Saturday, July 10, 2010

Peggy Seeger & Ewan Maccoll- The Long Harvest Vols. 1-10 (Argo, 1966-1968)

Ewan Maccoll & Peggy Seeger's The Long Harvest is a rare and extraordinary 10-record collection of traditional Anglo folk ballads sung in their varying Scottish, English and North American forms. Digitizing these has been a huge effort over these past few weeks. I reckon I'm going to pass on writing up a long introductory overview because other folks have already done it. Well. I am happy to say that its been great fun working on this collection. It deserves to get out & see the light of day. I'll also admit I sort of fell in love with Peggy Seeger over the course of this project. What a babe. Her's are generally my favorite performances here. Anyway, enjoy. *

320 Vinyl Rip.




VOLUME 1 (Argo DA 66, ZDA 66)
The Twa Sisters (Child 10)
1 Minnorie
2 The Swan Swims Sae Bonnie
3 There was an Old Lord
4 Peter and I

The Cruel Mother (Child 20)
5 The Cruel Mother (A)
6 The Cruel Mother (B)
7 Down By the Geenwood Sidey-O
8 The Lady From Lee
9 The Cruel Mother (E)

Lord Randall
10 Lord Randall
11 Jimmy Randall
12 Henry My Son
13 Willy Doo
14 Croodin Doo

The Baffled Knight
16 The Shepherd Lad
17 Clear Away the Morning Dew
18 Katie Morey

VOLUME 2 (Argo DA 67, ZDA 67)

Riddles Wisely Expounded (Child 1)
1 Riddles Wisely Expounded (England)
2 The Devil’s Nine Questions (American)

The Elfin Knight (Child 2)
3 The Elfin Knight (Scots)
4 O, Say Do You Know the Way to Selin (American)
5 Scarborough Fair (English)
6 The Elfin Knight (American)
7 The Cambric Shirt (American)
8 My Father Had an Acre of Land (English)

The Daemon Lover (Child 243)
9 The Daemon Lover (English)
10 The House Carpenter (American)
11 The House Carpenter (American)
12 Well Met, Well Met (American)

The Dreadful Ghost
13 The Dreadful Ghost (Canadian)

The Gosport Tragedy
14 The Ghost Ship (Englsih)
15 Pretty Polly (American)

VOLUME 3 (Argo DA 68, ZDA 68)
Our Goodman (Child 274)
1 Our Goodman (Scots)
2 Five Nights Drunk (American)

Lamkin (Child 93)
3 Lamkin (Scots)
4 Lammkin (American)

The Gypsy Laddie (Child 200)
5 The Gypsy Laddie (Scots)
6 Black Jack Davy (American)
7 The Heartless Lady (American)
8 Harrison Brady (American)

The Broomfield Hill (Child 43)
9 The Broomfield Hill (Scots)
10 Fair Maid on the Shore (American)

The Grey Cock (Child 248)
11 The Lover’s Ghost (English)
12 The Grey Cock (American)
13 I’m a Rover (Scots)
14 Here’s a Health To all Good Lovers (Scots)
15 Lover in the Night (English)

VOLUME 4 (Argo DA 69, ZDA 69)

Bonnie Barbara Allen (Child 84)
1 Bawbee Allab (Scots)
2 Barbry Ellen (English)
3 Barby Allan (American)

Sir Lionel (Child 18)
4 Sir Eglamore (English)
5 WIld Boar (American)
6 Old Bangum (American)
7 Ole Bangum (American)

The Lass Of Roch Royal (Child 76)
8 Lord Gregory (Scots)
9 Lass of Roch Royal
10 Georgie Jeems (American)
11 Who Will Shoe Your Pretty Little Feet? (American)

The Knight and the Shepherd’s Daughter (Child 110)
12 The Kight and the Shepherd’s Daughter (English)
13 The Knight and the Shepherd’s Daugher (American)


VOLUME 5 (Argo DA 70, ZDA 70)

The Crafty Farmer (Child 283)
1 The Crafty Farmer (Scots)
2 Well Sold the Cow (Canadian)
3 The Highwayman (English)
4 The Highwayman Outwitted (English)
5 The Fair Damsel From London (American)

The Wife of Usher’s Well (Child 79)
6 The Wife of Usher’s Well (Scots)
7 The Three Babes (American)

Lord Lovel (Child 75)
8 Lord Lovell (Scots)
9 Lord Lovel (American)
10 Abe Lincoln Stood at the White House Gate (American)
11. The New Ballad of Lord Lovel (American)

