Albert Lancaster Lloyd (29 February 1908 – 29 September 1982),Eder, Bruce. (29 September 1982
A. L. Lloyd - Music Biography, Credits and Discography
AllMusic. Retrieved on 2013-02-24. usually known as A. L. Lloyd or Bert Lloyd, was an English folk singer and collector of folk songs, and as such was a key figure in the

British folk revival The British folk revival incorporates a number of movements for the collection, preservation and performance of folk music in the United Kingdom and related territories and countries, which had origins as early as the 18th century. It is particul ...

of the 1950s and 1960s. While Lloyd is most widely known for his work with British folk music, he had a keen interest in the music of

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Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

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and Australia. He recorded at least six discs of Australian Bush ballads and folk music. Lloyd also helped establish the folk music subgenre of

industrial folk music Industrial folk music, industrial folk song, industrial work song or working song is a subgenre of folk or traditional music that developed from the 18th century, particularly in Britain and North America, with songs dealing with the lives and exp ...

through his books, recordings, collecting and theoretical writings.

Early life

Lloyd was born in

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan The London Plan is the statutory spatial development strategy for the Gre ...

, London, England. His father was an AA Patrolman and failed smallholder. His mother sang songs around the house and according to Lloyd mimicked the gypsy singers that she had heard. By the age of fifteen his mother had died and his father, an ex-soldier, was a semi-invalid, and Lloyd was sent as an assisted migrant to Australia in a scheme organised by the

British Legion The Royal British Legion (RBL), formerly the British Legion, is a British charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants, as well as all others in ne ...

. There, from 1924 to 1930, he worked on various sheep stations in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

and it was during this time that he began to write down folksongs he learned. In the outback of New South Wales he discovered that he could access the State Library and order books. His special interests being art and music he could get a grasp of those topics without seeing a painting or hearing any music. He also bought a wind-up gramophone and began to investigate some of the classical music he had previously read about.

Career as folklorist

When Lloyd returned to the UK in 1935, during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, in the absence of a permanent job he pursued his interests in studying folk music and social and economic history, doing much of his research at the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

; he is quoted as saying that there is "nothing like unemployment for educating oneself". In 1937, he signed on board a factory whaling ship, the ''Southern Empress'', bound for the southern whaling grounds of the

Antarctic The Antarctic ( or , American English also or ; commonly ) is a polar region around Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica, the Kerguelen Plateau and other ...

. During this decade, Lloyd joined the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPG ...

Brocken p. 25 and was strongly influenced by the writings of the Marxist historian,

A. L. Morton Arthur Leslie Morton (4 July 1903 – 23 October 1987) was an English Marxist historian. He worked as an independent scholar; from 1946 onwards he was the Chair of the Historians Group of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB). He is b ...

, particularly his 1938 book ''A People's History of England''.Brocken p. 26 In 1937, Lloyd's article "The People's own Poetry" was published in the ''Daily Worker'' (since 1966 renamed ''

Morning Star Morning Star, morning star, or Morningstar may refer to: Astronomy * Morning star, most commonly used as a name for the planet Venus when it appears in the east before sunrise ** See also Venus in culture * Morning star, a name for the star Siri ...

'') newspaper. In 1938, the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

hired Lloyd to write a radio documentary about seafaring life, and from then on he worked as a journalist and singer. As a proponent of

communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

, he was staunchly opposed to

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

, and, in 1939, was commissioned by the BBC to produce a series of programmes on the rise of

Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

. Between 1945 and 1950 he was employed as a journalist by '' Picture Post'' magazine but he left the job in an act of solidarity with one of his colleagues. By the 1950s, Lloyd had established himself as a professional folklorist—as

Colin Harper Colin Harper (born 1968, in Belfast) is an Irish non-fiction author and composer. Background Harper was born in Belfast and graduated in Modern History 1989 from Queen's University, Belfast, later acquiring a postgraduate diploma in Information ...

puts it "in a field of one". Harper went to note that, at a time when the English folk revival was dominated by young people who wore jeans and pullovers, Lloyd was rarely seen in anything other than a suit (and a wide grin).

