Phil Colclough

Phil Colclough (11 January 1940 - 23 September 2019[1]) was an English contemporary folk singer and songwriter. His best known works, co-written with his wife, June Colclough (1941 – 12 October 2004), are "Song for Ireland" and "The Call and the Answer".

June and Phil Colclough both came from North Staffordshire, England, and both had careers in education. Phil had been a navigator in the Merchant Navy,[2] which provided source material for some of his songs. The Colcloughs founded the first folk music club in Stoke-on-Trent in 1960.

In 1966, they moved to London, where they were members of the Critics Group led by Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger; they eventually left the group due to bitter disputes stemming from MacColl's "authoritarian tendencies".[3]

In the 1970s, the Colcloughs returned to North Staffordshire, where they produced a folk music radio program for BBC Radio Stoke.

"Song for Ireland"[4] was inspired by a trip the Colcloughs took to the Dingle Peninsula. Described as a "modern classic",[5] it has been recorded by numerous artists, including Enya, Dick Gaughan, Luke Kelly, Mary Black, Ralph McTell, Celtic Spirit, The Dubliners, Brendan Hayes and Damien Leith.

Discography
  • Players from a Drama (1992)

Notes
  1. Drever, Kris. "Kris Drever–The Call and the Answer–Glasgow Flat Session". Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  2. Woods 1983, p. 383.
  3. Harker, Ben (2007), Class act: the cultural and political life of Ewan MacColl, Pluto Press, p. 209, ISBN 978-0-7453-2165-3.
  4. Woods 1983, pp. 349–350.
  5. Sawyers, June Skinner (2001), Celtic music: a complete guide, Da Capo Press, p. 173, ISBN 978-0-306-81007-7.

References

Footnote: As an ex-member of the Critics group I would point out that the group did not break up because of Ewan's authoritarianism. It disbanded in a friendly manner in order that some members, along with Ewan, could go and form an acting group - which remained unnamed - that was the group which broke up acrimoniously. Ewan was not 'authoritarian' within the Critics Group, had he been, it would not have lasted as long as it did and he would not have gained the massive respect he did from its members, right to the point of its finally disbanding. I write this from personal experience and twenty odd years research since.- Jim Carroll

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