Three Score and Ten

This article is about the album. For a definition of the term "three score and ten", see the Wiktionary entry three score and ten.

Three Score and Ten: A Voice to the People is a multi-CD box set album issued by Topic Records in 2009 to celebrate 70 years as an independent British record label.

Three Score & Ten: A Voice to the People
Box set by Various Artists
Released	14 September 2009 (2009-09-14)[1]
Recorded	1939–2009
Label	Topic
Producer	David Suff

The album consists of a hardback book containing the seven CDs and a paper insert detailing the Topic release list, complemented by a card insert to balance the release list.

The boxed set provides examples of recordings from the beginning of the label in 1939. Topic Records headlines their web site as Traditional and Contemporary Folk from the British Isles^[2] but in its history many other genres have appeared on the label. The album provides many examples including tracks from British Music Hall, blues, roots and World Music amongst others.

The album was curated, researched and produced by David Suff^[3]: 108 of Fledg'ling Records.

Promotion

David Suff gave an interview to Simon Holland for Properganda on 27 July which included details of the research and length of time involved in compiling the boxed set.^[4] Simon then interviewed Tony Engle on 7 August about the album and the work of Topic records.^[5] This interview included a track from each of the CDs in the boxed set.

Mike Harding interviewed Tony Engle about the album and anniversary on 2 September 2009 on his BBC Radio 2 folk music show.

Topic Records co-hosted three concerts at London's South Bank to celebrate the 70 year anniversary and promote the boxed set.^[6] These were held on Friday 11 September 2009 at the Royal Festival Hall featuring The Waterson Family and the Eliza Carthy Band,^[7] Thursday 17 September 2009 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall featuring the Martin Simpson Big Band and Friday 18 September 2009 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall featuring June Tabor.

There were 2 additional concerts as part of this celebration. Saturday 19 September 2009 at the Purcell Rooms featuring Folklahoma and the Magpies Nest. Friday 25 September 2009 at the Kalamazoo Klub at the Union Chapel, London featuring Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Songlines
The Guardian	[8]
The Telegraph	[9]
Observer Music Monthly	[9]
Allmusic	[10]

The box set was received with much very positive comment by the general and specialist press

Commendations

Songlines review by Tim Cumming said "its one of the finest boxed sets I have ever seen".^[11]

Robin Denselow in the Guardian said "the oldest truly independent record label in the world, and the most important company in the story of British folk music, celebrates its 70th birthday this summer, and this fascinating, thoughtfully produced seven-CD set and 108-page hardback book marks the anniversary in style".^[8]

Doug Spencer on Australian ABC Radio National's Weekend Planet said "This is one of the more remarkable boxed compilations, ever. It has many English gems, but not only English ones".^[12]

Redlick said "This is obviously a huge labour of love and a wonderful tribute to a record label respected the world over".^[13]

Charles de Lint in the Green Man review said "This is timeless music that will undoubtedly sound just as good and relevant in another seventy years".^[14]

Awards

The album won fRoots Reissues and Compilations of the Year and Best Packaged Album of the Year in 2009.^[15]

Packaging

The package consists of a 108-page hard-backed book with 4 CDs in the front cover and 3 CDs in the back cover together with a booklet cataloguing all the recordings issued by Topic up to the publication in 2009 and a card insert to balance the recordings list.

The dust jacket shows a photograph of Louis Killen and Frankie Armstrong and the book cover shows Reg Hall and Scan Tester.

The book details the history of Topic records with a number of spotlight studies of key albums, and brief biographies relating to Topic of artists and other personnel involved in the record label from the start up to the date of issue of the album.^[16]

Hardback book

Introduction

The hardback book provides a history of Topic Records from its start as a subscription label run by the Workers Music Association issuing 78rpm shellac records, through the introduction of vinyl and its associated formats to CDs and subsequent to the boxed set the release of some of the older albums as downloads. The book contains pictures of album covers and artists that recorded them for Topic with a chronological history of the label up to 2009.

As part of this history there are spotlight studies of classic records and short biographies of key personnel and performers.

