Shirley Elizabeth Collins MBE (born 5 July 1935) is an English folk singer who was a significant contributor to the British Folk Revival of the 1960s and 1970s. She often performed and recorded with her sister Dolly, whose accompaniment on piano and portative organ created unique settings for Shirley's plain, austere singing style.

Biography

thumb|Shirley Collins (left) with Dolly Collins on stage, 1978

Early life

Shirley Collins was born in Hastings, East Sussex, England on 5 July 1935. Her father left the family when she was about twelve or thirteen, and her Uncle Fred, who was an author, largely took his place. She grew up, with her older sister Dolly, in the area, in a family which kept alive a great love of traditional song. Songs learnt from their grandfather and from their mother's sister, Grace Winborn, were to be important in the sisters' repertoire throughout their career.

On leaving school, at the age of 17, Collins enrolled at a teachers' training college in Tooting, south London.

In 1954, at a party hosted by Ewan MacColl, she met Alan Lomax, the American folk song collector, who had moved to Britain to avoid the McCarthy witch-hunt, which was then raging in America. and singing backing vocals on a version of MacColl's "Dirty Old Town" by Alan Lomax and the Ramblers, in 1956. "I was madly in love with him," Collins says of Lomax. featuring sparse arrangements, with Collins accompanying herself on the banjo. Sweet England was released in 1959 and False True Lovers in 1960. Collins also recorded a series of EPs in 1958 and 1959 with The Foggy Dew and English Songs being released in 1959.

From July to November 1959, Collins and Lomax made a folk song collecting trip in the Southern U.S. states. It resulted in many hours of recordings, featuring performers such as Almeda Riddle, Hobart Smith, and Bessie Jones, and is noted for the discovery of Mississippi Fred McDowell. Recordings from this trip were issued by Atlantic Records under the title "Sounds of the South", and some were re-enacted in the Coen brothers’ film O Brother, Where Art Thou?. The experience of her life with Lomax, and the making of the recordings in religious communities, social gatherings, prisons and chain gangs was described in Collins' book America Over the Water (published 2005).

Back in Britain, Collins met Austin John Marshall, whom she later married. She also proceeded with her singing career, appearing on three compilations albums (A Jug of Punch, A Pinch of Salt and Rocket Along) in 1960 and an EP, Heroes in Love, in 1963 (now included with False True Lovers on the CD release). It was after that, in a series of influential albums, that she helped to introduce many innovations into the English folk revival. In 1964, she recorded the landmark jazz-folk fusion of Folk Roots, New Routes, with guitarist Davey Graham. The unusual combination of ancient instruments included rebecs, sackbuts, viols and crumhorns. All these recordings strove to marry a deep love and understanding of the English folk music heritage with a more contemporary attitude to musical settings.

Anthems in Eden was followed by Love, Death and the Lady, also co-credited with Dolly, in 1970.

Albion Country and Etchingham Steam Bands

Collins married her second husband Ashley Hutchings in 1971. Collins does not appear on the next Albion Band album (Rise Up Like the Sun, recorded in 1977 and released in 1978, with the "Dance" dropped from the band name) and decided to focus on home life and her children from her first marriage, while Hutchings and the Albion Band collaborated on several National Theatre productions. It was during this period that Hutchings left Collins. The painful divorce was followed by loss of her voice and "the ability to sing entirely", through dysphonia, leading to her retirement from music.

Her music career seemingly over, Collins resorted to "a number of low-paid jobs"—including employment at the British Library and the job centre—to get by, and she sold her old equipment.

21st century

Collins sang on the final version of "Idumæa" on Current 93's 2006 album Black Ships Ate the Sky. On 8 February 2014, at Union Chapel, Islington, in London, Collins sang for the first time for many years, performing two songs; "All the Pretty Little Horses" and "Death and the Lady". She was accompanied by Ian Kearey from the band Oysterband.

She returned to recording and in November 2016, Collins released Lodestar, her first new album in 38 years. Earning two BBC Radio 2 Folk Award nominations for the work, considered her best by some, she found this late success highly improbable, saying: "I never believed it could happen. It's a bit of a miracle, really."

