"British" folk, folk rock, folk pop, trad, w/e female singers of the 1960s & 70s

impossible.

how can a sane man choose between anne briggs & sandy denny?!

or maddy prior and shirley collins?!

have to go with shirley, but yeah near impossible basically

def an embarrassment of riches type o situation

was sort of inspired to start this poll by this song, finally digitizing my collection and just was floored by how rich the prior/woods harmonies are when re-listening for the first time in ages

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFs8CnxmiWM

Shelagh McDonald, Norma & Lal Waterson and Celia Humphris (Trees) are all good too.

I can't warm to Jacqui Macshee's voice - it's almost too pure or uninflected, although I love Pentangle in spite of it. TBH, I don't much like Bert Jansch's voice either.

Yeah, I feel pretty much the same.

i voted for Shirley Collins out of the singers listed. "Other" would be Kerilee Male, criminally underused on Eclection's only album. I'm not aware that she ever recorded again, and in fact seems to have dissapeared off the face of the earth:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAmiY7HkDs4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxOouYO5tY4

My favourite version of this song, by far. When it comes to 'folk' singing of this ilk, Anne Briggs plaintive, vulnerable, sincere voice really does it for me. The fact that she's both photogenic and enigmatic doesn't hurt either.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzNqp-1iWUs

^ fascinating snippet of conversation between Anne Briggs and the Watersons

That Eclection clip is great, thanks for that, had never heard of them.

I think I like Maddy Prior the best. But then there's June Tabor, who definitely has the sexiest voice (yes it is possible in English folk music!) Objectively however, it's hard to see past Sandy - although I don't like her voice when she gets all strident and hectoring. Shirley and Anne are great, but, to be honest, that of untutored naive kind of singing doesn't do that much for me. Linda has a nice voice. The rest are also rans. Still haven't decided yet.

What are the best June Tabor albums Tom? Don't really know her stuff that well.

The early ones... inevitably!

What about the one with Maddy Prior?

"Silly Sisters"? Classic! Haven't heard the other one they did tho :(

Just looked at who plays on Silly Sisters and wondering why I held off for so long: Danny Thompson, Nic Jones, Martin Carthy, Andy Irvine... Think it's probably cos that end of the 70s wasn't the best period for Steeleye, looks like I gotta get that one though.

Think it's probably cos that end of the 70s wasn't the best period for Steeleye

I don't know, "Storm Force Ten" is really underrated I think

daah dap pa doo dah, daah dap a dooh dah da.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9gCN9-Jnfg

amirite?

You might well be, but I can't see that

Can't choose won't choose

I remembers "Take Three Girls"...

Admittedly, just the intro titles, still...

Tabor's voice is a little irritating to me, too affected. Though her and Maddy Prior's voices complement each other well on that Silly Sisters, No More to the Dance LP.

Love the jazzy-folk of "Light Flight", btw. How could you not?

i would have included mcdonald had i remembered her. i did think about the watersons but i don't really know enough about them. i don't like the trees singer tbh.

weird, i put gay woods on the list and she disappeared (ilx edited her out because she's irish i suppose)

kinda feel like Linda is maybe not the best singer technically (compared to some of these other choices) but she is so great
http://www.mp3million.com/photo/0140711/Linda%20Thompson.jpg

Think I only know about half of these. Sandy Denny #1 for a few Fairport songs, Vashti #2 for "Love Song" and "Some Things Just Stick in Your Mind."

Very hard to choose but voted Shirley Collins, more than any of the others her voice has this chilly, ghostlike quality I love

This is hard, the waterson sisters are definitely an omission.

this is one of my favourite Sandy Denny recordings

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ycaoV0WXfk

"Silly Sisters"? Classic! Haven't heard the other one they did tho :(

― Tom D (Tom D.), Friday, 4 March 2011 07:00 (3 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Silly Sisters has one of the most beautiful renditions of the Grey Funnel Line, a song I love to sing and wish I could sing a 10th as well as them

Going to vote for Shirley, but seriously love everyone on this list.

yeah. the sandy denny strawbs stuff is worth seeking out -- this is awesome too
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=We9gwNZJNJU

Sandy Denny gets my vote.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQiWL0HfIJs

EASY vote for Shirley! She will always be my favorite.

i have the second silly sisters album, it's nice but i hear the first one is great. never picked it up because the cover scares me!

Shirley for me. then Annie.

I already voted for Sandy Denny, but if I'd thought a little longer, I might have gone with Marianne Faithfull. Just depends on whether you think of her as a folk singer or a pop singer--she's in between, but then sometimes Vashti Bunyan was too. "Cockleshells" is great, and there's lots of other folk standards on her first few LPs.

today i bought the reissue of Folk Roots, New Routes and have been listening to it on repeat

Bridget St. John is a very singular entity on this list.

Bridget's 1st and 3rd albums are my favorites, and Songs For The Gentle Man has its moments too. I met her a couple of years ago when Michael Chapman was playing around--they're old friends, apparently.

Ask Me No Questions and Songs For The Gentle Man are the only albums of hers I've heard. there are some really subtle and inventive arrangements on the latter, like the organ line in "Back To Stay", the weird backwards reverb (or whatever it is that sounds like a distant choir) in "Early Morning Song", and the way "Seagull Sunday" shifts so abruptly between spry chamber pop and saddo acoustic folk. the only huge misstep is "The Pebble and the Man", for which Donovan is to blame.

St. John is more of a singer-songwriter than a traditional folk balladeer, so maybe that's why she sticks out so much on this list.

She's definitely a folk singer, though. I think the fact that she was modern and yet still quite clearly a folk singer was a part of her greatness. Comparable to the Incredible String Band.

I agree with that, and I'm not arguing that she isn't a folk singer. it's just that her music just doesn't conjure up images of ancient, rural England (whether real or imagined) in the same way that Shirley Collins, Anne Briggs, June Tabor, Maddy Pryor, and Sandy Denny often did. it's possible to be a folkie without being much of a traditionalist/revivalist, and that's what I'm getting at. mind you, I'm only judging her by her first two albums.

June Tabor.
Because her version of 'The Band Played Waltzing Matilda' floors me every time.

"Silly Sisters"? Classic! Haven't heard the other one they did tho :(

Just dug this out now - fantastic version of Geordie with Martin Carthy doing his finest English dancing master thing.

Sandy Denny's voice makes my hair stand on end. Although I wouldn't know that from listening to the Strawbs version cited here. I much prefer the later, definitive Fairport Convention version from "Unhalfbricking".

Judy Dyble underrated, no doubt because of the inevitable comparisons to Denny who of course replaced her in Fairport.

Anne Briggs in 2nd place for me.

Grew up on Steeleye Span so Maddy's voice is sort of embedded in my musical consciousness. Hard not to vote for her, even though I love several of them. And yeah, both Silly Sisters albums are great.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfPHnvEHrNQ

shirley shirley shirley for sheer folkitude
not to belittle their singing skills, but did any of the others travel around the US south with a lomax?

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

shirley!

i think shirley's "rock" voice on murder of maria marten was pretty awesome, would've liked to hear more of that straight-up belting (sounded a bit like maddy prior tbh)

'other' wuz robbed.

Not sure where else to post this but the new Spiers and Boden album has a fantastic Maddy Prior as a standout guest vocal.

Heard a bit of Steeleye on the radio yesterday, I hope I voted for Maddy but I can't remember!