Lal Waterson
Encyclopedia
Lal Waterson was an English
folksinger and songwriter. She sang with, among others, The Watersons
, The Waterdaughters and Blue Murder
. She was born in Hull
, East Riding of Yorkshire
and died suddenly in Robin Hood's Bay
, of cancer diagnosed only ten days before. 'Lal Waterson's voice was stark but captivating, her songs lyrically ambitious and melodically powerful.'
Lal Waterson was the sister of Norma Waterson
and Mike Waterson
, the aunt of Eliza Carthy
, and the sister-in-law of Martin Carthy
. She was survived by her husband of 30 years, George Knight, and her two children, Oliver Knight
and Maria Gilhooley
, with both of whom she had recorded albums.
, and Lal to Leeds
where her husband George lived, while Mike stayed in Hull. Both Mike and Lal were writing songs and when Lal returned to Hull they began working together. When Martin Carthy
heard Lal's songs he found them extraordinary, her work 'didn't sound like anyone else and the words were so powerful.' At this time Carthy was in the folk-rock band Steeleye Span
and he told the bass player Ashley Hutchings
about Lal and Mike's songs and together they arranged to have them recorded, not unaccompanied, but with an impressive backing band that included Carthy, Hutchings and Richard Thompson. Bright Phoebus was released in 1972 and 'caused a quiet sensation'. Her songs sometimes echoed traditional material but also involved a variety of other influences - 'some veered towards jazz and ragtime
, others like Winifer Odd had a quirky charm worthy of The Beatles
, but with bleak lyrics added. Another favourite Fine Horseman, made use of unexpected chords and structures.' Lyrics were as important to her as the music. The writer she admired most was the 19th century French poet Arthur Rimbaud
.
In 1976 all three Waterson siblings moved to Kirk Moor on the edge of the North York Moors
and re-formed the group, with Martin Carthy taking over from John Harrison. In the 1980s Lal and George, and Norma and Martin, moved to Robin Hood's Bay and the sea and landscape of the area often became the inspiration for Lal's songs. She left The Watersons in 1990 for health reasons, staying at Robin Hood's Bay, still writing and painting, and recorded her songs at home with her son Oliver Knight, a producer, guitarist and songwriter. When Once in a Blue Moon was released however, she refused to sing the songs live - perhaps the result of a bad experience while singing with the Watersons. According to Martin Carthy: "She was a perfectionist.. she never sang solo after she forgot something on stage.. she couldn't bear the idea of it going wrong."
When Freddie Mercury
revealed that he was HIV
positive, Daily Mirror
columnist Joe Haines made some offensive remarks. Lal Waterson responded to this with her song Reply To Joe Haines. She never recorded it, but it appears on her sister Norma Waterson
's album The Very Thought of You.
Migrating Bird - The Songs of Lal Waterson (2007) is a tribute album, with contributions from James Yorkston
, Alasdair Roberts, Willard Grant Conspiracy
, Vashti Bunyan
, Victoria Williams
and others. Jo Freya
's album "Lal" (2007) is another tribute to her.
Her songs have been covered by a series of singers including June Tabor
, Billy Bragg
, and The Unthanks. Rachel Unthank: " Her lyrics are so descriptive and evocative,... the melodies twist and turn in ways I wouldn't expect, and yet each line seems to melt into each other.."
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
folksinger and songwriter. She sang with, among others, The Watersons
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.-Career:...
, The Waterdaughters and Blue Murder
Blue Murder (folk)
Blue Murder is an occasional English folk "supergroup", consisting at various times of various members of Swan Arcade, Coope Boyes and Simpson, Waterson:Carthy and The Watersons....
. She was born in Hull
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
, East Riding of Yorkshire
East Riding of Yorkshire
The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Yorkshire, is a local government district with unitary authority status, and a ceremonial county of England. For ceremonial purposes the county also includes the city of Kingston upon Hull, which is a separate unitary authority...
and died suddenly in Robin Hood's Bay
Robin Hood's Bay
Robin Hood’s Bay is a small fishing village and a bay located five miles south of Whitby and 15 miles north of Scarborough on the coast of North Yorkshire, England. Bay Town, its local name, is in the ancient chapelry of Fylingdales in the wapentake of Whitby Strand.-Toponymy:The origin of the name...
, of cancer diagnosed only ten days before. 'Lal Waterson's voice was stark but captivating, her songs lyrically ambitious and melodically powerful.'
