Since the closure of fRoots in 2019, its loss as a central place to find out what’s going on at a national and wider level has been felt keenly. The regional folk press too has been in a parlous state, not helped by Covid and attendent lockdowns, the rise of the internet, those smaller magazines that keep body and soul together, face dificult times, numbers growing less. As one of the finest and longest survivors Tykes Stirrings prepares to publish its final issue in early 2025, Simon Jones pins down its long time editor Nigel Schofield to find out about his remarkable career in writing, broadcasting, recording, publishing and his opinions on what’s to come for roots and folk music in general.

First a bit of context setting. Nigel Schofield is one of those individuals who readily admits for him all his dreams came true. He’s been a journalist, writer, broadcaster, reasearcher, archeologist and collector in all areas of folk music for nigh on 60 years. He’s seen the fortunes of the music wax and wane yet always remains hopeful that each generation will rediscover and acknowledge its melodic heritage in new, creative and meaningful ways. He’s added to that legacy in many forms, through biographies, interviews, reviews, radio sessions/programmes, reissue series and box sets as well as editing one of the north’s most enduring folk magazines which proudly displays the pioneering spirit that defines its electic content. Sadly time and cost has caught up with Tykes Stirrings and its curtain call is near. So what better time to reverse the process and enquire of its editor his story and experiences which have shaped the thoughtful, considered wordsmith he has become.

What was your upbringing like, was there a musical streak running through the family?

“My father played trumpet and had played in local jazz bands. As non-comformist Methodists there was a strong tradition of communal singing. And of course at school the BBC encouraged us to sing together.”

What did the young Master Schofield encounter melodically growing up?

“Jazz on 78s. Rock’n’roll at the youth club (which my parents ran). Then in 1963, The Beatles, Dylan and folk music proper.”

Your first ever concert please?

“Easy: Buddy Holly and The Crickets – Bradford Gaumont, March 9, 1958. I was 7, and had an uncle who liked rock’n’roll.”

When and where does folk music fit into your story?

“Aside from singing folk without realising it along with BBC schools programmes, it was the result of spotting the name Martin Carthy on the back of ‘Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan.’ I then saw that Martin was appearing at the Topic Folk Club in Bradford. The piece was in the Telegraph and Argus and was advance news – Martin was due to appear on November 20 and there was advice to attend the club earlier in order to book a ticket. I went along, I was sneaked in despite being well under age. That’s when I first met someone who become a good friend twenty years on, John Pashley: he told me (not for the last time) about Martin’s previous appearance there on July 20, 1962. He appeared with Lou Killen and the two travelled up from London by scooter; the journey took nine hours.”

What was it about the music which attracted you?

“Its honesty, its history and the fact that while The Beatles were wanting to hold your hand, Martin Carthy was celebrating the Bonny Black Hare! Say no more…”

Have you always been one of those people who likes to find things out in more detail, finds the background as interesting as the music?

“A fatal illness when I was 5 meant my unexpected recovery left me physically not very able, and fragile. My love of learning and writing began with that. Other kids had football and playgrounds; I had books and music.”

Where did the writing come from?

“At junior school, where I had separate lessons while others were involved in sport and swimming, I had individual lessons (an after effect of memory-erasing encephalitis). My teacher noticed I had “a love of and gift for” words and encouraged me to write. Over the years, my areas of writing expanded – school magazine; University magazines; my first collection of poetry and so on.”

Who/what was your first article about, where and when?

“First published article – Dave Pegg interviewed prior to a Full House gig at Oxford Town Hall, November 9, 1970.”

This must have been the time where folk music was everywhere from the music weeklies, on TV, all radio stations and even in small run magazines produced in local areas. What are your special reflections on this ‘golden’ period?

“It was a voyage of discovery. I always preferred Ready Steady Go to Top of the Pops (the adventurous approach of the commercial channel as opposed to the staid, quantifiable versions of the pop charts) and The Old Grey Whistle Test became essential viewing. I read Fabulous and then Rave magazine came along providing more depth. At the end of the sixties there were underground magazines, the early fanzines, Rolling Stone and the wonderful Zig Zag.We had a choice of weekly newspapers. I preferred Melody Maker, but bought the others if they had a feature that appealed to me. Karl Dallas’ weekly folk column in MM was a huge influence, a hand-written signpost to all kinds of missed musical side roads.

