Bright Phoebus

Preface

Between 1965 and 1968 The Watersons, a four-piece family vocal group from Yorkshire, had made a name for themselves as an influential force in the British folk revival, singing old traditional folk songs and releasing their debut album Frost and Fire: A Calendar of Ritual and Magical Songs in 1965 to good critical acclaim. The album was curated by A. L. Lloyd, produced by Bill Leader and became awarded as „Melody Maker Album of the Year“. As several years of folk club touring took a toll on the musicians, the group members decided to take up regular jobs in 1968. Mike Waterson subsequently worked as a painter, Norma Waterson as a disc jockey on the Caribbean BOT island Montserrat, while Lal Waterson became a mother of two children and lived “with her extended family in a folk commune on the Yorkshire Moors“.

The realisation of Bright Phoebus was propelled by Martin Carthy's fondness of Lal Waterson's songs, which he happened to overhear in 1971 in the early stages of his relationship with Lal Waterson's sister Norma. Consequently, Lal Waterson demoed a couple of her songs the very same year. Mike Waterson too contributed some of his songs to these preliminary sessions. Of this repertoire, versions of Lal's Never The Same, To Make You Stay and Red Wine And Promises, Mike's Shady Lady and their collaboration The Scarecrow survived as demo recordings. Most of them are performed solo by Lal Waterson on vocals and acoustic guitar, with occasional vocal harmonies or guitar parts by Mike Waterson. These recordings, plus other previously unissued songs of Lal's, were released on the CD/book combination Teach Me To Be A Summer's Morning in 2013 which illustrates both Lal Waterson's graphic, lyrical and musical art.

The 1998 Lal Waterson obituary in The Daily Telegraph claims that Lal Waterson's Bright Phoebus songs had previously been conceived as poems which were only set to music later. Both Mike and Lal Waterson's songs seem to have arisen from everyday life; for instance, allegedly, the song Bright Phoebus occurred to Mike Waterson while standing on his ladder painting.

Recording

The definitive album sessions took place in May 1972, once again under the direction of producer and folk Bill Leader. The recording process took one week and was characterised by guitarist Martin Carthy as “loose and very anarchic, but with an iron discipline running through the whole thing“. For instance, a postman - who might be Graham Gordon, who is credited in the liner notes - happened to deliver a package during the recording of Magical Man and was invited to join in with the chorus.

The huge number of nineteen contributing musicians is reminiscent of Shirley Collins and the Albion Country Band's 1971 No Roses record, which was recorded by a total of twenty-six musicians; both albums featured Ashley Hutchings.

Material and reception

Seven of twelve songs are accompanied by acoustic guitars and occasional embellishments on cello, oboe and bass guitar; most of these songs feature intricate dual acoustic guitar arrangements by ex-Fairport Convention guitarist Richard Thompson and ex-Steeleye Span guitarist Martin Carthy. The remaining five songs are carried by the rhythm section of Ashley Hutchings' Morris On band, consisting of Ashley Hutchings on electric bass guitar, Richard Thompson on electric guitar and Dave Mattacks on drums. All three had previously played with Fairport Convention on their seminal Liege and Lief record in 1969, and released the Morris dance revival record Morris On in June 1972, some weeks ahead of the Bright Phoebus sessions.

Critical reception of Bright Phoebus at that time was sparse and often negative. Technical and financial issues on the side of the record label resulted in a small edition of only 1000 functioning LP copies. Reactions by the folk scene ranged from astonishment to relative dismissal (for instance by Ewan MacColl), especially given that the Waterson family was known for 'authentic' delivery of traditional folk songs rather than for contemporary, sometimes pop-inspired songwriting. Positive response came from fellow folk revival musicians such as Anne Briggs and June Tabor.

Contemporary reviews tend to praise the album. Among the catchphrases attributed to Bright Phoebus are descriptions such as "folk music's Sgt. Pepper", alluding to the eclectic nature of both albums.

