Dave Swarbrick
Rags, Reels And Airs

A brief partnership between folk legends Dave Swarbrick and Martin Carthy resulted in the album available here, Rags, Reels & Airs.

Dave Swarbrick, born 1941 in New Malden, Surrey, England, first came to prominence on the folk scene as a young instrumental virtuoso in the Ian Campbell Folk Group. As a fiddle, viola, mandolin and guitar player and songwriter he toured and recorded extensively as the member of various groups including Fairport Convention and with A.L. Lloyd.

In 1966 Swarbrick left the Ian Campbell Folk Group and formed a duo with Martin Carthy. When they recorded Rags, Reels & Airs in 1967 with Diz Disley the focus was on Swarbrick’s expert fiddling. The result was a new era of English instrumental folk music and a new approach to folk music altogether. As Joe Boyd, the album’s producer, says in the liner notes, "...Dave Swarbrick is doing perhaps the finest job of reconciling traditional instrumental styles with modern ideas and technique."

Rags, Reels & Airs, despite being immediately recognized by critics as a recording landmark, soon went out of print and has been a highly coveted collectors item for more than 35 years.