Martin Carthy

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Martin Carthy and Norma Waterson at a performance in Cranleigh, April 2006.

Martin Carthy (born May 21, 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 Richard Thompson since he emerged as a young musician in the early days of the folk revival.

He was born in Hatfield and grew up in Hampstead, London. After training as an actor he sang in coffee bars. He became a resident at the Troubador folk club in Earls Court in the late 1950s. He joined Redd Sullivan's Thameside Four in 1961. He is a renowned solo performer of traditional songs in a very distinctive style, accompanying himself on his trusty old Martin Guitar; his style is marked by the use of alternate tunings, and a strongly percussive picking style that emphasizes the melody. His debut album, Martin Carthy, was released in 1965, and also featured Dave Swarbrick playing fiddle on some tracks, although he was not mentioned in the album's sleeve notes.

He has also been involved with many musical collaborations. He has sung with The Watersons since 1972, was an early member of the UK folk rock group Steeleye Span, and was part of the innovative Brass Monkey ensemble, which mixed a range of brass instruments with Carthy's guitar and mandolin and John Kirkpatrick's accordion, melodeon and concertina.

For many years Carthy has enjoyed a creative partnership with fiddle player Dave Swarbrick and, more recently, has provided the forum for a successful partnership with partner Norma Waterson together with their daughter Eliza Carthy.

In June 1998 he was awarded the MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours. He was named Folk Singer of the Year at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2002, and again in 2005 when he also won the award for Best Traditional Track for 'Famous Flower of Serving Men'.

Discography

Studio albums

Dave Swarbrick appeared on Carthy's first two albums, but was not at that time given equal billing for contractual reasons.

Martin Carthy (1965)
Second Album (1966)
The Bonny Black Hare (1967)
Landfall (1971)
Shearwater (1972)
Sweet Wivelsfield (1974)
Crown of Horn (1976)
Kershaw Sessions (1978)
Because It's There (1979)
Out of the Cut (1982)
Right of Passage (1988)
Wood Wilson Carthy (1998)
Signs of Life (1998)
Waiting for Angels (2004)
At Ruskin Mill (2005)

with Dave Swarbrick

Byker Hill (1967)
Rags, Reels & Airs (1967)
No Songs (EP) (1968)
But Two Came By (1968)
Prince Heathen (1969)
Selections (1971)
Life and Limb (1990)
Skin and Bone (1992)

as a member of Steeleye Span

Please to See the King (1971)
Ten Man Mop (1971)
Storm Force Ten (1977)
Live at Last! (1978)

as a member of Brass Monkey

Brass Monkey (1984)
See How It Runs (1986)
Sound and Rumour (1999)
The Complete Brass Monkey
Going and Staying (2001)
Flame of Fire (2004)
The Definitive Collection (2005)

as a member of Blue Murder

No One Stands Alone (2002)

DVD

Martins 4 (2005) (Martin Carthy, Martin Simpson, Martin Taylor and Juan Martin)

External links

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