I was listening to Anne Briggs recently because it was her birthday a couple of weeks ago. She is one of my favourite singers, but I only had one album by her which is Anne Briggs, A Collection which was issued on the Topic label. I decided to see what else was available by Anne and had a look on eBay. I found a promotional CD at a very reasonable price of her album The Time Has Come which was originally released in 1971. So, to pass the time on this autumn Sunday afternoon I thought I would write an illustrated little piece about the album. Released on CBS this was her second album, and unlike her earlier Topic recordings which were mainly unaccompanied traditional ballads this album has Anne playing guitar and bouzouki and contains many of her own compositions, such as the opening track Sandman’s Song. Her guitar playing is adequate, she is no Bert Jansch or Richard Thompson, but she sings like a bird. In my humble opinion she has the purist voice of anybody in English folk music.
The lyrics speak of walking by the sea which is a common theme in many of her songs. She liked to be outdoors close to nature. Ever since Anne Briggs turned her back on the music industry nearly fifty years ago to bring up her children, she has lived in the countryside and worked outdoors at such things as market gardening or for the forestry commission. As she herself has said, she is quite a feral creature. No wonder that Richard Thompson in his song Beeswing which she inspired said, ‘Brown hair zigzagged around her face, and a look of half-surprise, like a fox caught in the headlights, there was animal in her eyes’. In an interview with Uncut magazine, she said that as a child she wanted to be Mowgli from Kipling’s Jungle Book. Highlodge Hare is a lively instrumental which Anne plays on the bouzouki.
She learned to play this instrument from her boyfriend of the time Johnny Moynihan who was the man who introduced the bouzouki to Irish folk music. Although Anne loved singing, she hated performing to large audiences. What she enjoyed doing was busking around the west of Ireland in the summertime which she did for several years in the 1960’s, and even lived on a beach in Ireland in 1967. Anne’s mother came from Ireland which is probably why she felt so at home there. Fire and Wine was written by Steve Ashley. It was with his short-lived band called Ragged Robin that Anne recorded her final album Sing A Song For You in 1973. She was so unhappy with her performance on that record she stopped its release until 1996 and never returned to a recording studio again. I have heard some of those songs and I think she was being too hard on herself because the songs are excellent. Step Right Up was written by the late great Henry McCullough. Anne would have known Henry because before he found fame in Joe Cocker’s band, and later Wings with Paul McCartney Henry was in an Irish group called Sweeney’s Men with Johnny Moynihan. Incidentally, my brother Paul knew Henry & Johnny because they both played in his pub in County Mayo.
Ride, Ride, is an anglicised version of an American song called Railroad Bill which many people have recorded. The title track The Time Has Come is my favourite song on the album. It has a sad timeless appeal which will still sound as good in a hundred years’ time. The autumnal lyrics perfectly suit this time of year and seem quite prophetic, ‘Don't you think of me no more, I'm going to some foreign shore’. She liked to be by the sea. Clea Caught A Rabbit was written by a man called Stan Ellison from Manchester and is another upbeat bouzouki tune. Anne had a lurcher dog called Clea in those days who is actually on the cover of her first album. The lyrics of Tangled Man reminds me slightly of Cello Song a song by Nick Drake, but I’m not sure if Anne was influenced by him or vice-versa, or neither. Wishing Well is another stand out haunting song which she wrote with her life-long friend Bert Jansch. They were a huge influence on each other and shared many songs.
Standing On The Shore is another song which shows her love of the sea. She would have learned this song from Johnny Moynihan who did the arrangements with Terry Woods who was another of Sweeney’s Men and would play with The Pogues many years later. Anne plays bouzouki again on Tidewave which is a song about friends and long summers which have to come to an end. Everytime is a sad song about the end of a relationship. Fine Horseman is a magnificent song to finish the album. It was written by her close friend Lal Waterson who included it on the legendary album Bright Phoebus which I wrote about some time ago. I have enjoyed listening to this album again today. If you want to hear the title track, I have shared it below. I think you will agree with me that Anne Briggs is a wonderful singer. Also, I have shared a rare and excellent radio interview with her from 2016 if you want to hear that. Cheers.
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| Johnny Moynihan & Anne Briggs at Puck Fair, Kilorglin, Co Kerry 1967. |
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