''Folk Songs'' is a 2009 album by the Scottish singer-songwriter

James Yorkston James Yorkston (born James Patrick Yorkston Wright; 21 December 1971) is a Scottish folk musician, singer-songwriter and author from the village of Kingsbarns, Fife. He has been releasing music since 2001. As well as recording as a solo artist, ...

in collaboration with the

Big Eyes Family Players The Big Eyes Family Players / Big Eyes Family are a group from Sheffield, UK, formed in 1999 by multi-instrumentalist James Green. They initially recorded experimental music under the name Big Eyes, but in 2006 they changed their name and began t ...

. As the title suggests, all of the tracks are traditional British and Irish

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

songs (along with one from

Galicia, Spain Galicia (; gl, Galicia or ; es, Galicia}; pt, Galiza) is an autonomous community of Spain and historic nationality under Spanish law. Located in the northwest Iberian Peninsula, it includes the provinces of A Coruña, Lugo, Ourense, and P ...

). Many of them are versions of songs recorded by singers in the 1960s

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 ...

, such as

Nic Jones Nic Jones (born Nicolas Paul Jones; 9 January 1947) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. Regarded as a prominent figure of the British folk revival, he has recorded five solo albums and collaborated with various musicians. Biography ...

Anne Briggs Anne Patricia Briggs (born 29 September 1944) is an English folk singer. Although she travelled widely in the 1960s and early 1970s, appearing at folk clubs and venues in England and Ireland, she never aspired to commercial success or to achiev ...

and

Shirley Collins Shirley Elizabeth Collins MBE (born 5 July 1935) is an English folk singer who was a significant contributor to the English Folk Revival of the 1960s and 1970s. She often performed and recorded with her sister Dolly, whose accompaniment on ...

Critical reception

The album received generally positive reviews from the music press. Writing in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'',

Robin Denselow Robin Denselow is a British writer, journalist, and broadcaster. Education Denselow was educated at Leighton Park School, a boys' Quaker boarding independent school (now co-educational) in Reading, Berkshire, followed by New College, Oxford, wher ...

called it, "One of the more intriguing folk albums of the summer", commenting, "It's an album of strong songs, and may well prompt a new audience to check out the earlier recordings." The website

The Quietus ''The Quietus'' is a British online music and pop culture magazine founded by John Doran and Luke Turner. The site is an editorially independent publication led by Doran with a group of freelance journalists and critics. Content ''The Quiet ...

said the album was, "a fine tribute to the folk tradition of a musician taking long established songs, putting his own mark on the tested formulas and then passing them on for consumption by whoever encounters them along the road."

Track listing

#"Hills of Greenmoor" #"Just as the Tide was Flowing" #"Martinmas Time" #"Mary Connaught & James O'Donnell" #"Thorneymoor Woods" #"I Went to Visit the Roses" #"Pandeirada de Entrimo" #"Little Musgrave" #"Rufford Park Poachers" #"Sovay" #"Low Down in the Broom"

''Folk Songs II''

In 2012, the Big Eyes Family Players released a follow-up album entitled '' Folk Songs II'' on

Static Caravan Recordings Static Caravan Recordings is an independent record label based in the North West of England, whose artist releases include singles and albums by Darren Hayman, the Hornblower Brothers, Hannah Peel, Erland & the Carnival, Shady Bard, the Yel ...

, featuring a variety of guest vocalists including James Yorkston, Alasdair Roberts, Elle Osborne and

Adrian Crowley Adrian Crowley is a singer, composer, songwriter, lyricist from Galway, based in Dublin and was born in Sliema, Malta. Crowley has released eight albums to date, with his debut ''A Strange Kind'' arriving in 1999. He followed this with ''When ...

References

{{Authority control 2009 albums Domino Recording Company albums James Yorkston albums