Editing Ewan MacColl (section)

==Music==
=== Traditional music ===
During this period MacColl's enthusiasm for [[folk music]] grew. Inspired by the example of [[Alan Lomax]], who had arrived in Britain and Ireland in 1950, and had done extensive fieldwork there, MacColl also began to collect and perform traditional [[ballad]]s. His long involvement with [[Topic Records]] started in 1950 with his release of a single, "The Asphalter's Song", on that label. When, in 1953 Theatre Workshop decided to move to [[Stratford, London|Stratford]], London, MacColl, who had opposed that move, left the company and changed the focus of his career from acting and playwriting to singing and composing folk and topical songs.{{Citation needed| date=December 2012}}

In 1947, MacColl visited a retired lead-miner named Mark Anderson (1874–1953) in [[Middleton-in-Teesdale]], County Durham, England, who performed to him a song called "[[Scarborough Fair (ballad)|Scarborough Fair]]"; MacColl recorded the lyrics and melody in a book of Teesdale folk songs, and later included it on his and [[Peggy Seeger]]'s ''The Singing Island'' (1960).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Famous song has roots in Dale folk|url=https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/9400217.famous-song-roots-dale-folk/|access-date=2020-11-14|website=The Northern Echo|date=3 December 2011 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Harvey|first=Todd|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m9MHAQAAMAAJ&q=scarborough+fair+mark+anderson|title=The Formative Dylan: Transmission and Stylistic Influences, 1961–1963|date=2001|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-4115-4|pages=33|language=en}}</ref><ref name="vwml.org"/> [[Martin Carthy]] learnt the song from MacColl's book, before teaching it to [[Paul Simon]]; [[Simon & Garfunkel]] released the song as "Scarborough Fair/Canticle" on their album ''[[Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme]]'', popularising the obscure and unique folk tune.<ref name="bbc.co.uk"/> Ewan MacColl, a decade after collecting the song, released his own version accompanied by [[Peggy Seeger]] on guitar in 1957 on the LP "Matching Songs of the British Isles and America"<ref>{{Cite web|title=Matching Songs of the British Isles and America : Ewan MacColl at theBalladeers|url=https://www.theballadeers.com/eng/ewm_1957_rlp637_matching.htm|access-date=2020-11-14|website=www.theballadeers.com|archive-date=16 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201116104029/https://www.theballadeers.com/eng/ewm_1957_rlp637_matching.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> and an a capella rendition another decade later on "The Long Harvest" (1967).<ref>{{Cite web|last=totsie|title=The Long Harvest traditional English and Scottish ballads sung by Peggy Seeger and Ewan MacColl|url=http://www.peggyseeger.com/listen-buy/the-long-harvest/the-long-harvest|access-date=2020-11-14|website=www.peggyseeger.com|language=en-us}}</ref>

Over the years MacColl recorded and produced upwards of a hundred albums, many with English folk song collector and singer [[A. L. Lloyd]]. The pair released an ambitious series of eight LP albums of some 70 of the 305 [[Child Ballads]]. MacColl produced a number of LPs with Irish singer songwriter [[Dominic Behan]], a brother of Irish playwright [[Brendan Behan]].<ref name="Bailie">{{cite book |last=Bailie |first=Stuart |date=2018 |title=Trouble Songs |location=Belfast |publisher=Bloomfield |page=164 |isbn=978-1-5272-2047-8}}</ref>

In 1956, MacColl caused a scandal when he fell in love with 21-year-old [[Peggy Seeger]], who had come to [[UK|Britain]] to transcribe the music for [[Alan Lomax]]'s anthology ''Folk Songs of North America'' (published in 1961). At the time MacColl, who was twenty years older than Peggy,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jan/25/ewan-maccoll-godfather-folk-adored-and-feared|title=Ewan MacColl: the godfather of folk who was adored – and feared|first=Neil|last=Spencer|date=25 January 2015|website=Theguardian.com|access-date=7 October 2019}}</ref> was still married to his second wife.

=== Singer-songwriter ===
Seeger and MacColl recorded several albums of searing political commentary songs. MacColl himself wrote over 300 songs, some of which have been recorded by artists (in addition to those mentioned above) such as [[Planxty]], [[the Dubliners]], [[Dick Gaughan]], [[Phil Ochs]], [[the Clancy Brothers]], [[Elvis Presley]], [[Weddings Parties Anything]], [[The Pogues]] and [[Johnny Cash]]. In 2001, ''The Essential Ewan MacColl Songbook'' was published, which includes the words and music to 200 of his songs. [[Dick Gaughan]], Dave Burland and [[Tony Capstick]] collaborated in ''The Songs of Ewan MacColl'' (1978; 1985).