Spotlight Studies of Classic Records

Title	Artist(s)	Reference	Year
Her Mantle So Green	Margaret Barry and Michael Gorman	12T123	1965
The Iron Muse (A Panorama of Industrial Folk Song)	Various Artists	12T86	1963
Frost and Fire: A Calendar of Ceremonial Folk Songs	The Watersons	12T163	1965
Paddy in the Smoke Irish Music from a London Pub	Various Artists	12T176	1968
For Pence and Spicy Ale	The Watersons	12T265	1975
Penguin Eggs	Nic Jones	12TS411	1980
Handful of Earth	Dick Gaughan	12TS419	1981
Aqaba	June Tabor	12TS449	1988
Waterson:Carthy	Waterson–Carthy (Martin Carthy, Norma Waterson and Eliza Carthy)	TSCD475	1994
Unity	John Tams	TSCD508	2000
The Voice of the People	Various Artists	TSCD651 – 670	1998
Anglicana	Eliza Carthy	TSCD539	2002
Prodigal Son	Martin Simpson	TSCD567	2007

Biographies

Name	Reason for Inclusion
Alan Bush	Helped found the WMA in 1936 and was elected the first president of the association in 1941
A L Lloyd	Was appointed artistic director of Topic records which was officially only for one year but was a powerful influence over many years with Ewan MacColl.
Ewan MacColl	With Bert Lloyd was a driving force behind the folk revival after the second world war.
Bill Leader	Recording engineer and producer who recorded a lot for Topic records and other companies before setting up his own record company with 2 labels, Leader and Trailer.
Dick Swettenham	Electronics engineer who worked with Bill Leader and developed the first transistorised control desk in the world
Gerry Sharp	Accountant and business manager who kept the business on a financial even keel in its early days
Reg Hall[17]	Musician associated with Topic records since 1963 as an accompanist, compiler and annotator of many recordings.
Tony Engle	Joined Topic in 1963 and took over the label in 1973 following Gerry Sharp’s death

Catalogue of releases

The catalogue details all the releases from the first record through to 2009. Each record is assigned a number starting from 1 with a prefix that denotes the format of issue.

Prefix	Format	First Issue	Last Issue	Comments
TRC (Topic Record Club	78rpm record	1939	1958
TRL	12 Inch Long Playing Record	1956	1956
12T	12 Inch Long Playing Record	1958	1990	an S after the T signifies a stereo recording
10T	10 Inch Long Playing Record	1957	1960
T	10 Inch Long Playing Record	1956	1956
8T	8 Inch Long Playing Record	1957	1957
7T	7 Inch microgroove LP (playing at 33 1/3rpm)	1957	1958	Only 3 records issued
TOP	7 Inch microgroove EP	1958	1958	S prefix indicates a stereo record. This prefix was used in 2014 for a special issue. Some of the titles appear to be single records.
TPS	Sampler	1964	1973	Length and size not specified
12TFRS	Free Reed label recordings	1975	1977
SPD	Special Delivery	1987	1995
TSCD	Compact disk	1990	present day	If the album was originally issued as a record then the number is re-used

The catalogue details The Voice of the People series separately.

Ewan MacColl’s Radio Ballads which were originally issued by Argos are listed as they are available though Topic.

A separate section details the Topic World Series CDs. A section details the only recording issued under the WMA heading.

Three further sections detail the Impact and String labels.

Track listing

The seven CDs are themed covering different aspects of the Topic catalogue with a title appropriate to the content. The composer of the track will be displayed under the track name with Traditional when appropriate. A reference to external numbering systems for songs will be used where identified for traditional songs. The references are from the three major numbering schemes for folk songs, the Roud Folk Song Index, Child Ballad Numbers originating from Francis James Child and the Laws Numbers from the George Malcolm Laws numbering system. The original recordings are detailed in the listings. Many of these were not available at the time of issue but are now available as downloads from the usual sources with the original sleeve notes being made available by Topic from their web site.

