grows on you the more you listen. Norma’s burnished alto is one of my favorite voices of all time. Lal doesn’t take lead very often, but when she does as on “Christmas Is Now Drawing Near At Hand” it’s an immediately classic voice and delivery. But of course what really stands out is the group singing, whether in unison or in harmony. Most often, one of the singers will drop down a third or a fifth on the final word of a line or verse (see “Earsdon Sword Dance Song” for especially good examples of this) it’s simply magical. When the album was first released it was the debut album from The Watersons, then a new group on the folk scene from Hull who had previously played skiffle music before turning to folk music, briefly as The Folksons, comprising sisters Norma and Lal Waterson their brother Mike and cousin John Harrison. Singing mainly traditional songs from the British Isles, with little or no accompaniment, their performances were garnering much attention, with their distinctive four-part vocal sound taking the music world by storm.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: The Definitive Collection Man in Need The Watersons on Richard & Linda Thompson: Shoot Out the Lights Man o’ War, The Mike Waterson: Mike Waterson; We thought – my generation of musicians – that we'd all get old and grey and there'd be nobody left. And then all this new generation of young musicians came up, and we all said, 'Thank God.' So if people say traditional music has got to be like that, or like that, then you're going to freeze it. You may as well put something in a museum or bury it in the ground in a time capsule and dig it up so many years later to see what it was like then. You can't do that with tradition. You have to hope each generation brings their own thing to it, so it keeps going forever."

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.Seasons of anxiety, seasons of joy. The common people had their rites of propitiation and triumph, older than the rituals of the Church and closer bound to their daily lives. This record takes us through a year's calendar, displaying songs that accompanied these ceremonies, season by season. With a fitting dramatic flourish, the album ends, as it began, with yet another ‘Wassail Song’. Indeed, everything—especially melodic magic—is always in search of the very circulus nature of the fallen Maypole Eden.

Jo Freya’s Lal Waterson Project: Lal Birds Will Still Be Singing, The Norma Waterson: Norma Waterson; With the exception of the thirteen drum beats on Hal-an-Tow, provided by Leader, the entire album consists of unaccompanied vocals, vocals of unrivalled power, depth and brilliance. Now, for the novice: This album was a big bang 1965 Melody Maker Album of the Year that spawned Shirley and Dolly Collins’ Anthems Of Eden, No Roses by the Albion Band, Pentangle’s everything, Fairport’s Liege & Leif, Mike and Lol Waterson’s’ Bright Phoebus, Mr. Fox, Robin and Barry Dransfield, Steeleye Span, anything on the Fellside label, the Incredible String Band, Hedgehog Pie, Trees, solo singers like Vin Garbutt, Roy Harper, Pete Morton, and everything else, including my current Midwest Americana occasional craving for Marmite, a Theakston Old Peculiar, and a McVitie’s Digestive. Yeah, the village green grass is always greener. The Watersons: A Yorkshire Christmas Wealthy Squire, The Lal & Norma Waterson: A True Hearted Girl;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. Oliver Knight on The Folk Collection T Stands for Thomas Lal & Norma Waterson on The Watersons: For Pence and Spicy Ale; Norma Waterson on The Watersons: Mighty River of Song Cold Coasts of Iceland Coope Boyes & Simpson: Twenty-Four Seven Columbine Lal Waterson & Oliver Knight: A Bed of Roses; The sisters also became good friends with Kate and Anna McGarrigle, and Gift is dedicated to Kate, who died earlier this year. McGarrigle's death has affected Waterson profoundly. "When you lose a member of your family who is your singing partner, as well as your best friend and sister …" She shakes her head. "It's irreplaceable." This latest version comes in a sleeve which is a replica of the original, with minor adaptations, complete with the original sleeve notes from A.L.Lloyd. For many, however, the fact that this vinyl edition has been re-cut at 45 rpm will be the most important factor. I am no sound expert, but having consulted producer and mastering maestro Tony Poole he confirms the fact that 45rpm will always be higher fidelity than 33 and a third, and the fact that each side of the album is less than 20 minutes long means optimal quality, notwithstanding the fact that the entire album only has vocal information and no bass or instruments which would need compressing.

When they talk about the purists that sniff at the most recent folk revival, they are also unforgiving. Waterson presses a button on the side of her reclining chair as she talks about it, and her legs lower to a sitting position, as if she is ready to pounce. Briefly reissued on CD in 2000. Remastered & reissued with a bonus disc of demos in 2017 by Domino Recording Company Ltd. Peter Bellamy & The Watersons on The Watersons: Mighty River of Song I Wish I Had Never Lal & Norma Waterson: A True Hearted Girl I Wish You Were Here Again Mike Waterson on Bob Davenport: The Common Stone If you give naught, we take naught, farewell and good night ] Bryony Griffith sings The Heysham Peace-Egging 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.The Watersons on Peter Bellamy: Wake the Vaulted Echoes Long Vacation Lal Waterson & Oliver Knight: A Bed of Roses; Then, ‘The Derby Ram’ (with lead voice by Michael) resurrects the rather pagan choral tradition of worshiping animals and, in this case, butchering a rather large ram. The lyric is laced with rather dark jocund humour: (to give just a sample): “ Now all the men in Derby came a-begging for his eyes/To punt down the Derby Streets, for they were football size”. Mike Waterson on The Watersons: Mighty River of Song Broom of Cowdenknowes, The The Watersons on New Voices; Lal Waterson: Teach Me to Be a Summer’s Morning Exile Song, The Marry Waterson on Joy of Living: A Tribute to Ewan MacColl The Watersons perform in the original classic lineup – Lal, Mike and Norma Waterson and John Harrison.