Editing Ewan MacColl

{{Short description|British folk singer-songwriter and activist (1915–1989)}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Ewan MacColl
| image              = Portrait photograph of Ewan MacColl.jpg
| imagesize          = 
| caption            = 
| birth_name         = James Henry Miller
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1915|01|25|df=y}}
| birth_place        = [[Broughton, Salford|Broughton]], [[Lancashire]], England
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1989|10|22|1915|01|25|df=y}}
| death_place        = [[Brompton, London]], England
| occupation         = {{hlist|Singer-songwriter|folk song collector|labour activist|actor}}
| party              = [[Communist Party of Great Britain]] (CPGB)
| spouse             = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|[[Joan Littlewood]]|1934|1949|end=divorced}}
* {{marriage|Jean Newlove|1949|end=divorced}}
* {{marriage|[[Peggy Seeger]]|25 January 1977}}
}} 
| children           = 5, including [[Kirsty MacColl]]
| relatives     = {{ubl|[[Pete Seeger]] (brother-in-law)}}
| years_active       = 1930–1989
}}

'''James Henry Miller''' (25 January 1915 – 22 October 1989),<ref name="LarkinGE">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]|editor=[[Colin Larkin (writer)|Colin Larkin]]|publisher=[[Guinness Publishing]]|date=1992|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-939-0|page=1552}}</ref> better known by his stage name '''Ewan MacColl''', was a British [[Folk music|folk]] singer-songwriter, folk song collector, [[Union organizer|labour activist]] and actor. Born in England to [[Scottish people|Scottish]] parents, he is known as one of the instigators of the 1960s [[British folk revival|folk revival]] as well as for writing such songs as "[[The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face]]" and "[[Dirty Old Town]]".<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|last=Spencer|first=Neil|date=25 January 2015|title=Ewan MacColl: the godfather of folk who was adored – and feared|language=en-GB|work=The Observer|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jan/25/ewan-maccoll-godfather-folk-adored-and-feared|access-date=2020-11-14|issn=0029-7712}}</ref>

MacColl collected hundreds of traditional folk songs,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Search: Ewan MacColl|url=https://www.vwml.org/search?q=ewan%20maccoll&is=1|website=Vaughan Williams Memorial Library}}</ref> including the version of "[[Scarborough Fair (ballad)|Scarborough Fair]]" later popularised by [[Simon & Garfunkel]],<ref name="bbc.co.uk">{{Cite web|title=Sold on Song – Song Library – Scarborough Fair|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/soldonsong/songlibrary/indepth/scarborough.shtml|access-date=2020-11-14|website=www.bbc.co.uk}}</ref><ref name="vwml.org">{{Cite web|title=Scarborough Fair (Roud Folksong Index S160453)|url=https://www.vwml.org/record/RoudFS/S160453|access-date=2020-11-14|website=The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library|language=en-gb}}</ref> and released dozens of albums with [[A. L. Lloyd|A.L. Lloyd]], [[Peggy Seeger]] and others, mostly of traditional folk songs.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ewan MacColl|url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/615404-Ewan-MacColl|access-date=2020-11-14|website=Discogs|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> He also wrote many left-wing [[Revolutionary song|political songs]], remaining a steadfast [[Communism|communist]] throughout his life and actively engaging in political activism.<ref name=":0" />