Disk one – . . . a selection of treasures from the Topic catalogue

The disk contains a range of the music from various parts of the English speaking world that Topic Records has issued over its 70-year history. These include English folk songs, instrumentals including dance music, American blues, music hall and a recent composition that is regularly played by Irish folk groups. Track 2 is an instrumental issued as part of a joint album with Alexis Korner. This track and track 4 are now available as digital downloads of either the track or the full recording. Track 3 is a dance tune played on the Jew's Harp. Track 10 is from an album in the series "The Voice of the People" and is from a traditional English singer as is track 13. Track 12 was originally issued by Fontana in 1969 and is licensed to Topic by Polygram through Gama Records. The tracks are mainly from recordings issued in a variety for formats by Topic with track 15 from a Special Delivery album.

Track	Title/Composer	Artist(s)	Original Album/Reference	Year of Issue	Length(Mins)
1.	The Humpback Whale	Nic Jones	Penguin Eggs	1980	5:49
	Robertson		12TS411
2.	Angi	Davy Graham	3/4 AD	1963	2:25
	Davy Graham		TOP70
3.	The Shaskeen Reel	John Wright	The Lark In The Clear Air	1974	3:03
	Traditional		12TS230
4.	The Lancashire Toreadors	The Oldham Tinkers	Best O’ T’ Bunch	1974	3:12
	George Formby		12TS237
5.	Sullivan’s March	Pat Mitchell	Pat Mitchell - Uilleann pipes	1976	1:40
	Traditional		12T294
6.	San Francisco Bay Blues	Jesse Fuller	Working on the Railroad	1959	3:32
	Jesse Fuller		10T59
7.	Country Gardens	William Kimber	The Art Of William Kimber	1974	2:09
	Traditional		12T249
8.	Tamlyn	Mike Waterson	Mike Waterson	1977	10:58
	Traditional(Roud 29; Child 39)		12TS332
9.	The Air for Maurice Ogg / Jumping Jack / The Air for Maurice Ogg	Alistair Anderson	Steel Skies	1982	5:19
	Alistair Anderson/Traditional		12TS427
10.	Creeping Jane	Joseph Taylor	The Voice of the People – 8: A Story I'm Just About To Tell	1998	3:01
	Traditional(Roud 1012; Laws Q23)		TSCD658
11.	Wasps In The Woodpile	Andrew Cronshaw	Till The Beasts’ Returning	1988	3:42
	Traditional		12TS447
12.	Prince Heathen	Martin Carthy with Dave Swarbrick	Prince Heathen	1977	6:54
	Traditional(Roud 3336; Child 104; Laws C104)		12TS344
13.	The Bonny Labouring Boy	Harry Cox	The Bonny Labouring Boy	2000	3:26
	Traditional(Roud 1162; Laws M14)		TSCD512D
14.	Rawtenstall Annual Fair	Lea Nicholson	Deep Lancashire	1968	3:03
	Weston & Lee		12T188
15.	Music For A Found Harmonium	Patrick Street	Irish Times	1990	2:40
	Simon Jeffes		SPDCD1033
16.	Bitter Withy	John Tams	The Reckoning	2005	6:42
	Traditional(Roud 452)		TSCD551

Disc two - England Arise!

The second disk contains English folk music and includes a number of traditional singers providing a link to the time when this music was the popular music of the country. The disk has the first of two tracks from "The Sweet Primeroses". Track 1 features an excerpt from the music used for an English folk custom dance performed each Easter in Bacup. All the recordings were originally issued on Topic albums either vinyl or as a CD.

