Martin Carthy

Martin Carthy MBE, is an English folk singer and guitarist. He was one of the first performers in the renewed interest in British folk music in the 1960s. He has inspired other musicians such as Bob Dylan, Paul Simon and Richard Thompson. He is seen as one of the most important people in English folk music.
Early life.
Martin Carthy was born in Hatfield on 21 May 1941. He grew up in Hampstead, North London. After he left school he had a number of jobs. He worked behind the scenes at the open air theatre at Regent's Park as a prompter (helping actors who forgot their words). He later worked as an assistant stage manager (ASM) on a tour of "The Merry Widow". He then worked at Theatre in the Round in Scarborough. He then sang in coffee bars. He became a resident (regular act) at The Troubadour Folk Club in Earls Court in the early 1960s. He joined Redd Sullivan's "Thameside Four" in 1961. He is a famous solo performer of traditional songs. He has a very special individual style of guitar playing on his old Martin Guitar. He uses different ways of tuning his guitar. He has a strongly percussive (drum like) picking style that brings out the melody. His first album, "Martin Carthy", was released in 1965. It had Dave Swarbrick playing fiddle playing on some songs, although he was not named on the album cover. Carthy's way of playing the traditional song Scarborough Fair was used by Paul Simon on the Simon and Garfunkel album Parsley Sage Rosemary and Thyme in 1966. Simon did not admit that he had used Carthy's version.
Working with others.
Carthy has also worked with many other musicians. He has sung with The Watersons since 1972. He been a member of the UK electric folk group Steeleye Span at two different times. He was a member of the famous Albion Country Band 1973 line-up. This had members from the band Fairport Convention and John Kirkpatrick. This group recorded the original and important album "Battle of the Field". Carthy was part of the new and different band Brass Monkey which mixed brass instruments, Carthy's guitar and mandolin and John Kirkpatrick's accordion, melodeon and concertina.
For many years Carthy has enjoyed a creating music with fiddle player Dave Swarbrick. He has also worked with his partner Norma Waterson and their daughter Eliza Carthy in a group called . 
In June 1998 he was made an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours. He was named "Folk Singer of the Year" at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2002 and again in 2005. In 2005 he also won the award for "Best Traditional Track" for 'Famous Flower of Serving Men'. In the 2007 Folk Awards Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick won "Best duo".