Many of MacColl's best-known songs were written for the theatre. For example, he wrote "[[The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face]]" very quickly at the request of Seeger, who needed it for use in a play she was appearing in. He taught it to her by long-distance telephone while she was on tour in the United States (from where MacColl had been barred because of his Communist past). Seeger said that MacColl used to send her tapes to listen to whilst they were apart and that the song was on one of them.<ref>{{cite book | last = Picardie | first = Justine| contribution =The first time ever I saw your face | title =Lives of the great songs | editor-last =De Lisle | editor-first =Tim | publisher =Penguin | year =1995 | location =London | pages =122–26 | isbn =978-0-14-024957-6}}</ref> This song, which was recorded by [[Roberta Flack]] for her debut album, ''First Take'', issued by Atlantic records in June 1969, became a No. 1 hit in 1972 and won MacColl a [[Grammy Award for Song of the Year]], while Flack received a [[Grammy Award for Record of the Year]].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=441| title='First Time Ever I Saw Your Face' by Roberta Flack|website=Songfacts.com|access-date=7 October 2019}}</ref>

In 1959, MacColl began releasing LP albums on [[Folkways Records]], including several collaborative albums with Peggy Seeger. His song "[[Dirty Old Town]]", inspired by his home town of [[County Borough of Salford|Salford]] in Lancashire, was written for the play ''Landscape with Chimneys'' (1949) produced by [[Joan Littlewood]] and [[Theatre Workshop]].<ref group=a>In a BBC radio documentary about “Dirty Old Town”, Professor Ben Harker (author of ''Class Act: The Cultural and Political Life of Ewan MacColl'', 2007, Pluto Press) explains that although MacColl later claimed the song was written as an interlude "to cover an awkward scene change", studying the script of the play ''Landscape with Chimneys'' reveals the song occurs at the beginning and end of the play. Harker argues the song is important to the play because “it captures the movement from dreamy optimism and romance to militancy, frustration and anger. That’s the trajectory of the song and of the play.”{{cite web| url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0020xjr| title = Dirty Old Town at 75| author = Mike Sweeney| date = July 6, 2024| access-date = July 10, 2024| website = BBC Sounds}}</ref> It went on to become a folk-revival staple and was recorded by [[The Spinners (UK band)|the Spinners]] (1964), [[Donovan]] (1964), [[Roger Whittaker]] (1968), [[Julie Felix]] (1968), [[the Dubliners]] (1968), [[Rod Stewart]] (1969), [[the Clancy Brothers]] (1970), [[the Pogues]] (1985), [[the Mountain Goats]] (2002), [[Simple Minds]] (2003), [[Ted Leo and the Pharmacists]] (2003), [[Frank Black]] (2006) and [[Bettye LaVette]] (2012).

MacColl's song "[[The Shoals of Herring]]", based on the life of Norfolk fisherman and folk singer [[Sam Larner]] was recorded by the Dubliners, the Clancy Brothers, the Corries and more. Other popular songs written and performed by MacColl include "[[The Manchester Rambler]]", "The Moving-On Song" and "The Joy of Living".

Ewan has a short biography of his work in the accompanying book of the [[Topic Records]] 70-year anniversary boxed set ''[[Three Score and Ten]]''.<ref name="Three Score and Ten Accompanying Book">{{Cite web|title=Topic Records » THREE SCORE & TEN|url=http://www.topicrecords.co.uk/category/three-score-ten/|access-date=7 October 2019|website=Topicrecords.co.uk}}</ref>{{rp|11}}  Five of his recordings, three of them solo, appear in the boxed set:
* on CD #4: 
** track 2, "Come All Ye Fisher Lads", with [[Archie Fisher|the Fisher Family]], from their album ''The Fisher Family''.
* on CD #5: 
**track 4, "Go Down You Murderers", from ''Chorus from the Gallows''
* on CD #6:
**track 9, "To the Begging I Will Go", from ''Manchester Angel''
**track 14, "[[Sixteen Tons]]", with Brian Daly, from the single ''Sixteen Tons/The Swan Necked Valve'' 
** track 18, ''[[Dirty Old Town]]'', from the single ''Dirty Old Town/Sheffield Apprentice''.

===Political songs===
MacColl was one of the main composers of British [[protest song]]s during the folk revival of the 1950s and 1960s. In the early 1950s he penned "The Ballad of [[Ho Chi Minh]]" and "The Ballad of [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]]" for the British Communist Party.