Track	Title/Composer	Artist(s)	Original Album	Year of Issue	Length(Mins)
1.	The Nut Dance (excerpt)	The Britannia Coconut Dancers	The Voice of the People – 16: You Lazy lot of Bone-Shakers	1998	2:18
	Traditional		TSCD666
2.	Spencer The Rover	Bob & Ron Copper	Come Write Me Down – Early Recordings of The Copper Family of Rottingdean	2001	3:21
	Traditional(Roud 1115)		TSCD534
3.	All Things Are Quite Silent	Shirley Collins	The Sweet Primeroses	1967	2:34
	Traditional(Roud 586)		12T170
4.	Blackwater Side	Anne Briggs	Anne Briggs, currently available on A Collection	1971	3:48
	Traditional(Roud 312; Laws O1)		12T207
5.	The Two Magicians	A L Lloyd	The Bird in the Bush (Traditional Erotic Songs)	1966	4:44
	Traditional(Roud 1350; Child 44)		12T135
6.	Scan’s Polkas	Oak	Welcome To Our Fair	1971	2:13
	Traditional		12TS212
7.	The Crafty Maid’s Policy	Frankie Armstrong	Lovely On The Water	1972	2:13
	Traditional(Roud 1624)		12TS216
8.	A Place Called England	June Tabor	A Quiet Eye	1999	4:40
	Maggie Holland		TSCD510
9.	When I Die	Peter Bellamy	Both Sides Then	1979	2:44
	Traditional(Roud 7697)		12TS400
10.	The Bold Princess Royal	Sam Larner	A Garland For Sam	1974	3:41
	Traditional(Roud 528; Laws K29)		12T244
11.	Hal-An-Tow	The Watersons	Frost and Fire: A calendar of Ritual and Magical Songs	1965	2:05
	Traditional(Roud 1520)		12T136
12.	We Shepherds Are The Best of Men	Fred Jordan	Songs Of A Shropshire Worker	1967	3:41
	Traditional(Roud 284)		12T150
13.	The Rose Of Britain’s Isle / Glorishears	John Kirkpatrick & Sue Harris	The Rose Of Britain’s Isle	1974	4:39
	Traditional(Roud 1796; Laws N16)		12TS247
14.	Riding Down To Portsmouth	Tom Willett	The Roving Journeyman – The Willett Family	1962	3:40
	Traditional(Roud 1534)		12T84
15.	Higher Germany	Pheobe Smith	Once I Had A True Love	1970	3:18
	Traditional(Roud 170)		12T193
16.	The Ideal Schottische	The Cheviot Ranters	The Cheviot Hills	1973	4:06
	Traditional		12TS222
17.	The Methody Parson	Roy Harris	Champions Of Folly	1975	2:27
	Traditional		12TS256
18.	The Maid And The Palmer	Brass Monkey	Brass Monkey	1983	5:33
	Traditional(Roud 2335; Child 21)		12TS431
19.	Hopping Down In Kent	Louie Fuller	Green Grow The Laurels	1976	2:04
	Traditional (Roud 1715)		12TS285
20.	The Devil And The Farmer’s Wife	Walter Pardon	A Country Life	1982	2:53
	Traditional(Roud 160; Child 278)		12TS392

Disk three - Ireland Boys, Hurrah

The third disk concentrates on the Folk music of Ireland, including traditional musicians from all the provinces. The disk features more instrumental tracks than the other national disks. A number of the tracks were recorded outside Ireland from members of the Irish diaspora. Track 8 features an unnamed slow air before the Blackbird. Track 23 features the unusual folk music instrument the hammer dulcimer. All the recordings were originally issued on Topic 12 inch vinyl albums except track 9 which was issued on a 10-inch vinyl record.

