Bright Phoebus, fully titled Bright Phoebus: Songs by Lal & Mike Waterson, is a folk rock album by Lal and Mike Waterson. It was recorded in May 1972 with musical assistance from various well-known members of the British folk rock scene. The album failed to make an impact on its original release, but it was subsequently championed by many musicians, including Billy Bragg, Arcade Fire, Richard Hawley and Jarvis Cocker. For years the album was difficult to obtain. In 2017, a re-release of Bright Phoebus was announced and shortly thereafter pulled from the market for legal reasons.
Preface
Between 1965 and 1968 The Watersons, a four-piece family vocal group from Yorkshire, had made a name for themselves as an influential force in the British folk revival, singing old traditional folk songs and releasing their debut album Frost and Fire: A Calendar of Ritual and Magical Songs in 1965 to good critical acclaim. The album was produced by Tony Engle and was named "Melody Maker Album of the Year". As several years of folk club touring took a toll on the musicians, the group members decided to take up regular jobs in 1968. Mike Waterson subsequently worked as a painter, Norma Waterson as a disc jockey on the Caribbean British Overseas Territory island of Montserrat, while Lal Waterson became a mother of two children and lived "with her extended family in a folk commune on the Yorkshire Moors".
The realisation of Bright Phoebus was propelled by Martin Carthy's fondness of Lal Waterson's songs, which he happened to overhear in 1971 in the early stages of his relationship with Lal Waterson's sister Norma. (Notably, Martin Carthy and Norma Waterson, who perform "Red Wine & Promises" together on the finished album, became engaged to one another during the recording sessions.) Consequently, Lal Waterson demoed a couple of her songs the very same year. Mike Waterson too contributed some of his songs to these preliminary sessions. Of this repertoire, versions of Lal's "Never the Same", "To Make You Stay" and "Red Wine and Promises", Mike's "Shady Lady" and their collaboration "The Scarecrow" survived as demo recordings. Most of them are performed solo by Lal Waterson on vocals and acoustic guitar, with occasional vocal harmonies or guitar parts by Mike Waterson. These recordings, plus other previously unissued songs of Lal's, were released on the CD/book combination Teach Me to Be a Summer's Morning in 2013 which illustrates both Lal Waterson's graphic, lyrical and musical art.
The 1998 Lal Waterson obituary in The Daily Telegraph claims that Lal Waterson's Bright Phoebus songs had previously been conceived as poems which were only set to music later. Both Mike and Lal Waterson's songs seem to have arisen from everyday life; for instance, allegedly, the song Bright Phoebus occurred to Mike Waterson while standing on his ladder painting.
Recording
The definitive album sessions took place in May 1972, once again under the direction of producer and folk Bill Leader. The recording process took one week and was characterised by guitarist Martin Carthy as "loose and very anarchic, but with an iron discipline running through the whole thing". For instance, a postman – who might be Graham Gordon, who is credited in the liner notes – happened to deliver a package during the recording of "Magical Man" and was invited to join in with the chorus.
Material and reception
Seven of twelve songs are accompanied by acoustic guitars and occasional embellishments on cello, oboe and bass guitar; most of these songs feature intricate dual acoustic guitar arrangements by ex-Fairport Convention guitarist Richard Thompson and ex-Steeleye Span guitarist Martin Carthy. The remaining five songs are carried by the rhythm section of Ashley Hutchings' Morris On band, consisting of Ashley Hutchings on electric bass guitar, Richard Thompson on electric guitar and Dave Mattacks on drums.
Critical reception of Bright Phoebus at that time was sparse and often negative. Technical and financial issues on the side of the record label resulted in a small edition of only 1000 functioning LP copies. Reactions by the folk scene ranged from astonishment to relative dismissal (for instance by Ewan MacColl), especially given that the Waterson family was known for 'authentic' delivery of traditional folk songs rather than for contemporary, sometimes pop-inspired songwriting. Positive response came from fellow folk revival musicians such as Anne Briggs and June Tabor.