"She Moved Through The Fair" Instrumental

Original instrumental arrangement of the traditional folk song "She Moved Through The Fair". Dropped D tuning. Influenced in part by Davy Graham's version, and although it's nothing like his version, his gave me the idea to do an instrumental arrangement.

"The First Time That Ever I Saw Your Face"

Instrumental version of the famous Ewan Maccoll tune, father of the English folk revival, during the 1960's. The song was adapted by Bert Jansch. My guitar is tuned to DADGAD. Played on a nylon string acoustic for a softer feel and sound. While Bert's reinterpretation strays from the original tune, it's a fitting tribute. My version is more or less a copy of Bert's.

"Danny" by Anthony Monaghan

Tune I wrote for my son. Influenced by John Fahey, Bert Jansch, Nick Drake etc...

"Springtime Birdsong"

A tune I wrote to celebrate the springtime birdsong, though it was recorded in autumn...

a conference of birds

A tune i wrote influenced by John Fahey and other country blues musicians. Open tuning G. Bit scratchy but close enough...

More Music...

"Chelsea Girl" – Nico

"Chelsea Girl" released in 1967

Angi by Davy Graham

This tune by Davy Graham is considered the well spring for all other 'folk blues' tunes that came after it. Every guitar player who ever wandered down the road of finger picking, folk guitar has mastered his own version.
Bert Jansch famously recorded it after Davy Graham's version, twisting it and turning it into his own tune. Paul Simon was so taken by the tune that he not only recorded it himself, but borrowed the majority of the tune's structure and turned it into "We've got a groovy thing going Baby" for Simon and Garfunkel. And now my attempt. I'm more or less influenced by both Davy and Bert's versions, taking elements of both to turn out my own version of this classic, ageless tune.
The film I made to accompany it is largely culled from the Peter Whitehead film, "Tonight let's all make love in London". I've chopped it up a bit and added some of my own footage. I want to convey the feeling of urban movement that the song conjures up. Buildings, bridges, traffic and human traffic. A city at night, a city on the move, people going places, anonymity in the crowd. The heartbeat of a city.

Davy Graham

Judy. By John Renbourn

Fairport Covention Maidstone 1970...

At last the whole concert has been uploaded to YouTube, all be it in frustrating 4min segments?!! Brilliant musicianship and songwriting from the strongest Fairport line up post Sandy Denny. Once Sandy had gone, you really had to think of them as a different band. The dynamics changed considerably with the mercurial Dave Swarbrick stepping into the fore to almost become the band leader. The material changed too once Sandy had left to join Fotheringay. The band started to delve more and more into the traditional folk song genre which had started with the classic "Liege and Leaf" album. The highlight for me is the live 9min version of "Now Be Thankful". The rest as they say is musical history. What puzzles me is all the hype around Bumford and Sons, or whatever they're called. It's been sitting ready to be listened to in the shape of Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span and all for the past 40 years!!

"Now be Thankful" Maidstone 1970

Blackwaterside

Taught to Bert Jansch by Anne Briggs, who wrote the original song, but the tune was probably influenced by a traditional English folk tune, stolen by Jimmy page and presented to the world on Led Zeppelin's 1st album as Black Mountainside complete with sitar and finally to me by way of Bert Jansch's version. Drop 'D' tuning, capo 2nd fret.