Beginnings of folk music career

Anne Briggs visited the main British folk clubs which were then becoming well-known: The Troubador, The Scots Hoose and various Irish music venues. At his time, the emphasis at such venues was on instrumental folk music, and singing was regarded as merely a pause between tunes. A young Christy Moore heard her and was inspired to give more emphasis, in his own music, to singing rather than playing jigs.

She became loosely associated with the Scottish folk musicians who were sometimes regarded as part of the hippy culture: Bert Jansch, The Incredible String Band, and Clive Palmer, for example. Briggs and Janch lived together in a squat in Earl's Court before moving together to a house in Somali Road, London, where John Renbourn lived, and The Young Tradition also lived for a time. Jansch and Briggs had some resemblance to each and were so naturally close that they were often mistaken for brother and sister. It was Briggs who taught Jansch the traditional song "Blackwaterside" which he recorded on his "Jack Orion" album in 1966.

First recordings

Anne Briggs began her recording career by contributing two songs to a thematic album, "The Iron Muse", released by Topic Records in 1963. Ewan MacColl and Bert Lloyd sang on the tracks, and Ray Fisher made a brief appearance singing along with Briggs. An EP "The Hazards of Love" was recorded in 1963. It was an early inspiration for both June Tabor and Maddy Prior.

At about this time, Anne Briggs entered a relationship with a Scotsman who proved to be violent towards her. She was rescued from this relationship by Hamish Henderson who accidentally bumped into her and invited her to join Louis Killen, Dave Swarbrick and Frankie Armstrong for a recording project. This resulted in the album called "The Bird in The Bush" which is still regarded as one of the best collections of traditional erotic folksongs recorded in the 1960s.

Johnny Moynihan

While touring England, The Dubliners met Anne Briggs and decided that she would be the perfect musical partner for a folk singer they knew in Dublin, called Johnny Moynihan. In 1965 they accompanied her to Ireland and for the next four years she spent her summers there, travelling by horse-drawn cart and singing in pub sessions. During the winter months she earned money by touring English folk clubs. Her time in Ireland introduced her to the solo "sean nos" singing style heard in the songs of Irish folk artists, and this was an influence on her later singing style, when blended with the elements of traditional English music which she had already taken up.

There are many stories, from this period, about her antics, such as pushing Johnny Moynihan and Andy Irvine out of a hay loft and, on another occasion, jumping into the sea at Malin Head, Donegal, to chase seals.

In 1966 Johnny Moynihan and Andy Irvine formed Sweeney's Men. Anne Briggs joined them on tours and learned to play the bouzouki, at that time a rare instrument in the British Isles. She wrote "Living by the Water", which was to appear on her 1971 album, accompanying herself on the instrument.

Reluctant star

The folk-rock impresario Jo Lustig signed up Pentangle in 1968 and a couple of years later took on Anne Briggs. Through his influence Anne performed along with the folk-rock group COB at the Royal Festival Hall in 1971.

In the same year, she recorded an album, "The Time has Come", which was released by CBS. It consisted mostly of Briggs singing traditional unaccompanied songs, but Moynihan plays bouzouki on one track. The BBC had broadcast a film of the Watersons in 1966 "Travelling for a Living" and Anne had made a brief appearance in the film. Lal Waterson joined Briggs as a vocalist on the album. Sales of "The Time has Come" were, however, dismal, and it was dropped from CBS's catalogue, finally being re-issued in 1996.

Early in 1973 she recorded a second solo album "Sing a Song For You" with instrumental support from "Ragged Robin", who were a folk-rock band assembled around Steve Ashley. The album includes Moynihan's song, "Standing on the Shore", previously recorded by Sweeney's Men. She was pregnant at the time with her second child. Her confidence was at its lowest ebb and it was to be her final studio recording. By the time it was issued, Briggs was living in the Hebrides. The album sank without trace until Fledgling Records re-issued it in 1996, when it was acclaimed by folk music afficianados as a lost gem.

She became a market gardener and avoided all contact with the music scene. When Bert Lloyd died in 1990 she was persuaded to sing in a memorial concert. Despite coaxing from some of the brightest names in British folk music, she refuses to return to the studio.

There are several anecdotes and photographs of Anne Briggs in the book "Dazzling Stranger" by Colin Harper (2001).

Influence

Anne Briggs' musical legacy is her significant influence on the work of other musicians, rather than recognition by the general public. Her earlier partner, Bert Jansch, who described her as "one of the most underrated singers", recorded Briggs' songs (including "Go your way, my love" and "Wishing well") on four of his albums. She was also his source for several of the traditional songs which he recorded, including "Blackwaterside". Jansch's instrumental accompaniment to this song was later copied, virtually note-for-note by Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page and recorded as Black Mountain Side.

Briggs' compositions were played and recorded by Pentangle: for example, "The time has come" appears on their "Sweet Child" album. One of Briggs' songs, "Mosaic Patterns" (which she herself has never recorded) was recorded by blues singer, Dorris Henderson. Sandy Denny wrote a song in tribute to Briggs, called "The Pond and the Stream" on "Fotheringay" (1970).

Her name continues to be praised by younger singers — Eliza Carthy, Kate Rusby and lead singer of Altan, Maired Ni Mhaonaigh, for example. More recently Charlotte Greig and the Scottish band James Yorkston and the Athletes have cited Anne Briggs as an influence on them.

A song on Beth Orton's Comfort of Strangers, 'Shadow of a Doubt' is cited as an ode to the song 'You go your way', the chorus being somewhat directly lifted.

Discography

Solo albums

• - The Hazards of Love (EP) (1966)
• - Anne Briggs (1971)
• - The Time Has Come (1971)
• - Sing a Song for You (1973)

Collaborations

Bert Lloyd, Ewan MacColl, Anne Briggs et al

• - The Iron Muse (1963)

Bert Lloyd, Anne Briggs and Frankie Armstrong

• - The Bird in the Bush (1966)

References