Ewan MacColl James Henry Miller (25 January 1915 – 22 October 1989), better known by his stage name Ewan MacColl, was a folk singer-songwriter, folk song collector, labour activist and actor. Born in England to Scottish parents, he is known as one of the ...

is quoted as describing Lloyd affectionately as "a walking toby jug". In 1959, Lloyd's collaboration with

Ralph Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

, ''The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs'', was published. The 1956 film '' Moby Dick'', directed by

John Huston John Marcellus Huston ( ; August 5, 1906 – August 28, 1987) was an American film director, screenwriter, actor and visual artist. He wrote the screenplays for most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered ...

, featured Lloyd singing a sea shanty as the

Pequod Pequod or Pequot may refer to: *The Pequod, or Pequot The Pequot () are a Native American people of Connecticut. The modern Pequot are members of the federally recognized Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, four other state-recognized groups in Conne ...

first sets sail. There is also a brief visual clip of him. In the early 1960s, Lloyd became associated with an enterprise known as "

Centre 42 Sir Arnold Wesker (24 May 1932 – 12 April 2016) was an English dramatist. He was the author of 50 plays, four volumes of short stories, two volumes of essays, much journalism and a book on the subject, a children's book, some poetry, and oth ...

" which arose from Resolution 42 of the 1960

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre A national trade union center (or national center or central) is a federation or confederation of trade unions in a country. Nearly every country in the world has a national tra ...

, concerning the importance of arts in the community. Centre 42 was a touring festival aimed at devolving art and culture from London to the other main working class towns of Britain. It was led by Arnold Wesker, with MacColl and Lloyd providing the musical content and Charles Parker on production. Centre 42 was important in bringing a range of folk performers to the public attention: Anne Briggs, the

Ian Campbell Folk Group The Ian Campbell Folk Group were one of the most popular and respected folk groups of the British folk revival of the 1960s. The group made many appearances on radio, television, and at national and international venues and festivals. They per ...

, The Spinners and

The Watersons The Watersons were an English folk group from Hull, Yorkshire. They performed mainly traditional songs with little or no accompaniment. Their distinctive sound came from their closely woven harmonies. They have been called the "most famous fam ...

. Lloyd recorded many albums of English folk music, most notably several albums of the Child Ballads with MacColl. He also published many books on folk music and related topics, including ''The Singing Englishman'', ''Come All Ye Bold Miners'', and ''Folk Song in England''. He was a founder-member of

Topic Records Topic Records is a British folk music label, which played a major role in the second British folk revival. It began as an offshoot of the Workers' Music Association in 1939, making it the oldest independent record label in the world.M. Brocken, ...

and remained as their artistic director until his death. The accompanying book to the Topic Records 70 year anniversary boxed set '' Three Score and Ten'' includes a short biography and lists two albums he is closely associated with as classic albums, ''The Iron Muse'' and ''Frost and Fire'' by The Watersons. Track five on the second CD has Lloyd singing '' The Two Magicians'' from another album he was closely associated with, being ''

The Bird in the Bush (Traditional Erotic Songs) ''The Bird in the Bush (Traditional Erotic Songs)'' is a folk album by A. L. Lloyd, Anne Briggs and Frankie Armstrong, released by Topic Records in 1966. The album is a collection of traditional erotic British folk songs, although the album's co ...

''. Mark Gregory interviewed him in 1970 for the National Library of Australia, and Michael Grosvenor Myer for ''

Folk Review ''Folk Review'' (known as ''Folk & Country'' for its first four issues) was a British magazine dedicated to folk music, founded and edited by Fred Woods until its final two issues - which were edited by Bill Caddick. The magazine appeared monthly ...

