You Can All Join In
A conversation with Heather Wood
by Pamela Murray Winters

The resumé of A. Heather Wood reads like a description of that old concept, the "accomplished woman," gone amok. Among the computer skills, publishing credits, elective offices, military credentials, recipes, astrological data, and light verse is the statement: "I sing. Mainly English traditional folk songs, ballads, sea shanties. From 1965-1969 as The Young Tradition with Peter Bellamy and Royston Wood (both currently dead)." [Royston Wood is no relation to Heather.]

In the 1960s, in the waning days of the English "folk revival," the Young Tradition bridged the gap between strictly traditional singers and pop music-based upstarts. The Young Tradition was never gimmicky – it didn't do Beatles songs or TV themes, like some of today's a capella groups — so it's hard for those who weren't there at the time to grasp its impact and its controversy. In a chapter of Folk Revival [Blandford Press, Poole, UK, 1979] called "The Song Revival," Fred Woods said that until the Young Tradition came along, the British folk revival had been "worthy…with the Young Tradition it suddenly became exciting and dramatic. Their impact was considerable, and imitatory groups are in existence today, eight years [sic] after the group's demise." It's been 20 years now, and the influence remains — often outside England, in groups like Ireland's Voice Squad and America's Cordelia's Dad.

"Jackson Frank, when his first album came out, gave the Young Tradition a signed copy and said 'To the Young Tradition, the In of the Out,'" said Heather Wood. "Which I thought was absolutely brilliant, because that pinpointed who we were. We were the 'traddies' who liked and were liked by the pop folks, the singer-songwriters of those days – Bert Jansch, Al Stewart, Jackson Frank, people like that."

A great part of the group's success was its stage manner: Unafraid to bring humor and even irreverence to the fore, they let affection for the songs, and delight in singing them, infuse the whole event. Wood's homage to the group, in the October 1973 Folk Review, describes its wardrobe: Royston in tailcoat, Peter in "selfmade William Morris trousers," and herself in long embroidered dresses. The group's approach to the music was as unconventional as its attire and as exuberantly abundant as its members' hair. At a Young Tradition show, the audience was part of the experience, and the performers on the stage tried to bring the enthusiasm for good songs, well-sung, to the people at the tables and bars.

"You can say, 'This is a song that came from Bill Smith, who was the smith in the village, and this is the name of the village, and this was collected by somebody in the year whatever,'" said Wood. "Or: 'This song came from a village blacksmith; he was an old guy when he sang it; he lived in such and such a village. He's probably dead by now and probably listening to make sure you'll join in on the chorus, so just do it, okay?' You can entertain with the information instead of trying to be a bloody professor."