Louisa "Lou" Jo Killen (born Louis Killen; 10 January 1934 – 9 August 2013) was an English folk singer from

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...

Tyneside Tyneside is a built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne in northern England. Residents of the area are commonly referred to as Geordies. The whole area is surrounded by the North East Green Belt. The population of Tyneside as publishe ...

, who also played the

English concertina The English concertina is a member of the concertina family of free-reed musical instruments. Invented in England in 1829, it was the first instrument of what would become the concertina family. It is a fully chromatic instrument, having buttons ...

. Killen formed one of

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

's first

folk clubs A folk club is a regular event, permanent venue, or section of a venue devoted to folk music and traditional music. Folk clubs were primarily an urban phenomenon of 1960s and 1970s Great Britain and Ireland, and vital to the second British folk r ...

in 1958 in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

, and became a professional

folk singer Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be c ...

in 1961. In the 1970s Killen recalled: "When I started Folk Song and Ballad in Newcastle in 1958 there weren't twenty folk clubs in the whole country, and when I left for the States (in 1966) there were maybe three hundred." Recordings of Killen singing some Tyneside songs were included on both ''

The Iron Muse : ''A book of poetry of the same name by John Curtis Underwood was published in 1910 by G. P. Putnam's Sons as The Knickerbocker Press.'' ''The Iron Muse (A Panorama of Industrial Folk Song)'' is the title of two albums released by Topic Records, ...

'' (

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, ...

12T86, 1963) and the revised version on CD (Topic Records TSCD465) issued in 1993. The accompanying book to the Topic Records 70 year anniversary boxed set ''

Three Score and Ten ''Three Score and Ten: A Voice to the People'' is a multi-CD box set album issued by Topic Records in 2009 to celebrate 70 years as an independent British record label. The album consists of a hardback book containing the seven CDs and a paper ...

'' has a dust jacket picture featuring Killen with

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 ...

; and one of the songs featured on both albums of ''The Iron Muse'', '' The Blackleg Miners'' is track six of the sixth CD in the set. Killen emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1967 and worked with

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notably ...

before joining

The Clancy Brothers The Clancy Brothers were an influential Irish folk music group that developed initially as a part of the American folk music revival. Most popular during the 1960s, they were famed for their Aran jumper sweaters and are widely credited with popu ...

. In 1971, the Clancy Brothers brought in the singer who had introduced the English concertina to the music mix, Lou Killen. They recorded two studio albums on the Audio Fidelity label: ''Save the Land'' and ''Show Me the Way''. Their next, and final, album for Audio Fidelity was a live album, ''Live on St. Patrick's Day'' in 1973, recorded the previous year at the Bushnell Auditorium in Hartford, Connecticut. In the mid 1970s Killen left the Clancys. A few years before Killen's death, she underwent a gender reassignment to become Louisa Jo. Killen died in 2013, at the age of 79.

Discography

;Killen's solo recordingsPohle, Horst (1987) ''The Folk Record Source Book''; 2nd ed. 1987; p. 245 * ''Bright Shining Morning'' Front Hall FH 006 (1975) * ''Old Songs, Old Friends'' Front Hall FH 012 (1978) * ''Steady as She Goes'' Collector 1928 * ''The Iron Muse'' Topic Records 12T86 (1963); TSCD465(1993) * ''Sea Chanteys'' ESP-Disk' ESP 1085 (1968; 1994) * ''Tommy Armstrong of Tyneside'' Topic Records 12T122 (1965; 1997) * ''Ballads and Broadsides'' Topic Records 12T126 (1965; 2009) * ''Gallant Lads Are We'' Smithsonian Records 1932 (1980) * ''Sea Songs''

Smithsonian Folkways Smithsonian Folkways is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution. It is a part of the Smithsonian's Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, located at Capital Gallery in downtown Washington, D.C. The label was fo ...

FTS 37311 (1979) * ''50 South to 50 South'' Seaport SPT-102 (1972) * (with Johnny Handle) ''Along the Coaly Tyne'' Topic Records 12T189 (1971) ;Lou Killen,

Paddy Clancy Patrick Michael Clancy (7 March 1922 – 11 November 1998), usually called Paddy Clancy or Pat Clancy, was an Irish folk singer best known as a member of the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. In addition to singing and storytelling, Clancy playe ...

Tom Clancy Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. (April 12, 1947 – October 1, 2013) was an American novelist. He is best known for his technically detailed espionage and military science, military-science storylines set during and after the Cold War. Seventeen of ...

, and

Liam Clancy Liam Clancy ( ga, Liam Mac Fhlannchadha; 2 September 1935 – 4 December 2009) was an Irish folk singer from Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary. He was the youngest member of the influential folk group the Clancy Brothers, regarded as Ireland's ...

*''Show Me The Way''

Audio Fidelity Records Audio Fidelity Records, was a record company based in New York City, most active during the 1950s and 1960s. They are best known for having produced the first mass-produced American stereophonic long-playing record in November 1957 (although this ...

(1972) *''Save the Land!'' Audio Fidelity Records (1972) *''Live on St. Patrick's Day'' Audio Fidelity Records (1973) *'' The Clancy Brothers' Greatest Hits''

Vanguard Records Vanguard Recording Society is an American record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York City. It was a primarily classical label at its peak in the 1950s and 1960s, but also has a catalogue of recordings by a n ...

(1973) - Vanguard LP/CD **This was reissued as 'Best of the Vanguard Years' with bonus material from the 1982 Live! album with Bobby Clancy and Robbie O'Connell.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Killen, Lou 1934 births 2013 deaths People from Gateshead Musicians from Tyne and Wear English folk singers English folk musicians Place of death missing Audio Fidelity Records artists LGBT singers from the United Kingdom LGBT musicians from England Transgender women musicians Transgender musicians The Clancy Brothers members