Nic Jones (1971) The Noah’s Ark Trap (1977) From the Devil to a Stranger (1978) Bandoggs (1978). Dec 24, 2019 Nic Jones sang The Green Mossy Banks of the Lea on his 1978 Transatlantic album From the Devil to a Stranger. Mick Bisiker sang Mossy Green Banks of the Lea in 1991 on his Fellside CD Home Again. Steve Turner sang The Green Mossy Banks of the Lea on his 2016 Tradition Bearers CD Spirit of the Game.

1. Nic Jones From The Devil To A Stranger Rare
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Nicolas Paul Jones (born 9 January 1947) is an English folk singer, fingerstyle guitarist and fiddle player who was most active in the years 1964–1982. He recorded five solo albums, and has been a frequent guest performer.

Biography[edit]

Nic Jones was born on 9 January 1947 in Orpington, London,^[1][2][3][4] where his father owned a newsagent's shop.^[5] The family moved to Brentwood in Essex when Nic was two, and he later attended Brentwood School.^[5] He first learned to play guitar as a young teenager and early musical influences included such artists as The Shadows, Duane Eddy, Chet Atkins, Wes Montgomery and Ray Charles. His interest in folk music was aroused by an old school friend, Nigel Paterson (musician) who was a member of a folk band called The Halliard. When the members of the group decided to turn professional, one of them left to pursue a different career and Nic was invited to take his place. Whilst playing with The Halliard, Jones learned to play the fiddle and also how to research and arrange traditional material. The group toured the UK between 1964 and 1968, eventually splitting up when two of the members decided to pursue careers outside the folk music business.^[6]

In 1968 Jones married Julia Seymour and they eventually were to have three children together – Daniel (d), Helen and Joe. The couple settled in Chelmsford and Jones decided to pursue a career as a solo folk artist. He started playing professional gigs in 1969, and in 1970 released his first album, Ballads and Songs for Trailer Records.^[7] Between 1971 and 1980 Jones recorded four more solo albums – three more for Trailer Records and his last, 'Penguin Eggs', for Topic. Apart from Jones' trademark vocals, fingerstyle guitar and fiddle, the records also introduced guest instrumentalists playing piano, harmonium, bodhran, melodeon and recorders.

During his career, Jones was much in demand as a session musician and he guested on albums by leading UK artists such as June Tabor, Shirley Collins, Barbara Dickson, Richard Thompson and many others. Jones joined fellow folk singers Jon Raven and Tony Rose for the 1973 trio album 'Songs of a Changing World'.^[8] Also alongside Tony Rose, as well as Pete Coe & Chris Coe, Jones was a member of short-lived folk group 'Bandoggs'; one eponymously titled album was released in 1978.^[9]

Nic Jones From The Devil To A Stranger Rare

1. View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 1978 Vinyl release of 'From The Devil To A Stranger' on Discogs.
2. Discover releases, reviews, credits, songs, and more about Nic Jones - From The Devil To A Stranger at Discogs. Complete your Nic Jones collection.
3. Jones also skilfully used selective string damping to achieve other percussive effects such as on 'Billy Don't You Weep For Me' (on From the Devil to a Stranger). A feature of his later, mature guitar style is the introduction of subtle counterpoint lines that complement the lead vocals.

On 28 February 1982 Jones was involved in a serious road traffic accident. Returning home by car after a gig at Glossop Folk Club, on the road between Peterborough and March in Cambridgeshire, Jones, tired, inadvertently drove into a lorry pulling out of Whittlesea brickworks. He suffered serious injuries, including many broken bones and brain damage, and required intensive care treatment and hospitalisation for a total of eight months. His injuries left him with permanent physical co-ordination problems, unable to play the guitar as well as before, and no longer able to play the fiddle at all. The accident effectively ended his career as a touring and recording professional musician.^[5]

Jones now lives in Devon and continues to play guitar and write songs for his own pleasure and enjoys playing chess. His wife Julia set up the record label Mollie Music which has issued four albums of re-mastered live recordings from Jones's early career.

