27-488: Ragged Kingdom is a 2011 album by June Tabor and Oysterband . Tabor and Oysterband had collaborated previously on the 1990 album Freedom and Rain . The majority of the tracks are interpretations of traditional folk songs but also includes covers of Joy Division 's " Love Will Tear Us Apart ", Bob Dylan 's " Seven Curses " PJ Harvey 's "That Was My Veil" and the Dan Penn & Chips Moman soul standard " Dark End of
54-532: A 2008 interview how she developed her characteristic style, she said, "I have no musical education whatsoever...I just learned the songs and copied the phrasing by playing those records ad nauseam, trying out both [Anne Briggs and Belle Stewart ] singers' styles. Then I tried putting the two together, and missing a few bits out – and that's approximately what I've been doing ever since. It's also why I don't do singing workshops, because that's about as much as I can tell anyone." Her earliest public performances were in
81-445: A solo career. Adrian Oxaal , formerly of rock band James , replaced him on a few gigs late in 2012, and took over in 2013, although it was unclear whether he would become a full-time member of Oysterband. The band also featured Al Scott on bass at some gigs. Pete Flood, formerly of Bellowhead replaced Davies on drums. On 5 February 2024, John Jones, Alan Prosser and Ian Telfer announced on Facebook that Oysterband will be retiring as
108-630: A tale of the slow death of a miner. (Tabor originally included this song on her 1994 CD Against the Streams. ) In 2002 Tabor performed at the "Passchendale Peace Concert" in Flanders, appearing with Coope Boyes and Simpson . On 30 June 2006 BBC Radio 3 broadcast "Night Waves" to commemorate the anniversary of the Battle of the Somme . It was broadcast live, with Tabor singing World War I-era songs. There
135-522: A time. She made some guest appearances with Fairport Convention during this period. She also worked as a librarian. With her husband David Taylor (they have since divorced), she ran a restaurant called "Passepartout" in Penrith, Cumbria . In the 1990s she returned to music professionally. In 1983, Tabor had sung the title song for the BBC TV series Spyship . In 1990, Tabor recorded an album with
162-427: A tribute to Richard Thompson . Topic Records issued a 70-year anniversary boxed set Three Score and Ten ; in the accompanying book it lists Tabor's Aqaba as one of their classic albums. Three tracks from it are included in the compilation. "A Place Called England"' from A Quiet Eye is track eight on the second CD, and two songs appear on the seventh CD: "While Gamekeepers Lie Sleeping" from Airs & Graces
189-544: Is track two, and "Hedger and Ditcher" from the Silly Sisters album No More To The Dance is track seventeen. The Oyster Band Oysterband (originally The Oyster Band ) is a British folk rock and folk punk band formed in Canterbury around 1976. The band formed in parallel to Fiddler's Dram , and under the name "Oyster Ceilidh Band" played purely as a dance band at first. The name Oyster comes from
216-453: The 1990 Oranges and Lemmings (singing "The Trains of Waterloo", a parody of the folk song "The Plains of Waterloo" in a duet with Martin Carthy), the 1994 Gnus and Roses (singing "The January June", a send-up of her perceived sombre character), and the 2003 Yelp! (singing "There's a Hole in my Bodhran", to the tune of "There's a Hole in my Bucket"). She sang two songs on Beat The Retreat ,
243-528: The Barbican, under the heading "Daughters of Albion". Tabor contributed one song to Ashley Hutchings' project Street Cries (2001) and one to a collection of folk musicians singing songs by the Beatles – Rubber Folk (2006). She chose to sing Lennon's "In My Life" a cappella . Tabor is often experimental but avoids modernism. For example, she frequently sings traditional songs with a piano accompaniment. On
270-616: The Crown", released as the B-side of the " Tubthumping " single. But recent releases Deep Dark Ocean , Here I Stand , Rise Above and Meet You There have seen the band return to a softer, more melodic sound, while recent tours under the banner The Big Session have seen the band offer exposure to several young, emerging folk musicians like Dan Donnelly , The Handsome Family , as well as veterans such as June Tabor. James O'Grady ( Uilleann pipes , fiddle, flute, vocals) regularly appeared on
297-508: The Oysters' albums and tours in the last few years. John Jones, James O'Grady and Ian Telfer provided vocals and instrumentation on Chumbawamba 's album A Singsong and a Scrap , and Oysterband provided vocals for the song "Hull or Hell" on The Boy Bands Have Won . In 2007, long-standing drummer Lee Partis took a break to concentrate on his work as a psychotherapist, counselling in prisons. In August 2008, he confirmed he would be leaving
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#1732790075675324-723: The Ragged Kingdom tour, they were also joined on bass and guitar by Al Scott, who produced the album. On 8 February 2012, June Tabor and Oysterband won Best Traditional Song, Best Album and Best Group at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards for Ragged Kingdom , with Tabor also winning Folk Singer of the Year. Ray Cooper announced in December 2012 that he would leave the band at the end of the Ragged Kingdom tour in February 2013, to pursue
351-576: The Street ". The album was warmly received with Robin Denselow of The Guardian giving it a 5 star review. The album went on to top fRoots magazine year end poll as best album of 2011. June Tabor June Tabor (born 31 December 1947 in Warwick , England) is an English folk singer known for her solo work and her earlier collaborations with Maddy Prior and with Oysterband . June Tabor
378-508: The album Step Outside they added Russell Lax on drums. Step Outside mixed self-penned songs, often with a political theme, with reworkings of traditional standards such as "Hal-an-Tow". After the 1987 release Wide Blue Yonder Kearey left the band to be replaced by Chopper (real name Ray Cooper ). Subsequent albums included Ride , Little Rock to Leipzig and the June Tabor collaboration Freedom and Rain . Following this
