Michael Waterson (17 January 1941 – 22 June 2011) was an English writer,

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

and

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.

Biography

Waterson was born in

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, often abbreviated to the East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, S ...

, England. After being orphaned at an early age, he was brought up there, with his sisters

Norma Norma may refer to: * Norma (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) ** Norma Lizbeth Ramos, a Mexican bullying victim Astronomy *Norma (constellation) * 555 Norma, a minor asteroid * Cygnus Arm or Norma Arm, a spiral ...

and Lal, by their maternal grandmother, Eliza Ward, who ran a second-hand shop during the Second World War, and who was of Irish Gypsy descent. He is best known as a member of

The Watersons The Watersons were an English folk group from Hull, Yorkshire. They performed mainly traditional songs with little or no accompaniment. Their distinctive sound came from their closely woven harmonies. They have been called the "most famous f ...

, with his sisters Lal Waterson and Norma Waterson and originally with their cousin John Harrison and later with his brother-in-law

Martin Carthy Martin Dominic Forbes Carthy MBE (born 21 May 1941) is an English singer and guitarist who has remained one of the most influential figures in English folk music, inspiring contemporaries such as Bob Dylan and Paul Simon, as well as later ar ...

. In the 1968–1972 interval between the two incarnations of The Watersons, he and his sister Lal recorded the album '' Bright Phoebus''. He and Lal were also part of the original Albion Country Band on the album '' No Roses'' with

Shirley Collins Shirley Elizabeth Collins MBE (born 5 July 1935) is an English folk singer who was a significant contributor to the British Folk Revival of the 1960s and 1970s. She often performed and recorded with her sister Dolly, whose accompaniment on ...

. He also released a solo album, simply called ''Mike Waterson'', in 1977. " Tamlyn" from the album is track eight on the first CD of the

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 ...

''. He was a member of Blue Murder. Mike also appeared in the original recording of

Peter Bellamy Peter Franklyn Bellamy (8 September 1944 – 24 September 1991) was an English folk singer. He was a founding member of The Young Tradition and also had a long solo career, recording numerous albums and touring folk clubs and concert halls. H ...

's ''

The Transports ''The Transports'' is a folk ballad opera written by Peter Bellamy released by Free Reed Records in 1977. It is often cited as Bellamy's greatest achievement. It featured many artists from the 1970s English folk revival, including The Waterso ...

''. In 2008, Mike made a guest appearance alongside Norma Waterson on Scottish musician

James Yorkston James Yorkston (born James Patrick Yorkston Wright; 21 December 1971) is a Scottish folk musician, singer-songwriter and author from the village of Kingsbarns, Fife. He has been releasing music since 2001. As well as recording as a solo artist ...

's album '' When the Haar Rolls In'', singing his sister Lal Waterson's song, "Midnight Feast". He had three daughters, one son, and five grandchildren. His daughter Rachel sang with the Watersons group in the late 80s, and his wife and two daughters sang with others of the family in the concert The Waterson Family: A Mighty River of Song He died on 22 June 2011, aged 70, at

Scarborough, North Yorkshire Scarborough () is a seaside town and civil parish in North Yorkshire District, the district and North Yorkshire, county of North Yorkshire, England. With a population of 61,749, Scarborough is the largest town on the Yorkshire Coast and the No ...

References

External links

Obituary in ''The Guardian''
1941 births 2011 deaths Musicians from Kingston upon Hull English folk singers The Watersons members Blue Murder (folk group) members The Albion Band members English people of Irish descent {{England-musician-stub