Mike Silver (musician)

Mike Silver (born 12 September 1945) is a British singer-songwriter, who has been active in the UK contemporary and folk music circuits since the late 1960s.

Mike Silver
Born (1945-09-12) 12 September 1945
Uffington, Oxfordshire, England
GenresFolk
Occupation(s)Singer, Songwriter
InstrumentsGuitar, Piano
Years active1968—present
LabelsRocket, Stockfisch, Big John, Ferry, Peak, Silversound, Faymus
Associated actsJohnny Coppin
Websitewww.mikesilver.co.uk

Biography

Silver was born in Uffington, Oxfordshire (then Berkshire) in 1945 and commenced playing guitar at the age of 15, joining a number of locally-known "beat" groups in the Croydon area from around 1964 onwards.[1] He was inspired to move to a more fingerstyle folk/blues approach after witnessing Gerry Lockran at a Canterbury folk club, and commenced a performing career himself in the folk clubs of London and Cornwall from the late 1960s onwards. In 1969 he put out a (now very rare) LP on Fontana called The Applicant with Mike Beason which was billed as a "folk opera" and dealt dramatically with the struggles of a starving man to find work. Shortly afterwards he formed the trio "Daylight" together with Chrissie Quayle and Steve Hayton, an American then resident in the UK, which produced one album for RCA in 1971, but fell somewhat between the folk and rock camps and eventually foundered. Following this, Silver signed as the first solo artist other than John to Elton John's Rocket Record Company and released the album Troubadour in 1973, also touring in the US as support to Dory Previn and Ashford and Simpson.[2] From 1976 onwards, Silver concentrated his activities as an acoustic performer and singer-songwriter on the UK folk scene, with frequent performing trips also to the Netherlands and Germany, and has released more than 12 further solo albums (on some he is billed as Michael Silver);[3] his song "Maybe It's Just Love" was also picked up by Moody Blues frontman Justin Hayward and included on the latter's 1980 album Night Flight. Currently based in Camelford, Cornwall, Silver continues to perform around the UK folk circuit and has also collaborated with fellow performer and songwriter Johnny Coppin including the release of a joint album Breaking the Silence in 2007.[4] Writing in the West Briton in 2003, reviewer John Newman has stated: "Mike Silver has a unique style, drawing from many influences including folk, rock, country and blues, all of which are evident, with an end result that is magical and should be a source of inspiration to songwriters everywhere."[5]

Discography

Mike Silver

With others
  • Mike Silver and Mike Beason: The Applicant Fontana STL 5506 1969 album details
  • "Daylight" (Mike Silver, Steve Hayton, Chrissie Quayle): Daylight RCA SF 8194 1971 album details
  • Johnny Coppin and Mike Silver: Breaking The Silence Faymus FRCD 0101 2007 album details

References
  1. "Daylight". kernowbeat.co.uk.
  2. "Silver, Mike". Biographical entry in Larkin, Colin (ed.): The Guinness Who's Who of Folk Music. Guinness Publishing, Enfield, 1993 ISBN 085112741X
  3. "Mike Silver". Biographical / discographical entry in Strong, Martin C.: The Great Folk Discography Volume 1: Pioneers & Early Legends. Polygon, Edinburgh, 2010 ISBN 9781846971419
  4. "Breaking the Silence". Amazon.co.uk. September 10, 2007. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  5. "Review of "Solid Silver", quoted on Stockfisch Records web site". Archived from the original on 2016-02-03. Retrieved 2016-05-20.
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