Lal Waterson was the sister of Norma Waterson
Norma Waterson
Norma Christine Waterson is an English musician, best known as one of the original members of The Watersons, a premier English traditional group. Other members of the group included her brother Mike Waterson and sister Lal Waterson, and in later incarnations of the group her husband Martin...
and Mike Waterson
Mike Waterson
Michael Waterson was an English writer, songwriter and folk singer.Waterson was born in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. He is best known as a member of The Watersons, with his sisters Lal Waterson and Norma Waterson and his brother-in-law Martin Carthy...
, the aunt of Eliza Carthy
Eliza Carthy
Eliza Carthy is an English folk musician known for both singing and playing fiddle. She is the daughter of English folk musicians singer/guitarist Martin Carthy and singer Norma Waterson.-Life and career:...
, and the sister-in-law of Martin Carthy
Martin Carthy
Martin Carthy MBE 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 Richard Thompson since he emerged as a young musician in the early days...
. She was survived by her husband of 30 years, George Knight, and her two children, Oliver Knight
Oliver Knight (musician)
Oliver Knight is a singer/songwriter/sound engineer from the UK. He is son to folk singer/songwriter Lal Waterson and George Knight. He is brother and stage partner to folk musician Marry Waterson.- Early Life :...
and Maria Gilhooley
Maria Gilhooley
Maria Gilhooley, also known as Marie Gilhooley, Marie Knight and Marie/Maria/Marry Waterson is a singer and artist best known for her contributions to numerous recordings and live performances by various members of the Waterson family....
, with both of whom she had recorded albums.
Biography
Lal, Norma, and Mike Waterson were orphans and brought up by their grandmother who was of part gypsy descent. Always very close, they began singing together, with cousin John Harrison, in the 1950s, with Lal 'singing unexpected harmonies.' Having opened their own folk club in a pub in the fishing port of Hull where they grew up, by the mid 1960s they had developed their own unaccompanied style singing harmony style re-workings of traditional English songs. In 1968 they stopped touring and became geographically separate for the first time - Norma went to MontserratMontserrat
Montserrat is a British overseas territory located in the Leeward Islands, part of the chain of islands called the Lesser Antilles in the West Indies. This island measures approximately long and wide, giving of coastline...
, and Lal to Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
where her husband George lived, while Mike stayed in Hull. Both Mike and Lal were writing songs and when Lal returned to Hull they began working together. When Martin Carthy
Martin Carthy
Martin Carthy MBE 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 Richard Thompson since he emerged as a young musician in the early days...
heard Lal's songs he found them extraordinary, her work 'didn't sound like anyone else and the words were so powerful.' At this time Carthy was in the folk-rock band Steeleye Span
Steeleye Span
Steeleye Span are an English folk-rock band, formed in 1969 and remaining active today. Along with Fairport Convention they are amongst the best known acts of the British folk revival, and were among the most commercially successful, thanks to their hit singles "Gaudete" and "All Around My Hat"....
and he told the bass player Ashley Hutchings
Ashley Hutchings
Ashley Stephen Hutchings is an English bassist, vocalist, songwriter, arranger, band leader, writer and record producer. He was a founder member of three of the most noteworthy English folk-rock bands in the history of the genre; Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span and The Albion Band...
about Lal and Mike's songs and together they arranged to have them recorded, not unaccompanied, but with an impressive backing band that included Carthy, Hutchings and Richard Thompson. Bright Phoebus was released in 1972 and 'caused a quiet sensation'. Her songs sometimes echoed traditional material but also involved a variety of other influences - 'some veered towards jazz and ragtime
Ragtime
Ragtime is an original musical genre which enjoyed its peak popularity between 1897 and 1918. Its main characteristic trait is its syncopated, or "ragged," rhythm. It began as dance music in the red-light districts of American cities such as St. Louis and New Orleans years before being published...
, others like Winifer Odd had a quirky charm worthy of The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, but with bleak lyrics added. Another favourite Fine Horseman, made use of unexpected chords and structures.' Lyrics were as important to her as the music. The writer she admired most was the 19th century French poet Arthur Rimbaud
Arthur Rimbaud
Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud was a French poet. Born in Charleville, Ardennes, he produced his best known works while still in his late teens—Victor Hugo described him at the time as "an infant Shakespeare"—and he gave up creative writing altogether before the age of 21. As part of the decadent...
