Born in 1941 in New Malden, now in Greater London, his family moved to Linton, near Grassington, North Yorkshire, where he learned to play the violin.[3] In the late 1940s the family moved to Birmingham, where he attended Birmingham College of Art (now absorbed into the Birmingham Institute of Art and Design) in the late 1950s, with the intention of becoming a printer.[4] After winning a talent contest with his skiffle
band, he was introduced to Beryl and Roger Marriott. The Marriotts took
him under their wing and Beryl discovered that he had played the violin
up until the skiffle craze; she actively encouraged him to switch back
to the fiddle, and he joined the Beryl Marriott Ceilidh Band.[3]
He joined the Ian Campbell Folk Group in 1960 and embarked on his recording career, playing on one single, three EPs and seven albums with the group over the next few years.[5] He also played on recordings for the three most important figures in the British folk movement of the time A. L. Lloyd, Ewan MacColl, and McColl's wife Peggy Seeger, as well as part of several collections to which the Ian Campbell Group contributed.[6]
From 1965 he began to work with Martin Carthy, supporting him on his eponymous first album.[5] The association was such a success that the next recording, Second Album (1966), gave them equal billing. They produced another four highly regarded recordings between 1967–68, including Byker Hill (1967), whose innovative arrangements of traditional songs made it one of the most influential folk albums of the decade.[6] Swarbrick also played on albums by Julie Felix, A. L. Lloyd and on the radio ballads, and became perhaps the most highly regarded interpreter of traditional material on the violin and certainly one of the most sought-after session musicians.[5]
Originally, it was as a session musician that Swarbrick was called in by Joe Boyd, the manager of rising folk rock group Fairport Convention, in 1969, to undertake some overdubs on the Richard Thompson-penned track "Cajun Woman".[5] Fairport had decided to play a traditional song "A Sailor's Life",
which Swarbrick had previously recorded with Carthy in 1969, and he was
asked to contribute violin to the session. The result was an
eleven-minute mini-epic that appeared on the 1969 album Unhalfbricking and which marked out a new direction for the band.[7]
Subsequently, Swarbrick was asked to join the group and was the first fiddler on the folk scene to electrify the violin. Martin Carthy
later recalled that Swarbrick had been indecisive about joining,
telling Carthy: "I just played with this guy Richard [Thompson] and I
want to play with him for the rest of my life."[8] Together, now with Swarbrick co-writing with Richard Thompson "Crazy Man Michael", they created the groundbreaking album Liege & Lief
(1969). His energetic and unique fiddle style was essential to the new
sound and direction of the band, most marked on the medley of four jigs
and reels that Swarbrick arranged for the album and which were to become
an essential part of almost every subsequent Fairport performance.[6] Before the album was released, key members of the band, founder Ashley Hutchings and singer, guitarist and songwriter Sandy Denny
left, and Swarbrick stayed on with the band full-time, excited by the
possibilities of performing traditional music in a rock context.[7]
His greater maturity, knowledge of folk song, reputation and
personality meant that he soon emerged as the leading force in the band
and continued to be so for the next decade, encouraging the band to
bring in Dave Pegg, another graduate of the Ian Campbell Folk Group, on bass.[9] However, he was already beginning to suffer the hearing problems that would dog the rest of his career.[10]
The first album of this new line-up, Full House (1970), although not as commercially successful as Liege & Lief, sold relatively well, and remains highly regarded. Like Liege & Lief it contained interpretations of traditional tunes, including the epic "Sir Patrick Spens" and another instrumental arranged by Swarbrick, "Dirty Linen", but also contained songs jointly penned by Swarbrick and guitarist Richard Thompson, including what would become their opening live song "Walk Awhile", and the nine-minute long anti-war anthem "Sloth".[11] The partnership produced another three songs on Full House. However, the fruitful collaboration was ended when Thompson departed the band soon after.[12]
