Tony Rose
The Independent's obituary for Tony Rose said "A beautifully relaxed interpreter of traditional song, with rare warmth and intimacy, Tony Rose made an indelible mark on the British folk scene. Emerging during the 1970s when folk clubs were still a force to be reckoned with, he was wholly committed to the grass roots scene, eschewing the seemingly sexier terrain of folk rock bands, modern song and political material that seduced so many of his contemporaries.
He loved traditional music and while it never brought him riches – indeed he returned to his first job as a teacher when the folk clubs themselves hit a recession in the late 1980s – he saw no reason to deviate widely from it. Accompanying himself on guitar and English concertina, he established an easy style that was instantly identifiable, putting him on a par with such giants of the era as Martin Carthy and Nic Jones.
Born in Exeter in 1941, Rose was smitten by folk song at Oxford University in the early 1960s, where he had won a scholarship to study Modern Languages at Queen's College. He first heard the British folk pioneers Louis Killen, Shirley Collins, Alex Campbell and Johnny Handle at the university's Heritage Society. He was also profoundly influenced by another West Country singer, Cyril Tawney, the ex-Navy man turned songwriter. Rose cut his musical teeth at his local folk club, the Jolly Porter in Exeter, where he became an occasional member of the resident band the Journeymen.
He moved to London to become a teacher in 1965 but, offered more and more gigs on the burgeoning folk scene, he became a professional singer in 1969. His first album, Young Hunting, in 1970 had a huge impact, mixing West Country songs like "The Bellringing" and "Tavistock Goosey Fair" with comic ditties and testing ballads like "Golden Vanitee" and "Blackwater Side".
With his rich, lyrical voice, a repertoire of largely unfamiliar material and erudite introductions, the long-haired Rose swiftly became an important member of the second wave of the folk revival. The subsquent albums Under The Greenwood Tree in 1971 (with more complex arrangements and also involving Dolly Collins and Peter Knight) and On Banks Of Green Willow in 1976 enhanced his reputation further. On Banks Of Green Willow particularly confirmed his status as a great singer, tackling epic ballads like "The Bonny Hind", "Lord Randall" and "Fanny Blair". Of all his recorded work this was his tour de force.
In the late 1970s he formed a folk "supergroup", Bandoggs, with Pete and Christine Coe and his close friend Nic Jones, in which Rose played, among other things, mouth organ and performed a storming version of Loudon Wainwright's "Swimming Song". Despite acclaimed live work, the group suffered financial and logistical problems, and split up without recording.
Rose returned to his solo career, releasing the 1982 album Poor Fellows (the title track was drawn from Peter Bellamy's groundbreaking folk opera The Transports). This encompassed contemporary song for the first time with thoughtful arrangements of Bob Dylan's "Boots of Spanish Leather" and Richard Thompson's "Down Where The Drunkards Roll". While the album also featured traditional material like "The Yarmouth Tragedy" and "Clerk Saunders", Rose's sense of the absurd was illustrated by the inclusion of his grave interpretation of the kitsch pop standard "The Three Bells," a song he was even occasionally prevailed upon to sing in French as an encore at gigs.
But as the folk scene constricted, artists relying exclusively on the club circuit struggled and Rose ultimately returned to teaching. However, he remained a familiar figure on the scene, gigging occasionally and regularly turning up at West Country folk events such as the Padstow May Day celebrations and Sidmouth Folk Festival. He also worked as a folk journalist.
In 1999 he retired from teaching and made an unlikely return with a new album, Bare Bones, released on his own Boneshaker label, which largely featured new versions of old songs no longer available. Sounding as good as he ever did, he was still easing himself back into the circuit when he was diagnosed with cancer in 2001. He died in June 2002."
He recorded several LPs for the Trailer label in the 1970s, which outrageously have remained unavailable since Trailer's bankruptcy. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
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