'' magazine in September 1974. Lloyd died at his home in Greenwich in 1982.Lucy Duran, "A. L. Lloyd. A Tribute", published in '' Yearbook for Traditional Music'', Vol. 14, 1982 (1982), pp. xiii–xv

Discography

Solo albums

*''The Shooting of His Dear / Lord Bateman'', HMV B.10593, 78rpm, 1953 *''Down in Yon Forest / The Bitter Withy'', HMV B.10594, 78rpm, 1953 *''Bold Jack Donahue / Banks of the Condamine'', Topic TRC84, 78rpm, 1954 *''Australian Bush Songs'', Riverside RLP 12-606, 1956 *''The Foggy Dew and Other Traditional English Love Songs'', Tradition Records TLP 1016, LP, US, 1956 *''Banks of the Condamine and Other Bush Songs'', Wattle Records (Australia) 10" LP, 1957 *''Across the Western Plains'', Wattle Records (Australia) LP, 1958 *''Outback Ballads. Folk songs of Australia.'' Topic Records 12T51, 1958 *''English Drinking Songs'', Riverside Records (US) LP, 1961. CD Reissue: Topic records *''England and Her Folk Songs (A Selection From The Penguin Book)'', with Alf Edwards, Collector Records (UK) 7" EP *''First Person (Some of His Favourite Folk Songs)'', Topic Records LP, 1966 *''The Best of A. L. Lloyd'', Xtra (UK) LP, 1966 *''Leviathan'', Topic Records (UK) LP, 1967. CD Reissue: Topic records *''Ten Thousand Miles Away: English and Australian Folk Songs'', Fellside Records (UK) 2CD, 2008 *''An Evening with A. L. Lloyd'' Fellside Recordings (UK) CD, 2010 *''Turtle Dove'', Fellside Records (UK), 2014

With Ewan MacColl

*''The English and Scottish Popular Ballads'' 9 Volumes, Washington albums, 1952 *''Blow Boys Blow (Songs of The Sea)'', Tradition Records (US) LP, 1957. LP Reissue: Transatlantic, 1967. CD Reissue: Tradition, 1996 *''Thar She Blows! (Whaling Ballads and Songs)'', Riverside RLP 12-635 (US) LP, 1957 *''Convicts and Currency Lads.'' Wattle Recordings B2, EP, 1958 *''Whaling Ballads'', Washington WLP 724 (US) LP, 196x. This was a reissue of the Riverside album above. *''English and Scottish Folk Ballads'', Topic Records (UK) LP, 1964 *''Bold Sportsmen All'', Topic Records (UK) 10", 1958. CD reissue: Topic Records *''Gamblers and Sporting Blades (Songs of the Ring and the Racecourse)'', Topic records (UK) 7" EP, 1962 *''A Sailor's Garland'', Xtra Records (UK) LP, 1966

Compilations and contributions

*''Blow The Man Down'', Topic Records (UK) 7" EP, 1956 *'' The Iron Muse (A Panorama of Industrial Folk Music)'', Topic Records (UK) LP, 1963 *''Farewell Nancy (Sea Songs and Shanties)'', Topic Records (UK) LP, 1964 *'' The Bird in the Bush'' - by A L Lloyd, Anne Briggs,

Frankie Armstrong Frankie Armstrong (born 13 January 1941) is an English singer and voice teacher. She has worked as a singer in the folk scene and the women's movement and as a trainer in social and youth work. Her repertoire ranges from traditional ballads to m ...

, Topic Records (UK) LP, 1966 *''Singing The Fishing – A Radio Ballad'', Argo Records (UK) LP, 1967 *''

"Babbacombe" Lee ''"Babbacombe" Lee'' is a 1971 album by British folk rock group Fairport Convention, which tells the life story of John Babbacombe Lee, a Victorian-era alleged murderer who was condemned to death but was reprieved after the gallows failed o ...

'' by

Fairport Convention Fairport Convention are an English folk rock band, formed in 1967 by guitarists Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, bassist Ashley Hutchings and drummer Shaun Frater (with Frater replaced by Martin Lamble after their first gig.) They started o ...