<blockquote><poem>
Joe Stalin was a mighty man and a mighty man was he
He led the Soviet people on the road to victory.
All through the revolution he fought at Lenin's side, 
And they made a combination till the day that Lenin died.
</poem></blockquote>

<!-- MacColl soon became ashamed of this and it was never reissued.  -->When asked about the song in a 1985 interview, he said that it was "a very good song" and that "it dealt with some of the positive things that Stalin did".<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqddXoilff4| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130623200716/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqddXoilff4&gl=US&hl=en| archive-date=2013-06-23 | url-status=dead|title=YouTube|website=Youtube.com}}</ref> In 1992, after his death, Peggy Seeger included it as an annex in her ''Essential Ewan MacColl Songbook'', saying that she had originally planned to exclude the song on the grounds that Ewan would not have wanted it included, but decided to include it as an example of his work in his early career.<ref>See [http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=39480#2832022 Mudcat Cafe]. Seeger's note to the song reads:
<blockquote>Ewan wrote a number of songs like this in his early years, alongside more subtle texts like "Dirty Old Town" and "Stalinvarosh." There is no doubt that Joseph Stalin was a brilliant wartime leader and that many of his reforms&nbsp;... were correct and productive. Idolisation of Stalin by the left wing the world over continued until the 20th Congress of the Russian Communist Party (1956), when he was posthumously denounced by [[Nikita Khrushchev|Khrushchev]] for his "personality cult" and his human rights crimes. Disillusioned and subsequently turning to China for political role models, Ewan stopped singing this song or even referring to it. He would not have included it in the main body of such a book as this unless it were for reasons similar to mine: (1) as a sample of the old politics, which viewed the earth as mere clay out of which man fashions a world for man and (2) as a sample of his early work, highly dogmatic and low on finesse. It exhibits a lack of economy, an excess of cliches and filler lines, many awkward terms and an errant chronological flow. It has many of the characteristics of political songs of its time and is virtually a political credo set into verse and put to a tune. It is just that. – ''The Essential Ewan MacColl Songbook'', Appendix IV. p. 388 (quoted in [http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=39480#2832022 Mudcat Cafe])</blockquote></ref> The B-side of the record, ''Sovietland (Land of Freedom)'' was not included in the songbook.

MacColl sang and composed numerous protest and topical songs for the [[nuclear disarmament movement]], for example "Against the Atom Bomb",<ref>{{cite news| url= https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/aug/10/folk.politicsandthearts| title=Power to the people| newspaper=[[The Observer]]| date=10 August 2008| last=Irwin| first=Colin| location=London| access-date=19 February 2009}}</ref> ''The Vandals'', ''Nightmare'', and ''Nuclear Means Jobs''.<ref>Peggy Seeger, ''The Essential Ewan MacColl Songbook'', p. 21</ref>

MacColl dedicated an entire album to the lifestyle of Gypsies in his 1964 album ''The Travelling People''. Many of the songs spoke against [[antiziganism|the prejudice against Roma Gypsies]], although some also contained derogatory remarks about "[[tinker]]s", which is a word for [[Irish Traveller]]s.{{cn|date=July 2023}}

He wrote "The Ballad of Tim Evans" (also known as "Go Down You Murderer") a song protesting against [[Capital punishment in the United Kingdom|capital punishment]], based on an infamous murder case in which an innocent man, [[Timothy Evans]], was condemned and executed, before the [[John Christie (murderer)|real culprit]] was discovered.{{cn|date=July 2023}}

MacColl was very active during the [[1984–1985 United Kingdom miners' strike|miners' strike of 1984–85]] in distributing free cassettes of songs supportive of the [[National Union of Mineworkers (Great Britain)|National Union of Mineworkers]], entitled ''Daddy, what did you do in the strike?''<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ewan-maccoll.info/AlbumInfo.aspx?ID=242|title=Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger – Daddy, What Did You Do In The Strike?|website=Ewan-maccoll.info|access-date=7 October 2019}}</ref> The title song was unusually aggressive in its language towards the [[strikebreaker]]s. This collection was only released on cassette and remaining copies are rare, but some of the less aggressive songs have featured on other compilations.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|url=http://ewan-maccoll.info/AlbumInfo.aspx?ID=45|title=Peggy Seeger and Ewan MacColl – Items Of News|website=Ewan-maccoll.info|access-date=7 October 2019}}</ref> At MacColl's 70th birthday party, he was presented by [[Arthur Scargill]] with a miner's lamp to show appreciation for his support.<ref name="auto"/>

In his last interview in August 1988, MacColl stated that he still believed in a socialist revolution and that the communist parties of the west had become too moderate.<ref name= Legacies>{{cite book |last1=Moore |first1=Allan F |last2=Vacca| first2=Giovanni |date=2014 |title=Legacies of Ewan MacColl: The Last Interview| location=Farnham, Surrey |publisher=Ashgate Publishing Ltd. |pages=116–117 |isbn=978-1-4094-2430-7}}</ref>{{rp|116–117}}  He stated that he had been a member of the Communist Party but left because he felt that the Soviet Union was "not communist or socialist enough".<ref name= Legacies />{{rp|43}}