Jon Raven (1940–2015) was an English author and musician.

Early life

Jon Raven was the brother of author and musician

Michael Raven Michael Raven (born 1964) is an American pornographic film director. He is a member of the AVN Hall of Fame. Raven met his wife Sydnee Steele while working as a car salesman. They married, finding a common interest in pornography and swingin ...

, father of the late Ministry and

Killing Joke Killing Joke are an English rock band from Notting Hill, London, England, formed in 1979 by Jaz Coleman (vocals, keyboards), Paul Ferguson (drums), Geordie Walker (guitar) and Youth (bass). Their first album, '' Killing Joke'', was released ...

bassist Paul Raven, and Gundogs bassist Daniel Raven. Raven was born in Wales and educated at Wolverhampton Municipal Grammar School. His wife was Kate, of Tettenhall, Wolverhampton. Alongside brother, Michael, Jon formed a Wolverhampton folk music group before producing records and books and making television and radio appearances. He was diagnosed with

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

in 1996 and died in August 2015 at Compton Hospice in Wolverhampton.

Writing

Raven is the author of non-fiction books, the majority related to

Black Country The Black Country is an area of the West Midlands county, England covering most of the Metropolitan Boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall. Dudley and Tipton are generally considered to be the centre. It became industrialised during it ...

history, customs, folklore and music and on industry typical of the Black Country area such as coal mining and nail making. His books include ''The Folklore and Songs of the Black Country Colliers'', ''Customs of the Black Country'', and ''Aynuk's First Black Country Waerd Book''.

Bibliography

* ''Folk Songs of the Black Country'' – Wolverhampton Folk Song Club, 1964 * ''Folklore and Songs of the Black Country and West Midlands Volume I'' – Wolverhampton Folk Song Club, 1965 * ''Folklore and Songs of the Black Country and West Midlands Volume II'' – Wolverhampton Folk Song Club, 1966 * ''Folklore and Songs of the Black Country and West Midlands Volume III'' – Wolverhampton Folk Song Club, 1967 * ''Kate of Coalbrookdale'' – 1971 * ''Songs of a Changing World'' – Ginn & Co., 1972 * ''Canal Songs'' – 1974 * ''Turpin Hero'' – 1974 * ''The Nailmakers'' – The Black Country Society, 1975 * ''The Rigs of the Fair: Popular Sports and Pastimes in the Nineteenth Century through Songs, Ballads and Contemporary Accounts (Resources of Music)'' – Cambridge University Press, 1976 * ''The Urban and Industrial Songs of the Black Country and Birmingham'' – Broadside Books, 1977 * ''The Folklore of Staffordshire (The folklore of the British Isles)'' – Batsford, 1978 * ''Victoria's Inferno: Songs of the Old Mills, Mines, Manufactories, Canals and Railways'' – Broadside Books, 1978 * ''Tales from Aynuk's Black Country'' – Broadside Books, 1978 * ''Aynuk's First Black Country Waerd Book'' – Broadside Books, 1978 * ''Aynuk's Second Black Country Waerd Book'' – Broadside Books, 1979 * ''Black Country Songs and Rhymes: v. 1'' – Broadside Books, 1979 * ''Theodore'' – 1984 * ''Black Country and Staffordshire: Stories, Customs, Superstitions, Tales and Folklore'' – Broadside Books, 1986 * ''Customs of the Black Country'' – Broadside Books, 1987 * ''The Book of the Black Country'' – Broadside Books, 1988 * ''Tettenhall'' – Broadside Books, 1989 * ''The Folklore and Songs of the Black Country Colliers'' – Broadside Books, 1990

Music

Raven was a member of folk trio The Black Country Three along with brother Michael Raven and Derek Craft. They recorded their self-titled debut album in 1966 for

Transatlantic Transatlantic, Trans-Atlantic or TransAtlantic may refer to: Film * Transatlantic Pictures, a film production company from 1948 to 1950 * Transatlantic Enterprises, an American production company in the late 1970s * ''Transatlantic'' (1931 film ...

. Following this, Raven produced several solo and group CDs. He performed on the following albums: * ''The Black Country Three'' by The Black Country Three (1966) * ''Songs Of The Black Country And West Midlands'' by Jon Raven, Michael Raven & Jean Ward (1968) * ''Jon Raven & The Halliard'' by Jon Raven & The Halliard (Nic Jones, Dave Moran & Nigel Paterson) (1968) (Later reissued on CD with "The Jolly Machine") * ''Kate of Coalbrookdale'' by Jon Raven, Michael Raven and Jean Ward (1971) * ''Ballad of the Black Country'' by Jon Raven, John Kirkpatrick, David Oxley and Mike Billington (1975) * ''The Bold Navigators'' by Jon Raven, John Kirkpatrick,

Sue Harris Sue Harris is an English musician classically trained as an oboeist, but best known for her folk music performances with the hammered dulcimer. Biography Harris is fluent in reading and writing music and switched from her original instrument, t ...

, Gary & Vera Aspey 1975) * ''Harvest'' by Jon Raven, supported by Dave Oxley and Nigel M Jones (1976) * ''Steam Ballads'' by Jon Raven,

Harry Boardman Harry Boardman (1930–1987) was an English folk singer who was born in Failsworth, Lancashire. He sang both unaccompanied and accompanying himself on the Anglo concertina or banjo. "Boardman has specialised in the lore, songs and dialect po ...

, Kempion, and Tony Rose (1977) * ''Fragile Life'' by Jon Raven, supported by Daniel Raven and Gavin Monaghan (1995)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raven, Jon 1940 births Date of birth missing 2015 deaths English folk musicians English non-fiction writers People from the Black Country English male non-fiction writers People educated at Wolverhampton Grammar School Neurological disease deaths in England Deaths from Parkinson's disease