Midwinter

• Artist: Various Artists
• Rating:
• Release Date: October 17, 2006
• Type: Christmas, Lyrics are included with the album
• Genre: Rock

Review

There are times when you say thank God for the people at Free Reed, who put together the world's best box sets. This one, themed around Christmas and New Year, might have been a dire effort in some hands, but with the imagination expended here, Midwinter sparkles. And if you think four CDs is far too much space for this, listen and think again. There are readings in between the music, and everything is about context. So there are archive recordings (the one from 1937 featuring Phil Tanner is a standout) that show how Christmas is not about a man in a red suit, but ceremony. This is folk music and where it fits into the culture of the ages. Compiler Nigel Schofield has done a scrupulously thorough job on his research (as the accompanying book -- and it is a book -- shows), so you get carols from South Yorkshire that you won't hear elsewhere next to Richard Fariña or Maddy Prior rubbing cheeks with Boris Karloff. It's impossible to resist, really, but out of this seeming hodgepodge emerges a much clearer picture of the season. There's nothing obvious, nothing twee, and it's never simplistic. Hear this and you'll never think of Christmas in quite the same way again. ~ Chris Nickson, All Music Guide

Tracks

CD 1

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Gower Wassail (First Part)	Traditional	Phil Tanner	(1:53)
Stopping by Woods/Intro: A Roving on a Winter's Night	Traditional	Robert Frost, Steve Tolston, Maggie Boyle	(4:32)
The River	Joni Mitchell	Grace Notes	(3:17)
Skater's Waltz/Excerpt from the Prelude	William Wordsworth	Jimmy Lawton, John Fahey	(1:51)
Christmas Is Now Drawing Near at Hand	Traditional	Lal Waterson	(1:51)
The Spirit of Christmas		Steve Ashley, Tinderbox	(2:39)
From Hamlet Act 1/Christmas Is A-Comin'	Traditional, William Shakespeare	Gary Watson, Leadbelly	(1:15)
Xmas Island		Blind Boy Grunt, Eric Von Schmidt, Richard Fariña	(3:11)
The Humstrum	William Barnes	Tim Laylock, David Strawbridge	(3:08)
Sound Your Instruments of Joy	Traditional	Mabe Choir	(2:32)
Wassail	Traditional	John Kirkpatrick	(3:08)
Snow Falls	John Tams	The Albion Band, John Tams	(3:53)
Wintergrace	Jean Ritchie	Jean Ritchie	(3:23)
Cherry Tree Carol	Traditional	Shirley Collins	(1:20)
Red & Green Christmas	Nadia Cattouse	Nadia Cattouse	(2:28)
Emmanuel	Traditional	The Watersons	(2:28)
Song to Mithras		Peter Bellamy	(2:02)
The Meadowhall Carol	Jim Boyes	Coope, Boyes & Simpson	(4:31)
God Bless the Birthday Boy	Ian McCalman	The McCalmans	(3:17)
Moving on Song		Ewan McCall	(1:15)
Christmas Eve Can Kill You		Helen Watson, Suzie Adams	(3:14)
Workhouse Boy		Halliard	(3:16)
Snow Is on the Ground (Excerpt)/Snow Is on the Ground	Traditional	Jeff Warner, Eleazor Tillett, Barbara Benn	(4:06)
Christmas Comes but Once a Year	Enoch Kent	Enoch Kent	(2:18)
Jack Frost & The Hooded Crow		Dave Pegg	(3:21)
The Night Before Christmas		Mike Hockenhull	(3:05)
The Christmas Tree		Charlie Fretwell	(5:09)

CD 2

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Luke 2:1/White Shepherds	Traditional	Scan Tester, Nigel Schofield	(2:05)
Christmas Must Be Tonight		Johnny Coppin	(5:28)
On the Morning of Christ's Nativity/For Unto Us a Child	Johnny Milton	Jimmy Lawton, John McCutcheon	(4:20)
Shepherds Arise	Traditional	Ron Copper, Bob Copper	(2:21)
Luke 2:8/Sherburne		Sacred Harp Convention 1959, Nigel Schofield	(1:57)
Hark Hark What News/Luke 2:7	Traditional	Singers At The Black Bill, Nigel Schofield	(3:11)
Once in Royal David's City	Traditional	Martyn Wyndham-Read	(4:20)
The Three Harks	Traditional	Coope, Boyes & Simpson	(3:33)
Wexford Carol	Traditional	Maggie Boyle	(3:56)
I Sing of a Maiden	Traditional	Shirley Collins	(1:53)
Lullay My Liking	Traditional	The Young Tradition	(2:09)
Silent Night	Traditional	Bernie Parry	(2:04)
The First Nowell	Traditional	BaccaPella	(3:09)
Matthew 2:1/Follow That Star		Nigel Schofield, St. Agnes Fountain	(4:42)
Star in the East (Brightest and Best)	Traditional	John Roberts, Debra Cowan	(1:51)
Astrologers' Journey		Johnny Coppin	(4:27)
Journey of the Magi	James Isaac Eliott	T.S. Eliot	(:58)
Follow the Star		Maggie Boyle, Gary Boyle	(3:44)
Herod & The Cock/Matt 2:18	Traditional	Nigel Schofield, Nowell Sing We Clear	(1:15)
Coventry Carol/An Apocrypha	Traditional	Joan Baez	(1:57)
The Carnal & The Crane	Traditional	New Scorpion Band	(4:19)
Go Tell It on the Mountain	Traditional	Mahalia Jackson	(3:09)
On Christmas Day	Traditional	May Bradley	(1:29)
Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring		Druidstone	(4:17)

