SHE MOVED THROUGH THE FAIR (1963) by Anne Briggs

I happened upon Anne Briggs via this song and 'Black Waterside', as guitarist Jimmy Page had adapted these songs and done guitar versions (White Summer and Black Mountain Side respectively), and was influenced by her and others such as Bert Jansch and Davey Graham. This song is like many of her songs, it is sung unaccompanied. Anne Briggs was 19 when she sang this at the Edinburgh Festival in 1963, where it was recorded and subsequently released on various albums.

The following is adapted from John Dougan of All Music Guide: Anne Briggs was a singer of traditional English folk music, possessing as beautiful a voice as one could hope to have. She was the single most important influence on a group of female British folk singers including Sandy Denny, Maddy Prior, June Tabor, and Linda Thompson. Even Norma Waterson, herself a hugely important figure in the British folk revival of the mid-'60s, admits to being influenced by Briggs' singing and notes that Anne Briggs singlehandedly changed the way that English women folk singers sang. What makes this story so odd is that Anne Briggs' entire recorded output consists of about 30 songs. She stopped singing at the age of 27, supposedly because she hated the sound of her recorded voice. As folk music became electrified and increasingly popular and bands such as Fairport Convention and Pentangle were reinventing the British folk tradition, and more and more women (Sandy Denny et al) were singing in a style started by Anne Briggs, her legend flourished, yet she still refused to sing. (An exception here was that she appeared and sang in the 1992 documentary 'Acoustic Routes', an excerpt of which can be seen on YouTube).

I have put together this video as a tribute to Anne Briggs. Comments are welcome.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Anne
• Briggs
• she
• moved
• through
• the
• fair
• maddy
• pryor
• jansch
• davey
• graham
• sandy
• denny
• linda
• thompson
• june
• tabor
• norma
• waterson
• Acoustic
• Routes
• michaelbackhouse

[ZeNotRussian]

@MissPandora1967 Have to say that is the great pity that some English stop being proud of the own culture in now days. I am from Caucasus live in UK ,i discovered sincere beauty of English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish folk songs. Wish people, particularly native one, have a urge to re-connect with their roots.

[robibm2003]

Fucking killed.

This is unfortunately a case of a singer sabotaging her own career because of insecurity. Too bad. This was phenomenal. Glad you posted this. I am a big fan of people like Frankie Armstrong and Maddy Prior but had never heard of Briggs. Going to have to explore her stuff.

[deeboi2007]

@ElComadreja777 nothing wrong with that. You should always be proud no matter who you are

[femmepop]

@ZeNotRussian This is an Irish folk song.

[ElComadreja777]

I for one am very proud of my Saxon blood.

[Grayivan]

Um... Wow.



[Gluepack]

I was lucky enough to play in the house band at the Ipswich folk club and Anne lived in the area for a while. She often used to sing at the club and accompany us to gigs at pubs and clubs around the area. She was a young, beautiful, fragile woman with a hell of a voice, the true beauty of which was more apparent in live sessions than in the recording studio. To listen to her talk was often as beautiful as listening to her sing.

[SquiSac01]

does any<bodz know any good medieval movie with this kind of feeling :P ??

[gary1076]

Wow! Just amazing!!!

[susansharpsongs]

Wow, awesome version of this song.

[pixiesean999]

@ZeNotRussian It's Irish, not English...

[WhoIsJimHardiman]

Wunderful voice and very touching collection of great pictures. I'm deeply impressed.