Folk: Where Are All The Black British Folk Songs?

FOLK: WHERE ARE ALL THE BLACK BRITISH FOLK SONGS? (320kbs-m4a/76mb/33mins)
BBC Sounds podcast: 9th April 2025

A constant in centuries of storytelling, folk music is widely considered the sound of Britain's past - but whose past are we talking about? Has the history of Black people in British folk has been overlooked?

Exploring a genre previously felt not for her, Mia Thornton asks if culture can be owned? And if so, who decides what to protect? Angeline Morrison discusses re-storying British folk music, and reflects on a shocking accusation made after the release of her album The Sorrow Songs: Folk Songs of The Black British Experience.

Musician and researcher Marie Bashiru challenges assumptions about folk instrumentation and traces the origins of the banjo back to West Africa. And broadcaster and music journalist Kevin Le Gendre examines how different cultural forms of folk music, like Calypso, have influenced and shaped the broader genre.

Lau - Salty Boys
Bridget St. John - To B Without A Hitch
Doc Watson - Shady Grove
Pete Seeger - Keep Your Eyes On The Prize
The Longest Johns - Wellerman
Marianne Faithfull - Scarborough Fair
Michael Kiwanuka - Home Again
Fairport Convention - Who Knows Where The Time Goes?
Shirley Collins - Barbara Allen
Davey Graham - Lord Mayo / Lord Inchiquin
Angeline Morrison - Clouds Never Move
Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs - Cripple Creek
Musa Diatta - Watu Eriring Bee Kaolo
Esukolaal - Asunge
Calypso Rose - Rum & Cola Cola
Lord Kitchener - London Is The Place For Me
Mighty Sparrow - Short Little Shorts
Cerys Hafana - Cilgerran
Angeline Morrison - Black John
John Renbourn - Old Mac Bladgitt
Sugababes - Overload