There was little serious writing about pop or rock in book form, but folk was well covered – from the many anthologies of folk songs (I still own my original 60s copies of The Child Ballads and the Penguin Book of English Folk Songs.) to serious studies (Folksong in England, A Song for every Season, Flora Thompson. Folk was, of course, uncool – but the emergence of folk-baroque, Pentangle’s folk-jazz and of course Fairport and folk-rock suddenly, for the first time in my life, made me the cool kid because I already knew about the music. Similarly, my love of pop / rock led to my exploring the genres of music that helped create it. I already knew of skiffle, rock’n’roll and jazz, but added to that an awareness of and ultimately love of country, American folk, doo-wop, gospel and most of all blues. I loved the the way ultimately everything looped back to folk music – forming “the Everlasting Circle”. I became fascinated with the song ‘Young Man Cut Down His Prime’ and the way it mutated – ‘Streets Of Laredo,’ ‘House Of The Rising Sun.’ ‘The Gypsy Rover’ already in my DNA from endless plays by Uncle Mac on the BBC; ‘Black Jack Davy,’ known through folk performances long before The Incredible String Band (another favourite act) recorded it.  I remember the first time I stumbled on Taj Mahal’s reggae recording of ‘Black Jack Davy’ – an old English folk song, performed by a blues singer playing a country version with full band.”

Any particular albums from this era which hold a special place in your memory/ are indispensable?

“There are of course, the obvious – most people would include the likes of ‘Sgt Pepper’ (I was friends with the manager of the local record shop who sold me my copy the day before release: I walked through Bradford proudly with it out of the bag. I still own that copy); ‘Beggars’ Banquet,’ ‘Songs of Leonard Cohen,’ most Dylan albums.”

Has the search for an endemic form of rock been successfully concluded in your eyes?

“It never can be. Rock, for all its pretensions, is an adjunct of pop. Both depend on an appeal to specific age groups. Every generation (though in truth the time blocks are less than a generation long) creates and discovers music that will enrage its parents and alienate its older siblings. As long as that process continues, we grow further by the year from the endemic form. If ever I am asked to name my favourite rock album, I say Stonehenge (though there are albums called that unfortunately.)”

You worked for a long time in radio, how did that come about?

“In the mid-seventies, Bradford was granted its own independent radio station- Pennine Radio. At the time, I was involved in organising a public poetry recital locally. I got in touch with the station (which was not yet on air) to ask whether I could have the event publicised. I was invited in for an interview (conducted by Liz Allen, who became a good friend and included a character based on me in her first novel). While there, I chatted about what else I did, which included a weekly evening class exploring modern culture. This led to an invitation to work freelance for the station: initially, I wrote scripts, planned playlists for special and off peak shows and produced a teatime feature called ‘The Hitline’ in which listeners voted for their favourite tracks by a featured artist.

At the time my daily schedule involved setting off to teach before 7.00 am, teaching to 4.00. bus to town for the drive time show between 5.00 and 7.00, eat mark and prep, work on the late show between 10.00 and 2.00. I was involved in other shows over the weekend.Eventually came the offer of working full time and becoming the station’s head of music. I remained in that position until the station was taken over.Obviously that gave you a greater opportunity to play and promote the music you loved.

I disliked the fact that all the ILR stations in England followed the Radio 1 model and played what was in the charts. I gradually developed an alternative way of creating the playlist, by personally collating local record sales (and discovering how reissued oldies were out-selling some records in the national top twenty), selecting non-hits that would sound good on the radio, featuring album tracks and giving airtime to releases by local acts. I also made it a policy that the station’s weekly hitpick was not an obvious choice (which would get played anyway.)  Music Week used to print the weekly top fifty as a pull out and display centre page (older people will remember seeing it behind the counter in record shops). At the top, it listed The station picks of Radio 1, Radio 2, Capitol, a Radio 1 DJ and a commercial radio station. Over time I noticed, Pennine, despite being a very small station, became first a regular in the last category and then a weekly inclusion. Eventually I asked the editor about this at some awards do and was told it was because our (my) choice was always off-beat and very often right. Folk music seldom fitted the playlist category, but I did single out ‘Daytrip to Bangor’  as an album track and playlist it when the record company took my suggestion to make it a single!”

I know you were very proud of all the live sessions and in concerts that you managed to arrange, any standouts?