Track	Title/Composer	Artist(s)	Original Album	Year of Issue	Length(Mins)
1.	The Rising Sun / The Pope’s Toe	Jackie Daly	Music from Sliabh Luachra Vol. 6	1977	2:36
	Traditional		12TS358
2.	The Waterford Boys	Paddy Tunney	A Wild Bees’ Nest	1965	3:40
	Traditional(Roud 3107)		12T139
3.	The Banks Of Red Roses	Sarah Makem	Sarah Makem : Ulster Ballad Singer	1968	3:02
	Traditional(Roud 603)		12T182
4.	Gillan’s Apples / The Prize Jig	John Doonan & John Wright	The Lark In The Clear Air	1974	2:05
	Traditional		12TS230
5.	Slieve Gallon Brae	The McPeake Family	Irish Traditional Folk Songs & Music	1962	2:00
	Traditional(Roud 1420)		12T87
6.	Paddy Ryan’s Dream / Mamma’s Pet	Seamus Tansey with Reg Hall	The Breeze From Erin	1969	2:15
	Traditional		12T184
7.	My Irish Molly O	The Flanagan Brothers	The Flanagan Brothers	1979	3:02
	E Schwarz(Roud 2168)		12T365
8.	The Blackbird	Seamus Ennis	The Wandering Minstrel	1974	4:16
	Traditional		12TS250
9.	The Factory Girl	Margaret Barry	Street Songs & Fiddle Tunes Of Ireland	1958	3:18
	Traditional(Roud 1659)		10T6
10.	Roaring Mary / The Old Torn Petticoat	The Irish Country Four	Songs, Ballads & Instrumental Tunes From Ulster	1971	2:29
	Traditional		12TS209
11.	Spailpin a Rún	Sean Mac Donnchadha	More Grand Airs From Connemara	1971	2:32
	Traditional		12TS202
12.	The Choice Wife	Willie Clancy	The Breeze From Erin	1969	3:06
	Traditional		12T184
13.	The Tinker’s Old Budget	Mary Ann Carolan	Songs From The Irish Tradition	1982	3:12
	Traditional(Roud 2993)		12TS362
14.	Paidriag O’Keefe’s/ Con Cassidy’s	The Boys of the Lough	In The tradition	1981	1:45
	Traditional		12TS422
15.	Dowd’s Favourite	Hugh Gillespie	Classic Recordings of Irish Traditional Fiddle Music	1978	2:54
	Traditional		12T364
16.	Wife Of The Bold Tenant Farmer	Joe Heaney	Irish Traditional Songs In Gaelic & English	1963	3:05
	Traditional(Roud 5164)		12T91
17.	The Music In The Glen / The Greenfields Of America	The O’Halloran Brothers	Men Of The Ireland	1976	2:18
	Traditional		12TS305
18.	The Knight Templar’s Dream	Len Graham	Wind And Water	1977	3:55
	Traditional(Roud 21138)		12TS334
19.	The Yellow Tinker / The Humours Of Scarriff	Sean O’Shea & Bobby Casey	Paddy In The Smoke	1998	1:53
	Traditional		12T176
20.	He Rolled Her To The Wall	Frank Harte	Through Dublin City	1973	3:31
	Traditional(Roud 36; Child 46)		12T218
21.	The Heather Breeze / The Traveller	The Russell Family	The Russell Family of Doolin, County Clare	1975	2:29
	Traditional		12TS251
22.	The Patriot Game	Dominic Behan	Easter Weekend and After: Songs of the IRA	1959	4:01
	Dominic Behan(Roud 18464)		12T44
23.	The Belfast Hornpipe / The Rights Of Man	John Rea	Traditional Music on the Hammer Dulcimer	1979	3:41
	Traditional		12TS373
24.	Bridie Morley / Duignan’s Favourite	Packie Duignan & Seamus Horan	Music From County Leitrim	1978	2:20
	Traditional		12TS339

Disk four - Scotia The Brave

This disk covers Scottish folk music with both traditional and revival artists included. All the recordings are from Topic releases in a variety of formats from singles through vinyl albums to CDs.

