Oak was an

English folk The folk music of England is a tradition-based music which has existed since the later medieval period. It is often contrasted with courtly, classical and later commercial music. Folk music traditionally was preserved and passed on orally wit ...

band in the early 1970s.

History

The members of Oak met in the 1960s in

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...

, where

Rod Stradling The Old Swan Band is a long-established and influential English country dance band. Early years Its origins lie in the early 1970s with the English country dance band Oak, one of a tiny handful at that time that combined melodeon with fiddles. Tw ...

ran a

folk club 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 ...

. The Stradlings moved to

Camden Town Camden Town (), often shortened to Camden, is a district of northwest London, England, north of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Camden, and identified in the London Plan as o ...

in 1968 and became involved in running another folk club in

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

. Engle and Webb also moved to

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nort ...

soon afterward. In 1970, while Rod Stradling's wife, Danny was pregnant, Rod Stradling played together with Tony Engle as a successful duo and as part of The Garland, replacing Mel Dean. After the birth of their son, the Stradlings and Engle and Webb joined forces as Oak and performed at most of the folk clubs in the London area. They were asked by

Bill Leader Bill Leader (born 26 December 1929) is an English recording engineer and record producer. He is particularly associated with the British folk music revival of the 1960s and 1970s, producing records by Paddy Tunney, Davey Graham, Bert Jansch, John Re ...

to make an LP for his Trailer label but as Engle worked for

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, ...

, he felt obliged to offer to record for them first. To his surprise, the offer was accepted and ''Welcome to Our Fair'' was recorded on

May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. Festivities may also be held the night before, known as May Eve. T ...

, 1971. The record created interest and the band played 163 gigs in the 18 months between the record's release and their final performance, on 19 December 1972.

Later work

Rod and Danny Stradling went on to form The Cotswold Liberation Front, which later became the

Old Swan Band The Old Swan Band is a long-established and influential English country dance band. Early years Its origins lie in the early 1970s with the English country dance band Oak, one of a tiny handful at that time that combined melodeon with fiddles. Tw ...

. After a few years, they left The Old Swan Band, and Rod Stradling recorded with the English Country Blues Band, the English Country Dance Band,

Tiger Moth The de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth is a 1930s British biplane designed by Geoffrey de Havilland and built by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and other operators as a primary trainer aircraft. ...

, and Edward II and the Red Hot Polkas. He is currently the editor of ''Musical Traditions''. Peta Webb, whose individual vocal style was influenced by Irish traditional singers (especially

Margaret Barry Margaret Barry (1917–1989) was an Irish Traveller, traditional singer and banjo player. Biography Born Margaret Cleary in Cork into a family of Travellers and street singers, she taught herself how to play the zither banjo and the fiddle ...

Sarah Makem Sarah Makem (18 October 1900 – 20 April 1983) a native of Keady, County Armagh, Northern Ireland, was a traditional Irish singer. She was the wife of fiddler Peter Makem, mother of musicians Tommy Makem and Jack Makem, and grandmother of ...

, and Sarah and

Rita Keane Rita Keane (born 31 December 1922, Caherlistrane, near Tuam, County Galway, Ireland – died 28 June 2009, Galway City) was an Irish traditional singer and accordionist. She was a member of a well known Irish musical family, and had a lifelong m ...

), released a solo album, ''I have wandered in Exile'', in 1973. She recorded with Scottish singer Alison McMorland in 1980. In the early 1980s, she and Tony Engle were members of Alan Ward's

Tex-Mex Tex-Mex cuisine (from the words ''Texan'' and ''Mexican'') is an American cuisine, American cuisine that derives from the culinary creations of the Tejanos, ''Tejano'' people of Texas. It has spread from border states such as Texas and others i ...

band The Armadillos. Webb has recorded with

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 ...

, was part of Sisters Unlimited in the 1980s and 90s, and has formed her own band, Webb's Wonders. She performs as a resident singer at the Musical Traditions folk club in London; she was also until 2011 an assistant librarian of the

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 ...

Memorial Library at

Cecil Sharp House Cecil may refer to: People with the name * Cecil (given name), a given name (including a list of people and fictional characters with the name) * Cecil (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) Places Canada *Cecil, Alberta, ...

, headquarters of the

English Folk Dance and Song Society The English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS, or pronounced 'EFF-diss') is an organisation that promotes English folk music and folk dance. EFDSS was formed in 1932 when two organisations merged: the Folk-Song Society and the English Folk Dan ...

. Tony Engle has produced many classic folk recordings for Topic Records and played on several of them as a

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

. As of 2011 he was managing director of Topic Records.Topic Records; contact; accessed 2015-11-27
/ref>

Personnel

* Tony Engle (voice,

Anglo concertina The Anglo or Anglo-German concertina is a member of the concertina family of free-reed instruments. History The Anglo originated as a hybrid between the English concertina, English and German concertinas. The button layouts are generally the sam ...

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

bones A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, an ...

) * Danny Stradling (voice,

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though ...

) * Rod Stradling (voice,

melodeon Melodeon may refer to: * Melodeon (accordion), a type of button accordion *Melodeon (organ), a type of 19th-century reed organ *Melodeon (Boston, Massachusetts), a concert hall in 19th-century Boston * Melodeon Records, a U.S. record label in the ...

s) * Peta Webb (voice, fiddle)

Discography

* ''Welcome to Our Fair'', Topic Records, 12TS212 (1971) * ''Country Songs and Music'', Musical Traditions, MTCD327-8 (2003) (includes tracks from ''Welcome to Our Fair'' and other archive recordings)

References

External links

A history of "Oak", with track listings and full lyrics of the traditional songs they recorded

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oak (Band) English folk musical groups