GHM-202
Nowell Sing We Clear
John Roberts, Tony Barrand, Fred Breunig & Steve Woodruff

The Best of "Nowell Sing We Clear"

Playlist | Technical Info | Song Notes | Order

PLAYLIST
1.	A Child This Day Is Born	2:55
2.	While Shepherds Watched	2:37
3.	Leaping And Dancing	3:20
4.	The Cherry Tree Carol	3:30
5.	Sussex Carol	1:44
6.	The Carnal And The Crane/King Herod And The Cock/The Miraculous Harvest	5:36
7.	Coventry Carol	1:41
8.	The Bitter Withy	2:31
9.	The Holly And The Ivy	2:58
10.	Green Grow'th The Holly	1:46
11.	Winter/Spring	1:37
12.	Rise Up Jock (Bob Pegg)	5:17
13.	Gower Wassail	2:17
14.	Gloucestershire Wassail	4:01
15.	Apple Tree Wassail/The Derby Ram	4:40
16.	Sherburne ("Original" Version) Lyrics Š1949 St. Nicholas Music, Inc.	1:44
17.	Kris Kringle	3:23
18.	The Cutty Wren	3:30
19.	An Orkney New Year's Carol	2:16
20.	Carol For New Year's Day	4:02
21.	The Wren (The King)	1:30
22.	Lord Of The Dance (Sydney Carter)	3:00
	Total Time	68:46

Lyrics for each song can be accessed by following the links in the playlist above.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION

These songs were originally issued on the following Front Hall Recordings:

Tracks 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 12 & 19, FHR 013 Nowel Sing We Clear (Recorded January 1977)
Tracks 1, 2, 14, 15, 18, 21 & 22, FHR 026 The Second Nowell (Recorded January 1977)
Tracks 3, 6, 10, 11, 13, 16, 17 & 20, FHR 036 Nowell Sing We Clear Vol.3 (Recorded February 1985)

This compilation was previously released as Front Hall FHR-301

Produced by John Roberts & Tony Barrand
Recorded by Bill Spence at The Elrond Fennig Folk Museum of American Ephemera and St. Mark's Community Center, Guilderland Center, NY.
Holiday Collage by John Henry
Cover Design by Mark Schmidt
Production Assistance by Andy Spence
Š199? Golden Hind Music

SONG NOTES

In the summer of 1975, dance musicians Fred Breunig and Steve Woodruff moved to southern Vermont and teamed up with the singing duo of John Roberts and Tony Barrand. Nowell Sing We Clear was first performed in December of that same year. I conceived of it as a traveling road show which could visit small communities on a regular basis to broaden the range of music and custom to which people had access in the joyous midwin ter season. The program explores and reveals the active and still vital themes of the birth of Jesus and the celebration of the return of the light at the winter solstice. The combined interests and skills of the performers in contra and morris dancing and in ballads and bawdry afforded an unusual approach to Christmas music.

Tony Barrand.

This recording is a compilation of songs from the first three volumes of Nowell Sing We Clear spanning the period from January 1977 to February 1985. Some of the songs were recorded in our living room, and others during a concert in Guilderland Center, NY, sponsored by Old Songs, Inc. It was a pleasant surprise to discover how consistent the sound and performance quality is. Perhaps the world doesn't change as much as we think it does. Of course, we're dealing here with Christmas and Chrstmastide, a time which has affected us in pretty much the same way for a long time. It has always been our hope that the tradition of Nowell Sing We Clear will become part of your Christmas tradition.

Bill spence, Front Hall Records.