Track	Title/Composer	Artist(s)	Original Album	Year of Issue	Length(Mins)
1.	Miss Drummond Of Perth / Fiddler’s Joy / Traditional Reel / The Shetland Reel	Battlefield Band	Stand Easy	1979	3:22
	Traditional		12TS404
2.	Come All Ye Fisher Lasses	The Fisher Family	The Fisher Family	1966	1:45
	Ewan MacCollCRoud 12504)		12T137
3.	Queen Among The Heather	Belle Stewart	Queen Among The Heather	1977	4:24
	Traditional(Roud 375)		12TS307
4.	Cullen Bay / Jig O’Slurs / Seagull	Kentigern	Kentigern 12TS394	1979	4:24
	Ian Duncan/G S MacLeman/Donald MacLeod		12TS394
5.	Wi My Roving Eye	Norman Kennedy	Scots Songs and Ballads	1968	3:31
	Traditional(Roud 866, Laws O17)		12T178
6.	Blue Bleezin’ Blind Drunk	Cilla Fisher	Cilla And Artie	1979	3:13
	Traditional(Roud 6333)		12TS405
7.	Soldier’s Joy	Tom Anderson & Aly Bain	The Silver Bow	1976	2:21
	Traditional		12TS281
8.	The Dowie Dens Of Yarrow	Gordeanna McCulloch	New Voices from Scotland	1965	4:12
	Traditional(Roud 13; Child 214)		12T133
9.	Erin Go Bragh	Dick Gaughan	Handful Of Earth	1981	4:28
	Traditional(Roud 1627; Laws Q20)		12TS419
10.	Young Jimmy Foyers	Sheila Stewart	A Story I'm Just About To Tell	1998	2:46
	Traditional(Roud 1941)		TSCD658
11.	Kempy Kaye	Jock Tamson’s Bairns	The Lasses Fashion	1982	3:43
	Traditional(Roud 32; Child 33)		12TS424
12.	Lady Eliza	Winnie Campbell	The Singing Campbells 12T120	1965	3:12
	Traditional(Roud 112; Child 269)		12T120
13.	Tilley Plump / Auld Foula Reel / Oot And In Da Harbour	Curlew	Fiddle Music From Shetland And Beyond	1985	2:37
	Traditional		12TS435
14.	Herd Laddie O’ The Glen	Willie Scott	The Shepherd’s Song	1968	3:40
	Willie Scott		12T183
15.	The Fireman’s Not For Me	Isla Cameron	Moses Of The Mail / The Fireman’s Not For Me	1951	2:35
	Traditional		TRC51
16.	Dance With Me, Morag	Isabel Sutherland	Vagrant Songs Of Scotland	1966	1:00
	Traditional		12T151
17.	The Wind That Blew The Bonnie Lassie’s Plaidie Awa’	Jimmy McBeath	Wild Rover No More	1967	3:42
	Traditional(Roud 2574)		12T173
18.	MacCrimmon’s Lament	Jeannie Robertson	Jeannie Robertson	1959	4:19
	Traditional(Roud 5134)		10T52
19.	The Gallant Forty Twa	Ian Manuel	The Dales Of Caledonia	1977	3:20
	Traditional(Roud 1877)		12TS301
20.	The Twa Corbies	Ray & Archie Fisher	Far O’er The Forth	1961	2:05
	Traditional(Roud 5; Child 26)		TOP67
21.	Boulavogue	Davie Stewart	Davie Stewart	1978 recorded in 1954	3:48
	Traditional(Roud 2356)		12T293
22.	The Wandering Piper	John D. Burgess	King of the Highland Pipers	1969	2:10
	Traditional		12T199

Disk five - The Singer & The Song

This disk concentrates on compositions in a traditional style with the composer often singing the song. All the recordings were issued on either Topic or Special Delivery.

Track	Title/Composer	Artist(s)	Original Album	Year of Issue	Length(Mins)
1.	Unity (Raise Your Banners High)	John Tams	Unity	2000	4:47
	John Tams		TSCD508
2.	The Dominion Of The Sword	Martin Carthy	Right Of Passage	1988	3:32
	Traditional, new words Martin Carthy		TSCD452
3.	The Sun Is Burning	The Ian Campbell Folk Group	The Sun Is Burning single	1963	2:23
	Ian Campbell		STOP102
4.	Go Down Ye Murderers	Ewan MacColl	Chorus From The Gallows	1960	3:25
	Ewan MacColl		12T16
5.	Police Patrol	Bob Davenport	The Common Stone	2004	1:45
	Bob Davenport		TSCD552
6.	Two Tears	Eliza Carthy	Dreams Of Breathing Underwater	2008	4:14
	Eliza Carthy & Ben Ivitsky		TSCD571
7.	Never Any Good	Martin Simpson	Prodigal Son	2007	5:20
	Martin Simpson		TSCD567
8.	Both Sides Of The Tweed	Dick Gaughan	Handful Of Earth	1981	3:38
	Dick Gaughan(Roud 8913)		12TS419
9.	George’s Son	John Kirkpatrick with Brass Monkey	See How It Runs	1986	4:56
	John Kirkpatrick		12TS442
10.	Reconciliation	Ron Kavana	Home Fire	1991	4:34
	Ron Kavana		SPDCD1043
11.	Stumbling On	Lal Waterson & Oliver Knight	Once In A Blue Moon	1996	4:05
	Lal Waterson & Oliver Knight		TSCD478
12.	Acceptable Losses	John B Spencer	Out With A Bang	1986	2:56
	John B Spencer		12TS444
13.	Ships Of Shame	Steve Ashley	Time & Tide	2007	3:36
	Steve Ashley		TSCD569
14.	The Land Of Three Rivers	Vin Garbutt	Eston California	1977	2:48
	Vin Garbutt		12TS378
15.	No Telling	Linda Thompson	Fashionably Late	2002	4:58
	Linda Thompson		TSCD821
16.	Dust	Johnny Handle	The Collier Lad	1975	2:51
	Johnny Handle		12TS270
17.	Two-Fisted Heroes	Bill Caddick	The Wild West Show	1986	4:16
	Bill Caddick		12TS441

