585:: "The saddest Bellamy moment arose after I'd complimented him on a barnstorming performance the last time I'd seen him. With a wan smile, he picked up his diary and, holding it up for me to see, leafed through empty page after empty page, without saying a word." American folksinger Lisa Null, a longtime friend, writes "He was broke, unable to find gigs, unable to adapt. He complained so much about this, many of us kind of got used to it -- a bad mistake. He was sending out warning signs." Another singer, Nick Dow, adds, "In respect of his empty gig diary, we were chatting on the phone, and he asked me 'Nick how do you get so much work?' I answered that it was because I was a persuasive bastard and wasn't averse to making a nuisance of myself. He replied that he couldn't easily ring up and ask for a gig, he found it so embarrassing. He was a singer and performer, not a businessman in any shape or form. Peter needed our help, and the oxygen of the appreciation of his art."
462:, there is a "hidden" tune being worked to, and that nothing else can explain the strange refrains. Bellamy became excited when the line in "Dutch in the Medway" "our ships in every harbour...." reminded him of the line in the song "Cupid's Garden" "Twas down in Portsmouth Harbour...". This observation suggested the tune for the Kipling poem and made him wonder whether Kipling had actually composed to that tune, it being a common folk song in the 19th century and certainly part of the repertoire of the remarkable
321:. It told the true story of the first transport ship to land in Australia and the first couple, Henry and Susannah Cable (or Kabel), to marry on Australian soil, based on a story Peter found in the local newspaper in Norfolk and followed by his research into the details at the city museum and library. Descendants of the Kabel family still live in Sydney and became friends of Peter. In 2004 it was re-released together with a new production involving
27:
488:, with Chris Birch (brother of Bellamy's first wife) on fiddle and Tony Hall on melodeon. Chris also contributed to numerous other Bellamy albums, playing fiddle and guitar, singing and providing vocal arrangements. The Kipling Society went on to appreciate Bellamy's contribution to Kipling's legacy and he was elected a Fellow of the Kipling Society, becoming a vice-president in 1981.
285:, in 1973, but it took him 4 years to find a company willing to produce it. It then became the folk record of the year for 1977 vindicating his long wait and many efforts to get it released. Many prominent names in the folk scene collaborated on the project, including Dolly Collins (a composer, the sister of
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were published in 1892, and
Bellamy started setting them to music in 1973. He was struck by people's misconceptions about Kipling, who many perceived as (in Bellamy's words) "one of the reactionary old guard, and therefore obviously a writer of no merit whatsoever". In reality, Kipling had captured a
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Though his roots were obvious to anyone with half an ear, he added much of himself to what he inherited, and was a giant in a world where the pygmy is the standard by which all must be measured. It was unable to contain him, but now he is dead he will no doubt be consigned to the pantheon where the
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When composing the musical settings for
Kipling's poetry, Bellamy had a theory, shared with many others, that highly metrical poets like Kipling used song tunes to keep their poems flowing properly. Some of Kipling's contemporaries confirm that he was in the habit of humming and whistling as he
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is a fan of Peter's bellowing style. He has jocularly put on his website "Bellamists subscribe to a belief in the absolute purity and oneness of all things
Bellamy, and bleat daily incantations in the hope of advancing the day when he will finally return to reign in ever-lasting glory." He was
632:, commenting on an event at Cecil Sharp House compered by Peter Bellamy, he was given the anagrammatical name "Elmer P. Bleaty", a humorous comment on the slightly nasal vibrato of his voice. (Peter Bellamy later obtained, framed and hung the original of the cartoon in his home.)
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more threatening icons of our time can be tucked away safely, as relics of a past golden age. Peter
Bellamy knew that the golden age is now, and he made it more glorious with his presence. His vast recorded output will be an inspiration to all who follow after.
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himself good-natured, and even a bit proprietorial, about references to his style as "bleating". In addition to the self-given sobriquet of "boring bleating old traddy", picked out in letters on a
Scrabble board on a self-designed record-sleeve photograph by
559:, an event that baffled many in the folk music community. At the time, he was working with Fellside Records on a project to record major British unaccompanied singing talents. However, according to a thread called 'Boring, Bleating Old Traddy' on the online
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The economics of folk singing meant that
Bellamy sold his own limited edition cassettes at folk clubs, and many performances exist only as pirated tapes. It is said that Celtic Records have a large cache of quality recordings that are unlikely to be issued.
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Shortly before his death, his widow, Jenny, later told
Michael Grosvenor Myer, he had spent a whole day listening intently and self-critically to his entire record output, saying at the end "But I am good. What the hell has gone wrong?"
