She Had a Dark and a Roving Eye

Mrs S & I are out of town for the next few days, so the halls and corridors of Swede Towers have fallen silent. In fact, all being well, as you read these words we'll be in Oxford checking out the dreaming spires, plus the odd pub, gallery and coffee shop, before heading down into London's East End later in the week to visit my elderly Aunts. I'm a fairly regular visitor to Cambridge, that other great seat of learning, but have only ever been to Oxford once before and that was 45 years ago, so I don't recall an awful lot about the place. I'll report back with our impressions next week.

Here's the great Shirley Collins with 'The Oxford Girl', an ancient murder ballad that has appeared in many guises over the centuries. Shirley apparently heard this particular arrangement as 'The Wexport Girl', performed by Suffolk singer Phoebe Smith on a Topic Records LP. Shirley's reading of the song is taken from the 1970 record 'Love, Death and the Lady', made with her sister Dolly, a phenomenal album that remained on constant rotation in my car for well over a month late last year.

Shirley Collins - The Oxford Girl

Shirley Inspired

This tribute to the great Shirley Collins pulls no punches and leaves few stones unturned - 3 CD's containing 45 tracks stretching to just under 3½ hours of music. It's a mighty undertaking. Does it overstay its welcome, sag, drag or bore? No, no, no and absolutely no. You've got traditional folk, you've got modern folk, you've got freak folk and you've got interpretations of songs that stray far outside any recognised definition of the F-word. It's a marvellous, lovingly curated set that I'm sure will continue to reveal further treasures with repeated plays. 'Shirley Inspired' was put together, in part, to help fund a new documentary film, 'The Ballad of Shirley Collins' and I'm pleased to have played a tiny part in such a worthwhile venture. Find out more here.