Tracklist

1 Country Life 1:58
2 Swarthfell Rocks 5:24
3 Barney 2:59
4 Swansea Town 4:22
5 Swinton May Song 2:17
6 Beggar Man 3:29
7 Bellman 3:55
8 Adieu, Adieu 3:22
9 Welcome Sailor 3:15
10 Apple Tree Wassail 2:39
11 Seven Yellow Gypsies 4:12
12 Sheepshearing 2:20
13 Three Day Millionaire 1:35
14 King Pharim 3:41
15 The Bonny Lighthorseman 3:03
16 Tamlyn 10:54
17 T Stands For Thomas 3:42
18 Malpas Wassail 4:11
19 Chickens In The Garden 2:29
20 Grace Darling 4:42
21 The Good Old Way 3:26

Companies, etc.

  • Phonographic Copyright (p) – Topic Records
  • Copyright (c) – Topic Records

Credits

  • Guitar – Martin Carthy
  • Vocals – Lal Waterson, Martin Carthy, Mike Waterson, Norma Waterson

Notes

Producer's note by Tony Engle

In the early summer of 1975 Topic released "for pence and spicy ale" by The Watersons. At the recording the group was at the top of their form. It had been several years since they had recorded and this new record marked their return to the British Folk Scene. Mike, Lal and Norma Waterson were three-quarters of the original group and Martin Carthy was the new member - he had replaced the original fourth member, John Harrison. The record was greeted with considerable acclaim from critics and audiences alike and is considered by many to have been the group's finest recording. Two years later the Watersons were back in the studio, but this time it was not as a group. The Watersons have always been fine individual voices in their own right so the plan was to make two records - one featuring Mike solo and a second, featuring the solo and duet talents of Lal and Norma. This didn't stop them helping out on each others' records, however. In addition Lal's daughter, Maria, also lends her voice to these recordings and the occasional accompaniments are by Jim Eldon (flute & whistle), Peta Webb (fiddle), Rod Stradling (melodeon) and Tony Engle (Anglo concertina). With this reissue the extra playing time available on CD has allowed me to mix in some of the best tracks from the solo projects with the original album. I hope that you, the listener, enjoy these recordings as much as I did making them and subsequently compiling them for this record.

— Tony Engle, 1993

Barcode and Other Identifiers

  • Barcode: 5016272462021
  • Matrix / Runout: 800.372.000.462.0
  • Rights Society: MCPS

Other versions

Category Artist Title (Format) Label Category Country Year
12TS265 The Watersons For Pence And Spicy Ale ‎(LP, Album) Topic Records 12TS265 UK 1975
79056 The Watersons For Pence And Spicy Ale ‎(LP, RE) Shanachie 79056 US 1986
12TS 265 The Watersons For Pence And Spicy Ale ‎(LP, Album, RP) Topic Records 12TS 265 UK 1977
TSCD574 The Watersons For Pence And Spicy Ale ‎(CD, Album, RE, RM) Topic Records TSCD574 UK 2008
AN-7020 The Watersons For Pence And Spicy Ale ‎(LP, Album) Antilles AN-7020 US 1975


The Watersons - For Pence And Spicy Ale

Performer: The Watersons

Album Title: For Pence And Spicy Ale

Genre: Folk, World, & Country

Label: Topic Records ‎– TSCD462
Type: CD, Reissue
Country: UK
Date of released: 1993
Category: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Folk

MP3 album zip size: 1608 mb

FLAC album zip size: 1827 mb

Rating: 4.2 / 5

Votes: 492

Other Format: MP3 MIDI AIFF XM ADX WAV FLAC ASF FLAC

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