Disk six - The People’s Flag

This disk covers the music that closely reflects the origins of Topic records with the Workers Music Association. Both sides of the original record issued by Topic are featured on this disk as track 1 and track 8. Versions of track 3, Joe Hill, are the third most popular selection on the radio show Desert Island Discs for British Labour Party Politicians, with this version being selected by Ed Miliband.^[18] Track 11 is the second track from the Sweet Primeroses album in the compilation. The title track of the album by the Watersons is on this CD with the original album available as a download. All the recordings were issued on either Topic or Special Delivery.

Track	Title/Composer	Artist(s)	Original Record	Year of Issue	Length (Mins)
1.	The Man Who Watered The Worker’s Beer	Paddy Ryan	The Man Who Watered The Worker’s Beer 78	1939	2:42
	Paddy Ryan/Traditional		TRC1
2.	Talking Union Blues	Pete Seeger	Dark As A Dungeon	1956	2:51
	Woody Guthrie		TRC92
3.	Joe Hill	Paul Robeson	Joe Hill / John Brown’s Body	1956	3:00
	Traditional		TRC95
4.	Masters Of War	Martin Simpson	Grinning In Your Face	1983	5:29
	Bob Dylan		12TS430
5.	The Red Flag	Bob Smith’s Ideal Band	Better Than An Orchestra	1983	3:30
	Connell		12T320
6.	The Blackleg Miners	Louis Killen	The Iron Muse	1963	1:17
	Traditional(Roud 3193)		12T86
7.	No Power On Earth	Billy Bennett	Almost A Gentleman	1978	3:50
	Billy Bennett		12T387
8.	The Internationale	The Topic Singers & Band	The Internationale	1939	2:48
	Degetyer		TRC1
9.	To The Begging I Will Go	Ewan MacColl	The Manchester Angel	1966	2:34
	Traditional		12T147
10.	The Hand-Loom Weaver’s Lament	Harry Boardman	Deep Lancashire	1968	2:40
	Traditional		12T188
11.	The Rigs Of The Time	Shirley Collins	The Sweet Primeroses	1967	3:09
	Traditional(Roud 867)		12T170
12.	Greedy Landlord	Stan Kelly with Leon Rosselson	Songs For Swinging Landlords To	1961	2:48
	Fred Dallas/Traditional		TOP60
13.	Time To Ring Some Changes	Richard Thompson	Hard Cash	1990	3:42
	Richard Thompson		SPDCD1027
14.	Sixteen Tons	Ewan MacColl with Brian Daly	Sixteen Tons / The Swan-Necked Valve	1956	2:01
	Traditional(Roud 15162)		TRC97
15.	Peat Bog Soldiers	The Ian Campbell Folk Group	Songs Of Protest	1962	1:40
	Unknown		TOP82
16.	Aa’m Glad The Strike’s Done	The High Level Ranters	The Bonny Pit Laddie	1975	3:06
	Traditional		12TS271/2
17.	Three Score And Ten	The Watersons	New Voices	1965	3:29
	William Delph/Traditional(Roud 16873)		12T125
18.	Dirty Old Town	Ewan MacColl	Dirty Old Town / Sheffield Apprentice	1952	2:44
	Ewan MacColl		TRC56
19.	The Liverpool Barrow Boys	The Spinners	Songs Spun In Liverpool	1961	1:25
	Traditional		TOP69
20.	The Weaver’s March	The Celebrated Working Men’s Band	The Iron Muse	1963	0:50
	Traditional		12T86
21.	We Poor Labouring Men	Waterson–Carthy	Broken Ground	1999	5:48
	Traditional(Roud 1394)		TSCD509
22.	Perfumes Of Arabia	Martin Carthy & Dave Swarbrick	Skin & Bone	1992	3:07
	Maggie Holland		SPDCD1046
23.	Hot Asphalt	Bob Davenport & The Rakes	Wor Geordie	1962	2:01
	Bob Davenport		TOP83

