 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "The Watersons" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(June 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
The Watersons | |
|---|---|
 Late line-up of The Watersons featuring (left to right)Norma,Martin Carthy, Rachel,Mike andLal Waterson. Live at the Rockingham Arms,Wentworth, South Yorkshire, 16 October 1987 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Hull,East Riding of Yorkshire, England |
| Genres | Folk |
| Past members |
|
The Watersons were an Englishfolk group fromHull, Yorkshire. They performed mainly traditional songs with little or no accompaniment. Their distinctive sound came from their closely woven harmonies. They have been called the "most famous family in English folk music".[1]
Their style is a unique blend of originality and tradition.[2] The Watersons never learned to read music. They began by singing hunting songs, hymns and carols with their grandmother, ones that she probably sang with her parents. One family member would sing the melody, and the rest would join in, choosing a harmony note if the melody was out of their range.[3]
Their style can be compared to theCopper Family ofSussex, a dynasty of traditional singers who sing in harmony,[4] which was extremely unusual in traditional English music.
The band's original members wereNorma,Mike, and Elaine known asLal Waterson, with their cousin John Harrison fromKingston High School. They had askiffle band in the early 1960s but moved on to playing more traditional material. They were briefly known as "the Folksons".
Their first album wasFrost and Fire 1965, followed byThe Watersons andA Yorkshire Garland in 1966. The Watersons split up in 1968, when Norma went to work as a disc jockey on a radio station onMontserrat.
The group reformed in 1972, with John Harrison briefly replaced by Bernie Vickers. In that year they performed and arranged the music for theAlan Plater TVPlay for Today, "The Land of Green Ginger", set and filmed in Hull, and appeared in a scene filmed in the Bluebell Folk Club.[5]
Vickers was replaced the same year by Norma's husband,Martin Carthy. This line-up recordedFor Pence and Spicy Ale (1975),Sound, Sound Your Instruments of Joy (1977), andGreen Fields (1981).
Later line-ups featured Mike Waterson's daughter Rachel Waterson, who briefly replaced Lal during a leave of absence caused by ill health in the mid-1980s, then continued to sing with the group on Lal's return. This five-piece line up performed regularly during the late 1980s and recorded a session for theBBCAndy Kershaw show in August 1986. In 1987, the group collaborated withSwan Arcade to formBlue Murder, who have performed and recorded sporadically with various line-ups to the present day. Subsequent Watersons line-ups fluctuated, featuringEliza Carthy, Anne Waterson, Jill Pidd andMaria Gilhooley at various times, but recording only occasionally.
Lal Waterson died in 1998 and, by the early 1990s, Carthy, Norma Waterson and their daughterEliza Carthy had formed the groupWaterson–Carthy. The Watersons gradually ceased to sing live on a regular basis, but the family occasionally reconvened for special events and festival appearances, where they are usually billed as "The Waterson Family". These have included 'A Mighty River of Song' at theRoyal Albert Hall on 12 May 2007, theBBCElectric Proms concert, 'Once in a Blue Moon: A Tribute to Lal Waterson', atCecil Sharp House in London on 25 October 2007 and 'A Tribute to Bert,' a concert celebrating the life and work ofAlbert Lancaster Lloyd, at Cecil Sharp House on 15 November 2008. During the summer of 2009, "The Waterson Family" performed at a number of festivals and large concerts throughout England and Ireland.
Mike Waterson died on 22 June 2011, aged 70, atScarborough, North Yorkshire.[6][7][8]
Norma Waterson died on 30 January 2022, at the age of 82.[9]
The accompanying book to the Topic Records 70 year anniversary boxed setThree Score and Ten lists two of their albums as classic albums. The first isFrost and Fire[10]: 34 withHal-an-Tow as the eleventh track on the second CD and the second isFor Pence and Spicy Ale.[10]: 46 The title track of the boxed set is taken from the various artists albumNew Voices and is the seventeenth track on the sixth CD.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
