Editing Scrumpy and Western

{{Short description|Musical genre}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox music genre
| name              = Scrumpy and Western
| stylistic_origins = {{hlist|[[Folk music]]|[[Country music]]|[[Novelty song]]|[[Folk music of England#West Country|music of the West Country]]}}
| cultural_origins  = 1960s, [[West Country]]
| derivatives       =
| other_topics      = [[West Country English]]
}}

[[ File:Fred Wedlock at Allerford Folk Festival, Somerset.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Fred Wedlock]]]] 
'''Scrumpy and Western''' refers humorously to music from [[England]]'s [[West Country]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scrumpyandwestern.co.uk/|title=Scrumpy & Western|publisher=somersetmade ltd|accessdate=2009-08-18|archive-date=29 April 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090429053321/http://www.scrumpyandwestern.co.uk/|url-status=live}}</ref> that fuses comical folk-style songs, often full of [[double entendre]], with affectionate parodies of more mainstream musical genres, all delivered in the [[West Country dialects|local accent/dialect]]. The name, taken from the title of the 1967 ''[[Scrumpy & Western EP]]'' by [[Adge Cutler]] and [[the Wurzels]], refers to [[scrumpy]], strongly alcoholic [[cider]] produced in the West Country; it is a play on the American genre of [[country music|country and western music]].

Styles vary by band or musician, and very few are known outside their native [[county]]. The main exceptions to this are the Wurzels (originally "Adge Cutler and the Wurzels"), a [[Somerset]] group who had a number one hit in the [[UK Singles Chart]] with "[[The Combine Harvester]]" in 1976.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://farmingfriends.com/combine-harvester-song-lyrics-the-wurzels/|title=Combine Harvester song lyrics|publisher=Farming Friends|accessdate=2009-08-18|archive-date=10 February 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100210041647/http://farmingfriends.com/combine-harvester-song-lyrics-the-wurzels/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/news/s-star-man/article-568073-detail/article.html|title=He's the star man|date=2008-12-27|work=Western Daily Press|publisher=This is Bristol|accessdate=2009-08-18}}</ref> This followed an earlier UK hit single with "Drink Up Thy Zider", an unofficial West Country anthem, especially among supporters of [[Bristol City F.C.|Bristol City Football Club]]. This gained notoriety when the [[BBC]] refused to play its [[B-side]] song, "Twice Daily", due to concern about the unseemly subject matter (a [[shotgun wedding]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/music/artist/bio/0,,3767131,00.html|title=Adge Cutler Biography|publisher=Artist Direct|accessdate=2009-08-18|archive-date=11 December 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071211234128/http://artistdirect.com/nad/music/artist/bio/0,,3767131,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref> "Combine Harvester" itself was a reworded version of [[Melanie Safka|Melanie]]'s "[[Brand New Key]]".  Other songs borrowed the style and made fun of the themes of [[Country music|Country and Western]], and other US and British [[popular music]].

Other artists whose music is Scrumpy and Western in flavour include [[The Yetties]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.somersetmade.co.uk/scrumpyandwestern/yetties.php|title=The Yetties|publisher=somersetmade ltd|accessdate=2009-08-18|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20120911182125/http://www.somersetmade.co.uk/scrumpyandwestern/yetties.php|archivedate=2012-09-11}}</ref> from the village of [[Yetminster]] in [[Dorset]], The Golden Lion Light Orchestra from [[Worcestershire]], [[Fred Wedlock]], Who's Afear'd (also from Dorset), the Skimmity Hitchers (a group that includes former members of Who's Afear'd),<ref>[http://www.skimmityhitchers.com/ The Skimmity Hitchers] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110106091621/http://skimmityhitchers.com/ |date=2011-01-06 }}</ref>  the Surfin Turnips (more punky folk), Trevor Crozier,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.somersetmade.co.uk/scrumpyandwestern/trevorcrozier.php|title=Trevor Crozier|publisher=somersetmade ltd|accessdate=2011-04-05|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20120914034832/http://www.somersetmade.co.uk/scrumpyandwestern/trevorcrozier.php|archivedate=2012-09-14}}</ref> the Yokels (from [[Wiltshire]]), Shag Connors and the Carrot Crunchers,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.somersetmade.co.uk/scrumpyandwestern/shagconnors.php|title=Shag Connors and the Carrot Crunchers|publisher=somersetmade ltd|accessdate=2010-03-16|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20120909172805/http://www.somersetmade.co.uk/scrumpyandwestern/shagconnors.php|archivedate=2012-09-09}}</ref> and the [[Pigsty Hill Light Orchestra]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.somersetmade.co.uk/scrumpyandwestern/pigstyhillightorchestra.php|title=Pigsty Hill Light Orchestra|publisher=somersetmade ltd|accessdate=2009-08-18|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725193422/http://www.somersetmade.co.uk/scrumpyandwestern/pigstyhillightorchestra.php|archivedate=2008-07-25}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[West Country dialects]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scrumpy And Western}}
[[Category:Scrumpy and Western| ]]
[[Category:English styles of music]]
[[Category:Music in Somerset]]
[[Category:West Country]]