#4422, The Tale of Fair Margaret and Sweet William
Listen to some of the many versions of the Tale of Fair Margaret and Sweet William – a doomed love affair –from Sam Amidon, Rhiannon Giddens, Robert Plant, and others.
Hear “Maggie” from Sam Amidon, the London-based shape-note singer/fiddler/banjoist/guitarist by way of Vermont. Also, listen to a version of “Little Margaret” from Kore Loy McWhirter, who is one half of a striking unaccompanied vocal duo featuring partner Bruce Greene. (Thanks to Sam Amidon for the tip!) They usually perform mostly dark and mostly quiet traditional songs from the southern Appalachians.
Also, there’s an arrangement of “Little Maggie” from none other than Robert Plant (yep, Led Zeppelin frontman,) and another from Grammy and MacArthur Fellow winning multi-instrumentalist, composer and songwriter, Rhiannon Giddens. Then, listen to versions of the story from art-rockers the Decemberists, L.A. banjo player Frank Fairfield and from The Knitters, who are the acoustic version of punk band, X. Plus, a tale of Sweet William from electroacoustic folk band Tunng. - Caryn Havlik
Program #4422, The Tale of Fair Margaret and Sweet William (First Aired 10/26/2020)
ARTIST: Kore Loy McWhirter
WORK: Lady Margaret [2:00]
RECORDING: Come Near My Love
SOURCE/INFO: brucegreene.net
ARTIST: Sam Amidon
WORK: Maggie [4:54]
RECORDING: Sam Amidon
SOURCE: Nonesuch Records
INFO: nonesuch.com
ARTIST: Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turrisi
WORK: Little Margaret [3:03]
RECORDING: there is no Other
SOURCE: Nonesuch Records
INFO: nonesuch.com
ARTIST: The Knitters (aka the band X)
WORK: Little Margaret [3:05]
RECORDING: The Modern Sounds of the Knitters
SOURCE: Zoe / New Rounder / Zoë Records - #ZOE 1057
INFO: rounder.com
ARTIST: Fairport Convention
WORK: Matty Groves [8:08]
RECORDING: Liege and Lief
SOURCE: A&M #SP-4257
INFO: Reissued on CD in 1990; available for purchase at Amazon.com
ARTIST: Robert Plant
WORK: Little Maggie [5:06]
RECORDING: lullaby and… The Ceaseless Roar
SOURCE: Nonesuch Records
INFO: nonesuch.com
ARTIST: Frank Fairfield
WORK: Fair Margaret and Sweet William [5:06]
RECORDING: Frank Fairfield
SOURCE/INFO: frankfairfield.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Sam Amidon
WORK: Pretty Polly [4:58]
RECORDING: Sam Amidon
SOURCE: Nonesuch Records
INFO: nonesuch.com
ARTIST: Tunng
WORK: Sweet William [3:36]
RECORDING: Comments of the Inner Chorus
SOURCE: Full Time Hobby FTH019
INFO: tunng.co.uk
ARTIST: The Decemberists
WORK: The Hazards Of Love 4 (The Drowned)[5:57]
RECORDING: The Hazards of Love
SOURCE/INFO: home.decemberists.com
