Two Bold Singermen and the English Folk Revival

Nominated for the 2021 Association for Recorded Sound Collections Awards for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research

Two Bold Singermenis the first book to explore in depth the lives and song traditions of two of the most influential English traditional singers: Sam Larner and Harry Cox.

Born in late nineteenth-century Norfolk, within six years and fifteen miles of each other, both men grew up in large working-class families, started work before their teens, spent their working lives in hard manual labour — Larner as a trawlerman, Cox as a farm labourer — and lived into their eighties. Both men were singers from an early age, amassed large repertoires of songs that are now established in the traditional canon, and became key figures in the “folk revival” of the 1950s and 1960s. They directly influenced performers such as Martin Carthy, Shirley Collins, Peggy Seeger, Young Tradition, and Steeleye Span, while indirectly influencing Paul Simon and Bob Dylan. Their impact extends to the current generation of performers and composers in the folk, Americana, and singer/songwriter fields, as well as to Hollywood.

Using extensive primary evidence – including recorded interviews with both men – this book provides the first detailed biographies of these great singers, placing their singing and repertoires within the social and cultural contexts in which they lived. It will appeal equally to lovers of traditional song, to social history enthusiasts, and to any reader keen to know more of the fascinating lives of two outstanding singers whose influence continues to this day.