In the 1998 Guardian obituary of Lal Waterson Colin Irwin analyses that at the time of release “Lal's complex, brooding tales particularly confused the diehards“. He characterises her songs as “exceptionally durable“, highlights The Scarecrow as a stand-out track and compares the imagery of this song with the works of Swedish film director Ingmar Bergman. Other authors describe The Scarecrow as "an achingly haunting ballad" with implications of child sacrifice, “laced with pagan horror“. In his September 1998 The Independent obituary for Lal Waterson Karl Dallas too stresses the remarkability of The Scarecrow; additionally, he notices the “devastating picture of industrial poverty in Never The Same“ as well as the “drunken reminiscence of Red Wine and Promises“.

In his 2011 book Electric Eden, Rob Young describes Bright Phoebus as “a curious response to the new directions in folk-rock that were taking place at the time“. Young compares the album's alternating “shades and sunny intervals“ with the unpredictability of English weather – a balancing act resolved by the “triumphant sun“ of the title track, which refers to phoebus - a different name of the ancient Greek solar god Apollo. On the musical side he finds elements of chamber music (The Scarecrow, Winifer Odd), musique concrète (Rubber Band) and country rock (The Magical Man) in the songs on the album.

The AllMusic review by James Christopher Monger commends the accompanying ensemble for its song-serving and of-a-piece playing; he describes the title track as "a pagan campfire singalong that manages to both intrigue and inspire while simultaneously ripping your heart out for no apparent reason", a sentiment which according to Monger applies to the whole album.

Release history

Apart from a very basic, limited CD reissue in 1985 and CD-R reissue of dubious legal status in 2000, the album has never received a proper re-release despite considerable interest of both the Watersons and folk music listeners to see the album reissued. One reason for this are complex copyright issues as well as unavailability of the master tapes.

The original Trailer Records LP is a much sought-after rarity which is sold at high prices.

Four of the original twelve Bright Phoebus recordings appear on the following three compilation CDs: Magical Man on the 1996 Castle Music triple CD New Electric Muse: The Story of Folk into Rock; Never The Same and To Make You Stay on the 2005 Honest Jon's CD Never The Same – Leave-Taking from the British Folk Revival 1970-1977; and Rubber Band on the 2006 Castle Music double CD The Fairport Companion – Loose Chippings from the Fairport Convention Family Tree.

In 2002, various folk musicians re-interpreted the Bright Phoebus songs, plus other material from Lal and Mike Waterson's backlog, and released these recordings on Topic Records as Shining Bright – The Songs of Lal & Mike Waterson.

Track listing

Credits are specified in 2-3 rows for better overview: vocalists - rhythm section - additional instruments (where applicable). Composing credits appear in small font.

Side A:

1. Rubber Band (2:57), Mike Waterson
2. Mike Waterson – lead and chorus vocals; Martin Carthy (uncredited), Lal Waterson, Norma Waterson, Tim Hart, Maddy Prior – chorus vocals
3. Richard Thompson – electric guitar; Ashley Hutchings – bass guitar; Dave Mattacks – drums; Tim Hart – tambourine
4. Sammy Rimmington – clarinet; Dennis Field – cornet; Keith Nicholls – trombone; Richard Gold – rubber band; Bill Leader – jew's harp
5. The Scarecrow (3:49), Lal & Mike Waterson
6. Mike Waterson – vocals
7. Richard Thompson – acoustic guitar (left channel); Martin Carthy – acoustic guitar (right channel)
8. Fine Horseman (3:31), Lal Waterson
9. Lal Waterson – vocals
10. Richard Thompson – acoustic guitar (left channel); Martin Carthy – acoustic guitar (right channel)
11. Sue Harris – oboe; Clare Deniz - cello
12. Winifer Odd (2:43), Lal Waterson
13. Lal Waterson – vocals
14. Richard Thompson – acoustic guitar (left channel); Martin Carthy – acoustic guitar (right channel)
15. Danny Rose (2:42), Mike Waterson
16. Mike Waterson – vocals
17. Richard Thompson – electric guitar; Martin Carthy – acoustic guitar; Ashley Hutchings – bass guitar; Dave Mattacks – drums
18. Child Among The Weeds (3:40), Lal Waterson, Chris Collins
19. Lal Waterson – vocals; Bob Davenport – vocals (bridge)
20. Richard Thompson – acoustic guitar (left channel); Martin Carthy – acoustic guitar (right channel)

