In July 2015, Shirley Collins reaches the grand old age of 80.
This 34 track compilation pays tribute to her longevity and justly reaffirms her standing as one of the great interpreters of English folk songs.
The level of respect for her can be gauged by the wide range of artists who agreed to donate their services free of charge. This is all the more remarkable given that Collins retired from performing in the late 1970s. Her final album - For Many As Will from 1978 - was made with her older sister Dolly who died in 1995 aged 62.
'Shirley Inspired' is a spin off from a successful Kickstarter appeal, the main objective of which was to raise funds for a documentary directed by Tim Pleister and Rob Curry to be entitled 'The Ballad of Shirley Collins'.
This film is now scheduled for completion in the Summer of 2016 and will in part be based on the book 'America Over The Water', Collins' own account of a field recording trip with musicologist Alan Lomax.
Many of the recordings Lomax made in 1959 were featured in the Coen Brothers' brilliant 'Oh Brother, Where Art Thou'. That movie sparked a renewed interest in old time folk-blues music and was a reminder how misleading it is to speak of 'new' folk, weird or otherwise.
Collins has always been vehement in her belief that the songs she recorded represent a vital, and timeless, expression of working class culture. In a South Bank Centre talk she delivered in 2013 called 'The Outskirts Of Culture', she spoke of her pride of being English (she doesn't define herself as British) which stems in large part from the depth and purity of the country's rich folk tradition.
This is why Collins always sought to make unembellished renditions of the songs, a quality that made comedian Stewart Lee into a big fan and prompted his support for the Kickstarter campaign.
Lee has rightly identified "the absence of ego" in Collins' recordings and he keeps his own ego in check for an improbable performance of Polly On The Shore where he is backed by Stuart Estell on accordion.
Estell himself contributes one of two versions of Just As The Tide Was Flowing. The other is a more individual, and less successful, take on the tune by Eric Chenaux which illustrates how easy it is to be over dramatise, and thus to misread, the qualities that make a song work.
C.Joynes's instrumental (It Was Pleasant And Delightful) and the male voice on Ulver's Poor Murdered Woman also seem out of place as does Belbury Poly's fun but overly busy reading of Cambridgeshire May Carol.
Other disappointments are Lee Ranaldo's eight minute The Plains Of Waterloo, a dirgey treatment that probably seemed like a good idea at the time, and the similarly droney though briefer Pretty Saro by Bonnie Prince Billy (Bitchin Bonnie Billy Bajas).
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Fortunately, despite these minor missteps, the good comfortably outweighs the so-so. Alasdair Roberts, accompanied by David McGuinness on piano, gives a object lesson in the merits of authenticity on A Blacksmith Courted Me while Australia's Ela Stiles treats us to an assured and elegant performance of The Murder Of Maria Marten.
The female singers are generally the best although the usually reliable Josephine Foster makes a bit of pig's ear of Love Is Pleasing. Her operatic style distracts from the simplicity of the tune and compares unfavourably with a new generation of English folk 'maidens' such as Olivia Chaney and Jackie Oates whose performances of Oxford Girl and Banks Of The Bann respectively, are impeccable.
The Owl Service and Laura Cannell's Edi Beo is another highlight and the spectral quality of Meg Baird's voice gives a wonderfully spooky edge to Locks And Bolts.
Other artists of note include Blur's Graham Coxon (Cruel Mother), Trembling Bells (Richie's Story) , Johnny Flynn (Rambleaway), Angel Olsen (The Blacksmith) and Sharron Kraus Gilderoy (Heart's Delight).
Fittingly, it all ends with Findlay Brown's Sweet England, a song which was the title track from Collins' first LP released way back in 1959.
Shirley Collins diplomatically praises "the beautiful and sometimes challenging" interpretations in this collection, adding that "listening to these recreations shows me again that English folk music has timeless power and significance".
Folk as a genre may go in and out of fashion but this album proves once again how traditional songs will always be a rich source of inspiration for musicians of all ages and backgrounds.
Website for the Shirley Collins movie
Shirley Collins’ website
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