British Army Songs by Ewan McColl, released oN Washington Records in 1961.

A collection of folk songs with the theme of the British army. For me the best is the Second Front For You:

"..It's here, chum; it's here, chum; it's the second front for you.
In spite of the old Atlantic wall, we're the boys to see you through.
It won't take long to finish it, when we have got their range,
And then we can all go home and live like humans for a change.

At last the train reached Manchester; the station was Exchange.
It was too late to get a car or bus to Whalley Range
I tried to flag a taxi but I didn't stand a chance.
They'd all been commandeered to take the Yanks home from a dance..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5b4bG-5VMQ&list=RDQ5b4bG-5VMQ&start_radio=1

#ewanmcoll #worldwar2 #armysongs #folkmusic

Songs Of Two Rebellions - The Jacobite Wars Of 1715 And 1745 In Scotland by Ewan McColl, released on Topic and Folkways in 1960.

"During the 17th and 18th centuries, a series of wars were fought involving Scotland, England, Ireland, and even France. Essentially these were failed attempts to restore the deposed Stuart monarchy to the throne of Great Britain, and, from a Scottish perspective, to curtail the unjust domination of Scotland by England. English forces were usually pitted against those of Scotland. The final Jacobite effort was in 1745 on behalf of Bonnie Prince Charlie, who, after he was defeated at the Battle of Culloden, was forced to flee to France.

Radical English/Scottish folksinger Ewan MacColl teams with his wife Peggy Seeger, the half-sister of iconic folksinger Pete Seeger and a well-known performer in her own right, to present folk songs from the two Scottish rebellions." Folkways

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04BBAeaRGdY&list=OLAK5uy_kZCZSevmaMaPsCW2ppxi9cuEC77XEhEqE

#ewanmcoll #peggyseeger #jacobites #folkmusic #scotland

The New Briton Gazette - Vol.1
by Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger

"The husband-and-wife folk duo of Scotsman Ewan MacColl (1915–1989) and American Peggy Seeger (b. 1935) sing a collection of original “contemporary British songs.” Many of MacColl and Seeger’s songs, which utilize traditional and original folk melodies, focus on the economic and political struggles of the working class in mid-20th-century Great Britain. Of note are Seeger’s songs “The Crooked Cross,” about the reappearance of swastikas on synagogues in Germany in the 1950s, and “There’s Better Things For You,” an anti-nuclear-bomb marching song. Song lyrics are in the liner notes. " Folkways

Loved all these tunes but the acapella version of The Trafford Road Song is a particular highlight for me.

""But I'll stay beside the Irwell all my life before I'll stand
In some foreign land with a bayonet in my hand""

https://ewanmaccoll.bandcamp.com/album/the-new-briton-gazette-vol-1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXj94MtgV1w&list=PLu3x3Rn7-97Oe_yHv2Gw_8wgb7NhDxiOK&index=6

#ewanmcoll #peggyseeger #britishfolk #antiwar #irwell