The accompanying book to the Topic Records 70 year anniversary boxed set Three Score and Ten lists Penguin Eggs as one of the classic albums.^[10]:54 with 'the Humpbacked Whale' from the album as the first track on the first CD in the set and 'Clyde Water' from Game Set Match as track seven on the seventh CD.

On 5 August 2010, after an absence of 28 years, Jones made a return to the stage. He appeared at an event dedicated to his music at Sidmouth Folk Week. Jones sang three songs with one of his former bands Bandoggs and commented that he would 'consider performing again – but wanted to sing his own songs.'^[11] In 2012 Nic Jones (with musicians Joseph Jones – Nic's son – and Belinda O'Hooley) performed his first solo concerts for 30 years at the Warwick, Cambridge, Wadebridge and Towersey folk festivals.^[12] On 22 September 2012, Nic Jones was presented with The Gold Badge of the English Folk Dance & Song Society at a special concert at Cecil Sharp House, London. It is the highest honour the E.F.D.S.S. can confer on a musician. On 30 January 2013 Jones was named Folk Singer of the Year at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. On 23 August 2013 the Nic Jones Trio (comprising Nic, Joseph Jones and Belinda O'Hooley) performed on the opening night of that year's Shrewsbury Folk Festival, in the course of which it was announced from the stage that it was to be their final performance.

Guitar style[edit]

Jones developed an intricate, rhythmically complex fingerpicking and strumming guitar style. He started off playing in standard guitar tuning (EADGBE) but then gravitated towards a variety of open tunings after hearing the recordings of Martin Carthy, whom he acknowledges as an important influence. These included tunings such as the well-known DADGAD, but also variants of Bb, C and G major/minor/modal tunings heard on such tracks as for 'Canada-I-O' (Bb F Bb F Bb C) and similarly but with a capo for 'Billy Don't You Weep For Me'.^[13] Jones was also influenced by classical and flamenco guitar playing.

Early in his career he played a small-bodied Epiphone acoustic guitar.^{[citation needed]} He then played a Fylde Oberon acoustic guitar,^[14] before moving on to a Fylde Orsino, which better suited his style.^{[citation needed]} He used a plastic thumb pick and 'bare' fingers. Jones plucked the strings with some force causing the strings to lift up and rebound against the fretboard – accounting for the 'spitting', slapping sound characteristic of Jones' guitar accompaniments. Another important feature was a regular percussive sound made by striking downwards with the middle and ring fingers of the right hand on damped bass strings close to or above the bridge of the guitar. This is akin to the technique used by banjo players called frailing. This can be heard to good effect on such Jones tracks as 'Ten Thousand Miles' (on The Noah's Ark Trap, 1977) and 'Master Kilby' (on From the Devil to a Stranger, 1978). Jones also skilfully used selective string damping to achieve other percussive effects such as on 'Billy Don't You Weep For Me' (on From the Devil to a Stranger).

A feature of his later, mature guitar style is the introduction of subtle counterpoint lines that complement the lead vocals. This can be heard on such songs as 'Miles Weatherhill', 'The Golden Glove', 'Courting is a Pleasure'.^[15]

Discography[edit]

Jones' first four albums were originally released on vinyl on the Trailer Records label. Currently only the first two are available on CD. Legal wrangles continue to impede Jones' full back-catalogue from being re-released.

In 2001 Penguin Eggs was voted to 2nd place in the 'Best Folk Album of all Time' by listeners of the Mike Harding show on BBC Radio 2. The opening track on this album, 'Canadee-I-O' was also recorded by Bob Dylan and included on his 1992 album Good as I Been to You. Some critics, such as fRoots editor Ian A. Anderson, have accused Dylan of stealing Jones' arrangements for this song without credit or offer of royalties.^[16]

Solo[edit]

Studio albums:

• Ballads and Songs (1970)
• Nic Jones (1971)
• The Noah's Ark Trap (1977)
• From the Devil to a Stranger (1978)
• Penguin Eggs (1980)^[17]

Remastered live albums:

• In Search of Nic Jones (1998)
• Unearthed (2001)
• Game Set Match (2006)^[18]

