Here he is, writing in the sleeve notes to The Wide Midlands, back in 1972. It’s probably most appropriate that we let Roy Palmer have the first word on the song itself. What do we know about The Brave Dudley Boys ? It’s thanks to people like Palmer (and contemporaries such as Jon Raven) that we have access to songs like ‘The Brave Dudley Boys’ today. His work collecting songs from the incomparable Cecilia Costello links us directly to the grimy world of the real-life Peaky Blinders, and paints a picture of Birmingham that modern-day Brummies simply wouldn’t recognise. My own interest in Birmingham and Midlands songs wouldn’t have gone quite as far as it already has had it not been for his 1972 album, The Wide Midlands, released on Topic Records and featuring performers including Peter and Chris Coe (both of whom had received Palmer’s encouragement in the early parts of their careers). You can find them on Amazon by clicking here.)Īside from writing and publishing around 30 books on the subject of folk song (many of them with a focus on Birmingham, as that is where he lived and taught), Roy Palmer was also a folk song collector and occasional record producer. (If you’re interested in folk songs and you don’t have this series, you’re missing out. They certainly inspired the Folk from the Attic section of this blog, most notably in their desire and ability to bring these songs to life right there on the page. Aesthetically, they make up a good-looking collection, but, more importantly, the songs are meticulously researched and each is couched in wonderful historical context.
Take, for instance, the series of themed books he published between 19 ( The Painful Plough, The Valiant Sailor, Poverty Knock, The Rigs of the Fair and Strike the Bell). In researching songs for my first album ( Songs From the Attic) and the album I’m currently working on (which features songs from the Midlands), his books and collections have held a special attraction for me, possibly because of an affinity with the songs he published, but also for the style with which he presented his material. I regret not having had the chance to meet or interview him, as I have more books with his name on them in my small (but rapidly growing) folk library than any other folk scholar. Roy Palmer died in February 2015 – about 18 months before The Grizzly Folk blog came into being. As soon as you start spending serious amounts of time with traditional and old songs from the Midlands, for example, you come up against the mighty Roy Palmer.
The more you delve deeper into traditional folk music in the UK, the more you encounter certain names – figures that may be little known outside the cannon, and sometimes no better known within it, but loom large over their own area of expertise. This post is as much a tribute to one man as it is as history of ‘The Brave Dudley Boys’. Ep1: The Old Songs Podcast – ‘Henry Martin / Lofty Tall Ship’ ft.Ep2: The Old Songs Podcast – ‘Tam Lin’ ft.
Ep13 – The Old Songs Podcast – ‘The Cruel Mother’, ft.