It’s just over 25 years
since the release of Peter Bellamy’s masterwork “The
Transports - a Ballad Opera” - a work that is now recognised
as one of the true masterpieces of the Folk Revival.
Bellamy’s masterwork, unavailable for some time, is now released
as a 2-CD/Book/Box-set 25th anniversary ‘Silver Edition’ of
the ballad opera, on Free Reed’s Revival Masters box set label.
Its 1977 vinyl release was voted ‘Folk LP of the year’ and
25 years on, it’s still way up there, recently in:
- MoJo Magazine’s ‘Top 100 Recordings of the
20th Century'
- BBC 2’s “Best folk albums of the 20th century”!
CD1 of this lavish Silver Edition box-set
features the remastered original 1977 recordings, performed
by singers who are a veritable time-capsule of the front rank
of the 1970s folk revival
- Martin Carthy, Nic Jones
- Mike & Norma Waterson
- A L Lloyd, June Tabor
- Cyril Tawney, Dave Swarbrick and many more)
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The set’s second CD ‘The
Transports 2004 - Peter’s Friends’ is all new recordings
by many of Peter’s close friends who have revisited and
reinterpreted his classic Transports songs, and their startling
performances feature as CD2 of the set. Performers include:
- Coope Boyes & Simpson, John Kirkpatrick,
Steve Tilston
- Fairport Convention and Fairport’s Simon
Nicol and Chris Leslie.
- Grace Notes, Witches of Elswick, Tom McConville
- Pete Morton, Damien Barber, and Bacca Pipes
folk club.
The Set’s
fine 136-page book details the History of the First Fleet and
of the English ‘Transported Convicts’. There’s
a full discography, detailed artist biographies of both the 1977
and 2004 casts, with reminiscences, many interviews, and a Recording
The Transports rare picture archive of Tony Fisher’s previously
unpublished photographs of the1977 sessions.
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