Norma and Mike Waterson, Martin and Eliza Carthy, Barry Coope , Jim Boyes and Lester Simpson  

“Watching them all laughing and enjoying each others' performances, hearing Mike talk about his life, suddenly gives me a strong sense of the joys and complexities of family and friendships and traditions and reminds me what it was that drew me to this music in the first place.” Mel McClellan, BBC Radio 2

Nomination: Best Group 2002 – BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards

Top Ten Best Albums of 2002 – BBC Radio 2

Top Ten Best Albums of 2002 – Mojo

Blue Murder – Live

Cambridge Folk Festival 2002

"The highlight - Blue Murder" The Guardian

  Holmfirth Folk Festival 2002

Blue Murder fill the stage with their seven-strong presence…. From Jim's glorious bass rumble to Eliza's top harmony, the sound is never less than sublime and the on-stage ambience intense and hilarious by turns.  BBC Radio 2

Sidmouth Festival of Folk Arts 2001

“…some of the best harmony singing the folk revival has ever mustered.”  BBC Radio 2

Blue Murder in Concert at Sidmouth Arena – August 2001 Folk On Tap

“For me, Blue Murder were the highlight of the festival and I felt privileged to have been there to experience such a rare and wonderful occasion.  Their easy, light-hearted banter and anecdotes drew them into the hearts of their audience and we were treated to a truly delightful couple of hours in the company of such wonderful exponenets of traditional song.  Their easygoing stage presence precluded the ‘them and us’ syndrome as we were drawn into their performance, rather than just being onlookers.  There was much laughter accompanying some truly wonderful singing.  The only instruments used on stage at various times were Martin’s guitar and, for one number, Lester Simpson’s melodeon.  This performance was one of those magic moments in life and I’m just so very, very glad to have been there to experience it!”

See Blue Murder in the Reviews section of www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/folk for full details

Blue Murder – On Record

No One Stands Alone Topic Records TSCD537

"..seldom has the unadorned human voice sounded more exhilarating. No One Stands Alone is destined to be one of the best British folk albums released this year" The Times

  "…singing and harmonising…top of the range…selection of songs…spot on, but more than that, there is a startling chemistry about them. There is a real mood of spontaneity and the idea of a group united by..a mutual love of the songs they are performing. Stand-out tracks include the rousing Bully in the Alley, the sentimental Land Where you Never Grow Old, and the devotional Standing on the Promises of God. Choruses made in heaven all. It is an album of qualities and values. Timeless." fRoots

  “The intermittent chameleon that is Blue Murder (buy the CD for a straight-from-the-horse's-mouth history of the sixteen-year tale!) has retained its current incarnation long enough to make this eagerly-awaited recording. And what can I say? If you've been lucky enough to catch this already legendary seven-piece live you'll know exactly what to expect: glorious harmonies, a solid base of traditional and spiritual songs and a joy of singing that bursts out of every laser-cut groove.

  For the uninitiated, Blue Murder consists of Watersons Norma and Mike, Carthys Martin and Eliza plus the acapella trio (Barry) Coope, (Jim) Boyes & (Lester) Simpson. Stunning as individual acts, as a sevensome the whole is infinitely more than its parts and the result is a big vat of sound that sounds like it's been stirred by God's own teaspoon. Lead vocals and harmony parts are democratically swapped and juggled; thick, swelling choruses follow lighter, sparser moments; accompaniment is minimal - an occasional bit of Carthy guitar or Simpson melodeon - allowing the unique blend of distinctive CBS harmonies and familiar Waterson tones to take centre stage.

  Any opportunity to hear the fabulously bonkers songs and cheery, cheeky vocals of Mike Waterson should always be pounced upon, and there are three here: the wonderful Rubber Band, Three Day Millionaire and Mole In A Hole ("My friend he was so wise he got religion/that's why I'm alive today and he is dead.") Elsewhere, the brilliant CBS track Bully In The Alley gets fully Murdered, Standing On The Promises Of God takes the roof off and Jim Boyes' perfectly-judged Goodnight Song is the perfect closer. Keep the tissues handy.