With The Halliard[edit]

• It's The Irish in Me – The Halliard (1967)
• The Halliard and Jon Raven (1967)
• Broadside Songs (2005 – the Halliard songs from and Jon Raven, plus 10 more)
• The Last Goodnight! (2005 – long-lost recording from 1968, plus 3 more)

With Bandoggs[edit]

• Bandoggs (1978)

With Maddy Prior and June Tabor[edit]

• Silly Sisters (1976)

Jones has also sung, and played guitar and fiddle, on recordings by many other folk artists.^[19]

In 1999, John Wesley Harding released a tribute album entitled Trad Arr Jones.

Notes[edit]

Nic Jones From The Devil To A Stranger Rar Full

1. ^Biography (nicjones.net)
2. ^The making of a masterpieceArchived 16 November 2009 at the Wayback Machine ('Penguin Eggs' – Folk magazine).
3. ^The time of Nic (Article from 'Folk roots')
4. ^See Autobiography at Myspace
5. ^ ^abcRaven, Mike (May–June 1997). 'Nic Jones'. The Living Tradition. No. 21.
6. ^See The Halliard (Myspace).
7. ^Trailer Records was a specialist folk music label founded by Bill Leader, and distributed by Transatlantic
8. ^'Jon Raven, Nic Jones, Tony Rose – 'Songs Of A Changing World''.
9. ^'Bandoggs'. mainlynorfolk.info. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
10. ^'Topic Records » THREE SCORE & TEN'. www.topicrecords.co.uk. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
11. ^Folk legend Nic Jones returns to the stage after 28 years (The Guardian, 5 August 2010).
12. ^Nic Jones website news (Nic Jones website, 22 December 2011).
13. ^These tunings are: G major (D G D G B D); G minor (D G D G Bb D); G modal (D G C G C D); C major (C G C G C E); C minor (C G C G C Eb); C modal (C G C G C D).
14. ^Roger Bucknall. Fylde Guitars
15. ^Raven, Mike (May–June 1997). 'Nic Jones' Guitar Style'. The Living Tradition. No. 21.
16. ^''Good as I Been to You' review in Folk Roots 114 (December 1992)'.
17. ^'Penguin Eggs was voted album of the year by both 'Folk Roots' and Melody Maker magazines.
18. ^'Topic Records » NIC JONES ~ GAME SET MATCH TSCD566'. www.topicrecords.co.uk. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
19. ^See Discography (by Reinhard Zierke)

External links[edit]

• Nic Jones (Official website)
• Nic Jones (Article by Mike Raven at folkmusic.net)
• Nic Jones Guitar Style (Article by Mike Raven at folkmusic.net)
• In search of Nic Jones (Article by Dave Emery at folkmusic.net)
• Nic Jones ('selected English foksingers')
• Discography (folkmonster.net)

Listen to Nic Jones' music:

• Nic Jones (Official 'Myspace' site)
• Sir Patrick Spens on YouTube
• The Bonny Bunch of Roses on YouTube
• Wanton seed on YouTube
• Canadee-i-o on YouTube
• Courting is a pleasure on YouTube

>Tony Rose >Songs >Sir William Gower
>Nic Jones >Songs >William Glenn / Captain Glenn

[Roud 478 ; Laws K22 ; G/D 2:191 ; Ballad Index LK22 ; Bodleian Roud 478 ; Wiltshire 328 , 814 ; Mudcat 128435 ; trad.]

This song is listed in A.L. Lloyd and Ralph Vaughan Williams'Penguin Book of English Folk Songsas The New York Trader.

Tony Rose sang it in 1976 as Sir William Goweron his third album,On Banks of Green Willow.He commented in the album's sleeve notes:

It was a common superstition, possibly originating with the story of Jonah,that the presence of an evil-doer on board a ship might imperil both vessel andcrew, unless the guilty party were sought out and thrown overboard. Such isthe theme running throughThe Banks of Green WillowandSir William Gower,both of which were collected by Cecil Sharp in Somerset.

