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 paper insert detailing the Topic release list, complemented by a card insert to balance the release list.
The boxed set provides examples of recordings from the beginning of the label in 1939. Topic Records headlines their web site as Traditional and Contemporary Folk from the British Isles but in its history many other genres have appeared on the label. The album provides many examples including tracks from British Music Hall, blues, roots and World Music amongst others.
The album was curated, researched and produced by David SuffThree Score and Ten acknowledgements of Fledg'ling Records.
Promotion David Suff gave an interview to Simon Holland for Properganda on 27 July which included details of the research and length of time involved in compiling the boxed set. Simon then interviewed Tony Engle on 7 August about the album and the work of Topic records. This interview included a track from each of the CDs in the boxed set.
Mike Harding interviewed Tony Engle about the album and anniversary on 2 September 2009 on his BBC Radio 2 folk music show.
Topic Records co-hosted three concerts at London's South Bank to celebrate the 70 year anniversary and promote the boxed set. These were held on Friday 11 September 2009 at the Royal Festival Hall featuring The Waterson Family and the Eliza Carthy Band, Thursday 17 September 2009 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall featuring the Martin Simpson Big Band and Friday 18 September 2009 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall featuring June Tabor.
There were 2 additional concerts as part of this celebration. Saturday 19 September 2009 at the Purcell Rooms featuring Folklahoma and the Magpies Nest. Friday 25 September 2009 at the Kalamazoo Klub at the Union Chapel, London featuring Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick.
Critical reception
The box set was received with much very positive comment by the general and specialist press
Commendations Songlines review by Tim Cumming said "its one of the finest boxed sets I have ever seen".
Robin Denselow in the Guardian said "the oldest truly independent record label in the world, and the most important company in the story of British folk music, celebrates its 70th birthday this summer, and this fascinating, thoughtfully produced seven-CD set and 108-page hardback book marks the anniversary in style".
Doug Spencer on Australian ABC Radio National's Weekend Planet said "This is one of the more remarkable boxed compilations, ever. It has many English gems, but not only English ones".
Redlick said "This is obviously a huge labour of love and a wonderful tribute to a record label respected the world over".
Charles de Lint in the Green Man review said "This is timeless music that will undoubtedly sound just as good and relevant in another seventy years".
Awards The album won fRoots Reissues and Compilations of the Year and Best Packaged Album of the Year in 2009.
Packaging The package consists of a 108-page hard-backed book with 4 CDs in the front cover and 3 CDs in the back cover together with a booklet cataloguing all the recordings issued by Topic up to the publication in 2009 and a card insert to balance the recordings list.
The dust jacket shows a photograph of Louis Killen and Frankie Armstrong and the book cover shows Reg Hall and Scan Tester.
The book details the history of Topic records with a number of spotlight studies of key albums, and brief biographies relating to Topic of artists and other personnel involved in the record label from the start up to the date of issue of the album.
Hardback book
Introduction The hardback book provides a history of Topic Records from its start as a subscription label run by the Workers Music Association issuing 78 rpm shellac records, through the introduction of vinyl and its associated formats to CDs and subsequent to the boxed set the release of some of the older albums as downloads. The book contains pictures of album covers and artists that recorded them for Topic with a chronological history of the label up to 2009.
As part of this history there are spotlight studies of classic records and short biographies of key personnel and performers.
Spotlight Studies of Classic Records TitleArtist(s)ReferenceYear Her Mantle So Green Margaret Barry and Michael Gorman 12T1231965 The Iron Muse (A Panorama of Industrial Folk Song) Various Artists12T861963 Frost and Fire: A Calendar of Ceremonial Folk Songs The Watersons12T1631965 Paddy in the Smoke Irish Music from a London Pub Various Artists12T1761968 For Pence and Spicy Ale The Watersons12T2651975 Penguin Eggs Nic Jones12TS4111980 Handful of Earth Dick Gaughan12TS4191981 Aqaba June Tabor12TS4491988 Waterson:Carthy Waterson–Carthy (Martin Carthy, Norma Waterson and Eliza Carthy)TSCD4751994 Unity John TamsTSCD5082000 The Voice of the People Various ArtistsTSCD651 – 6701998 Anglicana Eliza CarthyTSCD5392002 Prodigal Son Martin SimpsonTSCD5672007
Biographies NameReason for Inclusion Alan Bush Helped found the WMA in 1936 and was elected the first president of the association in 1941 A L Lloyd Was appointed artistic director of Topic records which was officially only for one year but was a powerful influence over many years with Ewan MacColl. Ewan MacColl With Bert Lloyd was a driving force behind the folk revival after the second world war. Bill LeaderRecording engineer and producer who recorded a lot for Topic records and other companies before setting up his own record company with 2 labels, Leader and Trailer. Dick Swettenham Electronics engineer who worked with Bill Leader and developed the first transistorised control desk in the world Gerry SharpAccountant and business manager who kept the business on a financial even keel in its early days Reg Hall Musician associated with Topic records since 1963 as an accompanist, compiler and annotator of many recordings. Tony Engle Joined Topic in 1963 and took over the label in 1973 following Gerry Sharp’s death
Catalogue of releases The catalogue details all the releases from the first record through to 2009. Each record is assigned a number starting from 1 with a prefix that denotes the format of issue. Prefix Format First Issue Last IssueComments TRC (Topic Record Club 78 rpm record19391958 TRL 12 Inch Long Playing Record19561956 12T 12 Inch Long Playing Record19581990 an S after the T signifies a stereo recording 10T 10 Inch Long Playing Record19571960 T 10 Inch Long Playing Record19561956 8T 8 Inch Long Playing Record19571957 7T 7 Inch microgroove LP (playing at 33 1/3rpm)19571958 Only 3 records issued TOP 7 Inch microgroove EP19581958 S prefix indicates a stereo record. This prefix was used in 2014 for a special issue. Some of the titles appear to be single records. TPS Sampler19641973 Length and size not specified 12TFRS Free Reed label recordings19751977 SPD Special Delivery19871995 TSCD Compact disk1990present day If the album was originally issued as a record then the number is re-used The catalogue details The Voice of the People series separately.
