June Tabor Biography Discography Links

Biography

Anyone who has heard June Tabor sing isn't apt to forget the experience. Her voice is one of the few genuinely unique vehicles of the folk world: haunting, powerful, and with a deep feeling for the song, it has won praise and admiration beyond the confines of folk per se. While many of her contemporaries generate excitement for daring to be more "pop" in their repertoire and styling, Tabor instead uses understated drama and passion, a sometimes startling difference that secures her place as one of the most important vocalists to emerge in any musical genre.

June Tabor began singing traditional music in her teens as a floor singer, when the only folk songs she knew were "Kumbaya" and "Michael Row the Boat Ashore", which she had learned from television. It wasn't long, however, before she became captivated by the highly ornamented style of Anne Briggs and Belle Stewart, shutting herself in "an acoustically sound room" for several days until she could emulate their recordings. While a student in Oxford, June encountered a large and diverse folk community, and a simpler vocal style began to appeal to her as she moved in the direction of the exquisite, controlled singing that today is her trademark.

Her early musical career was virtually all as an unaccompanied singer, but her acclaim and acceptance widened when she collaborated with Steeleye Span member Maddy Prior in the duo called the Silly Sisters. [In fact, there has been a resurgence of interest in this alliance and they now have a second album available, entitled No More to the Dance.] Tabor also teamed up with guitarist Martin Simpson, and influenced by his interest in contemporary and American music, her repertoire broadened to include material by such contemporary songwriters as Bill Caddick, Les Barker, Si Kahn, Bob Franke, and Richard Thompson.

Perhaps the finest singer to deliver songs in a fashion to thrill the "purists", June Tabor's renditions of contemporary songwriters' works are not to be overlooked: her version of Eric Bogle's No Man's Land is considered by many to be the best version of the song ever recorded. Tabor chooses her material with as much precision as she sings, and in fact many critics and musicians keep an interested eye on the songwriters whose material she selects. Elvis Costello told June that he considered it his goal as a songwriter to pen a song which she would record: that song, "All This Useless Beauty", appeared on Angel Tiger and another is featured on Against the Streams.

(original site, updated version)

Discography

More detailed track lists for some of these albums are available from the CD DataBase.

A more detailed discography can be found e.g. in the "Anthology" compilation CD booklet.

Links

• June Tabor - Biography (more recent)
• June Tabor - Biography