British & Celtic Holiday Music - A Discography And Resource Page (Slipcue.Com Music Guide)

This page catalogues many of the best war-related songs -- both anthemic and antiwar -- that I have heard. This list is of songs that are on albums which otherwise don't have war and wartime as their whole theme. A separate page reviews records that are mainly about war and antiwar propaganda songs.

War Songs - a discography of wartime propaganda.
Peace Songs - a discography of antiwar anthems.

Sea Shanties and Sailing Songs

Various Artists "SING CHRISTMAS AND THE TURN OF THE YEAR" (Rounder, 2000)
A young Shirley Collins makes one of her earliest recorded appearances as part of a holiday-oriented tour de force organized by American expat, uber-folklorist Alan Lomax. It's an amazing live BBC broadcast from Christmas Day, 1957, which gathered the talents of revered revivalists such as A. L. Lloyd, Seamus Ennis, Cyril Tawney, and Ewan MacColl, as well as numerous lesser-known performers. From studios in Belfast, Birmingham, London, Wales, Plymouth, Derbyshire and Scotland, they were all contributing live on the air to an elaborate Christmas pageant that included not only British and Celtic folk material (including plenty of pagan and protest music), but also the rockin' new skiffle style and a bit of calypso and African highlife music from Britain's immigrant communities. The tightly scripted program features narration by Lomax, who had spent the bulk of the '50s in the UK, hosting various folk programs on radio and TV, and who waxes eloquent about the social and mystical roots of Britain's Christmas traditions. Lomax was ahead of the curve in so many ways on this project, it's hard to know where to begin -- stylistically, technically, crossculturally -- this was an ambitious, professionally realized broadcast that gathered together the best of Britain's folk talent, and yet retained the charm of a grade school talent show. Collins contributes on several tracks, a bit stiff-sounding, but still the voice of England's rural tradition -- in a foreshadowing of things to come, she even closes out the program singing with a Skiffle group! This album is fascinating as a work of art and a historical document, this is one of the jewels of Rounder's extensive program reissuing Lomax's vast recorded legacy. The songs and snippets whiz by too fast, but it's still a dazzling show!

The Albion Band "A Christmas Present From The Albion Band" (Fun/Tracer, 1985)

Bohola "Bo-Ho-Ho-Hola" (Bohola Music, 2008)

Celtic Woman "A Christmas Celebration" (Manhattan, 2006)

Cherish The Ladies "On Christmas Night" (Rounder, 2004)

Shirley & Dolly Collins With The Young Tradition "The Holly Bears The Crown" (Fledgling, 1995)
A compelling collection of Christmastime and winter-y ditties, originally recorded in 1969, merging the talents of the Collins sisters and the equally craggy and arcane Young Tradition trio. There's a great stylistic variation, from the craggy-voiced growls of the late Peter Bellamy to some of the sweetest harmonizations the Collins sisters ever did. There's a cool variant version of "The Holly Bears A Crown," and several other semi-pagan spirituality tunes, some of it stark, some of it melodic. But this is one of the most accessible Collins-related albums I've had the pleasure to hear... Highly recommended!

John Fahey "The New Possibility" (Takoma, 1968)

John Fahey "Christmas With John Fahey, v.2" (Takoma, 1975)

John Fahey "Christmas Guitar Volume I" (Varrick, 1982)
(A re-recording of the music on 1968 The New Possibility album...)

John Fahey "The John Fahey Christmas Album" (1991)

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Horslips "Drive The Cold Winter Away" (1975)

The Irish Rovers "An Irish Christmas" (Varese Sarabande, 2002)

Eileen Ivers "An Nollaig: An Irish Christmas" (Compass, 2007)
A solid, if slick, holiday offering from this Celtic trad-fusion star. A veteran of Cherish The Ladies and the Riverdance troupe, Irish-American fiddler Eileen Ivers has been pushing the envelope for years now, but still has her roots intact... This album has plenty of chestnuts and standards -- "Hark The Herald Angels Sing," "Do You Hear What I Hear?," Vince Guaraldi's "Christmas Time Is Here," etc. -- and several tunes closer to the British/Celtic sensibilities, notably "The Wexford Carol" and the pagan-tinged "Holly Tree" (known to many trad fans through the early work of the Waterson family...) Christmas music tends, in general, to be a bit florid, and this disc is no exception, but for those who don't mind ornately-produced holiday fare, but are looking for a new twist or a slightly different flavor, this Irish-based excursion could be a real treat.

John Kirkpatrick "Carolling & Crumpets" (Fledg'ling, 2006)

Maddy Prior And The Carnival Band "A Tapestry Of Carols" (Saydisc, 1987)

Maddy Prior & The Carnival Band "Carols And Capers" (Park, 1991)

Maddy Prior & The Carnival Band "Carols At Christmas" (Park, 1998)

Maddy Prior "Gold, Frankincense & Myrrh" (2001)

Maddy Prior & The Carnival Band "An Evening Of Carols and Capers" (Park, 2007)

Kate Rusby "Sweet Bells" (2008)
A holiday album... from Kate Rusby? I'm in...!!

The Watersons "Fire And Frost" (Topic, 1965)
The group's first full album is a real doozie... A concept album which tracks through the calendar year, using various seasonally-oriented folk songs as its guideposts. Includes "pace-egging" songs... an old style which was sort of a musical form of trick-or-treating, where singers would go door to door asking for food or drink in exchange for a song or two. Besides the fascinating material, the Waterson's spooky polyphonous vocals were never more powerful. My personal favorite on here is the pagan faith-meets-Christian lyrics of "The Holly Bears A Berry." HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

The Watersons "A Yorkshire Christmas" (Witchwood Media, 2005)
The final recordings of the full, original Watersons ensemble, recorded live in 1980 during a holiday celebration at Crathorne Hall in North Yorkshire... Also included some spoken pieces from other participants at the event.

Various Artists "CHRISTMAS IN AN IRISH CASTLE: CELEBRATING THE WINTER IN SONG, DANCE AND STORY" (2001)

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