Transports [Import]

Peter Bellamy | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 30, 1993)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Topic Records
• ASIN: B00000590S
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #756,630 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Overtrude

2. The Ballad of Henry & Susannah, Part 1

3. Us Poor Fellows

4. The Robber's Song

5. The Ballad of Henry & Susannah, Part 2

6. The Leaves in the Woodland

7. The Ballad of Henry & Susannah, Part 3

8. I Once Lived in Service

9. Norwich Gaol

10. Sweet Loving Friendship

11. The Ballad of Henry & Susannah, Part 4

12. The Black and Bitter Night

13. The Humane Turnkey

14. The Plymouth Mail

15. The Humane Turnkey

16. The Green Fields of England

17. Roll Down

18. The Still & Silent Ocean

19. The Ballad of Henry & Susannah, Part 5

20. The Convict's Wedding Dance

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Oral tradition in the best musical sense., June 15, 1999

By 

Charles M. Richmond <[e-mail]> (Boston, MA., USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Transports (Audio CD)

The late Peter Bellamy was one of the pillers of British folk music. His distinctive voice had the ability to invoke visions of coal blackened miners, tar dabbed seamen, the drone of pipes, and the anguish of men at war. In Transports he has enlisted other great voices to tell a story of petty crime, prison, love, and redemption. Every song stands alone, yet the sum is an aural opera.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic folk concept album, November 12, 2002

By 

DJ Joe Sixpack (...in Middle America) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Transports (Audio CD)

In the 1780s, with the Americas closed as a dumping ground for the criminal class and other assorted ne'er-do-wells, England decided to ship its convicts off to the rocky shores of Australia. Among the hundreds of prisoners on the penal transports of the "First Fleet" were Henry Cabell and Susannah Holmes, a young couple who met in jail, but had to make it all the way to Botany Bay before they were allowed to be wed. This dense song-cycle chronicles their journey -- convicted of petty theft, detained for several years in an English jail before being deported to Australia, and finally wed under colonial law, later to become one of the founding families of the new nation. The cast is a veritable "who's who" of the British folk scene: Peter Bellamy wrote the libretto, and enlisted a phalanx of the most talented British trad singers to help out, including June Tabor, Nic Jones, Martin Carthy and The Watersons, each taking on a role within the operetta. Dolly Collins' orchestral arrangements are mildly impenetrable or overly flowery at times, and overall the album lacks variation, but the material itself is very powerful and the story is quite compelling. Recommended!

5.0 out of 5 stars A Folk Music Must, February 12, 2011

By 

marian buechert (POINT ROBERTS, WA, US) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Transports: A Ballad Opera (Audio CD)

Bought this because I've always loved and sung "Roll Down" (often called "The Transports' Shanty") and wanted to hear the definitive version. I wondered if there was anything else from the show that would be worth having.
The answer is a firm yes--I've already picked two more songs that I definitely want to learn and perform plus several more that ring in my head (a sure sign that the song wants to be sung by me).
It's a treasure alone to hear these legends of the seventies folk scene (The Watersons, Cyril Tawney, Martin Carthy, June Tabor, etc)and added to that are the haunting instrumental accompaniments, unusually "orchestral" for folk material.
The booklet notes are scant, unfortunately--I would have enjoyed more information about the show and the songs and lyrics would have really been appreciated; due to the heavy English accents, it's often difficult to understand the exact words. However, lyrics for the songs are available online in most cases, it appears.
If you love traditional British folk music, you will likely enjoy this.