John Barleycorn

[theslipperofsatan]

Good old English music. I approve.

[mouldybear]

One of the finest performances of an English traditional songs on record. Magnificent.

[legunncat]

It's nigh time.

[Rogermiler]

Awesome! Can you post the lyrics? :)

[BeorhtFrognostic]

Heard on the news today Mike Waterson has died.

Rest In Peace.

[MrVmBear]

sounds like an american speaking norwegian

[EscargoTouChaud]

@MrVmBear Haha! I love it when Americans speak Norwegian!

[TimmyFeathers]

my hats off....

[GhostyFilms]

Who is singing?

[TimmyFeathers]

@GhostyFilms i think its Dominic Chianese

[MegaSunshineforever]

does anyone know of jethro tull doing this album i found a copy a few yrs ago but lost it in a home fire in2007 any helpful leads i would be be thankful for awsome tune

[hakkamantis]

@MegaSunshineforever Not Sure they did Album but There is a video of Jethro Tull -John Barleycorn on youtube

[DaveKovacs82]

Live version is on the Tull album A LITTLE LITE MUSIC. While Tull is, handsdown, my favourite band, their version, while interesting, could have been better.

[soslothful]

@hakkamantis  Check A Little Light Music. You can get a lot of old Tull from Collectors Choice Music

[hakkamantis]

@soslothful Thanks for the link great site

[havi70]

@MegaSunshineforever Live on "A Little Light Music"

[kiskte]

@MegaSunshineforever It's on "A Little Light Music", the unplugged one from the beginning of the nineties.

Greetings from Hungary.

[GhostyFilms]

@MegaSunshineforever Are you sure it wasn't "Traffic" that recorded the song? They have flute in their version. You should look it up.

[guywolff]

Mike Waterosn 's version of this is just my favorite in the world.I dont know this for a fact but I wonder if this performance "Informed "traffic and the rest of the modern folk-rock musicians who did it after Mike ?? Was this recorded in the early 1960's?? All the best , Guy

[hakkamantis]

Hello Guy. I think it was His early version it come from the Frost and Fire cd. I find Mikes version more Magical to listen too.

[guywolff]

I would love to sit down and play with the man !!! All the best , Guy

[waelhealle]

Exelent version!!!!!! :D

[MorrisManDanceMan]

l like this its so good

[MagnusBruce]

Wow, this is great. Does anyone have any idea if there are any chords for this song?

[roots66andrisin]

The chords are nice and straightforward, the best thing is to copy the one's used by Traffic...just google them!

[DrMobius2009]

Hard Core.

[jonhedge]

TAFFIC,Eat your heart Out this is how this song should be sung!!!!

[userblue]

Quite correct.

[GodivaAddict]

Wow, thank you for posting this. I never heard the "original"!

[tryfan987]

Go on Mr Waterson.... What a man.

[xz4q18]

There's a great version with Maddy singing -full band it's brilliant!!

[tryfan987]

Yeah i think slayer do a version too, but this Mike Waterson is the business innit!

[fineagain420]

having only heard Traffic's version, this flipped me the f out. i grew up listening to Renaisance(sp?), Fairport Convention,Steeleye Span, after branching off from Genesis,etc. i'd like to see my high school friends and thank them for turning me on to the 2nd or 3rd british invasion, circa 1970-1975. rock on.Maybe this stuff appeals to my Irish/Welsh ancestry.Stanley,Finnegan,McBr­earity,Lavin. I took to "Tam Lin", and it went on from there.

[slobjob13]

un-mistakabley the great Mike Waterson. Great version!

[conali]

A fine rendition there by Mr Waterson. Hats off.

[lvsiii]

Once I get Traffic's sound outta my head, this appeals to my Celtic ear. Perfect key all the way. Good job.

[rogthedodger]

A celtic ear turning towards the great English tradition? Welcome!

[Asgath]

I'm fairly sure this is sung by an Englishman in a very English style. There's nothing Celtic about it

[quelian]

There is an Irish version of this - almost identical lyrics - but the end product is whiskey. It is sung in a different tempo.

[samtheman180]

Englishmen are the same as Welsh, Scots, Irishmen. People from the British Isles all come form the same stock.

[jollybird66]

y chromosomes dont support that statement.