“I need to rely on memories from over forty years ago. Sadly the tapes, which were stored in the record library, were erased and recycled within the week of my departure. For example, I had forgotten, until he reminded me, that the poet who recorded a session with a local guitar picker was Peter Robinson, though I remembered the guitarist being Mark Knopfler. There was a session with two very young guitarists which was interrupted by the arrival of a guest from earlier in the day whose gig had been cancelled and wanted an announcement on air: he asked if I’d like to go for something to eat; I explained I was mid-session and he asked if they could use a drummer on any tracks – which is how a couple of unknown players ended up jamming with Ginger Baker!

Less bizarre were sessions with Magna Carta and Chris Simpson creating solo demos during a time when the group was in limbo, informal sessions with Ralph McTell, Harry Chapin, Roger McGuinn and Billy Connolly (the last stetching to over an hour and continuing after the tape ran out), Peter Bellamy who eventually released the recordings as an album, the Mandy Morton Band recording folk-rock improvisations of carols when I asked for something for the Christmas show (expecting a verbal greetings message). On one occasion, Pete rang up to arrange a session that was not a Bellamy session, but  a group he was part of: this turned out to be the mighty Sharon and The Students (members of the Bacca Pipes wall of sound) – nervewracking, amazing and my most memorable session (and one from which I still have the master tape!)”

Tell us about how all that came to be lost… I assume they’re lost or do you still have some copies squirrelled away?

“They occupied the top shelf of the record library, my domain and office, dozens of ten inch reels. The station merged with two other Yorkshire stations. The day before I was due to go on holiday, we were told we would be informed that afternoon about redundancies. I was summoned to the boss’s office, who, with regret, told me I was being given notice. I decided to make the show that evening my last (though I could have done a couple more weeks on my return from holiday). I went downstairs where everyone assumed I was the bearer of bad news…”Who is it?” “Me – just me”. Faces combined relief and shock! When I returned after two weeks in Spain, the library had been purged to accommodate the new network music policy – gone was the archive of old station hitpicks, racks of non-mainstream albums and, as revealed by the empty top shelf, all my sessions.

What survived – copies made for individuals – recordings by Tim Moon and Chris Simpson who have signed them out to have them transferred for possible release – a few off air recordings that emerged over the years – a couple of tracks that had appeared on albums (such as the second Bernie Parry LP and the first album by a very famous Irish folk group) – the Sharon and the Students tape, because I had played a track from it on my final through the night show and taken the tape home with me.”

You’ve amassed a superb collection of music, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a collection as thorough and well cared for, how often do you play material from it?

“Every day…though more often from replacement CDs than the original vinyl. The collection has depleted – one reaches an age when it seems suitable to pass certain things on to the next generation. However, the first cull came when Christine and I were sitting in the music room and wondered how long it would take to list to the albums I had amassed (forget singles and tapes, they were in another room). Setting (as one does) certain rules and parameters (no duplication of tracks, no spoken word albums, no massive classical works – Mahler, ‘The Ring Cycle,’ the Mozart symphonies), we calculated that if we began listening at midnight on January 1, had my usual four hours sleep a night, played music while cooking, eating and doing household chores, and did nothing but play music, I would eventually have heard everything towards the end of October, the following year. Clearly I had too much vinyl!”

Vinyl, cassette, CD, download, other format. As a collector which do you prefer/why?

“No simple answer. CD for convenience. Proper records should still be vinyl – or pre-1958 shellac. Cassettes often contain things that don’t exist anywhere else. Reel to reel has long since ceased to be practical. I do still have a collection of 8 tracks and what may be the only eight track cartridge recorder you are ever likely to see.  As a collector, unless it is a physical object, it isn’t really a record!”

You have maintained a firm friendship with one band in particular band over years. How did that come about?

“You’re referring to Fairport, of course. I first saw them in Bradford on February 6,1969. I bought ‘What We Did On Our Holidays’ the next day. And everything since until I reached the happy position of getting records free. I first interviewed Dave Pegg in 1970, and most members and ex-members of the band for different outlets through the seventies. In 1979, the radio station received a standard letter from Dave Pegg asking us to plug their farewell tour and gig in their home village of Cropredy (Where?!) He was surprised when I got in touch, not just because it was me, but because so few others did. A bond grew from that…get togethers at Cropredy, interviews for radio and later the press (I remember once Peggy accused me of stopping coming to Cropredy: I hadn’t, I just felt as I no longer worked in media, I was no longer entitled to a press ticket and so had bought my ticket like a normal person. I was told off and instructed always to ask!). Then came bits of writing for the band – sleeve notes, a commissioned text-poster, reviews. Then the first Fairport box set…six Fairport-related sets…three books…and an unexpected appointment as their “official historian”. In my head, though, I am still the young man in the twenty-second row who can’t believe his good fortune!”