==Early life and early career==
MacColl was born as James Henry Miller at 4 Andrew Street, in [[Broughton, Salford|Broughton]], [[County Borough of Salford|Salford]], England, on 25 January 1915<ref name="Oxford">{{cite ODNB |last=Denselow |first=Robin |date=13 November 2018 |title=MacColl, Ewan [formerly James Henry Miller]: (1915–1989) |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/templates/article.jsp?articleid=40664&back |access-date=4 January 2025 |publisher= |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/40664}}</ref> to [[Scottish people|Scottish]] parents, William Miller and Betsy (née Henry), both [[socialist]]s. William Miller was an [[iron moulder]] and trade unionist who had moved to Salford with his wife, a [[charwoman]], to look for work after being blacklisted in almost every foundry in [[Scotland]].<ref name="Seeger">{{cite web|url=http://www.peggyseeger.com/ewan-maccoll/ewans-biography|title=Ewan's Biography|website=Peggyseeger.com|access-date=23 September 2009}}</ref> Betsy Miller knew many traditional folk songs such as "[[Lord Randall]]"<ref>{{Cite web|title=Lord Randall (Roud Folksong Index S182615)|url=https://www.vwml.org/record/RoudFS/S182615|access-date=2020-11-14|website=The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library|language=en-gb}}</ref> and "[[The Trees They Grow So High|My Bonnie Laddie's Lang A-growing]]",<ref>{{Cite web|title=My Bonnie Laddie's Lang A-growing (Roud Folksong Index S184565)|url=https://www.vwml.org/record/RoudFS/S184565|access-date=2020-11-14|website=The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library|language=en-gb}}</ref> of which her son later created written and audio recordings; he later recorded an album of traditional songs with her.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Betsy Miller discography|url=https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/betsy_miller|access-date=2020-11-14|website=RateYourMusic}}</ref>{{deprecated source|certain=y|date=November 2024}}

James Miller was the youngest and only surviving child in the family of three sons and one daughter (one of each sex was [[stillborn]] and one son died at the age of four).<ref name="Oxford" /> They lived amongst a group of Scots and Jimmy was brought up in an atmosphere of fierce political debate interspersed with the large repertoire of songs and stories his parents had brought from Scotland. He was educated at Grecian Street School, [[Salford]], England.<ref name="Oxford" /> He left school in 1930 after an elementary education, during the [[Great Depression]] and, joining the ranks of the unemployed, began a lifelong programme of self-education whilst keeping warm in [[Manchester Central Library]]. During this period he found intermittent work in a number of jobs and also made money as a street singer.<ref name="Seeger" />

He joined the [[Young Communist League (Britain)|Young Communist League]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://wcml.org.uk/maccoll/maccoll/maccoll/biography/getting-active/|title=Getting active|website=Wcml.org.uk|access-date=7 October 2019}}</ref> and a socialist amateur theatre troupe, the [[The Clarion (British newspaper)|Clarion]] Players. He began his career as a writer helping produce and contributing humorous verse and skits to some of the [[Communist Party of Great Britain|Communist Party's]] factory papers. He was an activist in the unemployed workers' campaigns and the mass trespasses of the early 1930s. One of his best-known songs, "[[The Manchester Rambler]]", was written just after [[mass trespass of Kinder Scout]]. He was responsible for publicity in the planning of the trespass.<ref>{{cite journal | jstor=25472794 | title='The Manchester Rambler': Ewan MacColl and the 1932 Mass Trespass | author=Harker, Ben | journal=History Workshop Journal | year=2005 | volume=Spring | issue=59 | pages=219–228| doi=10.1093/hwj/dbi016 | s2cid=154501683 }}</ref>

In 1932 the British intelligence service, [[MI5]], opened a file on MacColl, after local police asserted that he was "a communist with very extreme views" who needed "special attention".<ref name="BBC">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4772328.stm|title=Why MI5 monitored singer Ewan MacColl|last=Casciani|first=Dominic|work=BBC News|access-date=22 September 2009|date=5 March 2006}}</ref> For a time the [[Special Branch (Metropolitan Police)|Special Branch]] kept a watch on the Manchester home that he shared with his first wife, [[Joan Littlewood]]. MI5 caused some of MacColl's songs to be rejected by the [[BBC]], and prevented the employment of Littlewood as a BBC children's programme presenter (see: [["Christmas tree" files]]).<ref>{{Cite web|last=Goodchild|first=Sophie|date=5 March 2006|title='Radical' Ewan MacColl was tracked by MI5 for decades|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/radical-ewan-maccoll-was-tracked-by-mi5-for-decades-6107566.html|access-date=2021-11-13|website=The Independent|language=en}}</ref>