CD 3

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Fire & Wine		Steve Ashley	(4:33)
In the Winter	Janis Ian	Laura Hockenhull, John Dipper	(2:41)
Papa Ain't No Santy Claus		Butterbeans & Susie	(3:19)
Winter Flowers		Martha Tilston	(4:36)
Christmas in Prison	John Prine	Fishken & Groves	(2:56)
Jogging Along with My Reindeer		John Kirkpatrick	(4:03)
Cardboard Christmas Boxes		Alan Hull	(2:58)
Comfort & Joy		Clive Gregson	(4:44)
First Snow in Brooklyn		Jethro Tull	(4:58)
Lady Gay	Traditional	Buell Kazee	(3:05)
Peace o'er the World (Bradda Anthem)	Traditional	Coope, Boyes & Simpson, Fraser & Boyes Freya	(2:41)
Oh What a Lovely War/Christmas 1914		Mike Harding	(5:01)
Christmas Isn't What It Used to Be		Tim Moon	(3:27)
Christmas	John Clare	John Tams	(1:07)
Ghost of Christmas Past		Mandy Morton Band	(3:37)
Christmas Morning		Loudon Wainwright III	(3:37)
Days of Holly & Mistletoe		Artisan	(2:54)
Huron Carol	Traditional	Carol Duveneck	(1:56)
The King		Maddy Prior, The Strawbs	(2:40)
The Christmas Hare		Muckram Wakes	(2:24)
Chariots		John Kirkpatrick	(6:20)
Remember Bethlehem		Kevin Loughran	(2:38)

CD 4

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Old Christmas/Shooting	Traditional	Nowell Sing We Clear	(4:13)
Apple Tree Wassail	Traditional	The Watersons	(2:38)
Gloucestershire Wassail	Traditional	Albion Christmas Band	(3:15)
The Oxen		Maddy Prior	(2:50)
The Burning Babe		Mike Hockenhull	(3:25)
Bushes and Briars		Sandy Denny	(2:37)
Poor Ditching Boy		Richard Thompson	(3:01)
Reading Clock Almanac		Jimmy Lawton	(:33)
Dunstan Lullaby	Traditional	Coope, Boyes & Simpson	(1:28)
Watts' Cradle Hymn	Isaac Watts	Maddy Prior	(3:27)
Boar's Head Carol	Traditional	Teeside Fettlers	(1:47)
The Grinch		Boris Karloff	(:32)
Hunting the Wren	Traditional	Winifred Woods, Joe Woods	(1:39)
Cully Wren	Traditional	Ian Campbell Folk Group	(2:25)
The Wren (The King)	Traditional	Dave Swarbrick, Martin Carthy	(1:40)
First Christmas Away from Home	Stan Rogers	Artisan	(3:43)
Miner's Dream of Home		Fred Whiting	(3:58)
Excerpt	Traditional	Symondbury Mummers	(:35)
Happy Christmas (War Is Over)/We Sing Hallelujah	John Lennon	Alan Rose	(3:07)
None but One		Jean Ritchie	(6:16)
Mari Llwyd	Traditional	John Clough	(1:09)
Carol for the New Year	Traditional	Nowell Sing We Clear	(4:07)
The Oxplough Song	Traditional	Johnny Collins	(3:14)
Three Ships Suite	Traditional	Steve Tilston	(9:37)
Gower Wassail (Reprise)/Midnight Chimes	Traditional	Phil Tanner	(1:36)
The January Man [*]		Martin Carthy	(4:58)

Credits

Albion Christmas Band (Arranger), Anne Warner (Arranger), Frank Warner (Arranger), Coope, Boyes & Simpson (Arranger), Áine Minogue (Arranger), The Teesside Fettlers (Arranger), Nigel Schofield (Writer), Nigel Schofield (Research), Anne Warner (Collection), Neil Wayne (Producer), Frank Warner (Collection), Neil Wayne (Editing)

Midwinter