The Search for Five Finger Frank is a double album celebrating the legacy of the great Frank Kidson; a man once revered by his peers but now, sadly overlooked by the folk movement of today. Pete Coe and Alice Jones present both classic and rare songs taken from the Frank Kidson collection and set to innovative and original arrangements, breathing fresh life into songs once left to gather dust. This recording features ballads, broadsides and dance tunes mainly from Yorkshire.

Engineered and recorded by Joss Worthington at Distant City Recording Studio, Ripponden, West Yorkshire;
Cover art by John Crane

Musicians

Pete Coe: vocals [1, 3, 6, 8-9, 11, 14-15, 17, 19, 21, 24, 26], bouzouki, melodeons, banjo, bansitar;
Alice Jones: vocals [2, 4, 7, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 23, 25], harmonium, piano, whistles, clarinet, feet;
Johnny Adams: fiddle [5, 13, 23, 27], harmony vocals [1, 3, 11, 15];
Chris Coe: hammered dulcimer [13, 22, 27], harmony vocals [1];
Michael Beeke: tuba [1, 26], harmony vocals [3, 11, 15], brass arrangements;
Julie Helliwell: trombone [1, 26];
Stephen McGowan: trumpet [1, 26];
Chris Partington: fiddle [5, 13, 22, 27];
Steve Harrison: mouth organ [5, 13, 22, 27];
Murray Grainger: harmony vocals [3, 11];
Gina Le Faux: fiddle [14], viola [14], bass fiddle [2, 16]

Tracks

CD 1

1. One Summer’s Morning (Roud 191; TT, FSNC) (4.56)
2. The Swans Swim So Bonny (Roud 8; Child 10; G/D 2:213; GEF, FSSJ 9) (5.26)
3. The Death of Bill Brown (Roud 609; TT, FKB) (3.23)
4. The Knight and the Shepherd’s Daughter (Roud 67; Child 110; G/D 7:1465; TT, FSNC) (7.05)
5. The Kirkgate Hornpipes 1 & 2 (OECD) (2.59)
6. Captain Glen (Roud 478; Laws K22; G/D 2:191; GEF) (5.17)
7. The Sprig of Thyme (Roud 3) (5.15)
8. The Highwayman Outwitted (Roud 2638; Laws L2; GEF, FSSJ 9) (2.22)
9. Turpin Hero (Roud 621; Laws L10; FSSJ 9) (2.40)
10. Shule Agra (Roud 911; FSSJ 9) (3.33)
11. Outward Bound (Roud 1104; TT, FSNC) (3.31)
12. My True Love Once He Courted Me (Roud 60; Laws P25; G/D 6:1170; TT) (3.17)
13. Come Ashore Jolly Tar With Your Trousers On (OECD) (3.26)
14. Scarborough Fair (Roud 12; Child 2; G/D 2:329; TT) (4.07)

CD 2

15. Hares in the Old Plantation (Roud 363; TT, FSNC) (3.17)
16. Young Riley the Fisherman (Roud 270; Laws M8; G/D 1:22; GEF, FSSJ 5) (5.21)
17. All on Spurn Point (Roud 599; TYG 67; EPS, FSSJ 9, FKB) (2.39)
18. Bonny Light Horseman (Roud 1185; G/D 8:1584; EOS, FKB) (5.04)
19. The Bonny Bunch of Roses O (Roud 664; Laws J5; G/D 1:155; FSSJ 9) (5.49)
20. I Designed to Say No But Mistook and Said Yes (Roud 1459; Henry H472; GEF) (2.49)
21. Geordie (Roud 90; Child 209; G/D 2:249; TT, FSNC, FKB) (3.48)
22. The Trip to Knaresborough (ms) / The Ball (OECD) (3.27)
23. One Moonlit Night (Roud 17769; EP, FSSJ 9) (5.11)
24. The Bold Princess Royal (Roud 528; Laws K29; G/D 1:47; GEF) (3.09)
25. Young Banker (Roud 3321; FSSJ) (3.59)
26. The Deserter (Roud 493; GEF, FSSJ 9, FKB) (5.03)
27. The Leeds Polka (OECD) (2.57)