Side B:

1. Magical Man (2:47), Lal & Mike Waterson, Chris Collins
2. Mike Waterson – lead and chorus vocals; Lal Waterson, Norma Waterson, Tim Hart, Maddy Prior, Martin Carthy, Bernie Vickers, Graham Gordon – chorus vocals
3. Richard Thompson – electric guitar; Martin Carthy – acoustic guitar; Ashley Hutchings – bass guitar; Dave Mattacks – drums
4. Never The Same (2:55), Lal Waterson
5. Lal Waterson – vocals
6. Richard Thompson – acoustic guitar (left channel); Martin Carthy – acoustic guitar (right channel)
7. Clare Deniz – cello
8. To Make You Stay (2:12), Lal Waterson
9. Lal Waterson – vocals
10. Richard Thompson – acoustic guitar (left channel); Martin Carthy – acoustic guitar (right channel); Ashley Hutchings – bass guitar
11. Shady Lady (3:18), Mike Waterson
12. Mike Waterson, Lal Waterson, Norma Waterson, Tim Hart, Maddy Prior, Martin Carthy – chorus vocals
13. Richard Thompson – electric guitar; Martin Carthy – acoustic guitar; Ashley Hutchings – bass guitar; Dave Mattacks – drums
14. Red Wine & Promises (3:04), Lal Waterson
15. Norma Waterson – vocals
16. Martin Carthy – acoustic guitar
17. Bright Phoebus (2:54), Mike Waterson
18. Mike Waterson – lead and chorus vocals; Lal Waterson – lead and chorus vocals; Norma Waterson, Tim Hart, Maddy Prior, Martin Carthy – chorus vocals
19. Richard Thompson – electric guitar; Mike Waterson – acoustic guitar; Martin Carthy – acoustic guitar; Ashley Hutchings – bass guitar; Dave Mattacks – drums

Promotion

Rubber Band was released as a single on Transatlantic Records with Red Wine And Promises on the b-side.

In his September 1998 The Independent obituary for Lal Waterson Karl Dallas claims that a Top Of The Pops performance of Rubber Band was in discussion, but ultimately called off.

Trivia

Martin Carthy and Norma Waterson, who perform Red Wine & Promises together on Bright Phoebus, became engaged to one another during the recording sessions.

The album sessions effectively reunited most of the 1970-71 Mk 2 line-up of Steeleye Span (Carthy/Hutchings/Prior/Hart, minus Peter Knight), just a few months after Ashley Hutchings and Martin Carthy had left the group in November–December 1971 due to dissatisfaction with the management and the musical direction of the band.

The recording of Bright Phoebus coincided with the formation of Ashley Hutchings' Albion Country Band in April 1972, which had its debut live performance on June 9, 1972.

Interpretations by other artists (selection)

Rubber Band: performed live by Fairport Convention during their 1979 tour (first released in 1980 as a single with The Bonny Black Hare on the b-side)

The Scarecrow: June Tabor (on Abyssinians, 1983), Dick Gaughan (on Shining Bright: The Songs of Lal & Mike Waterson, 2002)

Fine Horseman: Anne Briggs (on The Time Has Come, 1971), Promise and the Monster (Swedish folk group, on Feed the Fire, 2016)

Danny Rose: Billy Bragg & The Blokes (on Shining Bright: The Songs of Lal & Mike Waterson, 2002)