> A.L. Lloyd > Biography
A.L. Lloyd (29.2.1908 - 29.9.1982)
Born in London in 1908, Albert Lancaster (Bert) Lloyd was orphaned at an
early age and spent his early years working on sheep stations in Australia
and subsequently on Antartic whaling ships. Both these occupations were
probably the catalyst for his interest in folk-song. Though Lloyd had no
formal training as an ethnomusicologist, he built up a formidable personal
knowledge of the world of folk-song in the British Isles and in eastern Europe.
He combined a working career in journalism and broadcast with life as a folk
performer, and also taught at Goldsmiths' College from 1971. Lloyd published
The Singing Englishman
(Workers' Music Association) in 1944, and this work became the best
introduction to folk-song before the later
Folk Song in England,
written in 1967. The latter established him as the leading authority on his
subject. Another strand of his work, that of work songs, is reflected in the
collection of miners songs
Come All Ye Bold Miners
published in 1952 and enlarged in 1978. Lloyd was also a founder member of
Topic Records,
and besides writing many sleeve notes also performed on many of the
recordings. Bert Lloyd died in 1982.
[biographical entry from Goldsmiths College's
A.L. Lloyd
web page]
See also A.L. Lloyd's published biography:
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Dave Arthur, |