Two Bold Singermen and the English Folk Revival is the first book to
explore in depth the lives and song traditions of two of the most
influential English traditional singers: Sam Larner and Harry Cox.
Larner and Cox were born in late nineteenth-century Norfolk, within six
years and fifteen miles of each other. Both men grew up in large
working-class families, started work before their teens, spent their
working lives in hard manual labour - Larner as a trawlerman, Cox as a
farm labourer - and lived into their eighties. Both men were singers
from an early age, amassed large repertoires of songs that are now
established in the traditional canon, and became key figures in the
"folk revival" of the 1950s and 1960s. They directly influenced
performers such as Martin Carthy, Shirley Collins, Peggy Seeger, Young
Tradition, and Steeleye Span, while indirectly influencing Paul Simon
and Bob Dylan. Their impact extends to the current generation of
performers and composers in the folk, Americana, and singer/songwriter
fields, as well as to Hollywood.
Using extensive primary evidence - including recorded interviews with
both men - this book provides the first detailed biographies of these
great singers, placing their singing and repertoires within the social
and cultural contexts in which they lived. It will appeal equally to
lovers of traditional song, to social history enthusiasts, and to any
reader keen to know more of the fascinating lives of two outstanding
singers whose influence continues to this day.
