Bert: The Life and Times of A. L. Lloyd

by Dave Arthur

Folk singer and folk music collector, writer, painter, journalist, art critic, whalerman, sheep station roustabout, Marxist, and much more - this is the story of A. L. (Bert) Lloyd's extraordinary life. A. L. Lloyd played a key part in the folk music revival of the 1950s and 60s, but that is only part of his story. Dave Arthur documents how Lloyd became a member of the Communist Party, forceful antifascist, trade unionist and an important part of left-wing culture from the early 1930s to his death in 1982. Following his return from Australia as a 21-year-old, self-educated agricultural labourer, he was at the heart of the most important left-wing movements and highly respected for his knowledge in various fields. Dave Arthur recounts the life of a creative, passionate and life-loving Marxist, and in so doing provides a social history of a turbulent twentieth century.

Genres: Music

456 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 8, 2012

Reviews

[Ben Bergonzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Folk singer Bert Llloyd, always pedantically credited as 'AL' on record sleeves, was a man I knew for his high but steady voice on such CD's as English Drinking Songs, his sleeve notes often a more enjoyable feature than his singing. His voice is rather 'Marmite' and I feel rather about him as I do about Bob Dylan: an introducer of great songs to other singers, rather than a reliably entertaining interpreter of them himself. However this book is an eye-opener about a man whose life was very tough - both parents and three siblings had all died before he was thirty - who set harsh rules for himself and others, never wavered in his allegiance to the Communist Party, even after 1956. Along the way we see his formative trip to the Australian outback, his years as a Picture Post journalist, successfully teaming up with the photographer Bert Hardy, and then the labyrinthine political and musical disputes of the 1950s as younger singers like Euan McColl moved into the scene. The book goes into digressive detail about politics, history and technology (the current magazine 'New Left Review' started life in the 1950s as the 'The Reasoner'; only once Cecil Watts had invented 'Direct Disc Recordings' on 'acetates' could the BBC do any location recording sessions, it *is* Lloyd's face that appears in one of the shanty scenes in John Huston's Moby Dick...) and these sometimes distract from the story's momentum. However the writing is always lucid and readable. The history of a man who wanted to wrest English folk song from the control of the bourgeoisie is never less than fascinating. Highly recommended.

[Tripp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-written, well-researched, educational, and much more than just a biography! Beyond feeling like I now nearly know AL Lloyd personally, the book tells the full history of the second British folk music revival. Highly recommended!