TT	Frank Kidson, Traditional Tunes, Oxford: Chas. Taphouse, 1891
GEF	Frank Kidson, A Garland of English Folk-Songs, London: Ascherberg, Hopwood and Crew, 1926
FSNC	Frank Kidson, Folk Songs From the North Countrie, London: Ascherberg, Hopwood and Crew, 1927
EPS	Frank Kidson, English Peasant Songs, London: Ascherberg, Hopwood and Crew, 1929
OECD	Frank Kidson, Old English Country Dances, London: William Reeves, 1890
FSSJ	Folk Song Society Journals
ms	Frank Kidson’s manuscripts
FKB	Frank Kidson’s broadside collection

Recorded, engineered and mixed by Jon Loomes at Talking Cat Studions, Ripponden, West Yorkshire;
Mastered by Neil Ferguson;
Photography by Elly Lucas;
Album notes by Alice Jones;
Sleeve design by Murray Grainger

Musicians

Alice Jones: vocals [1-2, 4-5, 7-8, 10-12], tenor guitar [1, 3, 9, 11], piano [2, 5, 7, 10], whistle [3, 6, 9], harmonium [4, 6, 8, 11-12];
Tom Kitching: fiddle [1, 3-5, 8-9, 11];
Hugh Bradley: double bass [1, 3-4, 6, 9-10]

Tracks

1. Poor Strange Girl (Roud 272; G/D 4:831) (3.21)
2. Woody Knows Nothing (4.33)
3. The Larkman / The Heron Tree (4.26)
4. The Cruel Mother (Roud 9; Child 20; G/D 2:193; TYG 73) (3.13)
5. Green Bushes (Roud 1040; Laws P2; Henry H143) (3.21)
6. Wedding Mazurkas: Liz and Colin’s Wedding Mazurka / Gordon and Sue’s Wedding Mazurka (3.12)
7. Her Bright Smile Haunts Me Still (Roud 4353) (4.09)
8. When I Am Far Away (Roud V5578) (4.45)
9. Digerpolskan / The Duhk Strut Reel (3.18)
10. Adieu to Old England (Roud 1703; G/D 6:1083) (5.08)
11. The Castle by the Sea (Roud 21; Child 4; G/D 2:225; Henry H163) (2.44)
12. Long, Long Trail A-Winding (Roud 23525) (3.42)

Track 1 trad. / Alice Jones;
Track 2 trad. / Erik Darling / Alice Jones;
Tracks 3ab, 6ab, 9b Alice Jones;
Tracks 4-5, 8, 10-11 trad.;
Track 7 words J.E. Carpenter, music W.T. Wrighton;
Track 9a Göran Fredrikson;
Track 12 words Stoddard King, music Alonzo ‘Zo’ Elliott (1914);
All arrangements by Alice Jones

Produced by Joe Rusby;
Recorded by Joe Rusby at Vibrations Studios, Lockwood, Huddersfield, in June 2021;
Mixed by Joe Rusby at Parr Street Studios, Liverpool;
Mastered by Nick Cooke at Nick Cooke Mastering;
Photography by Joanne Crawford, taken on Norland Moor, West Yorkshire;
Design by Tom Pitts at Hand Drawn Pixels

Folk Radio UK review by Dave McNally

Musicians

Bryony Griffith: lead vocals [3, 6, 8, 10-11], vocals, fiddle;
Alice Jones: lead vocals [2, 4-5, 7, 9], vocals, harmonium, tenor guitar, body percussion

Tracks

1. Wanton Lasses Pity Her (Roud 37666) (2.45)
2. The Grey Mare (Roud 680; Laws P8; G/D 4:761; Henry H90) (3.45)
3. What Is That Blood on Thy Shirt Sleeve? (Roud 200; Child 13; TYG 35) (3.39)
4. The Girl Who Was Poorly Clad (Roud 2; Laws Q26) (3.57)
5. Nellie o’ Bob’s o’ t’ Crowtrees (5.46)
6. The Grey Goose and Gander (Roud 1094) (3.19)
7. The Hunslet and Holbeck Moor Cockfight (Roud 211; TYG 81) (2.42)
8. Strawberry Tower (Roud 185; Laws K18; G/D 1:20; TYG 7) (4.21)
9. My Johnny Was a Shoemaker (Roud 1388; G/D 8:1848) (2.51)
10. Willy Went to Westerdale (Roud 2792; TYG 1) (3.19)
11. A Collier Lad (Roud 16148) (0.47)

