Louisa "Lou" Jo Killen (born Louis Killen; 10 January 1934 – 9 August 2013) was an English folk singer from

Gateshead Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...

Tyneside Tyneside is a List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne, England, River Tyne in Northern England. The population of Tyneside as published in the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 774,891 ...

, who also played the English concertina. Killen formed one of

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

's first folk clubs in 1958 in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

, and became a professional

folk singer Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

in 1961. In the 1970s Killen recalled: "When I started Folk Song and Ballad in Newcastle in 1958 there weren't twenty folk clubs in the whole country, and when I left for the States (in 1966) there were maybe three hundred." Recordings of Killen singing some Tyneside songs were included on both '' The Iron Muse'' (

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 ...

12T86, 1963) and the revised version on CD (Topic Records TSCD465) issued in 1993. The accompanying book to the Topic Records 70 year anniversary boxed set '' Three Score and Ten'' has a dust jacket picture featuring Killen with Frankie Armstrong; and one of the songs featured on both albums of ''The Iron Muse'', '' The Blackleg Miners'' is track six of the sixth CD in the set. Killen emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1967 and worked with

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and social activist. He was a fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s and had a string of hit records in the early 1950s as a member of The Weav ...

before joining The Clancy Brothers. In 1971, the Clancy Brothers brought in the singer who had introduced the English concertina to the music mix, Lou Killen. They recorded two studio albums on the Audio Fidelity label: ''Save the Land'' and ''Show Me the Way''. Their next, and final, album for Audio Fidelity was a live album, ''Live on St. Patrick's Day'' in 1973, recorded the previous year at the Bushnell Auditorium in Hartford, Connecticut. In the mid-1970s Killen left the Clancys. In the 1990s, Killen worked as the volunteer coordinator at the San Francisco Maritime Museum, also singing chanties there and

interpreting Interpreting is translation from a spoken or signed language into another language, usually in real time to facilitate live communication. It is distinguished from the translation of a written text, which can be more deliberative and make use o ...

to the public. A few years before Killen's death, she underwent a gender reassignment to become Louisa Jo. Killen died in 2013, at the age of 79.

Selected discography

Collaborations

* Isla Cameron and Lou Killen - ''The Waters of Tyne: Northumbrian Songs & Ballads'' (Prestige International, INT 13059, 1962) * Louis Killen, Johnny Handle, Colin Ross - ''Along the Coaly Tyne: Old and New Northumbrian Songs'' (Topic Records, 12T189, 1968) * Peter Bellamy with Louis Killen - ''Won't You Go My Way?'' (Argo, 1972) * Lou & Sally Killen - ''Bright Shining Morning'' (Front Hall Records, FHR-06, 1975) * Louis Killen, Jeff Warner, Gerret Warner, Fud Benson - ''Steady as She Goes: Songs and Chanties from the Days of Commercial Sail'' (Collector Records, 1977) * Louis Killen, Stan Hugill and the X-Seamen's Institute - ''Sea Songs'' (Folkways Records, FTS 37311, 1979)

Solo recordings

Sources:Pohle, Horst (1987) ''The Folk Record Source Book''; 2nd ed. 1987; p. 245 * ''Ballads and Broadsides'' (Topic Records, 12T126, 1965/2009) * ''50 South to 50 South'' (Seaport, SPT-102, 1972) * ''Sea Chanteys'' (ESP-Disk', ESP 1085, 1973/1994). Also known as ''Good Ale''. * ''Old Songs, Old Friends'' (Front Hall, FH 012, 1978) * ''Gallant Lads Are We: Songs of the British Industrial Revolution'' (Collector Records, 1932, 1980) * ''The Rose in June'' (KnockOut!, KO-01, 1989) * ''A Bonny Bunch'' (KnockOut!, KO-02, 1993) * ''Sailors, Ships & Chanteys'' (KnockOut!, KO-03, 1995) * ''A Seaman's Garland: Sailors, Ships & Chanteys, Vol. 2'' (KnockOut!, KO-04, 1997)

Appearances on compilations

* ''The Iron Muse (A Panorama of Industrial Folk Music)'' (Topic Records, 12T86, 1963; TSCD465, 1993) * ''Tommy Armstrong of Tyneside'' (Topic Records, 12T122, 1965/1997)

Lou Killen, Paddy Clancy,
Tom Clancy Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. (April 12, 1947 – October 1, 2013) was an American novelist. He is best known for his technically detailed espionage and military science, military-science storylines set during and after the Cold War. Seventeen of ...
, and Liam Clancy

*''Show Me The Way'' Audio Fidelity Records (1972) *''Save the Land!'' Audio Fidelity Records (1972) *''Live on St. Patrick's Day'' Audio Fidelity Records (1973) *'' The Clancy Brothers' Greatest Hits''

Vanguard Records Vanguard Recording Society is an American record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the so ...

(1973) – Vanguard LP/CD **This was reissued as 'Best of the Vanguard Years' with bonus material from the 1982 Live! album with Bobby Clancy and Robbie O'Connell.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Killen, Lou 1934 births 2013 deaths Musicians from Gateshead Concertina players English folk singers English folk musicians Place of death missing Audio Fidelity Records artists English transgender women English transgender musicians English LGBTQ singers The Clancy Brothers members Transgender women singers