I'm not a fan of awards ceremonies. If there is one thing worse than Californian schmaltz, it's Jonathan Ross and his ilk. But this last week, I have found myself watching both the Grammy Awards and the Brits with some relish. The effort was well worth it.
Bob appeared at the Grammys, and appeared to be having a great time too. But then why wouldn't he, jamming with the Avett Brothers and Mumford & Sons on Maggie's Farm, a song which always had greater resonance in the UK than the US. Then, a couple of days later, Laura Marling won best female solo artist and - to the delight of daughter Cassidy - Mumford & Sons won best album for Sigh No More. I understand it was an unexpected triumph, but triumph it was - not just for the band, but for the genre.
Folk is back.
I came to 'popular' music through folk, and the civil rights, anti-war, nuclear disarmament politics which folk espoused. Back in the early '60s, in school holidays, I used to visit a club called Les Cousins in Soho, where I saw folkies such as Ewan MacColl and Davey Graham playing through the night before we were thrown out at 6am after a final chorus of 'Goodnight Eileen'. (I think I also saw one of the first Paul Simon UK performances there, but it may have been somewhere else: I'm not entirely clear.)
At that time, of course, there were no electric instruments to be heard in Les Cousins, and for a while I followed the Communist Party line about electrification. It took Bob and the Band, a couple of years later, to demonstrate emphatically that the message was enhanced by the new medium.
The journey which started back in Les Cousins has informed almost all my popular musical interests since. Bob, Joni, the Band, the Fairports, the Airplane and the Dead, even the Velvets.
And now, we have a new generation embracing these roots, producing music which is passionate and poignant, exuberant and melancholic.
I love it.
Today's listening: Mumford & Sons, Sigh No More. Repays multiple listens, but I must get to see them live.
Bob appeared at the Grammys, and appeared to be having a great time too. But then why wouldn't he, jamming with the Avett Brothers and Mumford & Sons on Maggie's Farm, a song which always had greater resonance in the UK than the US. Then, a couple of days later, Laura Marling won best female solo artist and - to the delight of daughter Cassidy - Mumford & Sons won best album for Sigh No More. I understand it was an unexpected triumph, but triumph it was - not just for the band, but for the genre.
Folk is back.
I came to 'popular' music through folk, and the civil rights, anti-war, nuclear disarmament politics which folk espoused. Back in the early '60s, in school holidays, I used to visit a club called Les Cousins in Soho, where I saw folkies such as Ewan MacColl and Davey Graham playing through the night before we were thrown out at 6am after a final chorus of 'Goodnight Eileen'. (I think I also saw one of the first Paul Simon UK performances there, but it may have been somewhere else: I'm not entirely clear.)
At that time, of course, there were no electric instruments to be heard in Les Cousins, and for a while I followed the Communist Party line about electrification. It took Bob and the Band, a couple of years later, to demonstrate emphatically that the message was enhanced by the new medium.
The journey which started back in Les Cousins has informed almost all my popular musical interests since. Bob, Joni, the Band, the Fairports, the Airplane and the Dead, even the Velvets.
And now, we have a new generation embracing these roots, producing music which is passionate and poignant, exuberant and melancholic.
I love it.
Today's listening: Mumford & Sons, Sigh No More. Repays multiple listens, but I must get to see them live.
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