Albert Lancaster Lloyd (29 February 1908 – 29 September 1982),[1] usually known as A. L. LloydorBert Lloyd, was an English folk singer and collector of folk songs, and as such was a key figure in the British folk revival of the 1950s and 1960s. While Lloyd is most widely known for his work with British folk music, he had a keen interest in the music of Spain, Latin America, Southeastern Europe and Australia. He recorded at least six discs of Australian Bush ballads and folk music.
A. L. Lloyd
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Albert Lancaster Lloyd |
| Born | (1908-02-29)29 February 1908 Wandsworth, England |
| Died | 29 September 1982(1982-09-29) (aged 74) Greenwich, England |
| Genres | Folk music |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Years active | 1950s–1982 |
Lloyd also helped establish the folk music subgenre of industrial folk music through his books, recordings, collecting and theoretical writings.
Lloyd was born in the Wandsworth district of London. His father was an AA Patrolman and failed smallholder. His mother sang songs around the house and according to Lloyd mimicked the gypsy singers that she had heard. By the age of fifteen his mother had died and his father, an ex-soldier, was a semi-invalid, and Lloyd was sent as an assisted migrant to Australia in a scheme organised by the British Legion.[2] There, from 1924 to 1930, he worked on various sheep stations in New South Wales and it was during this time that he began to write down folksongs he learned.[3] In the outback of New South Wales he discovered that he could access the State Library and order books. His special interests being art and music he could get a grasp of those topics without seeing a painting or hearing any music. He also bought a wind-up gramophone and began to investigate some of the classical music he had previously read about.
When Lloyd returned to the UK in 1935, during the Great Depression,[1] in the absence of a permanent job he pursued his interests in studying folk music and social and economic history, doing much of his research at the British Museum; he is quoted as saying that there is "nothing like unemployment for educating oneself".[4] In 1937, he signed on board a factory whaling ship, the Southern Empress, bound for the southern whaling grounds of the Antarctic.[5]
During this decade, Lloyd joined the Communist Party of Great Britain[6] and was strongly influenced by the writings of the Marxist historian, A. L. Morton, particularly his 1938 book A People's History of England.[7] In 1937, Lloyd's article "The People's own Poetry" was published in the Daily Worker (since 1966 renamed Morning Star) newspaper.[6]
In 1938, the BBC hired Lloyd to write a radio documentary about seafaring life, and from then on he worked as a journalist and singer.[1] As a proponent of communism, he was staunchly opposed to Adolf Hitler, and, in 1939, was commissioned by the BBC to produce a series of programmes on the rise of Nazism. Between 1940 and 1950 he was employed as a journalist by Picture Post magazine but he left the job in an act of solidarity with one of his colleagues.[7]
By the 1950s, Lloyd had established himself as a professional folklorist—as Colin Harper puts it "in a field of one".[8] Harper went to note that, at a time when the English folk revival was dominated by young people who wore jeans and pullovers, Lloyd was rarely seen in anything other than a suit (and a wide grin). Ewan MacColl is quoted as describing Lloyd affectionately as "a walking toby jug".[9] In 1959, Lloyd's collaboration with Ralph Vaughan Williams, The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs, was published.
The 1956 film Moby Dick, directed by John Huston, featured Lloyd singing a sea shanty as the Pequod first sets sail. There is also a brief visual clip of him.[1]
In the early 1960s, Lloyd became associated with an enterprise known as "Centre 42" which arose from Resolution 42 of the 1960 Trades Union Congress, concerning the importance of arts in the community. Centre 42 was a touring festival aimed at devolving art and culture from London to the other main working class towns of Britain. It was led by Arnold Wesker, with MacColl and Lloyd providing the musical content and Charles Parker on production. Centre 42 was important in bringing a range of folk performers to the public attention: Anne Briggs, the Ian Campbell Folk Group, The Spinners and The Watersons.[10]
Lloyd recorded many albums of English folk music, most notably several albums of the Child Ballads with MacColl. He also published many books on folk music and related topics, including The Singing Englishman, Come All Ye Bold Miners, and Folk Song in England. He was a founder-member of Topic Records and remained as their artistic director until his death.
The accompanying book to the Topic Records 70 year anniversary boxed set Three Score and Ten includes a short biography and lists two albums he is closely associated with as classic albums, The Iron Muse[11]: 30 and Frost and Fire by The Watersons.[11]: 34 Track five on the second CD has Lloyd singing The Two Magicians from another album he was closely associated with, being The Bird in the Bush (Traditional Erotic Songs).
Mark Gregory interviewed him in 1970 for the National Library of Australia,[12] and Michael Grosvenor Myer for Folk Review magazine in September 1974.
Lloyd died at his home in Greenwich in 1982.[1][13]
His version of the folk song: "Doodle let me go (Yaller girls)" was used in the credits and trailer of the 2019 film, The Lighthouse.
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