Nic Jones

Nic Jones (full name Nicolas Paul Jones) was born on 9 January 1947 in the English town of Orpington, Kent. He is one of the most enduring artists to come out of the 70s English folk revival. Although he originally styled himself as a folk singer, his fame rests largely on his skill as a guitarist and in composing memorable arrangements for traditional songs.

Biography

His early musical interests included acts like Ray Charles and The Shadows. He first learned to play guitar while at school. His interest in folk music was aroused by some old school friends who had formed into a folk band called the Halliard. When the members of the Halliard decided to turn professional, one of them left to pursue a different career and Nic was invited to take his place. Whilst playing with the Halliard, Nic learned how to play the fiddle, and also how to research and arrange traditional material.

The Halliard split up in 1968 as the members decided to pursue individual interests. For Nic, after a period at home with his family, this meant forging a career as a solo artist. At first finding work as a session musician, his solo career eventually took off and he recorded five solo albums, plus contributions to another album with the folk act Bandoggs.

In February 1982, he was involved in a serious car accident while driving home after performing at Glossop Folk Club. He broke a large number of bones and suffered some brain damage and was hospitalised for eight months. Although he survived, he still suffers co-ordination problems and feels he is unable to play the guitar well enough to perform and record. He can no longer play the fiddle at all.

Nic now lives in Devon and continues to play guitar and write songs for his own pleasure. He has also developed a passion for chess. His wife, Julia, set up the record label Mollie Music which has issued three albums of re-mastered live recordings from Nic's early career.

Guitar Style

Nic's guitar style was unique in its day and has often been imitated since. He played with a plastic thumb pick but not his fingernails. Instead he opted to grasp and pluck the strings of the guitar which led to the slapping down onto the fingerboard with no small force. The off-beat, percussive 'ping' sound which became his signature on the later albums is produced by a technique known as frailing, used by banjo players. The middle fingertip of the plucking hand is held behind the base of the thumb and then quickly flicked out and back in, striking the D-string with the main part of the nail.

He was also frequent user of open tunings, particularly in C and G.

Discography

Jones' first four albums were originally released on vinyl on the Trailer label. Currently, only the first two are available on CD. Legal wrangles continue to impede Jones' full back catalogue re-release.

With The Halliard

• It's The Irish In Me - The Halliard (1967)
• The Halliard and Jon Raven (1967)
• Broadside Songs (2005 — the Halliard songs from and Jon Raven, plus 10 more)
• The Last Goodnight! (2005 — long-lost recording from 1968, plus 3 more)

With Bandoggs

• Bandoggs (1978)

With Maddy Prior and June Tabor

• Silly Sisters (1976)

Jones has made vocal, guitar and violin contributions on many other recordings with numerous folk artists

Solo

• Ballads and Songs (1970)
• Nic Jones (1971)
• The Noah's Ark Trap (1977)
• From the Devil to a Stranger (1978)
• Penguin Eggs (1980)
• In Search of Nic Jones (1998) (remastered live material)
• Unearthed (2001) (remastered live material)
• Game Set Match (2006) (remastered live material)

In 1999, John Wesley Harding released a tribute album entitled Trad Arr Jones.

In 2001, Penguin Eggs was voted the 2nd best folk album of all time by listeners of the Mike Harding show on BBC Radio 2. The opening track on this album, "Canadee-I-O", besides being an excellent example of Nic's guitar style, is notable because it was recorded by Bob Dylan and included on his 1992 album Good as I Been to You. Whilst "Canadee-I-O" is a traditional folk song, some critics have accused Dylan of stealing Jones' arrangements for this song without credit or the offer of royalties. Others disagree, and believe the arrangements to be different. Another school of thought is that the arranger's copyright on recordings of traditional songs is little more than a legal fiction, allowing artists to receive "mechanical royalty payments" that would otherwise be kept by their recording labels. See the links below for further discussion on this issue.

External links

• Nic's web site
• Interview on the Living Tradition site
• Article on Dylan/Jones arrangements for Canadee-I-O