Sir Hugh (The Jew’s Daughter) (Child 155)
12 Sir Hugh (or The Jew’s Daughter)
13 The Fatal Flower Garden (American)
14 Little Saloo (American)
15 It Rained a Mist (American)

Babylon (Child 14)
16 The Burly Burly Banks of Barbree-O (American)
17 The Bonnie Banks of Airdrie-O (Scots)

VOLUME 6 (Argo DA 71, ZDA 71)

Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight (Child 4)
1 May Colvin (Scots)
2 Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight (American)
3 The Outlandish Knight (English)
4 Billy Came Over the Main White Ocean (American)
5 The Willow Tree (American)
6 The Wife of KELSO (Scots)
7 Rich Old Lady (Ameriacn)
8 Johnny Sands (English)

The Douglas Tragedy (Earl Brand) (Child 7)
9 The Brave Earl Brand and the King of England’s Daughter
10 The Douglas Tragedy (Scots)
11 Earl Brand (American)
12 The Lady and the Dragoon (American)

The Maid Freed From the Gallows (Child 95)
13 Prickle Holly Bush (English)
14 Hangman (American)

VOLUME 7 (Argo DA 72, ZDA 72)

Clerk Colville (Child 42) and Lady Alice (Child 85)
1 George Collins (English)
2 Young Collins (American)
3 Clerk Colven (Scots)
4 Giles Collins (American)
5 The Dying Hobo (American)

Willie O’Winsbury (Child 100)
6 Lord Thomas of Winsberrie (Scots)
7 John Barbour (Canadian)

The Three Ravens (Child 26)
8 The Three Ravens (English)
9 The Three Ravens (English)
10 The Twa Corbies (Scots)
11 The Crow Song (American)
12 The Three Crows (American)
13 The Three Ravens (American)
14 Poor Old Crow (American)
15 Blow the Man Down (Canadian)

Sir Patrick Spens (Child 58)
16 Sir Patrick Spens (Scots)
17 SIr Patrick Spens (American)

VOLUME 8 (Argo DA 73, ZDA 73)

Young Beichan (Child 53)
1 Young Beichan (Scots)
2 Lord Bateman (American)
3 Turkish Rover (Canadian)

The Cherry Tree Carol (Child 54)
4 The Cherry Tree Carol (English)
5 Sweet Mary and Sweet Joseph (American)
6 Joseph and Mary (American)

Lizie Wan (Child 51) and Edward (Child 13)
7 Lucy Wan (English)
8 Fair Lucy (American)
9 What Brought the Blood Upon Your Right Shoulder, Dear? (Irish)
10 Edward (American)

The Frog’s Courtship
11 The Puddy in the Well (Scots)
12 Froggie Went A-Courting (American)
13 King Kong Kitcnie (American)
14 There Was An Old Frog


VOLUME 9 (Argo DA 74, ZDA 74)

The Fause Knight Upon The Road (Child 3)
1 The Faise Knight and the Wee Boy (Scots)
2 The False Knight Upon the Road (Scots)
3 The False Fidee (American)
4 Faise Knight Upon the Road (Canadian)

The Braes of Yarrow (Child 214) and Rare Willie Drowned in Yarrow or The Waters of Gamrie (Child 215)
5 The Dowie Dens of Yarrow (Scots)
6 The Dewy Dewy Dens of Yarrow (American)
7 Yarrow (American)
8 Willie’s Fair and Willie’s Rare
9 The Braes of Yarrow (American)

The Wife Wrapt in Wether’s Skin (Child 227)
10 The Wife in the Wether’s Skin (Scots)
11 The Daughter of Peggy (English)
12 Gentle Fair Jenny (American)
13 Rissilty Rossilty (American)

The Death of Queen Jane (Child 170)
14 Queen Jane (American)
15 The Death of Queen Jane (English)
16 Jane Was a Neighbor (American)
17 Queen Jean (Scots)
18 Poor Sally (American)
19 Six Lords Went A-Hunting (English)

VOLUME 10 (Argo DA 75, ZDA 75)
The Trooper and The Maid (Child 299)
1 The Trooper and the Maid (Scots)
2 A Soldier Travelling from the North (American)
3 Trooper and the Maid (American)

Betsy
4 Betsy (English)
5 The Brewer’s Daughter (American)

The Keach and The Creel (Child 281)
6 The Keach and the Creel (Scots)
7 The Little Scotch Girl

