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British Folk Singer Bob Copper Dead at 89
LONDON - Bob Copper, a leading British folk singer whose family preserved dozens of traditional tunes, has died, his record company said Thursday. He was 89.
Copper died on March 29 in a hospital in southern England, four days after going to Buckingham Palace to be made a Member of the Order of the British Empire, Topic Records spokeswoman Harriet Simms said.
Copper was born on a sheep farm at Rottingdean on England's south coast, and came from a long line of folk singers - many of them farmers who loved to sing around the fire on winter nights. The music was often inspired by nature and the rhythms of country life.
By the 1930s, many families were turning to other forms of entertainment, and folk singing began to dwindle. Fortunately, Copper's grandfather James and his father Jim had already started writing out the words of their favorite songs, and from the 1950s, Bob Copper performed and recorded the works.
At 18, Copper joined the Household Cavalry regiment, but kept performing while on leave; favorite numbers included "The Banks of the Sweet Primroses" and "The Honest Laborer" and "Shepherd of the Downs."
After World War II, he and his wife Joan took over the Central Club at Peacehaven in southern England, where they showcased folk music.
The British Broadcasting Corp. organized a live broadcast of Copper and his father singing in a pub garden and made recordings of the Coppers singing at Peacehaven. This helped launch Copper on a folk career that embraced books, recordings, storytelling and lectures.
Some of the Peacehaven recordings are now on a compact disc, "Come Write Me Down; The Copper Family of Rottingdean," on the Topic label.
Copper's wife died in 1983 and he is survived by his two children and six grandchildren. Funeral details were not released.
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On the Net:
Topic Records, http://www.topicrecords.co.uk
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CHAT
ROOM aka THE FUN HOUSE] [
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