Dave Swarbrick
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David Cyril Eric 'Dave' Swarbrick (born 5 April 1941 in New Malden) is an English folk musician. He plays violin, viola, mandolin, and guitar, and sings.
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[edit] Biography
He grew up in Birmingham where he learnt the rudiments of the violin from a local fiddler and attended the Birmingham College of Art (now absorbed into the Birmingham Institute of Art and Design) in the late 1950s. Playing guitar, he joined Beryl Marriot's Ceilidh Band in Birmingham. Beryl encouraged him to take up the fiddle again.
Swarbrick joined the Ian Campbell Folk Group in 1960. In 1966 he teamed up with Martin Carthy and the pairing had a significant influence in the contemporary folk music scene. In 1969 he joined electric folk group Fairport Convention. In 1973 he contributed mandolin to Al Stewart's "Past, Present, & Future" album.
In 1984 Swarbrick formed Whippersnapper, a group renowned for its acoustic prowess. In 1989 he decided to leave to concentrate on solo work and revive his partnership with Martin Carthy.
In 1993 Swarbrick moved to Australia and met and began working with Alistair Hulett. Returning to England in 1996, he started working with Kevin Dempsey until recently, involved with Uiscedwr, Martin Carthy and Alistair Hulett amongst others.
There was considerable embarrassment for the Daily Telegraph newspaper in 1999 when it published a premature obituary for Swarbrick after he was admitted to hospital with a chest infection. After many years of steadily worsening health due to emphysema, he was fortunate enough, in October 2004, to receive a double lung transplant and has now been released from hospital and he is on the road to improved health and a better quality of life after being confined to a wheelchair for some years. Since his transplant, Swarbrick's health has steadily improved. At last years Cropredy Festival he was well enough to be up on his feet fiddling away with the 1967 Fairport line up, with Chris While standing in for Sandy Denny.
[edit] Recent work
In 2006 Swarb started touring again with ex-Fairporter Maartin Allcock and Kevin Dempsey as Swarb's Lazarus; they appeared at the Cropredy Festival. On 10 August 2007, Swarbrick joined a reformed Fairport Convention to perform the whole of the "Liege and Lief" album.
[edit] Awards
In 2003, he was awarded a 'Gold Badge'by the English Folk Dance and Song Society and the 'Gold Badge of Merit' by the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters. In 2004 he was given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. In 2007 Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick won the 'Best Duo' Award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.
[edit] Discography
- Solo albums
- Rags, Reels & Airs (1967) with Martin Carthy and Diz Dizley
- Swarbrick (1976)
- Swarbrick 2 (1977)
- Lift The Lid and Listen (1978)
- The Ceilidh Album (1978)
- Smiddyburn (1981)
- Flittin' (1983)
- In The Club (1983)
- Live At Jackson's Lane [1991] (1996)
- Folk on 2 [1991] (1996)
- English Fiddler: Swarbrick plays Swarbrick (2003)
- with Fairport Convention
- Liege and Lief
- Full House
- House Full
- Angel Delight
- Babbacombe Lee
- Nine
- Rosie
- Rising For The Moon
- Gottle O' Geer
- Tipplers Tales
- Bonny Bunch Of Roses
- Encore, Encore
- with Martin Carthy
- Martin Carthy (1965)
- Second Album (1966)
- Byker Hill (1967)
- But Two Came By (1968)
- Prince Heathen (1969)
- Life And Limb (1990)
- Skin And Bone (1992)
- Straws In The Wind (2006)
- Dave Swarbrick & Simon Nicol
- Live at the White Bear (1981)
- Close to the Wind (1984)
- Close to the White Bear (1998)
- Whippersnapper
- Promises (1985)
- Tsubo (1987)
- These Foolish Strings (1988)
- Fortune (1989)
- Cambridge 1984 (1996) video
- Collaboration - Dave Swarbrick and Fairport Convention
- SwarbAid (1999)
- Compilations
- Swarb [box set] (2003)
- It Suits Me Well (2004)
- Dave Swarbrick and Alistair Hulett
- Saturday Johnny and Jimmy The Rat (1996)
- The Cold Grey Light of Dawn (1998)
- Red Clydeside (2002)
- Swarb's Lazarus
- Live and Kicking (2006)
[edit] External links
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