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Bibliography
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Collecting
songs from particular regions or interests can be both rewarding and
frustrating. The two areas that form my main interest, Birmingham
& the Black Country, and Warwickshire illustrate this. Click this
link to enter the archive For Birmingham & the Black Country, there
are excellent reference works available both written & on record thanks
to ?Broadside Publications? who produced much of Jon Raven?s work,
as well as one record by ?Kempion? in the 1970?s. Further significant
archive material is held in Birmingham Central Library, Wolverhampton
Library & Dudley Public Library. For anyone seriously interested in
singing songs from this area acquiring any of Jon Raven?s books such
as ? The Urban & Industrial Songs of the Black Country and Birmingham?
or ?Victoria?s Inferno? is essential. Other useful sources are the
Black Country group ?Giggety? who currently appear in the ?Black Country
Night Out? events held throughout the Midlands. From these sources
a wide range of songs and broadsheet ballads can be obtained covering
many aspects of life in the area from the early days of the industrial
revolution to the present. Warwickshire is far less fortunate in its
recording of songs with Cecil Sharp listing only 31 Warwickshire songs
in a collection of 413. Additional work was also done by George Butterworth,
Fred Hamer and the Hamer brothers at the turn of the last century,
but their work covers all of the Midlands counties, and is fairly
limited. These collections have been put into one volume ?West Midlands
Songs? by Lewis Jones, with some additional material on carols & religious
songs. Roy Palmer?s ?The Folklore of Warwickshire? includes a small
selection of songs, and is worthwhile reading, both for the songs
and for the background information on Warwickshire customs & history.
Additional material has been collected from folk clubs and other events,
and where the source is known will be attributed. If you have songs,
tunes, etc, that you wish to be incorporated in this database, e-mail
to mary@willowsfolk.co.uk David Chowen
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