Ewan MacColl’s Radio Ballads which were originally issued by Argos are listed as they are available though Topic.
A separate section details the Topic World Series CDs. A section details the only recording issued under the WMA heading.
Three further sections detail the Impact and String labels.
Track listing The seven CDs are themed covering different aspects of the Topic catalogue with a title appropriate to the content. The composer of the track will be displayed under the track name with Traditional when appropriate. A reference to external numbering systems for songs will be used where identified for traditional songs. The references are from the three major numbering schemes for folk songs, the Roud Folk Song Index, Child Ballad Numbers originating from Francis James Child and the Laws Numbers from the George Malcolm Laws numbering system. The original recordings are detailed in the listings. Many of these were not available at the time of issue but are now available as downloads from the usual sources with the original sleeve notes being made available by Topic from their web site.
Disk one – . . . a selection of treasures from the Topic catalogue
The disk contains a range of the music from various parts of the English speaking world that Topic Records has issued over its 70-year history. These include English folk songs, instrumentals including dance music, American blues, music hall and a recent composition that is regularly played by Irish folk groups. Track 2 is an instrumental issued as part of a joint album with Alexis Korner. This track and track 4 are now available as digital downloads of either the track or the full recording. Track 3 is a dance tune played on the Jew's Harp. Track 10 is from an album in the series "The Voice of the People" and is from a traditional English singer as is track 13. Track 12 was originally issued by Fontana in 1969 and is licensed to Topic by Polygram through Gama Records. The tracks are mainly from recordings issued in a variety for formats by Topic with track 15 from a Special Delivery album. Track Title/Composer Artist(s) Original Album/ReferenceYear of IssueLength(Mins) 1. The Humpback Whale Nic JonesPenguin Eggs 1980 5:49 Robertson 12TS411 2. Angi Davy Graham 3/4 AD 1963 2:25 Davy Graham TOP703. The Shaskeen Reel John Wright The Lark In The Clear Air 1974 3:03 Traditional 12TS230 4. The Lancashire Toreadors The Oldham Tinkers Best O’ T’ Bunch 1974 3:12 George Formby 12TS2375. Sullivan’s March Pat Mitchell Pat Mitchell - Uilleann pipes 1976 1:40 Traditional 12T2946. San Francisco Bay Blues Jesse Fuller Working on the Railroad 1959 3:32 Jesse Fuller 10T597. Country Gardens William Kimber The Art Of William Kimber 1974 2:09 Traditional 12T2498. Tamlyn Mike Waterson Mike Waterson 197710:58 Traditional(Roud 29; Child 39) 12TS3329. The Air for Maurice Ogg / Jumping Jack / The Air for Maurice Ogg Alistair Anderson Steel Skies 1982 5:19 Alistair Anderson/Traditional 12TS42710. Creeping Jane Joseph Taylor The Voice of the People – 8: A Story I'm Just About To Tell 1998 3:01 Traditional(Roud 1012; Laws Q23) TSCD65811. Wasps In The Woodpile Andrew Cronshaw Till The Beasts’ Returning 1988 3:42 Traditional 12TS44712. Prince Heathen Martin Carthy with Dave Swarbrick Prince Heathen 1977 6:54 Traditional(Roud 3336; Child 104; Laws C104) 12TS34413. The Bonny Labouring Boy Harry Cox The Bonny Labouring Boy 2000 3:26 Traditional(Roud 1162; Laws M14) TSCD512D14. Rawtenstall Annual Fair Lea Nicholson Deep Lancashire 1968 3:03 Weston & Lee 12T18815. Music For A Found Harmonium Patrick Street Irish Times 1990 2:40 Simon Jeffes SPDCD103316. Bitter Withy John Tams The Reckoning 2005 6:42 Traditional(Roud 452) TSCD551
Disc two - England Arise! The second disk contains English folk music and includes a number of traditional singers providing a link to the time when this music was the popular music of the country. The disk has the first of two tracks from "The Sweet Primeroses". Track 1 features an excerpt from the music used for an English folk custom dance performed each Easter in Bacup. All the recordings were originally issued on Topic albums either vinyl or as a CD.