Holy Heathens and the Old Green Man
If English folk music ever had a hierarchy, Norma Waterson and Martin Carthy – along with daughter Eliza Carthy – would be at its very top. Hailing from Northumberland, the family approach folk song as a living entity and it’s this that makes their music so generous and vibrant, on stage or record. With the addition of melodeon player Tim van Eyken, Waterson: Carthy are an expandable quartet with a song for every mood.
Holy Heathens and the Old Green Man is a collection of festive songs. As befits its season, ‘May Song’ is a vigorous offering, its martial progress marked by drums and reeds; ‘Reaphook and Sickle’, a song for haymaking, is no less full-throated. Folk song differs wildly – heretically, even – from religious lyrics, and ‘The Cherry Tree Carol’, with its story of Jesus’s pre-birth miracles is a prime example. The group’s sleeve notes to Holy Heathens are a fascinating resource, delving into the origin and meaning of these songs; but the joy is, as always, in their performance.
- Product information
- by Waterson: Carthy
- Star rating
- Product link
- http://www.watersoncarthy.com
- Product number
- TSCS562 CD
- Publisher
- Topic
Join over 10,000 people just like you. Get e-mail updates about new content, issue alerts, contests, and more!
Voices from the margins:
Multimedia: video, podcasts, and more.
- Poetry Slam in Zimbabwe
- The House of Hunger poetry slam held in Zimbabwe in 2006, and organised by the Pamberi Trust, showcased young artists performing inspirational work on issues from corporate power to child soldiers. The video features four of the poets.
Published by Pambazuka News.
- Iranian women speak out
- 3 March 2007, London. Women's rights activists marched through the English capital last week to celebrate International Women's Day with a protest against the misogyny of the Islamic regime in Iran and the threat of invasion by the US. Hear the voices of Iranian feminists Azar and Leila Parnian and the sounds of the demonstration as it passed through the heart of the city. Click here to learn more about the campaign.
Produced by Heidi Bachram.
- Raised Voices audio:
- Benny from West Papua on Corporate Power
- Vinayan from India on agriculture