(1971), Island Records: Narration and arrangement *''The Valiant Sailor (Songs & Ballads of Nelson's Navy)'', Topic Records (UK) LP, 1973 *''Sea Shanties'', Topic Records (UK) LP, 1974 *''The Transports '' (A Ballad Opera by Peter Bellamy), Free Reed (UK) 2LP, 1977 *''Topic Sampler No. 1 – Folk Songs'', Topic Records (UK) LP *''Topic Sampler No. 2 – Folk Songs'', Topic Records (UK) LP *''Topic Sampler No. 3 – Men at Work'', Topic Records (UK) LP *''Topic Sampler No. 6 – A Collection of Ballads & Broadsides'', Topic Records (UK) LP *''Topic Sampler No. 7 – Sea Songs & Shanties'', Topic Records (UK) LP * "Doodle let me go (yaller girls)" Performed on soundtrack of The Lighthouse (2019)

Recorded and edited by Lloyd

*''Folk Music of Bulgaria'', Topic Records (UK) LP, 1964 *''Folk Music of Albania'', Topic Records (12T154) (UK) LP, 1966

Bibliography

* García Lorca, Federico (1937) ''Lament for the Death of a Bullfighter and other poems''; translated by A. L. Lloyd. London: Heinemann * Kafka, Franz (1937) '' The Metamorphosis''; translated by A. L. Lloyd. London: Parton Press; published as ''Metamorphosis'' (1946) by Vanguard Press, Inc. * Fallada, Hans (1952) ''The Drinker''; translated by C. Lloyd and A. L. Lloyd: Melville House, Hoboken, N.J. *Lloyd, A. L. & Vinogradoff, Igor (1940) ''Shadow of the Swastika'', London: John Lane The Bodley Head *Lloyd, A. L. (1944) ''The Singing Englishman: an introduction to folksong''. London: Workers' Music Association *Lloyd, A. L. (compiler) (1945) '' Corn on the Cob'' (Popular and Traditional Poetry of the USA) London: Fore Publications *Lloyd, A. L. (1951) ''Singing Englishmen: a collection of folk-songs specially prepared for a Festival of Britain concert given in association with the Arts Council of Great Britain'' *Lloyd, A. L. (compiler) (1952) ''Coaldust Ballads'' (Part-songs by various composers). London: Workers' Music Association *Lloyd, A. L. (compiler) (1952) ''Come All Ye Bold Miners (Ballads & Songs of the Coalfield)'' London: Lawrence & Wishart * *Lloyd, A. L. (1960) ''The Golden City'' London: Methuen *Lloyd, A. L. (1967) ''Folk Song in England'' London: Lawrence & Wishart (Paperback edition: Paladin, 1975)

Films

*Ken Taylor, ''Ten Thousand Miles: A. L. Lloyd in Australia'', 1970 *Gavin Barry, ''Bert a personal memoir'', 1985

References

External links

Biography of A. L. Lloyd
in ''

Canadian Journal for Traditional Music {{Infobox journal , title = MUSICultures , cover = , editor = , discipline = folk music, ethnomusicology , language = English, French , abbreviation = MUSICultures , publisher = Canadian Society for Tra ...

(1999/2000)'': "Starting Over: A. L. Lloyd and the Search for a New Folk Music, 1945–49" by E. David Gregory
The A. L. Lloyd Collection
– Lloyd's library and papers at the Library of Goldsmiths College, University of London

Most complete Discography

– Australian Folk Songs website

– EFDSS Concert 15 November 2008
BBC Radio 3 highlights of Tribute to Bert
– Lucy Duran World Routes
EFDSS Book Launch
– Bert: The Life and Times of A. L. Lloyd {{DEFAULTSORT:Lloyd, A. L. Bert 1908 births 1982 deaths Communist Party of Great Britain members English folk musicians English folk singers English folk-song collectors Tradition Records artists English male singers English communists 20th-century English singers 20th-century British musicologists 20th-century British male singers Topic Records artists Riverside Records artists