 Nigel (first left) with some band or other you might recognise. Meet on the ledge… err…car park! 

You started becoming involved with box sets, that must take a lot of time, patience and an expert knowledge. How’d you find the process?

“It brought together all the things I enjoy doing…music, interviews, writing, sharing knowledge, research, delving into the obscure. Naturally I enjoyed it. The time was no more than anyone devotes to a serious hobby (Heavens I could have been railway modelling or following a football team!) I remember being told by a senior executive at a major record company that I had reinvented the box set and transformed people’s expectations. Phew! ”

That led to books, were you daunted by any of those you took on? If you’re doing a thorough job one thing you need is time, not something publishers are generous with, tell us the good and bad side of writing a history/biography.

“I’ve had few deadlined pressured writing jobs (TykesStirrings is the worst!). I always insist on working out what is required and doing proper timescale research before signing deals or setting targets. I never take on something that doesn’t interest me.

Bad experiences:-  A change in management at a large publisher, who dropped a book because it no longer fitted their new profile. On the upside, it had already been paid for with an advance! A publisher who changed their remit, demanded more scandal (which I refused) and then engaged an editor with seemingly no knowledge of the subject who restructured the whole thing, omitting some key elements and garbling others to the point where they were wrong. Having seen and challenged an initial edit, I was not consulted further and the book came out when I no longer had control of its content.”

Do you find it easy to write in a way you are comfy with or depending on the subject/subjects do you have to compromise?

“I never take on things I am not comfy with (even if, as above, I later encounter unease). Because I write for pleasure and not for financial gain (though it is a nice bonus) and I pick and choose.”

Tykes/Stirrings, has being the editor overall been a happy time?

“I first took it on (or rather had it thrust upon me) in the eighties. I was utterly out of my depth in those days of literal cut and paste and retyping manuscript and large sheet collation. My second stint I was asked to step in and was able to define what I could and couldn’t do: so it has been a pleasure and made all the more so by those who helped – writers, contributors, interviewees, proof readers (thank heavens for an amazing team notably Mal Jardine and Jennie Ellison) and most of all, Jim Ellison who not only designs the magazine but also fields a lot of the pragmatic issues with which I do not wish to be involved: the magazine would not exist without him.”

Any regrets over the coming the final issue?

“It was a realistic decision. I am sad to see it go after 62 years and will miss it (I bought my first copy in 1964!). As so many publications have discovered, the world has changed and one has to accept facts or endlessly cry like the Black Knight, “Tis but a scratch”.”

What do you feel lies ahead/hope for folk music and its place in the musical mainstream from 2024 onwards?

“Endless revivals, reinventions, new names for old things, discoveries by people whose prior ignorance means they an unaware of unoriginality (and think a sea shanty is an exciting new thing!). Pop crossovers, fascinating film and TV soundtracks. Books looking forward and backwards. Folk stars becoming music icons. Music icons “discovering” folk music.

But most, and most important, people getting together to sing and play and dance or to watch other sing and play and dance, continuing without pretension an unwitting tradition that had survived thousands of years because it is a part of human nature. There’ll always be someone discovering a forgotten song in a negelected old chest or a dusty old book. There’ll always be someone convinced Paul Simon wrote ‘Scarborough Fair.'” 

My Music Pulls Me Through…. Melodic Touchstones for Nigel. 

  High spot in Nigel’s musical picks – Fairport Convention, ‘Liege & Lief.’

1. “Fairport’s trilogy of 1969 albums…from my first time seeing them at the start of the year to something of an obsession by the time ‘Liege & Lief’ came out. This was MY music.
2.  A Music for Pleasure compilation called ‘Kings of Swing’ – a collection of small combo jazz groups with the likes of Benny Goodman, Gene Krupa, Bud Freeman, Joe Venuti, which allowed me to discover for myself what my jazz-playing dad saw in the music.
3. ‘5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion’ because it was the album that got me into The Incredible String Band
4. ‘Frost and Fire,’ ‘The Power Of The True Love Knot,’ ‘But Two Came By’, ‘So Cheerfully Round’ – more than any other these were the albums that got me deeper into folk and sent me in search of the recordings that were there source material
5. ‘Fifth Album’ by Judy Collins, which led me into discovering Dylan’s contemporary singer songwriters and still contains my favourite songs by her (aside from ‘My Father.’)”