Spiral Earth Remembers Barry Dransfield.
It is with much regret and sadness that we note the passing of Barry Dransfield. He was a musician with experience and talent who never really got the acclaim he was due and spent the last couple of decades very much under the radar. To those who know his music however or are fortunate enough to own an instrument he restored he remains respected and no doubt, missed.
He was born in Harrogate and learned much from the Irish community around in Yorkshire though his first group had inspiration from over the Atlantic, old time mountain music. It didn’t take long though for the teenager to switch his focus to British traditional material which in the late 1960s was under going a boom. Alongside his brother Robin he launched a successful, influential duo called – oddly enough- The Dransfields, They signed with Trailer records producing two albums that stand as classics of the time ‘Lord Of All I Behold’ (1970) and ‘Rout Of the Blues’ (1971.) It had taken only a few years to ascend the ladder of the folk scene to the highest rung and the brothers itched to do something else besides keep on going round the circuit.
For Barry that meant taking up a lucrative offer from Polydor who in the early 70s wanted a slice of rootsy action starting a label called Folk Mill on which his self named album appeared in 1972. The album showed his ecelectic taste and influence, as well as covering traditional songs, jigs and reels it also included material from folk outliers like Michael Hurley whose ‘Werewolf’ makes an unlikely opening track. At the time it was sold in the folk racks but was soon deleted and now commands a price between £300 – £500 depending on condition, though luckily there was a vinyl reissue for Record Store Day in 2020 which is a more sensible price.
Although primarily an acoustic musician 1972 saw him plug in and join Ashley Hutchings, Richard Thompson, Dave Mattacks and John Kirkpatrick on the ground breaking electric folk of ‘Morris On.’ In fact Hutchings had conisdered the Dransfields when he was forming Steeleye Span four years before but though brief rehearsals took place nothing more transpired. However the torch had been lit and when the brothers reunited they were writing their own material and working very much within rock even recruiting a rhythm section. ‘The Fiddlers Dream’ was snapped up by Transatlantic records and released in 1976. Strange and unique, it was promoted by the band who cut several BBC sessions, later added to the CD reissue, the contents were undoubtedly English, traditional themes ran through the whole thing but the songs were very much their own, meodic, full of harmony, by turn charming and eerie. Needless to say once the inital pressings ran out so did the group.
Barry and Robin however united for ‘Popular To Contrary Belief’ before Barry continued solo in the late 70s with ‘Bowin’ & Scrapin” indeed he played the fiddle laid along his arm and not as many did under the chin. This gave his playing a distintive ringing tone, maybe a bit heavier sounding than others who played jigs at hyper speed, Barry by comparison was a little more measured and surer. He reconnected with Ashley Hutchings joining an extended Albion Band for a brief time.
The 1980s saw him play occasionally with his brother, I saw them at the great Leeds Folk festival, then move into the world of composition and acting. His music could be heard on TV and in the theatre, he popped up in ‘The Bounty’ alongside Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins playing his fiddle in a sea faring romp. Thinking enough was enough he sensibly opened an instrument restoration business in the seaside town of Hastings working not only on violins but other stringed instruments such as cellos and violas. It was the music community there which once more led him back to performing.
Steeleye Span fiddler Peter Knight and drummer Liam Genockey lived in the town so it was no real shock when in 1994 he went out on tour as support to Span, he’d a new album as well ironically called ‘Be Your Own Man’ something he’d longed to be and indeed had been for the past few years. After that rejuvenated, he once more played folk clubs enjoying their intimacy and welcoming audiences. Another album ‘Wings Of The Sphinx’ duly appeared in 1996 with Genockey and keyboard whiz/producer Kenny Craddock. A spell touring with French folk rocker Gabriel Yacoub followed in 1998. Before he once more took up instrument restoring as his main passion. All went quiet.
One final throw of the dice came a decade or so later with ‘Unruly’ a totally solo set on which Georg Friedrich Handel appeared twice in the track listing alongside his familiar, own material/folk selections. A diagnosis of Alzhiemer’s came soon after the pandemic followed by a spell in May this year in hospital with a lung infection. Barry left us in June. A singular musician who was surely his own man. Play his recordings often, the proof is there.
Simon Jones.
www.barrydransfield.com