.
In 1976 all three Waterson siblings moved to Kirk Moor on the edge of the North York Moors
North York Moors
The North York Moors is a national park in North Yorkshire, England. The moors are one of the largest expanses of heather moorland in the United Kingdom. It covers an area of , and it has a population of about 25,000...
and re-formed the group, with Martin Carthy taking over from John Harrison. In the 1980s Lal and George, and Norma and Martin, moved to Robin Hood's Bay and the sea and landscape of the area often became the inspiration for Lal's songs. She left The Watersons in 1990 for health reasons, staying at Robin Hood's Bay, still writing and painting, and recorded her songs at home with her son Oliver Knight, a producer, guitarist and songwriter. When Once in a Blue Moon was released however, she refused to sing the songs live - perhaps the result of a bad experience while singing with the Watersons. According to Martin Carthy: "She was a perfectionist.. she never sang solo after she forgot something on stage.. she couldn't bear the idea of it going wrong."
When Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury was a British musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. As a performer, he was known for his flamboyant stage persona and powerful vocals over a four-octave range...
revealed that he was HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
positive, Daily Mirror
The Daily Mirror
The Daily Mirror is a British national daily tabloid newspaper which was founded in 1903. Twice in its history, from 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was changed to read simply The Mirror, which is how the paper is often referred to in popular parlance. It had an...
columnist Joe Haines made some offensive remarks. Lal Waterson responded to this with her song Reply To Joe Haines. She never recorded it, but it appears on her sister Norma Waterson
Norma Waterson
Norma Christine Waterson is an English musician, best known as one of the original members of The Watersons, a premier English traditional group. Other members of the group included her brother Mike Waterson and sister Lal Waterson, and in later incarnations of the group her husband Martin...
's album The Very Thought of You.
Migrating Bird - The Songs of Lal Waterson (2007) is a tribute album, with contributions from James Yorkston
James Yorkston
-Music career:A native of Fife, James Yorkston was an integral early member of the Fence Collective whose reach across contemporary music continues to lengthen: King Creosote, The Aliens, KT Tunstall, The Beta Band...
, Alasdair Roberts, Willard Grant Conspiracy
Willard Grant Conspiracy
Willard Grant Conspiracy is an alt-country band currently based near Palmdale, California, USA.Originally formed by Robert Fisher and Paul Austin in 1995 in Boston, Massachusetts, the band operates as a collective, with vocalist Fisher the only permanent member. Up to thirty other musicians...
, Vashti Bunyan
Vashti Bunyan
Vashti Bunyan is an English singer-songwriter. In 1970, Bunyan released her first album, Just Another Diamond Day. The album sold very few copies, and Bunyan, discouraged, abandoned her musical career...
, Victoria Williams
Victoria Williams
Victoria Williams is an American singer-songwriter and musician, originally from Shreveport, Louisiana, although she has resided in Southern California throughout her musical career. She is noted for her descriptive songwriting talent, which she has used to immerse the listener of her songs into a...
and others. Jo Freya
Jo Freya
Jo Freya is an English saxophonist, clarinetist and singer.She was born Jo Fraser, but changed her name to Jo Freya as a condition of joining the actors' union Equity, which does not allow two of its members to share the same name...
's album "Lal" (2007) is another tribute to her.
Her songs have been covered by a series of singers including June Tabor
June Tabor
June Tabor is an English folk singer.- Early years :June Tabor was inspired to sing by hearing Anne Briggs' EP Hazards of Love in 1965. "I went and locked myself in the bathroom for a fortnight and drove my mother mad. I learned the songs on that EP note for note, twiddle for twiddle. That's how I...
, Billy Bragg
Billy Bragg
Stephen William Bragg , better known as Billy Bragg, is an English alternative rock musician and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, and his lyrics mostly deal with political or romantic themes...
, and The Unthanks. Rachel Unthank: " Her lyrics are so descriptive and evocative,... the melodies twist and turn in ways I wouldn't expect, and yet each line seems to melt into each other.."
Discography
- Lal and Mike Waterson Bright Phoebus 1972
- Lal and Norma Waterson A True Hearted Girl 1977
- Lal Waterson & Oliver Knight Once in a Blue Moon 1996
- Lal Waterson & Oliver Knight A Bed of Roses 1999
External links
- Obituary – Bright Phoebus Dimmed by John Pilgrim