Roy Bailey, (20 October 1935 – 20 November 2018) was an English

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

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 ...

. Colin Irwin from the music magazine ''

Mojo Mojo may refer to: *Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * MOJO HD, an American television network * ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film * '' ...

'' said Bailey represented "the very soul of folk's working class ideals... a triumphal

homage Homage (Old English) or Hommage (French) may refer to: History *Homage (feudal) /ˈhɒmɪdʒ/, the medieval oath of allegiance *Commendation ceremony, medieval homage ceremony Arts *Homage (arts) /oʊˈmɑʒ/, an allusion or imitation by one arti ...

to the

grass roots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...

folk scene as a radical alternative to the mainstream music industry."

Biography

Bailey began his musical career in a

skiffle Skiffle is a genre of folk music with influences from American folk music, blues, country, bluegrass, and jazz, generally performed with a mixture of manufactured and homemade or improvised instruments. Originating as a form in the United States ...

band in 1958, and later joined folk supergroup the Three City Four featuring

Leon Rosselson Leon Rosselson (born 22 June 1934, Harrow, Middlesex, England) is an English songwriter and writer of children's books. After his early involvement in the folk music revival in Britain, he came to prominence, singing his own satirical songs, i ...

, as a replacement for

Martin Carthy Martin Carthy MBE (born 21 May 1941) is an English folk singer and guitarist who has remained one of the most influential figures in British traditional music, inspiring contemporaries such as Bob Dylan and Paul Simon, and later artists such as ...

. His first solo album was released in 1971. He performed a number of songs by the American singer-songwriter

Si Kahn Si Kahn (born April 23, 1944) is an American singer-songwriter, activist, and founder and former executive director of Grassroots Leadership. Biography Early life and education Kahn grew up in State College, Pennsylvania, United States. When ...

and was also renowned as a singer of children's songs, often using material written by his old partner Leon Rosselson. ''Oats & Beans & Kangaroos'' is an album of children's songs performed by Roy & Val Bailey with Leon Rosselson. Bailey worked with

Robb Johnson Robb Jenner Johnson (born 25 December 1955) is a British musician and songwriter who has been called "one of the last genuinely political songwriters". He is known for his mix of political satire and wit. He has his own record label, Irregular ...

and others on the award-winning ''

Gentle Men ''Gentle Men'' is an album released in 1997 by English folk singers Roy Bailey and Robb Johnson in collaboration with Belgian singer Vera Coomans and Belgian jazz band Koen De Cauter and the Golden Serenaders. The album takes the form of a son ...

'' album, released in 1997 and re-recorded and released in 2013. In 2003, Bailey and

Tony Benn Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn (3 April 1925 – 14 March 2014), known between 1960 and 1963 as Viscount Stansgate, was a British politician, writer and diarist who served as a Cabinet of the United Kingdom, Cabinet minister in the 1960s and 1970s. ...

were awarded "Best Live Act" at the

BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards The BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards celebrate outstanding achievement during the previous year within the field of folk music, with the aim of raising the profile of folk and acoustic music. The awards have been given annually since 2000 by British ra ...

for their programme ''Writing on the Wall'', later an album. Tony Benn cited Roy Bailey as "the greatest socialist

of his generation." In the 2000 Honours List, he received the

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

for Services to Folk Music. On 23 August 2006, he returned his MBE insignia in protest at the British government's

foreign policy A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...

with regard to

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

and the

Palestinian territories The Palestinian territories are the two regions of the former British Mandate for Palestine that have been militarily occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War of 1967, namely: the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip. The I ...

. He contributed vocals to

Chumbawamba Chumbawamba () were a British rock band formed in 1982 and disbanded in 2012. They are best known for their 1997 single "Tubthumping", which was nominated for Best British Single at the 1998 Brit Awards. Other singles include "Amnesia", " Enou ...

's 2008 album ''

The Boy Bands Have Won ''The Boy Bands Have Won'' is the shortened title of the thirteenth studio album by British music group Chumbawamba, released in 2008. Its full title contains 156 words (865 characters), and holds the Guinness World Record for the longest album ...

'', on the track "Word Bomber", a song about the London suicide attacks in 2005. He also joined the band on stage to sing the song, on their farewell Leeds show in October 2012. In 2016, Roy released his first live album, Live at Towersey Festival 2015, which was recorded in secret at the festival and featured guest appearances from

Martin Simpson Martin Stewart Simpson (born 5 May 1953) is an English folk singer, guitarist and songwriter. His music reflects a wide variety of influences and styles, rooted in Britain, Ireland, America and beyond. He builds a purposeful, often upbeat voi ...

and

Andy Cutting Andy Cutting (born 18 March 1969) is an English folk musician and composer. He plays melodeon and is best known for writing and performing traditional English folk and his own original compositions which combine English and French traditions w ...

. The album contained songs written by

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...