As ex-Fairport Convention members embarked on their own careers, Swarbrick was often called upon to provide musical support, as he did for albums by Sandy Denny and Richard Thompson. He also played on some of the most significant folk albums of the era, including work by John Renbourn, Al Stewart and Peter Bellamy. In the second half of the 1970s, he began to release a series of solo albums.[citation needed]
Without Thompson, Swarbrick shouldered, even more, responsibility for
leadership, writing and singing and the result was a remarkably
ambitious folk-rock opera album "Babbacombe" Lee, mostly all written by Swarbrick (telling the true story of John Babbacombe Lee,
a man convicted of murder and sentenced to hang. The scaffold apparatus
failed three times and Lee survived to spend much of his life in penal
servitude). The result gained the band some mainstream attention,
including a BBC TV programme devoted to the work, but was a mixed
artistic achievement, with critics noting the lack of variety in the
album.[13]
When Simon Nicol quit the band in 1971, Swarbrick was the longest
standing member and responsible for keeping the group afloat through a
bewildering series of line-up changes and problematic projects.[14]
The next album Rosie is chiefly notable for the title track, written by Swarbrick, which is perhaps the song most closely associated with him, but overall it was not a critical success.[15] The following release Nine (1974), relied heavily on the writing partnership between Swarbrick and new member Trevor Lucas, but it perhaps lacked the vitality of previous collaborations. The fortunes of the band rallied when Sandy Denny rejoined in 1974 and on the resulting album Rising for the Moon Swarbrick took more of a backseat in writing and singing.[16]
After Denny's final departure from the band, Swarbrick managed to steer it through three more studio albums, turning a solo project into a Fairport album Gottle O'Geer (1976) and two albums for Vertigo; The Bonny Bunch of Roses (1977) and Tipplers Tales (1978), which sold poorly, but have since been seen as containing some of Swarbrick's best fiddle work.[17] However, all this was done amid financial and contractual difficulties and Swarbrick's hearing problems were becoming severe and were aggravated by amplified performances. In 1979 the band played a farewell concert in Cropredy, Oxfordshire and disbanded.[18]
By the time of the Fairport reformation Swarbrick was already occupied with his next project as part of a quartet under the name Whippersnapper, with the highly regarded musicians Martin Jenkins, Chris Leslie and Kevin Dempsey.[21] The group produced four albums between 1985 and 1989. From this point Swarbrick left to renew his partnership with Martin Carthy, but after two albums: Life And Limb (1990) and Skin And Bone (1992), he decided to emigrate to Australia in 1994.[22]
There he formed a new partnership with guitarist and singer-songwriter Alistair Hulett. They produced one album in Australia, Saturday Johnny and Jimmy The Rat (1996) and following Swarbrick's return soon after, made two more.[23] In this period Swarbrick guested on projects with some of the most highly regarded figures in folk rock, including Steve Ashley, John Kirkpatrick and Bert Jansch as well as continuing to record and tour with Martin Carthy. Prior to returning to England, Swarbrick recorded on what would be the first of over 500 recordings of the now legendary Australian composer Pete Hawkes, playing fiddle on a few tracks on what would be his debut album Secrets, Vows and Lies released by Festival Records. It was released as a duo by the label, who had control of production but Hawkes obtained the rights back from Festival some years later and re-released the album, and in consideration of Swarbrick's contribution noted him as a special guest.[24]
Dave and Christine Pegg launched SwarbAid, including a fund-raising concert at Birmingham's Symphony Hall in July 1999, and a limited-edition EP recorded live, in order to raise funds for Swarbrick whilst his poor health was preventing him from working. After a relapse they launched SwarbAid II, with a similar concert, in 2004.[27] Swarbrick received a double lung transplant in October 2004[3] and thereafter resumed his career with fervour, as a solo performer and annually on tour in the UK, every autumn, with Martin Carthy.