==Personal life==
He was married three times: to theatre director [[Joan Littlewood]] (1914–2002) from 1934 to 1948; to Jean Mary Newlove (1923–2017) from 1949 to 1974,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1723067/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0|title=Jean MacColl on IMDB|website=[[IMDb]] |access-date=15 March 2020}}</ref> with whom he had two children, a son Hamish (1950–2024), and a daughter, the singer-songwriter [[Kirsty MacColl]] (1959–2000); and to American folksinger [[Peggy Seeger]] (b. 1935) from 1977 until his death in 1989, with whom he had three children, Neill, Calum, and Kitty.<ref name="Oxford" /> He collaborated with Littlewood in the theatre, and with Seeger in folk music.<ref name="Oxford" />

==Acting career==
In 1931, with other unemployed members of the Clarion Players he formed an [[agit-prop]] theatre group, the "Red Megaphones". During 1934 they changed the name to "Theatre of Action" and not long after were introduced to a young actress recently moved up from London. This was [[Joan Littlewood]] who became MacColl's wife and work partner. In 1936, after a failed attempt to move to London, the couple returned to [[Manchester]], and formed the Theatre Union. In 1940 a performance of ''The Last Edition''&nbsp;– a 'living newspaper'&nbsp;– was halted by the police and MacColl and Littlewood were bound over for two years for breach of the peace. The necessities of wartime brought an end to Theatre Union. MacColl enlisted in the [[British Army]] during July 1940, but deserted in December. Why he did so, and why he was not prosecuted after the war, remain a mystery.<ref name="BBC"/> In an interview in June 1987, he said that he was expelled for "anti-fascist activity".<ref name="LastInterview23">{{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. |page=23 |isbn=978-1-4094-2430-7}}</ref> Allan Moore and Giovanni Vacca wrote that MacColl had been subject to ''Special Observation'' whilst in the King's Regiment, owing to his political views, and that the records show that, rather than being discharged, he was declared a deserter on 18 December 1940.<ref name="LastInterview23"/>

In 1946, members of Theatre Union and others formed [[Theatre Workshop]] and spent the next few years touring, mostly in the north of England. In 1945, Miller changed his name to Ewan MacColl (influenced by the [[Lallans]] movement in Scotland).{{clarify|date=December 2014}}<ref name="Oxford"/><ref name="Seeger"/>

In the Theatre Union roles had been shared, but now, in Theatre Workshop, they were more formalised. Littlewood was the sole producer and MacColl the [[dramaturge]], art director and resident dramatist. The techniques that had been developed in the Theatre Union now were refined, producing the distinctive form of theatre that was the hallmark of Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop, as the troupe was later known. They were an impoverished travelling troupe, but were making a name for themselves.{{Citation needed|date=December 2012}}

==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}}

==Radio==
MacColl had been a radio actor since 1933. By the late 1930s he was writing scripts as well. In 1957 producer [[Charles Parker (producer)|Charles Parker]] asked MacColl to collaborate in the creation of a feature programme about the heroic death of train driver [[John Axon]]. Normal procedure would have been to use the recorded field interviews only as source for writing the script. MacColl produced a script that incorporated the actual voices and so created a new form that they called the [[radio ballad]].

Between 1957 and 1964, eight of these were broadcast by the [[BBC]], all created by the team of MacColl and Parker together with Peggy Seeger who handled musical direction, conducted a great many field interviews, and wrote songs, either together with MacColl or alone. MacColl wrote the scripts and songs, as well as, with the others, collecting the field recordings which were the heart of the productions.

==Teaching and theatre==
In 1965 Ewan and Peggy formed [[the Critics Group]] from a number of young followers, with [[Charles Parker (producer)|Charles Parker]] in attendance, frequently recording the group's weekly sessions at MacColl and Seeger's home. The initial aim of improving musical skills soon broadened to performing at political events, the Singers' Club where MacColl, Seeger and Lloyd were featured artists and theatre productions.{{clarify|date=September 2013}} Members who became performing folk singers in their own right included [[Frankie Armstrong]], John Faulkner, [[Sandra Kerr]], [[Dennis Turner]], Terry Yarnell, Bob Blair, Jim Carroll, Brian Pearson and [[Jack Warshaw]]. Other members, including [[Michael Rosen]], joined primarily for theatre productions, the Festival of Fools, a political review of the previous year.{{clarify|date=September 2013}}

As the theatre group's importance grew, members more interested in singing left. The productions ran until the winter of 1972–73. Members' differences with MacColl's vision of a full-time touring company led to the group's breakup. The offshoot group became Combine Theatre, with a club of their own mixing traditional and original folksongs and theatrical performances based on contemporary events, into the 1980s.

