Episode 14. Participation in the Second Wave Folk Revival

SYNOPSIS

If the Edwardian folk song and dance revival can (with partial justification) be caricatured as Varsity-educated gentlemen scouring the English countryside to record the folk traditions of the rural poor, the second folk revival has different characteristics. Partly youth-oriented and developing out of the skiffle craze in the early 1960s, folk clubs developed in towns, participants and audiences comprising mainly urban workers, professionals and intellectuals, activists and students of all classes, as higher education opened up in the 1960s. Supported by a burgeoning record industry, including folk’s Topic Records, the post-war revival was more open to other popular musical traditions. These trends are illustrated by Yvette Staelens’ interview, covering childhood music in multi-cultural Gloucester, the opportunity for a self-styled ‘working-class’ woman to attend Exeter University and participation as a singer, teacher and folk archivist. Thaxted memories feature, as her mother moved from the East End to enjoy an idyllic childhood there.

GUEST

One of Yvette Staelens’ earliest musical memories is sitting on the stairs at 11 Central Road, Gloucester, listening to her brother Ralph playing electric guitar with his mates in their 'beat group'. During her own professional music career, she formed an acoustic band, Roots Quartet, co-writing/arranging many of their songs. Yvette also publishes, performs and lectures internationally, specialising in Somerset folk song. In 2004, Yvette in collaboration with Dr C. J. Bearman and Somerset County Council, published the Somerset Folk Map. She is a Research Fellow at Bournemouth University and currently co-ordinates the pioneering Human Henge project.

Yvette’s interview with Simon was recorded at Yvette Staelens’ home on 26 January 2020.