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real insight into the attitudes of the ordinary soldiers, such as their contempt for those civilians who would shrug the soldiers off during peacetime but will encourage and cheer them on when the soldiers are leaving for battle:
380:. A hiss redolent of an old 78 record was added, but this joke misfired: a Transatlantic Records press officer later told interviewer Michael Grosvenor Myer that quite a few copies were returned as 'faulty' as a result!
203:" with Royston Wood and Heather Wood. The trio recorded mainly traditional songs in close harmony and mostly without accompaniment. The Young Tradition projected their voices powerfully, clearly influenced by
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and used, as noted above, as title of a Mudcat Cafe thread, and to the anagrammatic name attributed to the cartoon character based on him mentioned in the previous paragraph, he once rejoined to a
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Initially, Bellamy's proposal to record the
Ballads was vetoed by Kipling's daughter, and he had to wait until her death in 1976 before permission was finally granted by the Kipling Society.
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in London on 2 October 1992, 13 months after his death. Heather Wood, his erstwhile Young
Tradition colleague now living in New York, came over specifically to be present on the occasion.
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Although at folk clubs, and in private, he often accompanied blues on bottleneck guitar, these performances rarely appeared on his albums: an exception is an attenuated version of
257:, still alive at that time, who was the most famous traditional singer of Norfolk songs. On the album, Bellamy sang all songs unaccompanied. Beginning on his second album,
363:(for which he also showed considerable talent and fluency as a writer of reviews and features). He continued to exhibit and sell his paintings throughout his life.
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in
October 1969, after which they split up, with Bellamy wanting to concentrate on traditional English music, whilst the other members had developed interests in
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folk music forum, several of his friends had found him depressed at the way his folk club bookings had unaccountably fallen away after the respect with which
470:.) It has also been suggested that Kipling's "My name is O'Kelly, I've heard the reveille..." was written to the common Irish song and Army marching tune "
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Grammar School in the late 1950s and early 1960s. His father, Richard Reynell Bellamy, worked as a farm bailiff at that time. Peter Bellamy studied at
577:, where he was subsequently to write his obituary, relates how Bellamy showed him an empty engagement book, saying, in sad and puzzled tones, "
474:". Bellamy found a different tune but agreed that "Lillibullero" was more likely to have been on Kipling's mind at the time of composition.
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Continuing his early talents with the visual arts, Bellamy generally designed his own album jackets and also drew cartoons for Fred Woods's
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It wasn't until Bellamy's eighth album in 1975 that he recorded any of his own compositions. In the same year he recorded a collection of
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and also had a long solo career, recording numerous albums and touring folk clubs and concert halls. He is noted for his ballad-opera
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Having mastered the art of putting new words to a traditional song and his own words to a traditional tune, he wrote a ballad-opera,
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184:, and decades later still retained something of the flamboyant art student image, being described as looking like a latter-day
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and tied back with a ribbon, a scarlet jacket and florally-patterned trousers which he made himself from furnishing fabric.
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character) "Larry the Lamb" imitators in folk clubs, "Larry the Lamb imitations, dear Madam, are strictly my copyright!"
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of Sussex who had lived in Rottingdean when Kipling was also living there. (A local man called Copper appears briefly in
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had been received. Folk music journalist and critic Michael Grosvenor Myer, one of those who had named
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was a runaway success, since when my career has gone ppppffff!" Similarly from fellow folksinger
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Bellamy had a distinctive singing style. In a "Borfolk" cartoon in the October 1980 edition of
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Bellamy started his exploration of Kipling as a source for songs, not with the
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Bogdanov, Vladimir; Woodstra, Chris; Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (2001).
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World music: the rough guide. Africa, Europe and the Middle East
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It's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' 'Chuck him out, the brute!'
215:. They recorded three albums together plus a collaboration with
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But it's 'Saviour of 'is country' when the guns begin to shoot.
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An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool – you bet that Tommy sees!" (
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An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
199:, he dropped out of college in 1965 to become a member of "
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Broughton, Simon; Mark Ellingham; Richard Trillo (1999).
1137:"Peter Bellamy, 47; British Folk Singer Who Wrote Opera"
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once hosted a concert by him and he toured in the USA.
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All music guide: the definitive guide to popular music
126:(8 September 1944 – 24 September 1991) was an English
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Randall, Colin (26 September 1991). "Peter Bellamy".
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but with the songs from Kipling's Children's books, (
265:. Still later, he occasionally recorded with guitar.