==Death and legacy==
After many years of poor health (in 1979 he suffered the first of many heart attacks), MacColl died on 22 October 1989, in the [[Brompton Hospital]], in London, after complications following heart surgery.<ref name="Oxford"/><ref name="Seeger"/> His autobiography ''Journeyman'' was published the following year. The lifetime archive of his work with Peggy Seeger and others was passed on to [[Ruskin College]] in [[Oxford]].

There is a plaque dedicated to MacColl in [[Russell Square]] in London. The inscription includes: "Presented by his communist friends 25.1.1990&nbsp;... Folk Laureate&nbsp;– Singer&nbsp;– Dramatist&nbsp;– Marxist&nbsp;... in recognition of strength and singleness of purpose of this fighter for Peace and Socialism". In 1991 he was awarded a posthumous honorary degree by the [[University of Salford]].{{cn|date=July 2023}}

His daughter from his second marriage, [[Kirsty MacColl]], followed him into a musical career, albeit in a different genre.<ref name="Oxford" /> She died in a boating accident in Mexico in 2000. His son with Peggy Seeger, Neill MacColl, is the long-standing guitarist for [[Manchester, UK|Mancunian]] musician [[David Gray (British musician)|David Gray]]. His grandson Jamie MacColl has also developed a musical career of his own with the band [[Bombay Bicycle Club]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/9g6m | title=Difficult second album syndrome neatly avoided by north London indie kids | first=Paul | last=Lester | date=15 July 2010 | publisher=BBC | access-date=12 October 2010 }}</ref>

==Bibliography==
* Goorney, Howard and MacColl, Ewan (eds.) (1986) ''Agit-Prop to Theatre Workshop, Political Playscripts, 1930–1950''. Manchester: Manchester University Press {{ISBN|0-7190-2211-8}}
* Harker, Ben (2007) ''Class Act: the Cultural and Political Life of Ewan MacColl''. London: Pluto Press {{ISBN|978-0-7453-2165-3}} (chapters: 1. Lower Broughton—2. Red Haze—3. Welcome, Comrade—4. Browned Off—5. A Richer, Fuller Life—6. Towards a People's Culture—7. Croydon, Soho, Moscow, Paris—8. Bard of Beckenham—9. Let a Hundred Flowers Blossom—10. Sanctuary—11. Endgame)
* Littlewood, Joan (1994) ''Joan's Book: Joan Littlewood's Peculiar History As She Tells It''. London: Methuen {{ISBN|0-413-77318-3}}{{cite web|url=http://copac.ac.uk/wzgw?id=090415d0d5302b304eff4899aaa0ea2bcd79b9&rsn=24&esn=F&f=u&rn=8|title=Joan's Book reissued|access-date=23 April 2009}}
* MacColl, Ewan (1963) ''Ewan MacColl- Peggy Seeger Songbook''. New York: Oak Publications, Inc Library of Congress Card Number, 63-14092
* MacColl, Ewan (1990) ''Journeyman: an Autobiography''; introduction by Peggy Seeger. London: Sidgwick & Jackson {{ISBN|0-283-06036-0}}
*MacColl, Ewan (1998) ''The Essential Ewan MacColl Songbook: sixty years of songmaking''; ed. Peggy Seeger. New York: Oak Publications
* Myer, Michael Grosvenor (1972): ''The Radio Ballads Revisited'', ''[[Folk Review magazine]]'', September 1972
* O'Brien, Karen (2004) ''Kirsty MacColl, The One and Only: the definitive biography ''. London: Andre Deutsch. {{ISBN|0-233-00070-4}}
* Pegg, Carole A. (1999) ''British Traditional and Folk Musics'', in: ''British Journal of Ethnomusicology'', vol. 7, pp.&nbsp;193–98
*[[Raphael Samuel|Samuel, Raphael]]; MacColl, Ewan; and Cosgrove, Stuart (1985) ''Theatres of the Left, 1880–1935: Workers' Theatre Movements in Britain and America''. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul {{ISBN|0-7100-0901-1}}
* Vacca, Giovanni and Moore, Allan F. (2014) ''Legacies of Ewan MacColl&nbsp;– The Last Interview''. Farnham: Ashgate. {{ISBN|978-1-4094-2431-4}}