  The pedant in me initially looked for more sleeve info: Who's doing what, where? What's the provenance of this song? But on reflection, nothing's lacking. Blue Murder get up there, sing their hearts out, have a ball and let the songs speak for themselves. Except they don't so much speak as eulogize to the rafters!
BBC Radio 2 Folk website

  BLUE MURDER

38th Charles Wells Cambridge Folk Festival – Saturday 3rd August 2002

CAMBRIDGE PREVIEW – “Featuring Norma Waterson, Mike Waterson, Martin Carthy, Eliza Carthy, plus Coope, Boyes & Simpson, Blue Murder are a supergroup of voices and accapella - a virtual acoustic session rolled into one.  With a couple of Mercury nominees, folk awards and an MBE scattered liberally amongst their members, this promises to be something special.”

On Record

Blue Murder, No One Stands Alone (Topic Records TSCD537)

Release: 8 June 2002

Blue Murder, “Bright Phoebus” track on Shining Bright (Topic Records TSCD0519)

Release: 8 July 2002

See www.topicrecords.co.uk

BLUE MURDER - History

Norma & Mike Waterson, Martin & Eliza Carthy, Barry Coope, Jim Boyes & Lester Simpson

Dave and Heather Brady and Jim Boyes of Swan Arcade were taking in the late afternoon sun on the glamorous front patio of The Magnolia Guest House during Whitby Folk Week in August 1986 when Norma and Lal Waterson arrived at the gate with a request they just couldn’t refuse.  There was, Norma explained, a charity concert near Robin Hood’s Bay for the benefit of the local school.  Amongst those asked to perform were various Watersons, Swan Arcade and Peter and Anthea Bellamy.  Lal and Norma suggested that it might be a good idea to rehearse (!) a couple of songs all together – it might be fun.  It was great fun – in fact early Blue Murder rehearsals were some of the best parties that the participants can vaguely remember.  Following this informal get-together, the ensemble – probably introduced as The Boggle Hole Chorale – were asked to do a surprise spot at the Festival’s final ceilidh.

  News of this event spread further south and the following year, Ian Anderson invited The Watersons and Swan Arcade to appear at Bracknell Festival, separately and together.  Obviously, this entailed further rehearsals (even more fun), and the need for a more explicable name for the joint entity.  After a particularly lengthy rehearsal, Martin came up with Blue Murder.  The line up at this stage was: Martin Carthy, Norma, Lal, Rachel and Mike Waterson, Heather Brady, Dave Brady and Jim Boyes.

  After a special preview at Wath upon Dearne in South Yorkshire, over the following year and a half, Blue Murder appeared in cncert at The Queen Elizabeth Hall on the South Bank and at festivals from the Scottish Borders to Trowbridge in Wiltshire, as well as making a continental foray to the Brossella Festival in Brussels.  A very live demo was put together from their Wath concert performance and some tracks taken direct from sound desks lurk in Festival organisers’ archives – including the one from Bracknell which appears on The Carthy Chronicles (Free Reed FRQCD-60), but the original band never made any studio recordings.

  Blue Murder II, however, only existed as a recording band.  By special request of David Suff in 1994, Blue Murder performed I Bid You Goodnight for Hokey Pokey’s Joseph Spence album, Out on the Rolling Sea.  By this time, the membership had undergone quite an alteration.  Swan Arcade had split up, and Heather Brady was unavailable on the day of recording.  So Barry Coope and Lester Simpson of Coope Boyes & Simpson replaced the two Swans and changes in The Watersons saw Eliza Carthy taking over from Rachel Waterson.

  No other work was planned – and following Lal Waterson’s death – no further performances seemed likely.  Then a phone call, out of the blue, from Chris Wade of Beverley Festival brough the remaining band members together briefly for a Yorkshire Evening in 2000.  They really enjoyed themselves.  So when an invitation to the following year’s Sidmouth Festival arrived, they were delighted.  Rehearsals and an afternoon concert to a packed Sidmouth Arena proved once again that Blue Murder was about the sheer enjoyment of singing together in harmony – and that more concerts and a record might be even more fun.

  For reviews of Blue Murder’s concerts at Sidmouth in 2001 and Holmfirth Festival in 2002, see the archives at www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/folk