405-584: The album Angel Tiger . Costello did not record it himself until 1996, on his album of the same name . In 1997 she appeared in Ken Russell 's television film, In Search of English Folk Song , which was broadcast on Channel 4 . Tim Winton , author of the novel Dirt Music (2001), which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize , made a selection of music to express the themes of the novel. The CD Dirt Music (2001) includes "He Fades Away" by Tabor,
432-574: The album Singing The Storm (1996), she sings to the accompaniment of Savourna Stevenson 's harp, and Danny Thompson 's bass. In May 2004 she performed as part of "The Big Session" and sang an adaptation of " Love Will Tear Us Apart " as a duet with John Jones of Oysterband . In 1992, The Wire voted Tabor's "Queen Among the Heather" as one of the "Top 50 Rhythms of all Time". Tabor has also performed comic work with Les Barker 's The Mrs Ackroyd Band. So far Tabor has performed on three of their albums,
459-475: The band changed its name to Oysterband. Drummer Lee Partis (who for several years was billed only by his forename) replaced Russell Lax for 1992's Deserters before Holy Bandits in 1993 propelled the band to the forefront of a booming folk rock scene alongside bands such as The Levellers . In the 1990s, the band adopted a more overtly political stance, recording the harder The Shouting End of Life and collaborating with Chumbawamba to record "Farewell to
486-592: The band changed over these albums. The first recorded line-up was: When Chris Wood left the band to go travelling in Canada, he was replaced on bass guitar by returning founder member Ian Kearey. Cathy Lesurf subsequently left to join Ashley Hutchings ' Albion Band , and Will Ward also departed so that by the time they recorded Lie Back and Think of England , the personnel had settled down to John Jones, Ian Kearey, Alan Prosser, Chris Taylor and Ian Telfer. For
513-503: The band permanently. The band then appointed Dilwyn Davies as replacement drummer. Following a 30th anniversary concert in December 2008 the band took a six-month sabbatical, during which John Jones and Chopper both made solo albums. The band returned to the studio in 2011, teaming up once again with June Tabor and releasing Ragged Kingdom in September at a sell-out concert at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall . For at least some dates on
540-563: The best things Tabor's ever released." She next released Always (2005), a boxed set of four CDs that span her career and contain rare recordings. On 24 October 2003 Tabor appeared on Later... with Jools Holland (BBC TV), singing "Hughie Graeme". This was later issued as part of a compilation DVD from the series. Folk Britannia was the name of a concert at the Barbican centre, and a related TV mini-series (February 2006, repeated in October). She sang "Fair Margaret and Sweet William" at
567-517: The folk-rock band The Oyster Band titled Freedom and Rain . She went on tour with the Oyster Band, and the Rykodisc label published a limited-run promotional live album the following year. Many of her current fans first discovered her through this tour and album with the Oyster Band. In 1992, Elvis Costello wrote "All This Useless Beauty" specifically for Tabor, and she recorded it for
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#1732790075675594-642: The group's early association with the coastal town of Whitstable , Kent , known for the quality of its oysters. Their first album, released under the Oyster Ceilidh Band name, was Jack's Alive (1980) on the Dingles record label. Subsequent albums, as "Oyster Band" (sometimes "The Oyster Band") were released on the band's own Pukka Music label: English Rock 'n' Roll: The Early Years 1800–1850 and Lie Back and Think of England , followed by 20 Golden Tie-Slackeners and Liberty Hall . The line-up of
621-692: The mid 1960s at the Heart of England Folk Club, in the Fox and Vivian pub in Leamington Spa . She attended St Hugh's College, Oxford University and appeared on University Challenge in 1968, as captain of the college team. She joined the Heritage Society at Oxford University and sang with a group called Mistral. After she performed at Sidmouth Folk Festival, she was booked in folk clubs and contributed to various recordings. One of her earliest
648-559: The name Silly Sisters for their duo. Starting in 1977, Martin Simpson joined Tabor in the recording studio for three albums before he moved to the United States in 1987. (Since his return, Simpson has been a guest artist on albums released in the 2000s (decade).) After Simpson's departure, Tabor started working closely with pianist Huw Warren . After working for decades as a singer, Tabor stopped performing professionally for
675-407: Was also a discussion with Michael Morpurgo and Kate Adie . Tabor has also performed jazz and art song , generally with a sparse and sombre tone to it. Her 2003 album An Echo of Hooves marked a return to the traditional ballad form after she concentrated on other styles for several years. It was highly acclaimed. AllMusic described it as, "A stunning jewel in a remarkable career, and one of
702-431: Was born and grew up in Warwick , England. As a young woman of 18, she was inspired to sing by hearing Anne Briggs ' EP The 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 started singing. If I hadn't heard her I'd have probably done something entirely different." Discussing in
729-581: Was in 1972 on an anthology called Stagfolk Live . She is also featured on Rosie Hardman 's Firebird (1972) and The First Folk Review Record (1974). At the time she was singing purely traditional, unaccompanied material. In 1976 Tabor collaborated with Maddy Prior on the Silly Sisters album and tour, with a full band that included Nic Jones . It provided the launching pad that same year (1976) for her first album in her own right, Airs and Graces . She later joined again with Prior, this time using
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