Folk Rocks

Contrasting with the rockier work he’s perhaps better known for, Keith had an enduring affection for a number of seminal folk acts, some of them in fact quite rock-ish.

Like many of Keith’s musical interests, the origins of this lay in the late ‘sixties musical scene where groups like the Incredible String Band and Pentangle melded traditional British folk traditions with emerging hippie sensibilities and the counter-culture. Keith was of course involved in the underground press and it was inevitable that he would find himself photographing these early pioneers, and as Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span subsequently appeared and osmosed into what became known as folk-rock acts, so too did Keith’s enthusiasm for the genre.

As well as shooting Fairport Convention both live and in the studio, Keith took some especially wistful portraits of Fairport’s singer Sandy Denny, whose soaring, crystalline voice characterised their best known albums, Liege and Lief and Unhalfbricking and their hit single, ‘Meet on the Ledge’ after she’d already left Fairport to form her own band, Fotheringay. Denny’s career was of course cut tragically short when, at just 31 years-old, she died of a brain hemorrhage after falling down the stairs of a rented Cornish cottage.

Keith also developed a long-standing relationship with Steeleye Span and, in particular, lead singer Maddy Prior, which began in 1970 and lasted well into the late ‘nineties during their ‘comeback’ era. He also worked with Maddy when she joined up with folk singer June Tabor as one half of the Silly Sisters.

As well as solo sessions with several members of all the aforementioned bands, other notable folk and folk-rock artists Keith photographed included John and Beverley Martin, Ian Mathews and Ireland’s trad. folk supergroup, the Chieftans.

Remember, all images are available for sale as high-quality hands prints via the Proud Gallery (click on Exhibition)