Oak

Folk This
It All Comes Round Again
John Tams
The Reckoning
Muckram Wakes
A Map Of Derbyshire
The Red Lion
A Bit Of A Song And Dance
New Victory Band
One More Dance And Then
Kate Rusby
Hourglass
Salisbury Folk
From The Penguin Book Of English Folk Songs
The Old Hat Concert Party
Sunday 13th May 1969
Seth Lakeman
Kitty Jay
Kitty Jay Lyrics
Freedom Fields
Freedom Fields Lyrics
The White Hare
The New St. George
The Hard Times Of Old England
Prince Heathen
Frost And Fire
Bright Phoebus
History and Companion
Morning Way
Spindle
Polly On The Shore
Western Approaches
Damien Barber and The Demon Barbers
The North Star Grassman and the Ravens
Cropredy's Like That
The Garden of Jane Delawney
Nic Jones
Penguin Eggs
The Noah's Ark Trap
Bandoggs
Bandoggs: The Record
Shirley Collins
Anthems In Eden
Shelagh McDonald
Stargazer
Music From The Unbroken Circle
Gryphon
Glastonbury Carol
Mr Fox
Mr. Fox : The Album
Tiny Tin Lady
The Sound of Requiem
martha tilston
ropeswing
Moseley Folk Festival 2006
Moseley Folk Festival 2006: The Folks
Witness
ROOTS
Countrylife
Countrylife II
The Falmouth Packet / Haul Away Joe
The Setting / Mary From Dungloe
From Clare To Here
A Gift From A Flower To A Garden
1952 Vincent Black Lightning
Coope, Boyes & Simpson
Christmas Truce / Kerstbestand 1914
Passchendaele Suite
A Garland of Carols
Fire and Sleet and Candlelight
Anne Briggs
Anne Briggs : Sing A Song For You
Oak
Welcome to Our Fair Plus
Make it Folky!
A Place Called England
Ragged Heroes
Dancing at Whitsun
The Lark In The Morning
Thomas The Rhymer
Gaudete
Carthy and Swarbrick
What Time Is It Eccles?

Oak, ''Welcome to Our Fair'',
Topic Records, 12TS212 (1971)

Oak, ''Country Songs and Music'', Musical Traditions, MTCD327-8 (2003) (includes tracks from
''Welcome to Our Fair'' and other archive recordings)

Oak were:
* Tony Engle (voice, anglo concertina, fiddle, bones.
* Danny Stradling (voice, tambourine)
* Rod Stradling (voice, melodeons)
* Peta Webb (voice, fiddle)

They met in the 1960s in Kingston upon Thames where Rod Stradling ran a folk club. The Stradlings moved to Camden Town in 1968 and became involved in running another folk club in Islington. Engle and Webb also moved to North London soon afterwards. During 1970, while his wife Danny was pregnant, Rod Stradling played together with Tony Engle as a successful duo and as part of The Garland, replacing Mel Dean. After the birth of their son, the Stradlings and Engle and Webb joined forces as Oak and had soon performed at most of the folk clubs in the London area.

They were asked by Bill Leader to make an LP for his Trailer label, but as Engle worked for Topic Records, he felt obliged to offer to record for them first. To his surprise, the offer was accepted and ''Welcome to Our Fair'' was recorded on May Day, 1971. The record caused enormous interest and the band played 163 gigs in the 18 months between the record's release and their final performance, on 19 December 1972.

Later work


Rod and Danny Stradling went on to form The Cotswold Liberation Front, which later became The Old Swan Band. After a few years they left. Rod Stradling recorded with the English Country Blues Band, the English Country Dance Band, Tiger Moth and Edward II and the Red Hot Polkas. He is currently the editor of ''Musical Traditions'', a highly respected magazine whose archives are now available online.

Peta Webb, whose individual vocal style was influenced by Irish traditional singers (especially Margaret Barry, Sarah Makem, and Sarah and Rita Keane), recorded with Scottish singer Alison McMorland in 1980. She made a solo album ''I have wandered in Exile'' in the 1981. In the early 1980s she and Tony Engle were members of Alan Ward's Tex-Mex band The Armadillos. She also formed her own band, Webb's Wonders and has recorded with the Watersons and, in the 1980s and 1990s as part of Sisters Unlimited. She performs as a resident singer at the Musical Traditions folk club in London; she is also an Assistant Librarian of the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library at Cecil Sharp House, headquarters of the English Folk Dance and Song Society.

Tony Engle has produced many classic folk recordings for Topic Records, and played on several of them as a session musician. He is now managing director of Topic Records.

Oak [click for larger image]

as explained by Rod Stradling
and company

dance your shoes off

dance everything else off

folk this is
© 2006/2007/2008 sam-and-lizzie
all rights reserved