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composed. It has, for example, been claimed that in
376:'s "Stones in My Passway", on the Young Tradition's
261:(1968), he began to accompany himself on the Anglo
51:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
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687:The Young Tradition and Shirley and Dolly Collins
164:, England, and spent his formative years in North
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555:Bellamy died by suicide on 24 September 1991 in
387:included in their 70-year anniversary boxed set
237:In 1971, Bellamy recorded a collaboration with
936:"The Transports: The Folk Music Event of 2017"
915:"Selected English Folk Singers: Peter Bellamy"
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1053:"Traditional and Revival Releases, 1978-79"
802:Rudyard Kipling Made Exceedingly Good Songs
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885:The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music
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344:Another of Bellamy's ambitious projects,
333:and others devised a ballad opera called
111:Learn how and when to remove this message
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838:Various artists including Peter Bellamy
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421:) from which he produced two albums,
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130:singer. He was a founding member of
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1194:Alumni of the Royal College of Art
1135:Pareles, Jon (26 September 1991).
188:, with blond hair often worn in a
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249:Peter Bellamy's first solo album
814:Songs and Rummy Conjurin' Tricks
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571:his record of the year in
241:: "Won't You Go My Way?".
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973:Proper Music Distribution
968:"In-Depth: Peter Bellamy"
692:The Holly Bears The Crown
595:'s obituary published in
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427:Merlyn's Isle of Gramarye
221:The Holly Bears The Crown
195:Encouraged by his friend
1051:Axler, David M. (1979).
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1123:A Song for Every Season
1010:Hal Leonard Corporation
825:Wake The Vaulted Echoes
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497:Oak, Ash & Thorn
482:Barrack Room Ballads
434:Barrack Room Ballads
407:Barrack Room Ballads
361:Folk Review magazine
274:Barrack Room Ballads
259:Fair England's Shore
45:improve this article
1204:Suicides in England
1035:The Daily Telegraph
944:. 28 September 2016
890:Guinness Publishing
766:Tell It Like It Was
742:Won't You Go My Way
674:So Cheerfully Round
668:The Young Tradition
622:Vocal singing style
468:Rewards and Fairies
418:Rewards and Fairies
412:Puck of Pook's Hill
390:Three Score and Ten
348:, was broadcast on
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201:The Young Tradition
132:The Young Tradition
1209:Concertina players
1142:The New York Times
980:on 30 January 2012
888:(First ed.).
703:and Peter Bellamy
493:Oak, Ash and Thorn
393:"When I Die" from
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346:The Maritime Suite
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1179:1991 deaths
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1097:. pp.
796:Second Wind
659:Discography
647:Folk Review
616:Conway Hall
593:Karl Dallas
561:Mudcat Cafe
521:Tim Eriksen
486:Bill Leader
350:BBC Radio 2
323:Simon Nicol
197:Anne Briggs
186:Andy Warhol
162:Bournemouth
156:Early years
1163:Categories
920:16 January
864:References
790:Fair Annie
541:Lisa Knapp
432:Kipling's
331:Sid Kipper
329:. In 1986
311:A.L. Lloyd
303:June Tabor
263:concertina
71:newspapers
1148:29 August
1067:12 August
680:Galleries
637:Jon Boden
517:Fay Hield
505:Jon Boden
378:Galleries
335:Crab Wars
307:Nic Jones
255:Harry Cox
245:Solo work
150:Jon Boden
966:(2012).
649:magazine
557:Keighley
460:The Loot
383:In 2009
190:ponytail
174:Fakenham
984:5 April
948:5 April
653:Toytown
537:Sam Lee
219:called
166:Norfolk
85:scholar
1105:
1016:
896:
857:(2004)
846:(1977)
833:(2008)
827:(1999)
816:(1991)
810:(1990)
804:(1989)
798:(1985)
792:(1983)
786:(1982)
780:(1982)
774:(1979)
768:(1975)
762:(1975)
756:(1975)
750:(1972)
744:(1971)
738:(1970)
732:(1969)
726:(1968)
720:(1968)
709:(1971)
695:(1969)
682:(1968)
676:(1967)
670:(1966)
207:, the
170:Warham
148:, and
87:
80:
73:
66:
58:
551:Death
450:Tommy
92:JSTOR
78:books
1150:2010
1103:ISBN
1069:2011
1014:ISBN
986:2021
950:2021
922:2024
894:ISBN
543:and
499:and
480:The
425:and
415:and
325:and
317:and
211:and
128:folk
64:news
614:at
289:),
272:'s
47:by
1165::
1139:.
1101:.
1099:79
1093:.
1077:^
1059:.
1055:.
1043:^
1008:.
994:^
970:.
938:.
871:^
547:.
539:,
535:,
531:,
527:,
523:,
519:,
515:,
511:,
507:,
452:)
429:.
313:,
309:,
305:,
301:,
297:,
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234:.
152:.
144:,
1152:.
1111:.
1071:.
1061:1
1037:.
1022:.
988:.
952:.
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114:)
108:(
103:)
99:(
89:·
82:·
75:·
68:·
41:.
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