He joined the Ian Campbell Folk Group in 1960 and embarked on his recording career, playing on one single, three EPs and seven albums with the group over the next few years.[5] He also played on recordings for the three most important figures in the British folk movement of the time A. L. Lloyd, Ewan MacColl, and McColl's wife Peggy Seeger, as well as part of several collections to which the Ian Campbell Group contributed.[6]
From 1965 he began to work with Martin Carthy, supporting him on his eponymous first album.[5] The association was such a success that the next recording, Second Album (1966), gave them equal billing. They produced another four highly regarded recordings between 1967–68, including Byker Hill (1967), whose innovative arrangements of traditional songs made it one of the most influential folk albums of the decade.[6] Swarbrick also played on albums by Julie Felix, A. L. Lloyd and on the radio ballads, and became perhaps the most highly regarded interpreter of traditional material on the violin and certainly one of the most sought-after session musicians.[5]
Session work and Fairport Convention in 1969–79
Swarbrick as a member of Fairport Convention, appearing on the Dutch television show TopPop in 1972
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The first album of this new line-up, Full House (1970), although not as commercially successful as Liege & Lief, sold relatively well, and remains highly regarded. Like Liege & Lief it contained interpretations of traditional tunes, including the epic "Sir Patrick Spens" and another instrumental arranged by Swarbrick, "Dirty Linen", but also contained songs jointly penned by Swarbrick and guitarist Richard Thompson, including what would become their opening live song "Walk Awhile", and the nine-minute long anti-war anthem "Sloth".[11] The partnership produced another three songs on Full House. However, the fruitful collaboration was ended when Thompson departed the band soon after.[12]
As ex-Fairport Convention members embarked on their own careers, Swarbrick was often called upon to provide musical support, as he did for albums by Sandy Denny and Richard Thompson. He also played on some of the most significant folk albums of the era, including work by John Renbourn, Al Stewart and Peter Bellamy. In the second half of the 1970s, he began to release a series of solo albums.[citation needed]
Swarbrick in concert in Toronto, 1977
The next album Rosie is chiefly notable for the title track, written by Swarbrick, which is perhaps the song most closely associated with him, but overall it was not a critical success.[15] The following release Nine (1974), relied heavily on the writing partnership between Swarbrick and new member Trevor Lucas, but it perhaps lacked the vitality of previous collaborations. The fortunes of the band rallied when Sandy Denny rejoined in 1974 and on the resulting album Rising for the Moon Swarbrick took more of a backseat in writing and singing.[16]
After Denny's final departure from the band, Swarbrick managed to steer it through three more studio albums, turning a solo project into a Fairport album Gottle O'Geer (1976) and two albums for Vertigo; The Bonny Bunch of Roses (1977) and Tipplers Tales (1978), which sold poorly, but have since been seen as containing some of Swarbrick's best fiddle work.[17] However, all this was done amid financial and contractual difficulties and Swarbrick's hearing problems were becoming severe and were aggravated by amplified performances. In 1979 the band played a farewell concert in Cropredy, Oxfordshire and disbanded.[18]
Return to the folk circuit from 1980
Apart from occasional reunions, particularly at the Cropredy Festival, Swarbrick's performing career since 1980 has focused on small venues and acoustic performances. His first project was a highly regarded duo with former Fairport guitarist Simon Nicol, which produced three albums.[19] In 1984 Swarbrick decided to move to Scotland, while Nicol remained in Oxfordshire and the partnership dissolved. This also meant that he was unavailable when Fairport regrouped to record the album Gladys' Leap (1985) and made public his dislike of the project, refusing to play the material at the next Cropredy Festival. When the band reformed in 1986 it did so without him, although he has played with them on several occasions, particularly at the Cropredy Festival.[20]By the time of the Fairport reformation Swarbrick was already occupied with his next project as part of a quartet under the name Whippersnapper, with the highly regarded musicians Martin Jenkins, Chris Leslie and Kevin Dempsey.[21] The group produced four albums between 1985 and 1989. From this point Swarbrick left to renew his partnership with Martin Carthy, but after two albums: Life And Limb (1990) and Skin And Bone (1992), he decided to emigrate to Australia in 1994.[22]
There he formed a new partnership with guitarist and singer-songwriter Alistair Hulett. They produced one album in Australia, Saturday Johnny and Jimmy The Rat (1996) and following Swarbrick's return soon after, made two more.[23] In this period Swarbrick guested on projects with some of the most highly regarded figures in folk rock, including Steve Ashley, John Kirkpatrick and Bert Jansch as well as continuing to record and tour with Martin Carthy. Prior to returning to England, Swarbrick recorded on what would be the first of over 500 recordings of the now legendary Australian composer Pete Hawkes, playing fiddle on a few tracks on what would be his debut album Secrets, Vows and Lies released by Festival Records. It was released as a duo by the label, who had control of production but Hawkes obtained the rights back from Festival some years later and re-released the album, and in consideration of Swarbrick's contribution noted him as a special guest.[24]
Health, premature obituary and return to performance
For many years Swarbrick suffered steadily worsening health because of emphysema. There was considerable embarrassment for The Daily Telegraph newspaper when in April 1999 it published a premature obituary for Swarbrick after he was admitted to hospital with a chest infection.[23][25][26] Swarbrick is reported to have commented, "It's not the first time I've died in Coventry."[27]Dave and Christine Pegg launched SwarbAid, including a fund-raising concert at Birmingham's Symphony Hall in July 1999, and a limited-edition EP recorded live, in order to raise funds for Swarbrick whilst his poor health was preventing him from working. After a relapse they launched SwarbAid II, with a similar concert, in 2004.[27] Swarbrick received a double lung transplant in October 2004[3] and thereafter resumed his career with fervour, as a solo performer and annually on tour in the UK, every autumn, with Martin Carthy.
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