But Two Came By [CD]

"Ship in distress" is a song that begins this fourth album from Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick. The song concerns the story of a crew of a ship that is out of food for days. The crew draw lots to see who shall serve as food for the rest of the crew. It is the frightening story of the one member of the crew that is chosen. I will not spoil the ending of the story here. But it is one of eleven interesting traditional English folk songs on this wonderful album. The album was recorded in 1968.
The other songs here, make an excellent programme. "The white hare" and "Creeping Jane" are songs collected by Percy Grainger the composer. The first is about the killing of an elusive hare and the last one is about a race horse.
Also on this album there is the well known English song "Lord Lankin". This is a song about a leper. Also the song "The banks of sweet primroses", another excellent choice of songs for this album. It is one of the most likeable English songs. These are not the only well known folk songs here, there is also the song "Lord of the dance". And there is one irish song that was popular in England and Scotland. "Matt Hyland". There is an Australian folk song here too. "Street of Forbes" originates from Australia. It tells an Australian story about Ben Hall a notorious bushranger who is driven out of his home and takes to the bush with two partners in crime. They were eventually caught by the Police and shot. His body was dragged through the streets of Forbes to show he was dead. The song was originally known as "The death of Ben Hall". The song has passed through to English speaking countries and this version was collected in Great Britain and is slightly different from the original version.

All of the other songs are English Traditional. Some of the songs are about harsh times but they have interesting lyrics and great melodies.
This is a fantastic album.

The partnership of Carthy and Swarbrick goes from strength to strength as these albums progress and this album is a great folk recording.

It seems to me that this album has a lot of thought in it about what songs to include and how to interpret them. The style of the album is slightly different to the three previous albums which gives it uniqueness. It truly is a marvellous collection of English Traditional folk songs. There are some sleeve notes from Martin Carthy which help to bind the whole thing into a unique package.

The wide experience of Martin Carthy, even up to this point in 1968, shows up on this album in terms of both the wonderful guitar work and vocals, and also in style and originality. This lovely album came at a strong point during the folk revival of the 1950s and 1960s. It also paved the way for a very successful recording career.
Martin Carthy shows his ability to give prime importance to the words he is singing. His phrasing helps to push the lyrics forward to tell their traditional story. And this is never in conflict with the rhythm of the guitar. He has a unique ability to complement his own voice with his guitar.
He has become a champion of English traditional folk songs and this third album is a fantastic example of the richness and beauty in our musical heritage.
The performance is magical and professional. And the sound is clear and full bodied. And there is a wonderful simplicity in the over all sound that seems like a perfect way to interpret these songs.
We have the purity of the voice that delivers the words and on some tracks, to add colour we get this very interesting guitar playing as well.

Also of note is that this album also features the fiddle playing of Dave Swarbrick.
We now know that Swarbrick went on to become an important figure in the folk revival just as Carthy did. He performed as a duo with Carthy on many recordings and was a lead member of Fairport Convention. Here he share equal billing with Carthy and the fiddle playing is excellent.

"But two came by" is an important album in the history of recordings of English Traditional Folk music and is highly recommended.

"Ship in distress" is a song that begins this fourth album from Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick. The song concerns the story of a crew of a ship that is out of food for days. The crew draw lots to see who shall serve as food for the rest of the crew. It is the frightening story of the one member of the crew that is chosen. I will not spoil the ending of the story here. But it is one of eleven interesting traditional English folk songs on this wonderful album. The album was recorded in 1968.
The other songs here, make an excellent programme. "The white hare" and "Creeping Jane" are songs collected by Percy Grainger the composer. The first is about the killing of an elusive hare and the last one is about a race horse.
Also on this album there is the well known English song "Lord Lankin". This is a song about a leper. Also the song "The banks of sweet primroses", another excellent choice of songs for this album. It is one of the most likeable English songs. These are not the only well known folk songs here, there is also the song "Lord of the dance". And there is one irish song that was popular in England and Scotland. "Matt Hyland". All of the other songs are English Traditional. Some of the songs are about harsh times but they have interesting lyrics and great melodies.
This is a fantastic album.

The partnership of Carthy and Swarbrick goes from strength to strength as these albums progress and this album is a great folk recording.

It seems to me that this album has a lot of thought in it about what songs to include and how to interpret them. The style of the album is slightly different to the three previous albums which gives it uniqueness. It truly is a marvellous collection of English Traditional folk songs. There are some sleeve notes from Martin Carthy which help to bind the whole thing into a unique package.

The wide experience of Martin Carthy, even up to this point in 1968, shows up on this album in terms of both the wonderful guitar work and vocals, and also in style and originality. This lovely album came at a strong point during the folk revival of the 1950s and 1960s. It also paved the way for a very successful recording career.
Martin Carthy shows his ability to give prime importance to the words he is singing. His phrasing helps to push the lyrics forward to tell their traditional story. And this is never in conflict with the rhythm of the guitar. He has a unique ability to complement his own voice with his guitar.
He has become a champion of English traditional folk songs and this third album is a fantastic example of the richness and beauty in our musical heritage.
The performance is magical and professional. And the sound is clear and full bodied. And there is a wonderful simplicity in the over all sound that seems like a perfect way to interpret these songs.
We have the purity of the voice that delivers the words and on some tracks, to add colour we get this very interesting guitar playing as well.

Also of note is that this album also features the fiddle playing of Dave Swarbrick.
We now know that Swarbrick went on to become an important figure in the folk revival just as Carthy did. He performed as a duo with Carthy on many recordings and was a lead member of Fairport Convention. Here he share equal billing with Carthy and the fiddle playing is excellent.

"But two came by" is an important album in the history of recordings of English Traditional Folk music and is highly recommended.