From: Pete Fyfe [petefyfe_at_aol_dot_com]
Sent: 06 August 2012 12:26
Subject: Pete Fyfe: Book Review - Wayward Daugther
Attachments: Wayward Daughter.jpg

SOPHIE PARKES Wayward Daughter: The official biography of Eliza Carthy (Soundcheck Books)

I confess to being an intermittent fan of Eliza Carthy throughout the whole of her career so when this tome arrived on my doorstep for review I wasn’t sure if I’d enjoy it even though I have numerous other ‘music’
artist biographies in my collection. I (wrongly as it goes) assumed it would be written by a ‘fan’ (Sophie is but very eloquent) therefore perhaps the book would be written in a ‘gushy’ outpouring that like so many other previous experiences have cluttered my dusty shelves forgive me ladies but I am a bloke after all. This book thankfully has no traces of ‘that’ style of writing and from the beginning Parkes gets straight into the background of how the legacy of Eliza’s parents (the ‘king & queen’ of the British folk music scene Martin Carthy and Norma
Waterson) was soaked sponge-like by Eliza at a young age. Of course the indoctrination of twee ‘folk’ music (knowingly or otherwise) in one so young played a major part in her early music ‘career’ and although perhaps not rebellious in the truest sense forged an ‘attitude’ that would become an established calling card within the ‘folk’ community.
In a way, falling between two camps (the staunch ‘traditionalists’ who had first dibs followed by a creative need to be heard as a
singer-songwriter) would split Carthy’s audience and ultimately create a conflict that would have mortally wounded any lesser ‘artist’ she’s ultimately a strong personality who knows her own mind brandishing her ‘gut-instinct’ (and a strong sense of right for her ‘English’ heritage) like a badge of honour. If, with my bias towards her more ‘traditional’
background there are many references to her associations with (amongst others) Nancy Kerr, The Kings Of Calicutt and Boden & Spiers and less towards the Eliza Carthy Band then I could be accused of waving, not drowning as I personally feel that this is where a majority of those reading this article will be interested in. As mentioned before, this is a tremendous ‘read’ particularly if you are a musician who wants an insight about the pitfalls of working in ‘the industry’ succumbing to the Yankee Dollar and I look forward to hearing more from what promises to be a ‘fine’ career choice by Ms Parkes. www.soundcheckbooks.co.uk

PETE FYFE