20CD - Martin Carthy - Along The Road Forever: Live At The BBC

20CD - UK Import on Madfish

Though he eschews such terms himself, few would deny that Martin Carthy MBE is the godfather of English folk - a singer, tradition bearer, and guitar stylist of colossal quality and influence with 60 years of celebrated recorded work as a solo artist, as a duettist with Dave Swarbrick and with his daughter Eliza Carthy, and as a member of ground-breaking ensembles Steeleye Span, The Albion Country Band, Brass Monkey, The Watersons, Waterson: Carthy & Wood, Wilson, Carthy.

All of these collaborations and more are represented in this stunning collection from Martin's extraordinarily extensive career of interactions with the BBC - as a studio session guest and concert performer over a span of 1965-2022, with early performances from 1960s regional channel ABC TV as a bonus. What survives of Martin's BBC output is perhaps a fraction of what once aired over the course of nearly 56 years of moments on the usually ephemeral medium of broadcasting, yet its range and heft is remarkable - an alternative career history and testament to a truly singular artistry: 22½ hours, 328 tracks (two thirds from a master source) of which there are 237 distinct items of repertoire.