Lewis Frederick William Caddick (27 June 1944 – 19 November 2018) was an English

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

singer-songwriter and guitarist, particularly noted for his songwriting and as a member of the innovative and influential group

Home Service Home Service is a British folk rock group, formed in late 1980 from a nucleus of musicians who had been playing in Ashley Hutchings' Albion Band. Their career is generally agreed to have peaked with the album ''Alright Jack'', and has had a ...

Career outline

He was born in

Hurst Hill Hurst Hill is a location on Anglezarke Moor, within the West Pennine Moors of Lancashire, England. With a height of 317 metres (1,040 feet), the summit provides views towards the Irish Sea. It is located between Round Loaf and Pikestones, b ...

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. Located around 12 miles (20 km) north of Birmingham, it forms the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, with the towns of ...

, England. Singing since the 1960s in

folk club A folk club is a regular event, permanent venue, or section of a venue devoted to folk music and traditional music. Folk clubs were primarily an urban phenomenon of 1960s and 1970s Great Britain and Ireland, and vital to the second British folk r ...

s and

festival A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holidays, eid. A ...

s, in 1973 Caddick joined the

street theatre Street theatre is a form of theatrical performance and presentation in outdoor public spaces without a specific paying audience. These spaces can be anywhere, including shopping centres, car parks, recreational reserves, college or universi ...

group

Magic Lantern The magic lantern, also known by its Latin name , is an early type of image projector that uses pictures—paintings, prints, or photographs—on transparent plates (usually made of glass), one or more lens (optics), lenses, and a light source. ...

, formed by Taffy Thomas and described by Mel McClellan on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

website as "legendary". He left Magic Lantern in 1975 to concentrate on his solo career, becoming well known as a festival artist in Britain and overseas. In 1977, he joined the

Albion Band The Albion Band, also known as The Albion Country Band, The Albion Dance Band, and The Albion Christmas Band, is a British folk rock band, originally brought together and led by musician Ashley Hutchings. An important grouping in the genre, i ...

in the National Theatre productions of '' Lark Rise'' and ''The Passion''. Caddick later collaborated with Tim Laycock and Peter Bond in a stage show and album about

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...

life, called ''A Duck on his Head''. About this time, he wrote songs for radio and TV, and performed his own songs in a film about the

Tolpuddle Martyrs The Tolpuddle Martyrs were six agricultural labourers from the village of Tolpuddle in Dorset, England, who were arrested and tried in 1834 for swearing a secret oath as members of a friendly society. Led by George Loveless, the group had ...

. From 1980 to 1985, Caddick was a member of the renowned folk-rock band

. He continued to write and perform at clubs and festivals, albeit in a more low-key way than before, as well as continuing his involvement with the National Theatre, writing and appearing in several plays which included ''

Don Quixote , the full title being ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'', is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel is considered a founding work of Western literature and is of ...

'', and ''

The Mysteries ''The Mysteries'' is a cycle of three medieval English mystery plays first presented at London's National Theatre in 1977 which tell a story of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. Background It is based largely on the Wakefield cycle of p ...

'' (an award-winning trilogy performed in the West End, on TV and throughout Europe, as well as at the National). In later life Caddick ran a folk club in his home village of

Jackfield Jackfield is a village in the Telford and Wrekin borough of Shropshire, England, lying on the south bank of River Severn in the Ironbridge Gorge, downstream from Ironbridge. Like many of the settlements in the area, it is notable for its place ...

and, as well as his solo career, was a member of three groups: local band the Jackfield Riverbillies, ceilidh band All Blacked Up and as part of the Anne Lennox Martin Band.
His songs, such as " John O'Dreams", "Unicorns", "Oh to Be a King", and "She Moves Among Men", have been recorded by numerous other musicians including

June Tabor June Tabor (born 31 December 1947 in Warwick, England) is an English folk singer known for her solo work and her earlier collaborations with Maddy Prior and with Oysterband. Early life June Tabor was born and grew up in Warwick, England. ...

