Cyril Tawney

Vocalist/songwriter Cyril Tawney was the iron guy of the Uk folk revival, touring night clubs and celebrations for near half a hundred years — a stretch out unrivaled by some of his contemporaries. Tawney was created right into a naval family members in Gosport, Hampshire, on Oct 12, 1930, pursuing custom by enlisting himself at age 16. In every, he spent twelve years like a naval electrician, five of these aboard submarines. As his armed service profession drew to a detailed, Tawney began acquiring actions toward a existence in music, and on Xmas Day time 1957 he produced his radio debut around the BBC unique House Service’s Sing Xmas and the Change of the entire year, introduced by sponsor and musicologist Alan Lomax as “Petty Official Tawney from the HMS Murray.” (Tawney later on credited previously Lomax-hosted broadcasts as his intro to traditional folk music, while his Royal Navy tenure was the most obvious motivation for his career-long desire for maritime tunes.) Tawney exited the navy in middle-1959 and instantly entered a fresh career like a radio performer. In Oct 1961, he performed his first single club day, and 2 yrs later on released his debut EP, Baby Lay Easy. Although he gravitated to traditional materials, especially the tunes of southwestern Britain made popular by Sabine Baring-Gould, Tawney was an experienced article writer in his very own best, documenting the seaman’s lifestyle with uncommon lyricism and poignancy. His tracks, most notable included in this “The Gray Funnel Range,” “A Low fat and Unwashed Tiffy,” “The Ballad of Sammy’s Club,” and “Sally Totally free and Easy,” had been afterwards covered by performers including Bob Dylan, Davy Graham, and Carolyn Hester. After some short-lived record label affiliations Tawney arrived with Argo in 1969. There he’d produce the majority of his studio room result, including 1972’s near-definitive In Interface. In 1988 he founded his very own label, Neptune Tapes, where he continued to be throughout his recording profession. Following a longer illness, Tawney passed away at his house in Devon on Apr 21, 2005.