This latest addition to Topic's now-essential Voice of the People series features 60 recordings of traditional dance music from Northumberland and Cumberland.
In 1954, there were no other collectors, corporate, professional or amateur, prepared to explore the nature of English traditional dance and traditional dance music, and the only precedent in recording traditional dance music on location was set by Peter Kennedy; the fruits of the pioneering field trip he undertook that year are presented here / great tunes, great style, subtle decoration and great rhythm – warm and entertaining – a potential eye/opener for the newcomer and an object lesson for some old/timers.
Of equal importance, Peter laid down some basic material for the subsequent construction of a history and an appreciation of traditional music and dance in the Border hills.