All tracks trad. arr. Bryony Griffith and Alice Jones except
Track 5 words John Hartley, tune Dave Hillery

Video

Bryony Griffith and Alice Jones sing Wanton Lasses Pity Her:

Recorded, mixed and mastered by Sam Proctor at Lismore Mastering in November 2022;
Illustration by Ali O’Neill

Musicians

Bryony Griffith: vocals, fiddle;
Alice Jones: vocals, harmonium, tenor guitar

Tracks

1. Early Pearly (Roud 258; Laws Q28; TYG 126, 127) (3.23)

Track 1 trad. arr. Bryony Griffith and Alice Jones

Wessel-bobs, Wassail-bobs or Wesley-bobs were a kind of decorated, evergreen bough built around a spherical frame, carried by Wassailers or carol singers, mostly in West Yorkshire, which is where we are from. The term also refers to hand-made fabric baubles pinned round with ribbons, and delicate glass baubles that were sold in the mid-1900s.

Produced by Joe Rusby;
Recorded and mixed Joe Rusby at The Arch Recording Studio, Southport, in June/July 2023;
Mastered by Nick Cooke at Nick Cooke Mastering;
Photography by Joanne Crawford;
Hair and make-up by Rosie Butler-Hall;
Design by Tom Pitts at Hand Drawn Pixels

Folking.com review by Mike Davies

Musicians

Bryony Griffith: lead vocals [2, 5, 7, 11], vocals, fiddle;
Alice Jones: lead vocals [3, 6, 8, 10, 12], vocals, harmonium, tenor guitar, body percussion

Tracks

Album booklet with lyrics

1. Early Pearly (Roud 258; Laws Q28; TYG 126, 127) (3.28)
2. The ’Ollins and the Ivin (Roud 514) (3.20)
3. I Traced Her Little Footmarks in the Snow (Roud 2660) (4.36)
4. Hagman-Heigh (Roud 4584) (2.47)
5. Ripon Sword Dance (Roud 610; TYG 99) (4.07)
6. The Tailor’s Britches (Roud 1610; TYG 49) / New Year’s Day (3.41)
7. The Yorkshire Wassailing Song (Roud 209; TYG 22) (3.51)
8. Time to Remember the Poor (Roud 1121) (3.09)
9. Hark, How All the Welkin Rings (Roud 8330) / The Spinning Wheel (4.00)
10. Change for a Guinea (The Christmas Goose) (Roud 3204; TYG 40) / The Christmas Tale (4.59)
11. Christmas (2.56)
12. King Christmas (Roud 21881) (3.41)

All tracks trad. arr. Bryony Griffith and Alice Jones except
Track 3 original lyrics and tune by Harry Wright, c.1880;
Track 6 lyrics rewritten by Arthur Wood;
Track 9 lyrics by John Wesley;
Track 11 lyrics by George William Moxon (1875-1962), tune by Bryony Griffith

Video

Bryony Griffith and Alice Jones sing I Traced Her Little Footmarks in the Snow:

Commissioned by Leeds Museums & Galleries and The British Library;
Recorded and mastered by Tim Hay at Leeds Beckett University;
Cover artwork by Pete Dilley

Musicians

Pete Dilley: vocals [1, 5, 8], guitar [8], bouzouki [1, 4], dobro [8], backing vocals [2];
Alice Jones: vocals [3, 6, 8], harmonium [4, 6, 9], whistle [6], tap shoes [1], backing vocals [2, 5, 9];
Simon Robinson: vocals [2, 8, 9], banjo [1], dulcimer [9], backing vocals [5];
Katy Ryder: vocals [4, 7-8], guitar [4], flute [1], saxophone [1], low whistle [4, 9], backing vocals [1-2, 5]

Tracks

1. The Stockport Turnout’s Petition (Roud V47492) (4.11)
2. The Preston Steam-Loom Weavers (Roud V8916) (4.58)
3. The Colliers’ New Hymn (Roud V7866) (7.47)
4. The Felting Machines (4.21)
5. A New Song on the Stockport Strike (Roud V24759) (3.12)
6. A New Song on the Strike at Stockport (4.37)
7. Weavers’ Crime (4.00)
8. Song of the Cotton Factory Operatives (Roud V4708) (5.10)
9. Working Men of England (Roud V13793) (5.09)

All tracks trad.