The nearly man of folk Birmingham singer who paved way for 1960s revival but failed to make it big
THE Swinging Sixties are musically best remembered for the hippy strains of psychedelia. But it was also the decade when folk made a comeback thanks, in no small part, to Bob Dylan.
In Britain, the revival had a number of champions.
Roy Harper, Bert Jansch, the Midlands’ own Nick Drake and Fairport Convention were all torch-bearers for folk.
Birmingham had its own pioneer in Ian Campbell, father of Ali, Robin and Duncan of UB40 fame.
His band, the Ian Campbell Folk Group, gained a huge following and even scored a minor hit in 1965 with their cover of Dylan’s The Times They Are A-Changin’. Success wise, they played second fiddle to Fairport Convention, however.
Campbell was actually born in Aberdeen, Scotland, on June 10, 1933, and the gritty, working class songs his band played may have been influenced by father David Gunn Campbell, a Shetland-born trade union leader.
Young Campbell moved to Birmingham in his early teens and became a fan of local Marxist writer George Thomson. In fact he joined the Birmingham branch of the Workers’ Music Association run by Thomson’s wife.
After leaving school Campbell was selected for a Jewellery Quarter apprentice and worked for many years as an engraver.
But cash was tight and his growing family.
From the off his musical work was politically charged. In 1957, he formed the Clarion Skiffle Group, which included sister Lorna in the line-up. for Campbell
They performed songs about miners, industrial workers and farmhands.
A year later the line-up was reshuffled and the Ian Campbell Four were unleashed on the public, playing pubs and clubs around Birmingham.
As well as Campbell and Lorna, the line-up included guitarist Dave Phillips and Gordon McCulloch on banjo.
Music website Brumbeat describes the group as being in the right place at the right time. It stated: “Their working-class lyrics and acousticallybased sound – guitar, banjo, mandolin and fiddle – fitted well with the grimy industrial environment of the city at that time.”
By 1960 the Ian Campbell Four had become Five: McCulloch was replaced by John Dunkerley and violinist Dave Swarbrick recruited.
He would later join Fairport Convention.
The Ian Campbell Folk Five gained a residency at the Jug O’Punch folk nights, staged at The Crown pub, in Station Street, which still exists but is currently vacant.
In 1962 the group featured on a live EP titled Ceilidh At The Crown, released by Topic Records. The sleeve notes explained: “On this record we have tried to capture the atmosphere on a Tuesday night at the Crown in Birmingham.
“The resident singers are the Ian Campbell Folk Group whose blending of harmonic arrangements, instrumental accompaniment and the traditional style of singing is unrivalled in Britain at the moment.”
Gradually, the band’s reputation spread beyond Birmingham and they were taking long-distance engagements.
Campbell recalled: “By 1963 we were working so hard as a group that I was the only one who managed to retain my job. All the rest of the group were constantly losing their jobs because they were leaving on Friday lunchtime and not coming back until Monday or Tuesday.”
The following year, Campbell and his musical colleagues were handed a big break – they were signed to a major label, Transatlantic Records.
They also underwent another change of personnel, with guitarist Phillips handing in his notice. Brian Clark stepped into his shoes.
The move considerably raised the group’s profile – and led to another name change. The Ian Campbell Folk Group was born.
The first album, This Is The Ian Campbell Folk Group, was released and by 1965 they were enjoying minor chart success with The Times They Are A-Changin’.
The folk group were becoming TV regulars and Campbell’s songwriting was making even the biggest names sit up and take notice. Simon And Garfunkel recorded a cover of his song, The Sun Is Burning, for their debut album.
The track featured on the original pressing of the duo’s Wednesday Morning 3am album, but left out of the re-pressed and re-marketed version. For Campbell that proved a costly omission – the LP sold more than eight million copies.
Had his song been on it, Campbell would have made a mint in royalties. But The Sun Is Burning did become the unofficial anthem for the CND peace movement and was sung at rallies around the globe.
The group’s reputation built in the studio, however.
They had gained a large following as a live act and often included top musicians in their concert line-ups.
The band played all the major folk festivals, including Edinburgh and was not Newport, and even performed at The Royal Albert Hall. Despite TV and major live performances, Campbell remained true to his roots.
The band continued to play at the Jug O’Punch, a club run by the Campbell family and regarded as one of the country’s top folk venues.
Dave Swarbrick quit in 1966 and would go on to establish himself as one of the world’s greatest fiddle players with Fairport Convention. Bass player Dave Pegg – formerly of well-known Birmingham band The Uglys – joined in ’67, but would also leave a couple of years later to join Fairport.
The line-up continued to switch and shift, but the Ian Campbell Folk Group continued to be in big demand throughout the 1960s and ’70s.
John Dunkerley died in 1977 after battling Hodgkinsons disease – he was only 35 – and that spelt the beginning of the end for the band.
A year later, the Ian Campbell Folk Group had totally disintegrated.
Campbell continued to make occasional public appearances as a singer, but was by now studying as a mature university student.
He later pursued a new career as a television presenter and producer with TV-am.
Campbell, stricken by cancer, died on November 24, 2012. He was 79.
He never hit the big time, but the impact he had on British folk music was massive. His influence on the scene continues.
In its obituary, the Telegraph described Campbell as a “witty, passionate, sometimes acerbic character”.
Dave Swarbrick died on June 30, 2016, at Aberystwyth Hospital after suffering pneumonia. He was 75 and his reputation was such that his obituary appeared in the New York Times.