Lord Thomas and Fair Annet (Child 73) and Fair Margaret and Sweet William (Child 74)
8 Lord Thomas and Fair Annie (Scots)
9 Little Margaret (American)
10 Sweet William and Fair Annie (Scots)
11 Lady Margaret (American)

The Lowlands of Holland (Child 92 Appendix)
12 Lowlands of Holland (English)
13 The Lowlands of Holland (Scots)
14 The Lowlands of Holland (American)

*This is still possibly a work in progress. Kindly comment here if you happen across any skips, repeats or other such playback & editing flaws. The original LPs come with copious notes that I intend to scan and make available here, in time. Will post an update when that's done.

20 comments:

øשlqæda said...

the long harvest finally bears its fruit! craze epic post. will be back for the bushels once i make room for this boat in my garage. guess owl delete some rawk n rawl. thx ghost!

Holly said...

OMG. Will be back for these. I'm in awe. Wow. Speechless!!!! Wow.

nicholab said...

Hope you folks enjoy it. FYI, I plan to follow-up to this post with a 1-disc Long Harvest favorites comp, heavy on the Seeger. Something for the more casual listener, as it were. I believe that it could turn become something worth licensing for a limited vinyl repress. "Peggy Seeger- The Child Ballads", perhaps.

Anonymous said...

nice blog. agree with you about preferring the peggy seeger versions. i find it difficult to take maccoll's mimicry of singing styles and accents too seriously.

mat k said...

Thankyou so much for making these very beautiful works available to all. I actually like Maccoll's vocal mimicry - it is difficult to see how the project (both these recordings and more generally) could have been done otherwise - and in this day and age surely we're all a bit too sophisticated to worry overmuch about 'authenticity', even if it was an ideology promoted (but not practised) by comrade Ewan himself. He was, despite himself, no inconsiderable artist... so too is Peggy of course...

Anonymous said...

mat k. you're right about the project and that the good comrade was no inconsiderable artist with a very good voice, but he still makes me laugh.

nicholab said...

My one-disc follow-up to this:
http://ghostcapital.blogspot.com/2010/07/peggy-seeger-american-child-ballads.html

Anonymous said...

Thank you! Very enlightening!

Anonymous said...

First, let me say you have an incredible blog - one of the best on the net. And I know and love all music. I spent over thirty years as a journeyman musician playing with some of the best in the business.
And now a request - would it be at all possible to re-up Volume 1 of the "Long Harvest" set - it's no longer on Mediafire. Thanks in advance... The Bluesman

Joe said...

I'll second the call for a re-up of Volume One.

Also, don't worry about scanning the notes -- they've been typed up and posted here:

http://71.174.62.16/Demo/Ballads

Your one disc compilation is great, but I actually enjoy hearing several versions of the same ballad. Now if only I could hear "The Two Sisters" ...

nicholab said...

Ok folks- just reupped
Vol. 1. Apologies for the long delay. Enjoy!

Anonymous said...

I bought Vols 1 and 2 in 1970 and gave up trying to find the rest of the collection. The record shops in Belfast hadn't a clue.
So, I thank and salute you for your generous gesture!

Kathleen said...

i've been dreaming about this for so long!

gilhodges said...

Some recent research on the ballad "Billy Boy" led me back to this amazing post. I snagged all the music when first posted, but I'm still overwhelmed by this glorious offering. Ghostcapital is a blessing.

{Interestingly, the track "Billy Boy" is missing from the typographical presentation of Volume 1. It should be track #15. The audio file is included—only the title info is missing above.}

I was so gobsmacked when I first encountered this, I forgot to thank you. THANK YOU.

be_slayed said...

Multiupload is offline now (for a while it seems); so Vol. 1 is unavailable now. Could someone reup somewhere?

Anonymous said...

Great set - thanks for posting this.

Unfortunately the 1st volume doesn't download- could you be so kind as to re-upload it?

Thanks!

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry to say these don't download any more. I'd still like to hear them if possible. Thanks.

Dennis said...

A truly gobsmacking post - for which I thank you! As only a sometime folk fan I haven't come across this collection before, but I look forward to much pleasant listening!

MOB said...

No words... no words... they should have sent a poet. Dear God, so good. Thanks for this, a thousand times over.

Jorgon Gorgon said...

Wow! Amazingly. Incredibly. Awesome. (Add a superlative of your choice. Thank you!!!