==Discography==
;Solo albums
* ''Scots Street Songs'' (1956)
* ''Shuttle and Cage'' (1957)
* ''Barrack Room Ballads'' (1958)
* ''Still I Love Him'' (1958)
* ''Bad Lads and Hard Cases'' (1959)
* ''Songs of [[Robert Burns]]'' (1959)
* ''Haul on the Bowlin'''(1961)
* ''The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (Child Ballads)'' (1961)
* ''Broadside Ballads, vols 1 and 2'' (1962)
* ''Off to Sea Once More'' (1963)
* ''Four Pence a Day'' (1963)
* ''British Industrial Folk songs'' (1963)
* ''Bundook Ballads'' (1967)
* ''The Wanton Muse'' (1968)
* ''Paper Stage 1'' (1969)
* ''Paper Stage 2'' (1969)
* ''Solo Flight'' (1972)

;Collaboration&nbsp;– Bob and Ron Copper, Ewan MacColl, [[Isla Cameron]], [[Seamus Ennis]] and [[Peter Douglas Kennedy|Peter Kennedy]]
* ''As I Roved Out'' (1953–54)

;Collaboration&nbsp;– A. L. Lloyd, Ewan MacColl, [[Louis Killen]], Ian Campbell, [[Cyril Tawney]], Sam Larner and [[Harry H. Corbett]]
* ''Blow the Man Down'' (EP) (1956)

;Collaboration&nbsp;– with [[A. L. Lloyd]]
* ''A Hundred Years Ago'' (EP) (1956)
* ''The Coast of Peru'' (EP) (1956)
* ''The Singing Sailor'' (1956)
* ''The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (The Child Ballads) Vol 1'' (1956)
* ''The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (The Child Ballads) Vol 2'' (1956)
* ''The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (The Child Ballads) Vol 3'' (1956)
* ''The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (The Child Ballads) Vol 4'' (1956)
* ''The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (The Child Ballads) Vol 5'' (1956)
* ''Gamblers and Sporting Blades'' (E.P.) (1962) (accompanied by Steve Benbow)
* ''Bold Sportsmen All: Gamblers & Sporting Blades'' (1962, with [[Roy Harris (folk singer)|Roy Harris]])
* ''English and Scottish Folk Ballads'' (1964)
* ''A Sailor's Garland'' (1966)
* ''Blow Boys Blow'' (1967)

