We’re so pleased that after five years, Jim Moray is bringing new music to the world, and he’s shared it with Tradfolk first! Following up from his retrospective album ‘Beflean : An Alternative History 2002-2023’, which was named Tradfolk’s 2023 album of the year, he’s just released Spencer The Rover and it’s ready to find its way into your ears.
You can listen and download on Apple Music or listen on Spotify (but maybe consider dropping something into Jim’s Tip Jar for the pleasure?).
We asked Jim to tell us a bit about the song and about the video that accompanies the release.
About the song
Spencer the Rover is a Victorian ballad, widely printed in English broadsides with little variation, and interestingly, it doesn’t turn up in the song collections of other countries. Possibly the English taste for Victorian sentimentality wasn’t shared by songsters across the world.
Jim told us – “I’ve been singing Spencer The Rover (Roud 1115) on and off since the mid-2000s but it has never felt like time to put it on an album until now. It’ll be a familiar song to lots of people and is usually associated with the Copper Family of Rottingdean. It’s also connected with John Martyn, who learned it from Robin Dransfield of the Dransfields.”
As Jim says, Spencer The Rover is most often associated with the Copper Family of Rottingdean, but a quick search of the VWML archives reveals that the song was collected up and down the country. Collector Frank Kidson heard it a good many times, but twice sung by a Mr Clarke of Wortley, Rotherham, just seven miles up the road from the location chosen for the video. Which is pleasing!
This new recording features Jim on vocals and guitar, with some great collaborators, who he told us a bit about – “The brass on the track was played by Steve Pretty of Hackney Colliery Band, who I’ve worked with before in his capacity as musical director for Robin Ince’s Christmas shows, and the drums were played by the jazz drummer Matt Stockham-Brown, who I’ve admired for a really long time.”
Making of the video
“Frankie Archer and I filmed the video at Langsett Reservoir on the edge of the Peak District, in “Yorkshire, near Rotherham”. I largely managed to edit around the friendly dogs wandering into shot, and the people having a picnic at the summit of the hill.”
Not problems that Spencer The Rover had to contend with, we assume.
What next?
After a busy summer with his full band, which culminated in a brilliant set for Tradfolk’s festival media partner FolkEast, Jim has announced a solo tour for early 2025. He’ll be joined by north-east songwriter and ukulelist Amelia Coburn (everywhere except London).
Jim is off to Liverpool, Manchester, Brighton, Cambridge, Corsham, Winchester, London, Sheffield, Bimingham, and Exeter.
For a full list of tour dates, check out his website.
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