Disk seven - . . . even more treasures from the Topic catalogue

The seventh and last disk in the set contains more tracks from the Topic records catalogue and features a number from non-English speaking countries. Three of the tracks feature music from the Balkans, two of the albums collected by A. L. Lloyd and one by Wolf Dietrich. Acts from the United States are well represented. All the recordings were issued on Topic except track 18 which was issued on a Free Reed album. and include 1 of the Topic World Series Albums.

Track	Title/Composer	Artist(s)	Original Album	Year of Issue	Length (Mins)
1.	Skye Crofter’s / The Swallow Tail	Billy Pigg	Wild Hills O’Wannie – The Small Pipes of Northumbria	1974	3:22
	Traditional		12TS227
2.	While Gamekeepers Lie Sleeping	June Tabor	Airs & Graces	1976	1:44
	Traditional(Roud 363)		12TS298
3.	Boi Se Otvori	Roza Tsetkova	Folk Music of Bulgaria	1964	1:20
	Traditional		12T107
4.	John Barleycorn	Tim Van Eyken	Stiffs Lovers Holymen Thieves	2006	6:07
	Traditional(Roud 164)		TSCD565
5.	The Girl On The Greenbriar Shore	Tom Paley & Peggy Seeger	Who's Going To Shoe Your Pretty Little Foot? Who's Going To Glove Your Hand	1964	2:31
	Traditional(Roud 17338)		12T113
6.	The Happy One-Step / Green Willis	The House Band	Word Of Mouth	1988	2:46
	Traditional		12TS451
7.	Clyde Water	Nic Jones	Game Set Match	2006	6:02
	Traditional(Roud 91; Child 216)		TSCD566
8.	Baranca	Vlado & Nikola Robanovski	Folk Music of Yugoslavia	1973	2:34
	Traditional		12TS224
9.	Georgie	Levi Smith	Songs of the Open Road	1975	1:28
	Traditional(Roud 90; Child 209)		12T253
10.	Jenny Lind	Scan Tester & Rabbidy Baxter	Boscastle Breakdown	1974	1:59
	Traditional		12T240
11.	Worcester City	Eliza Carthy	Anglicana	2002	4:48
	Traditional(Roud 218, Laws P30)		TSCD539
12.	Talking Dustbowl Blues	Ramblin’ Jack Elliott	Woody Guthrie's Blues	1957	2:54
	Traditional(Roud 16650)		8T5
13.	Kaba Vençe	Refki Taho, Hysen Zizolli & Ahmet Metolli	Folk Music of Albania	1966	3:01
	Traditional		12T154
14.	The Green Banks Of Yarrow	Alison McMorland & Peta Webb	Alison McMorland & Peta Webb	1980	2:28
	Traditional(Roud 172; Child 24)		12TS403
15.	Johnny, Will You Marry Me?	Dan Sullivan’s Shamrock Band	Dan Sullivan’s Shamrock Band	1979	2:54
	Traditional		12T366
16.	Hamburger – polka fra hardanger	Vestlandsgruppa	Folk Music of Norway	1977	1:55
	Traditional		12TS351
17.	Hedger And Ditcher	The Silly Sisters	No More To The Dance	1988	2:41
	Traditional(Roud 846)		TSCD450
18.	Burren No. 1 / Chris Droney’s Favourite	Chris Droney	The Flowing Tide	1975	2:39
	Traditional		12TFRS503
19.	Nna hamu	The Jauharah Orchestra	Poetry and Languid Charm – Swahili Music from Tanzania	2007	2:40
	Shariff Twahir Ahmed		TSCD936
20.	Little Sadie	Hedy West	Ballads	1967	2:45
	Traditional(Roud 780, Laws I8)		12T163
21.	Fulmine	Andy Cutting (Blowzabella)	Vanilla	1990	2:39
	Riccardo Tesi		SPDCD1028
22.	No One Stands Alone	Blue Murder	No One Stands Alone	2002	4:49
	Jim Davis		TSCD537