[samtheman180]

@jollybird66 look again

[Stuka1494]

the english came from germany (angles/saxons)

[samtheman180]

@Stuka1494 No mate apperently not even 55 of the population is an anglo saxon

[MrWhitfieldDavid]

@samtheman180

thats silly that just takes a y chromosome from around 2000/3000 years ago. culture and peoples are not defined from thousand years old male lines.

sorry

[MrWhitfieldDavid]

@Stuka1494

angles come from near scandinavia.

Saxony was only part of Germany since 1874.

Germany was only Germany since 1874.

Germany is a cobbled together nation from Victorian times.

Our English Nation is over 1500 years old.

Sorry but its true.

[Stuka1494]

@MrWhitfieldDavid oh ok, thats cool:P lol like it matters

[MrWhitfieldDavid]

@Stuka1494

oh loveley it does to me!

a little bit.

[LazerSparks]

@Stuka1494 The term "Saxon" actually derives from the war axes the Angles carried in battle against the Britons. We British are indeed an ancient mongrel nation.

[kaindrg]

@LazerSparks not war axes multi purpose utility knive called the Seax it could cut ppl and cheese and animal skin the frankish(conqurors of gaul and founding of france ) were the axe weilders called the fansiscas. and later brought it over to america during colonial age influencing the indian tomohawk

[BeorhtFrognostic]

@Stuka1494 The Angelcynn (English) were Germanic peoples, yes - the Angles were mentioned by Tacitus in the "Germania"

[kaindrg]

@BeorhtFrognostic the modern english are more a genetic leaning to bryonic celtic ie original inhabitants who even genetic predate celtic culture. the masses are merely ruled over by the power hold minority and eventually became celtic. so old english of the british isle is a germanic language with celtic substratum

[lordhoot1]

@kaindrg But there's not many people who don't have some foreign ancestry, be it French or Viking or Spanish or even African. It's a natural consequence of being a trading power since Roman times.

[mrleedra]

@kaindrg Except in the North of England, genetic evidence does not support your assertion. Unlike the Norman knights, who merely subjugated Sicily, the Angelcynn *migrated* to England, and over the many decades of their expansion the Anglo-Saxons almost entirely displaced the indigenous population in much of England.

[kaindrg]

@mrleedra Gah! shame on me how could i forget the geordie dialect of english the most germanic of all.

[kaindrg]

@mrleedra but yea good point i should have been more specifit ot how muc hof the modern populaton actually adhered to this study

[kaindrg]

@BeorhtFrognostic same with norman conquest of sicily 1%-0 genetic influence

[ValiantFaery]

@Asgath given how wicked old this song is and that the celts lived in britain before the normans and the vikings, it probably has celtic roots, though the style of the subsequent invaders has influenced it im sure, as well as the

regional tribal styles of back-in-the-day

[o0micmac0o]

oh & BTW - Martin Carthy sings the Imagined Village version & Eliza C. fiddles.

[o0micmac0o]

great song, just not my cuppa tea - prefer the Imagined Village's souped-up version here - watch?v=jdGis5jy-CE

(slightly dodgy live recording)

Imagined Village (for those who know them not) is a crossover folk supergroup - sounds awful, but is IMO fantastic - reworking & sensitively updating old folk songs, adding British musicians/artists from other cultural backgrounds. See more - watch?v=0H3IyMnKrlk & the website for downloads or buy the CD! I dumbly missed them playing live last year :~(

[beanson99]

This is MIKE WATERSON singing- he sings in the Watersons (or did) with his sisters and Martin Carthy

[ironjax]

so wounder full i want to do this in my next drum circle

[MacKlaus71]

Great version: the ancient, deep, oldest british soul comes out through this suggestive voice.

[brinwins]

I cme across this by accident. what an amazing song

[athensbay]

If I'm not mistaken, Sandy Denny has also done a version of this song with Fairport Convention. It's a great song.

[darkphoniex113]

ya he has have

[Billyjoerees]

This is amazing!

[hawksy1]

Check out Martin Carthy / Dave Swarbrick version from Byker Hill album

[guerrierodelgiaguaro]

Very beautiful ballad.

[354sd]

excellent

[hakkamantis]

yes you are correct Sabrina. This is the best version i have heard so far of John Barley corn

[sabrinaeden]

Maybe it's worth mentioning that this is the singing of Mike Waterson, taken from the Watersons album 'Frost and Fire'.

[mikeartist]

Long live Sir John! Great stuff!