John Tams John Tams (born 16 February 1949) is an English actor, singer, songwriter, composer and musician born in Holbrook, Derbyshire, the son of a publican. He first worked as a reporter for the '' Ripley & Heanor News'' later working for BBC Radio De ...

and others. Roy appeared at the very first Towersey Festival in 1965 and his well established Monday afternoon concert as patron regularly drew a crowd of around 1000. Roy Bailey was an

Emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

Professor of Social Studies at

Sheffield Hallam University Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The university is based on two sites; the City Campus is located in the city centre near Sheffield railway station, while the Collegiate Cr ...

. He was also the patron of

Towersey Village Festival Towersey Festival is an annual festival of folk, world music and traditional dance, previously held in the village of Towersey, now relocated to neighbouring Thame in Oxfordshire, England. It has taken place every August bank holiday weeke ...

, Shepley Spring Festival and the Music on the Marr Festival based in the village of

Castle Carrock Castle Carrock is a village and civil parish on the B6413 road, in the City of Carlisle District, in the English county of Cumbria about south of Brampton. The population of the Civil Parish was 303 in 2001 and rose to 328 by 2011. It has a pu ...

, Cumbria. He was the father-in-law of

, a singer and guitarist, whose wife Kit is Bailey's daughter. Roy Bailey and band, Towersey 2018

Having struggled with heart failure for over 30 years, Bailey died on 20 November 2018 in St Luke's Hospice, Sheffield. A posthumous album was released in late 2020 entitled Roy Bailey Remembered, featuring performances from Nancy Kerr and James Fagan, The Wilsons and The Spooky Men's Chorale. This was recorded at Towersey Folk Festival 2019 and launched as an album using crowd funding

Discography

Albums

*''Smoke and Dust Where the Heart Should Have Been'', CBS 1965 (as part of the Three City Four) ost of the album reissued 2010*''Oats & Beans & Kangaroos'',

Fontana Records Fontana Records is a record label that was started in the 1950s as a subsidiary of the Dutch Philips Records. The independent label distributor Fontana Distribution takes its name from the label. History Fontana started in the 1950s as a subs ...

, SFL13061, 1968 (with Leon Rosselson) hildren's songs *''Roy Bailey'', Trailer Records, LER 3021, 1971 *''That's Not The Way It's Got To Be'', Fuse Records, CF 251, 1975 (with Leon Rosselson) *''Love, Loneliness & Laundry'', Fuse, CF, 1976 (with Leon Rosselson) *''New Bell Wake'', Fuse, CF262, 1977 *''If I Knew Who the Enemy Was'', CF284, 1979 (with Leon Rosselson) *'' Songs of Life from a Dying British Empire'', Paredon, 1981 (with Leon Rosselson) his being a US re-issue of That's Not The Way It's Got To Be*''Hard Times'', Fuse, CF382, 1982 *''Freedom Peacefully'', Fuse, CF386, 1986 *''Leaves From a Tree'', Fuse, CF394, 1988 *''Why Does It Have To Be Me?'', Fuse, CF396, 1989 hildren's songs*''Never Leave A Story Unsung'', Fuse, CFCD398, 1991 *''What You Do With What You've Got'', Fuse, CFCD399, 1992 ompilation of 1975–1991 material*''Business As Usual'', Fuse, CFCD400, 1994 *''Rhythm & Reds'', Musikfolk, MFO512, 1994 s_Band_of_Hope_–_with_Martin_Carthy,_Dave_Swarbrick_&_John_Kirkpatrick_(musician).html" ;"title="Dave_Swarbrick.html" ;"title="s Band of Hope – with Martin Carthy, s_Band_of_Hope_–_with_Martin_Carthy,_Dave_Swarbrick_&_John_Kirkpatrick_(musician)">John_Kirkpatrick.html" ;"title="Dave Swarbrick">s Band of Hope – with Martin Carthy, Dave Swarbrick & John Kirkpatrick (musician)">John Kirkpatrick">Dave Swarbrick">s Band of Hope – with Martin Carthy, Dave Swarbrick & John Kirkpatrick (musician)">John Kirkpatrick*''New Directions in the Old'', Fuse, CFCD402, 1999 *''New Bell Wake'', Fuse, CFCD262, 1999 *''

'', Irregular Records, 1998 (with Robb Johnson) *''Past Masters'', Fuse, CFCD403, 1998 *''Coda'', Fuse, CFCD, 2000 *''Up the Wooden Hill'', Fuse, CFCD170201, 2002 hildren's songs *''Writing on the Wall'', Fuse, CFCD405, 2004 (with Tony Benn) *''Sit Down and Sing'', Fuse CFCD406 2005 *''Below the Radar'', Fuse, CFCD407, 2009 *''Tomorrow'', Fuse, CFCD408, 2010 hildren's songs *''Stories EP'', Fuse, Digital release only, 2014 *''Live at Towersey Festival 2015'', Fuse, CFCD410, 2016"Roy Bailey To Launch Live Album at Towersey"
"Folk Radio UK (FRUK)", 11 August 2016 *' 'Roy Bailey:Remembered.

References

External links

The Roy Bailey Homepage
Official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, Roy 1935 births 2018 deaths British socialists English folk musicians Political music artists English folk singers English folk guitarists Musicians from London English male singer-songwriters English male guitarists

Biography

Discography

Albums

See also

References

External links