;Ewan MacColl and [[Peggy Seeger]]
* ''Matching Songs of the British Isles and America'' (1957)
* ''Second Shift&nbsp;– Industrial Ballads'' (1958)
* ''Chorus From The Gallows'' (1960)
* ''Popular Scottish Songs'' (1960)
* ''New Briton Gazette, Vol. 1'' (1960)
* ''[[Songs Against the Bomb]]'' (1960)
* ''Classic Scots Ballads'' (1961)
* ''Bothy Ballads of Scotland'' (1961)
* ''Two Way Trip'' (1961)
* ''New Briton Gazette, Vol. 2'' (1962)
* ''Jacobite Songs&nbsp;– The Two Rebellions 1715 and 1745'' (1962)
* ''Steam Whistle Ballads'' (1964)
* ''Traditional Songs and Ballads'' (1964)
* ''The Amorous Muse'' (1966)
* ''The Manchester Angel'' (1966)
* ''The Long Harvest 1'' (1966)
* ''The Long Harvest 2'' (1967)
* ''The Long Harvest 3'' (1968)
* ''The Angry Muse'' (1968)
* ''The Long Harvest 4'' (1969)
* ''The Long Harvest 5'' (1970)
* ''The World Of Ewan MacColl And Peggy Seeger'' (1970)
* ''The Long Harvest 6'' (1971)
* ''The Long Harvest 7'' (1972)
* ''The World Of Ewan MacColl And Peggy Seeger Vol. 2 – Songs from Radio Ballads'' (1972)
* ''At The Present Moment'' (1972)
* ''Folkways Record of Contemporary Songs''  (1973)
* ''The Long Harvest 8'' (1973)
* ''The Long Harvest 9'' (1974)
* ''The Long Harvest 10'' (1975)
* ''Saturday Night at The Bull and Mouth'' (1977)
* ''Cold Snap'' (1977)
* ''Hot Blast'' (1978)
* ''Blood and Roses'' (1979)
* ''Kilroy Was Here'' (1980)
* ''Blood and Roses 2'' (1981)
* ''Blood and Roses 3'' (1982)
* ''Blood and Roses 4'' (1982)
* ''Blood and Roses 5'' (1983)
* ''Freeborn Man'' (1983) [reissued 1989]
* ''Daddy, What did You Do in The Strike?'' (1984) [cassette mini-album]
* ''White Wind, Black Tide&nbsp;– Anti-Apartheid Songs'' (1986) [cassette album]
* ''Items of News'' (1986)

;Ewan MacColl/[[The Radio Ballads]] (1958–1964)*
* ''Ballad of John Axon'' (1958)
* ''Song of a Road'' (1959)
* ''Singing The Fishing'' (1960)
* ''The Big Hewer'' (1961)
* ''The Body Blow'' (1962)
* ''On The Edge'' (1963)
* ''The Fight Game'' (1964)
* ''The Travelling People'' (1964)

(* Mixture of documentary, drama and song: broadcast on BBC radio)

;Singles
* "Van Dieman's Land" / "Lord Randall"
* "Sir Patrick Spens" / "Eppie Morrie"
* "Parliamentary Polka" / "Song of Choice"
* "Housewife's Alphabet" / "My Son"
* "[[The Shoals of Herring]]"

;Posthumous compilations
* ''Naming of Names'' (1990) (LP/CD)
* ''Black and White'' (1991) (CD)

;Compilation appearances
* ''[[The Unfortunate Rake (album)|The Unfortunate Rake]]''  (1960)
* ''[[The Iron Muse]]'' (1993) (CD)
* ''[[It Was Mighty]] – The Early Days of Irish Music in London'' (2016) from Topic Records includes a number of recordings made by MacColl

==Quotation==
{{copy section to Wikiquote}}
{{quote|My function is not to reassure people. I want to make them uncomfortable. To send them out of the place arguing and talking.<ref name="Music">{{cite book
| first= Paul
| last= Du Noyer
| year= 2003
| title= The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music
| edition= 1st
| publisher= Flame Tree Publishing
| location= Fulham, London
| isbn= 1-904041-96-5
| page= 226}}</ref>}}

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=a}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.ewanmaccoll.co.uk Ewan MacColl Official Website]
*[http://www.wcml.org.uk/contents/activists/ewan-maccoll/ Ewan MacColl 1915–1989 A Political Journey] (From the [[Working Class Movement Library]] site)
*[http://ewan-maccoll.info/JohnRossList.aspx Ewan MacColl/Peggy Seeger discography]
* {{Discogs artist|Ewan MacColl}}
* {{IMDb name|id=0531530}}
*Farber, Jim [https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/29/arts/music/ewan-maccoll-dogmatist-of-british-folk-gets-a-tribute-album.html?_r=0 "Ewan MacColl, dogmatist of British folk, gets a tribute album"]; ''New York Times''; 28 October 2015

{{Grammy Award for Song of the Year 1970s}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maccoll, Ewan}}
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