, Faustus, Chris Foster, Alex Campbell,

Christy Moore Christopher Andrew "Christy" Moore (born 7 May 1945) is an Irish folk singer, songwriter and guitarist. He was one of the founding members of the bands Planxty and Moving Hearts and has had significant success as a solo artist. His first albu ...

, Priscilla Herdman, Dan Evans,

Peter Rowan Peter Rowan (born July 4, 1942) is an American bluegrass musician and composer. He plays guitar, fiddle, dobro, banjo, bass, piano and mandolin. He has a wide vocal range and yodels. He was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall o ...

, John Kirkpatrick,

Artisan An artisan (from , ) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art, sculpture, clothing, food ite ...

Coope Boyes and Simpson Coope Boyes and Simpson was an English vocal Folk music, folk trio, formed around 1990. Their sound was rich and often had unusual vocal harmonies. The group comprised singers Barry Coope, Jim Boyes (formerly of Swan Arcade) and Lester Simpson, ...

and

The Yetties The Yetties were an English folk music group, who took their name from the Dorset village of Yetminster, their childhood home. They formed in 1961 and turned professional in 1967. Their first line-up was Bob Common, Mac McCulloch, John "Bonny" ...

Personal life and death

Caddick's marriage, to June Powell, ended in divorce. He married his second wife, illustrator Katherine Soutar, in 1996. He died on 19 November 2018, aged 74. He is survived by his wife Katherine their son, Tam, and by Christy, his son from his first marriage.

Discography

Solo recordings

*''Rough Music'' (1976) *''Sunny Memories'' (1977) *''Reasons Briefly Set Down'' (1979) *''Wild West Show'' (1986) *''Urban Legend'' (1991) *''Winter With Flowers'' (1995) *''

Unicorns The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since Classical antiquity, antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn (anatomy), horn projecting from its forehead. In European literature and art, the unico ...

'' (2002) In 2009 ''Two-Fisted Heroes'' from ''Wild West Show'' was included in

Topic Records Topic Records is a British folk music label, which played a major role in the second British folk revival. It began as an offshoot of the Workers' Music Association in 1939, making it the oldest independent record label in the world.M. Brocken ...

70-year anniversary boxed set ''

Three Score and Ten ''Three Score and Ten: A Voice to the People'' is a multi-CD box set album issued by Topic Records in 2009 to celebrate 70 years as an independent British record label. The album consists of a hardback book containing the seven CDs and a pa ...

'' as track seventeen on the fifth CD.

Group recordings

*(With The Albion Band) ''Lark Rise To Candleford'' (1979) *(With Bond, Caddick & Laycock) ''A Duck On His Head'' (1980) *(With Home Service) ''Doing The Inglish'' (1981) *(With Home Service) ''Home Service'' (1984) *(With Home Service) ''The Mysteries'' (1984) *(With Home Service) ''The Mysteries'' EP (1985) *(With Home Service) ''Wild Life'' (1995) *(With Home Service) ''Early Transmissions'' (1996) *(With The Jackfield Riverbillies) ''Cherokee'' (1999)

As session musician

* John Kirkpatrick – ''Going Spare'' (1978) *

Richard and Linda Thompson Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and ...

– '' First Light'' (1978) *Peter Bond – ''See Me Up, See Me Down'' (1979) *Tim Laycock – ''Capers & Rhymes'' *Various Artists – ''All Through The Year'' *Ashley Hutchings – ''The Guv'nor Vol 2'' (1997) *Jan Davies – ''Magpies'' *

Les Barker Les Barker (30 January 1947 – 14 January 2023) was an English poet. He wrote comedy, comedic poetry, parody, parodies of popular songs, and also serious works. Biography Barker was born in Manchester, England, on 30 January 1947. He stu ...

– ''Tubular Dogs'' *Various Artists – ''Festival'' *Anne Lennox-Martin – ''Born to the Breed'' (2004)

References

External links

Bill Caddick's website – Archived 15 September 2017
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caddick, Bill 1944 births 2018 deaths Musicians from Wolverhampton English male singer-songwriters English singer-songwriters English folk guitarists English male guitarists English folk rock musicians English folk singers The Albion Band members Home Service members Topic Records artists