A. L. Lloyd

Albert Lancaster Lloyd (29 February 1908 – 29 September 1982), usually known as A. L. Lloyd or Bert Lloyd, was an English folk singer and collector of folk songs, and as such was a key figure in the British folk revival of the 1950s and 1960s. While Lloyd is most widely known for his work with British folk music, he had a keen interest in the music of Spain, Latin America, Southeastern Europe and Australia. He recorded at least six discs of Australian Bush ballads and folk music.

Lloyd also helped establish the folk music subgenre of industrial folk music through his books, recordings, collecting and theoretical writings.

Early life Lloyd was born in the Wandsworth district of London. His father was an AA Patrolman and failed smallholder. His mother sang songs around the house, and according to Lloyd, mimicked the gypsy singers that she had heard. By the age of fifteen his mother had died and his father, an ex-soldier, was a semi-invalid, and Lloyd was sent as an assisted migrant to Australia in a scheme organised by the Royal British Legion. There, from 1924 to 1930, he worked on various sheep stations in New South Wales and it was during this time that he began to write down folksongs he learned. In the outback of New South Wales he discovered that he could access the State Library and order books. His special interests being art and music, he could get a grasp of those topics without seeing a painting or hearing any music. He also bought a wind-up gramophone and began to investigate some of the classical music he had previously read about.

Career as folklorist When Lloyd returned to the UK in 1935, during the Great Depression, In 1937, he signed on board a factory whaling ship, the Southern Empress, bound for the southern whaling grounds of the Antarctic.

During this decade, Lloyd joined the Communist Party of Great Britain and was strongly influenced by the writings of the Marxist historian, A. L. Morton, particularly his 1938 book A People's History of England. In 1937, Lloyd's article "The People's own Poetry" was published in the Daily Worker (since 1966 renamed Morning Star) newspaper. Harper went to note that, at a time when the English folk revival was dominated by young people who wore jeans and pullovers, Lloyd was rarely seen in anything other than a suit (and a wide grin). Ewan MacColl is quoted as describing Lloyd affectionately as "a walking toby jug". In 1959, Lloyd's collaboration with Ralph Vaughan Williams, The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs, was published.

The 1956 film Moby Dick, directed by John Huston, featured Lloyd singing a sea shanty as the Pequod first sets sail. There is also a brief visual clip of him.

Lloyd recorded many albums of English folk music, most notably several albums of the Child Ballads with MacColl. He also published many books on folk music and related topics, including The Singing Englishman, Come All Ye Bold Miners, and Folk Song in England. He was a founder-member of Topic Records and remained as their artistic director until his death.

The accompanying book to the Topic Records 70 year anniversary boxed set Three Score and Ten includes a short biography and lists two albums he is closely associated with as classic albums, The Iron Muse and Frost and Fire by The Watersons. and Michael Grosvenor Myer for Folk Review magazine in September 1974.

Lloyd died at his home in Greenwich in 1982.

His version of the folk song "Doodle Let Me Go (Yaller Girls)" was used in the credits and trailer of the 2019 film The Lighthouse.

Discography Solo albums The Shooting of His Dear / Lord Bateman, HMV B.10593, 78 rpm, 1953 Down in Yon Forest / The Bitter Withy, HMV B.10594, 78 rpm, 1953 Bold Jack Donahue / Banks of the Condamine, Topic TRC84, 78 rpm, 1954 Australian Bush Songs, Riverside RLP 12-606, 1956 The Foggy Dew and Other Traditional English Love Songs, Tradition Records TLP 1016, LP, US, 1956 Banks of the Condamine and Other Bush Songs, Wattle Records (Australia) 10-inch LP, 1957 Across the Western Plains, Wattle Records (Australia) LP, 1958 Outback Ballads. Folk songs of Australia. Topic Records 12T51, 1958 English Drinking Songs, Riverside Records (US) LP, 1961. CD Reissue: Topic records England and Her Folk Songs (A Selection From The Penguin Book), with Alf Edwards, Collector Records (UK) 7-inch EP First Person (Some of His Favourite Folk Songs), Topic Records LP, 1966 The Best of A. L. Lloyd, Xtra (UK) LP, 1966 Leviathan, Topic Records (UK) LP, 1967. CD Reissue: Topic records Ten Thousand Miles Away: English and Australian Folk Songs, Fellside Records (UK) 2CD, 2008 An Evening with A. L. Lloyd Fellside Recordings (UK) CD, 2010 Turtle Dove, Fellside Records (UK), 2014

With Ewan MacColl The English and Scottish Popular Ballads 9 Volumes, Washington albums, 1952 Blow Boys Blow (Songs of The Sea), Tradition Records (US) LP, 1957. LP Reissue: Transatlantic, 1967. CD Reissue: Tradition, 1996 Thar She Blows! (Whaling Ballads and Songs), Riverside RLP 12-635 (US) LP, 1957 Convicts and Currency Lads. Wattle Recordings B2, EP, 1958 Whaling Ballads, Washington WLP 724 (US) LP, 196x. This was a reissue of the Riverside album above. English and Scottish Folk Ballads, Topic Records (UK) LP, 1964 Bold Sportsmen All, Topic Records (UK) 10-inch, 1958. CD reissue: Topic Records Gamblers and Sporting Blades (Songs of the Ring and the Racecourse), Topic records (UK) 7-inch EP, 1962 A Sailor's Garland, Xtra Records (UK) LP, 1966

Compilations and contributions Blow The Man Down, Topic Records (UK) 7-inch EP, 1956 The Iron Muse (A Panorama of Industrial Folk Music), Topic Records (UK) LP, 1963 Farewell Nancy (Sea Songs and Shanties), Topic Records (UK) LP, 1964 The Bird in the Bush – by A L Lloyd, Anne Briggs, Frankie Armstrong, Topic Records (UK) LP, 1966 Singing The Fishing – A Radio Ballad, Argo Records (UK) LP, 1967 "Babbacombe" Lee by Fairport Convention (1971), Island Records: Narration and arrangement The Valiant Sailor (Songs & Ballads of Nelson's Navy), Topic Records (UK) LP, 1973 Sea Shanties, Topic Records (UK) LP, 1974 The Transports (A Ballad Opera by Peter Bellamy), Free Reed (UK) 2LP, 1977 Topic Sampler No. 1 – Folk Songs, Topic Records (UK) LP Topic Sampler No. 2 – Folk Songs, Topic Records (UK) LP Topic Sampler No. 3 – Men at Work, Topic Records (UK) LP Topic Sampler No. 6 – A Collection of Ballads & Broadsides, Topic Records (UK) LP Topic Sampler No. 7 – Sea Songs & Shanties, Topic Records (UK) LP "Doodle let me go (yaller girls)" Performed on soundtrack of The Lighthouse (2019)

Recorded and edited by Lloyd Folk Music of Bulgaria, Topic Records (UK) LP, 1964 Folk Music of Albania, Topic Records (12T154) (UK) LP, 1966