Martin Carthy
★★★★
Mar tin Car thy
TOPIC. LP
Foundation Anglo folkie’s 1965 debut back on vinyl.
Controversy once raged as to whether Martin Carthy’s arrangement of Scarborough Fair from his 1965 debut LP had been lifted for Simon & Garfunkel’s rather more commercially successful version, but wounds have long-since healed; as Carthy put it: “It’s a fucking folk song, everybody owns it.” Nonetheless, “The One With Him Sitting On A Pallet” – back on vinyl as part of Topic’s 85th anniversary celebrations – remains a towering example of open-source music. An early folk revival adopter, the Londoner’s takes of High Germany, Sovay and The Handsome Cabin Boy were plundered by a generation of trad-minded hep cats, the ex-skiffler’s guitar accompaniments as much imitated as his clipped vocal style. New arrivals may find his turn-of-the-’70s work, solo and with Steeleye Span, a little more sexy (his 1972 version of Famous Flower Of Serving Men: grrrrr!), but in terms of influence, this is a monster.