Fairport Convention recorded Sir William Gower a few years earlierthan Tony Rose for their LPAngel Delight.Their BBC session recording broadcast 27 March 1971 on“Folk on One” was included in the 4 CD boxLive at the BBC.

Nic Jones recorded this ballad as William Glennwith somewhat different verses in 1978 for his albumFrom the Devil to a Stranger.Another version was included in 2001 on his compilation CDUnearthedwhere it is calledCaptain Glenn.He also sang it in a BBC Radio 1 John Peel session recorded on19 April 1977 and broadcast 26 April 1977.

John Wesley Harding also sang this ballad on his Nic Jones tribute album,Trad Arr Jones.

Graham Moore sang William Glennon his 1995 albumTom Paine's Bones.

John Doyle sang Captain Glennon his 2005 CDWayward Son.He noted:

Nic Jones recorded this on an early out of print record calledFrom the Devil to a Stranger.Many thanks to the Rusby family and to Ken Cope each for getting a copy to me.

Bryony Griffith sang William Gowerin 2011 on her and Will Hampson's CDLady Diamond.They learned it “from the singing of Tony Rose and Cecil Sharp'scollection of English Folk Songs.”and coupled it with the tuneThe Tankard of Ale “from the manuscript of Joshua Jackson,North cornmiller and musician, by Bowen & Shepherd forYorkshire Dales Workshops.”

Tarras sang New York Traderin 2011 on their CDWarn the Waters.

False Lights sang William Glenn on their 2018 CDHarmonograph.They noted:

Learned from Nic Jones' version onFrom the Devil to a Stranger,with some extra lines based on Tony Rose's recording under the nameSir William Gower. It was a common superstition that an evil-doeronboard could endanger the whole crew, and the best solution was to find theguilty party and throw them overboard to calm the storms they had caused.

Lyrics

Nic Jones sings William Glenn

Oh it's of a ship and a ship of fame
Launched off the stocks, bound to sail the main;
With one hundred and fifty brisk young men
Well picked and chosen every one
And William Glenn was the captain's name.
He was a fine and a tall young man
As fine a sailor as sailed the sea;
And we were sailing to New Barbary.

On the first of April, then we set sail,
Blessed with a fine and a prosperous gale.
And we were bound for New Barbary
With all of our whole ship's company.
We hadn't been sailing a league or two
Till all of our whole ship's jovial crew,
They all fell sick but sixty-three
As we were sailing to New Barbary.

One night the Captain then he did dream,
A voice came to him and said to him:
“Prepare yourself and your company
For tomorrow night you must lie with me.”
This woke the captain in a terrible fright,
It being the third watch of the night.
And aloud for the bosun then he did call
And to him told his secrets all.

“Bosun,” he said, “it grieves my heart
To think I've played a villain's part:
A man I slew in Staffordshire
And all for the sake of his lady fair.
And of the ghost of that I am afraid
That has in me such terror bred.
So keep the secret within your breast
And pray to the lord that he gives you rest.”

Nic Jones From The Devil To A Stranger Rar Game

We hadn't been a sailing a league but three
Till raging grew the roaring sea.
There rose a tempest up in the skies
Which did our seamen much surprise
And the main mast sprung by the break of day
Which made our rigging all but to give way;
And did our seamen much affright
The terrors of that awful night.

Nic Jones From The Devil To A Stranger Rar Free

And then the bosun he did declare
That the captain was a murderer.
This so enraged the whole ship's crew
That overboard our captain threw.
Our treacherous captain he being gone
Immediately there came a calm
And the winds abated and so did the sea
And we went sailing to New Barbary.

And when we came to the Spanish Shore
Our good little ship for to repair,
The people there were amazed to see
Our dismal case and such misery.
Now seamen all wherever you may be
I pray you take a warning from me:
As you love life won't you have care
And never go sailing with a murderer.

Nic Jones From The Devil To A Stranger Rar Online

Acknowledgements and Links

Thanks to Garry Gillard for transcribing the lyrics from Tony Rose'ssinging.

Nic Jones' lyrics were copied from theMudcat Café.