Back in the days when every university had a Student’s Union and a dance hall as well as a decent Ents Committee and perhaps a printed student weekly news rag, you could see all kinds of music at your local higher education establishment for remarkably decent prices. Loads of bands and solo acts made a decent living playing the student circuit and it was a given that if you had to try out new material then university gigs could book bigger names – those in Melody Maker, NME & Sounds, yes three weekly music publications – for a fraction of the normal asking price. Musical genres didn’t seem to matter one bit, in any week you might see a jazz band alongside a reggae band, followed by folk and then hard rock. By the mid 1908s though things weren’t the same and you mostly got discos, which didn’t have the same appeal and sadly a golden age limped off into the sunset largely unrecorded in any form.
Fear not dear reader, Dave Lee, himself a Keele student of yesteryear, has taken on the task to document the diverse world that emerged in just one seat of learning, yet in doing so reflects the whole wonderful movement with its hopeful, electic, often home spun and occasionally, chaotic characteristics.
Okay, so I’m looking at this through folksy eyes but really it doesn’t matter one iota as the musical slipstreams that mingle to make student life in this period are pleasingly diffuse. This is a book about music full stop, so just jump in. If though you’ve an ounce of folk history interest in your soul, there’s much here to dig into. This tome parallels both the 60s folk revival and the fall/rise of folk rock, with the back drop of a moveable folk festival and separate folk club in the mix. Big names, Martin Carthy, Sandy Denny, Fairport Convention, Albion Country Band, Horslips, Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger, Pentangle, Ralph McTell, John Martyn, rub shoulders with the more obscure, The Peninne Folk, Bright Eyes – Brum folk rockers, who almost made it, Pigsty Hill Light Orchestra, Cajun Moon and out there acts, Incredible String Band, Dr. Strangely Strange, Principal Edwards Magic Theatre. There’s a whole lot more too, each with clear explanation of who, what, why and when. The Keele Folk Festival shifts between Keele and Loughborough with pretty trad guests Nic Jones, June Tabor, Peta Webb, High Level Ranters, Swan Arcade et al before permanently settling down at Loughborough in the mid 70s, a smaller event continued at Keele.
However there is one name I’ve left out because Keele holds a particular place in their history and that name is Steeleye Span. Certainly there is a detailed article which could be scribed about the location’s involvement in their tale, especially pre-formation and in their later gigology, all the way to the fracturing of 1978 and beyond, with Maddy Prior’s solo tours and Gay/Terry Woods gigging, Rick Kemp pops up a lot as well. If you’re a Span fan, I particularly recommend getting your mitts on a copy.
As the old saying goes there is indeed something for everyone. It’s one of those books which you’ll keep going back to for reference and fact checking as well as nostalgia. Comes with stacks of posters, gig flyers and associated flotsam too.
Musical archeology first class.
Simon Jones.
Seek at Amazon, Waterstones, Browns Books and other on line sources.