Lodestar was followed in July 2020 by another album of new material, entitled Heart's Ease. The album included re-recordings of some songs she had sung in her twenties, such as "Barbara Allen". In a five-star review, The Guardian described it as "...a more confident follow-up [to Lodestar]", saying: "The veteran singer's comeback really takes wing with this impeccably judged set."

Another album of new recordings, Archangel Hill, was released in May 2023, featuring songs chosen by Collins – some traditional and some by her favourite modern writers.

In August 2023, Collins was the guest for BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, where her choices included "61 Highway Blues" by Mississippi Fred McDowell, "A Heart Needs A Home" by Richard and Linda Thompson and "The Birds in the Spring" by the Copper Family.

The Ballad of Shirley Collins

A film about her life, The Ballad of Shirley Collins, was released in October 2017. She was not sure such attention was warranted, saying: "When they first asked me I was nonplussed. I thought, 'is this a wind-up?

Honours, awards, distinctions

  • In 2004, Collins was awarded a Gold Badge by the English Folk Dance and Song Society.
  • She was awarded the MBE for services to music in the 2007 New Year's Honours List.
  • She holds an Honorary Degree from the Open University (for a "notable contribution to education and culture") and an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Sussex.
  • In 2008, she was elected as president of the English Folk Dance and Song Society and received the "Good Tradition" award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.
  • She is currently patron of the South East Folk Arts Network and Folk South West.
  • Collins garnered two BBC Radio 2 Folk Award nominations for her seventh studio album, Lodestar, released in 2016.
  • A film about her life, The Ballad of Shirley Collins, was released in October 2017.
  • Archangel Hill – Domino Recording Company (2023)

Shirley and Dolly Collins

  • Anthems in Eden – EMI Harvest (1969)
  • Love, Death and the Lady – EMI Harvest (1970)
  • For as Many as Will – Topic (1978)
  • Harking Back – Durtro (recorded 1978–79, released 1998) – [live]
  • Snapshots – Fledg'ling (recorded 1966 and 1978–79, released 2006) – [demo and live recordings]

Shirley Collins and the Albion Country Band

  • No Roses – Pegasus (1971)

Shirley Collins with Ashley Hutchings/The Albion Band

  • Morris On, by Ashley Hutchings, Richard Thompson, Dave Mattacks, John Kirkpatrick and Barry Dransfield – Island/Carthage (1972)
  • Son of Morris On, by Ashley Hutchings and others – Harvest (1976)
  • The Prospect Before Us, by The Albion Dance Band – Harvest (1977)
  • Lark Rise To Candleford, by The Albion Band – Charisma (1980)
  • The BBC Sessions, by The Albion Band – Strange Fruit (1998) (tracks 5–8, recorded 1976)
  • Dancing Days Are Here Again, by The Albion Dance Band – Talking Elephant (2007) (recorded 1976)

The Young Tradition and Shirley and Dolly Collins

  • The Holly Bears the Crown – Fledg'ling (recorded 1969, released 1995)

Shirley Collins and Davy Graham

  • Folk Roots, New Routes – Decca (1964)

Etchingham Steam Band (includes Shirley Collins)

  • Etchingham Steam Band – Fledg'ling (recorded 1974–75, released 1995) – [live]

Compilations

  • A Favourite Garland – Gama (1974) – [compilation]
  • Fountain of Snow – Durtro (1992) – [compilation]
  • The Classic Collection – Highpoint (2004) – [compilation]
  • Within Sound – Fledg'ling (2003) – [box set, compilation]
  • The Harvest Years – EMI (2008) – [compilation of Anthems in Eden, Love, Death and the Lady and Amaranth, with one track each from Son of Morris On and The Prospect Before Us]

Autobiography

  • Shirley Collins, America Over the Water, SAF Publishing, 2004.
  • Shirley Collins, All in the Downs: Reflections on Life, Landscape, and Song, Strange Attractor Press, 2018.

See also

  • Music of Sussex

References

  • Shirley Collins web site
  • Mainly Norfolk Shirley Collins page
  • Fledg'ling records biography of Shirley and Dolly Collins