It's a fine arrangement of a fine song...but by God it owes everything to this perfect pairing of two of the finest singers alive today.

What beautiful voices they still possess. In these troubled modern times, we need the Silly Sisters more than ever to bring narratives of the past into the present for us all to enjoy and reflect upon. Thank you for posting.

Wow! that style of harmony singing is so stark, plaintive and powerful... with a lyric for the ages... it sends chills and they both sound sooo great together. Thanx for posting.

I grew up on The Silly Sisters and listen them all the time. This performance brought tears to my eyes. This is remarkable.

Putting the quality of the performance itself aside for a moment, just the aura these two women were throwing off as they did this was majestic. And as pretty as the rendering of the tune is on purely a sonic basis. the conviction inherent in their deliveries drives the lyrics home in a profound way. This is just so stellar it's insane.

two of traditional music's most amazing vocalists....I'll listen to anything they perform, together or with other bands

june tabor...........voice and legend

wonderful...even after all these years still stops you in your tracks...

Superb artists! It ‘s this powerful music tradition that makes me a proud European. Thank you ladies!

Inspirational. Love these two voices and women from the other side of the world. Singing together is for life.

Silly Sisters was great stuff - this is a magical performance

This song, sung by Ewan mcColl got me into folk music in the mid 1950s in Manchester. A great rendition

Two of the very best.

One is impressive enough…the warmth of the harmony of this amazing duo of truly beautiful singers is beyond words for me

Pure heaven; voices of angels. Brilliant! cheers

June, Maddy, this is lovely, thank you, I must listen to it again,

So so glad I found this

Girls ... you are still wonderful! Greetings to you from Jarrahnut in beautiful Western Australia.

Pure gold.

amazing; brilliant; encapsulates the issues of the early 19 c. industrial revolution

So good and I love thier choice of songs

Jesus Christ, it still sounds letter perfect. It'd always thought there was some sort of clever something or other in how it was recorded to get those echo-y touches and so forth. But, just their voices and abilities. It does sound so exactly like the recording from the mid 70s - they haven't trashed their voices. Amazing.

I searched for Maddy Prior and June Tabor, and have happened across a song from my home town! Go Owdham!

These two, wow!

This is a prefomance that someone up above had to have inspired. What beauty!

Beautiful.

They are fantastic together!!

The finest dirge ever written bar none. I have both albums of Maddy and June and this is the best work either of them has ever produced in my humble and considered view. I had been a fan of Steeleye Span for a decade before I found this. Genius.

That was excellent.

Supreme harmony. The SSs are about the best female duo going. More please.

Wow, their vocals are amazing...

I've only just today heard June Tabor for the first time. These two voices in unison just stopped me in my tracks.

Love the Silly Sisters

Magic

Wonderful!! Harry Boardman and also t'Oldham Tinkers used to do this (but not as sweetly!) . we're reet clemmed here in Wales by the way, and it's a bit parky too. Thanks to garibelon for sharing this.

This was a great album.

amazing

Superb!

Marvelous stuff!

Thank you Elizabeth H. from London Town for sharing this with your old friend - haunting

That's not as easy as it looks! :) Wonderful!

Heavenly

Dear god, this is brilliant!

Two queens of English folk singing together . What more could you ask for . Silly Sisters rule o.k.

They sound as well here as they did in 1976.

they kept their voices and their beauty!!

Now that is a story! I saw Steeleye Span in October, and their perfomance was still wonderful.

Great music!

@modelworker , I've written a few of those papers myself - though not about this particular song. It's 'folk-history', which is far more personal than what one reads in the history books. Good show!

Hair on the back of the neck set to 'up'

Absolutely beautiful and so haunting. I've just been coming up with an instrumental version of this song from memory on my guitalele. (A baby guitar - tuned to AEADEA - equivalent to DADGAD on guitar). I was pleased to find that it works well enough with Ewan MacColl's old unaccompanied version without the need for retuning but boy does it sound lovely with June and Maddy's voices here. I will be referring to both versions for those subtle nuances as inspiration. Blatant theft or flattery? 🙂

The rawness of folk music to not to everyone's taste - it may stick in the craw of some, no happy lyrics to many a tune or pounding bass lines, no vapid verses that repeat infinitum or talk of the ego that leads to boredom. Many too gritty a tale is sung of life not that pretty and the loss of loved ones, but there are songs sung of a beautiful maid or lady who by their beauty the others are put to shade. There are songs of nonsense and a raunchy bit of fun, of summer fair romances and love unrequited, and sad songs for later or those only death has united. But folk song are the songs of the people whether to music or no, they'll always be there for those who know to pass them along to the young uns'.

Silly Sisters returns!!

isnt this beautiful Julie! So powerful! ~Amy

"I've woven meself to t' far end" - Here's to memento mori

it's like watching two giant dance

So Moving..............

I've heard Ewan McColl singing this long time ago.

@AJBluesman They ARE beautiful on the outside AJ !!

happens to us all

Transports me to the home of my ancestors. 💜

I'd love to hear maddy sing live again

Gosh!

Oh is there a DVD of this show? I cannot get tired of watching it. June is so much better live than I ever imagined. I saw Steeleye Span in the seventies but this is is just so much nicer, more trad. Peace out.

@DickHBox Both albums are on iTunes

Ad af to be clemmed to purrup wi nettles! :-)

I have almost worn out my copy of "Silly Sisters.

Not children any more. Still prodigies.

If this doesn't make you weep then you have no soul. Check out the silly sisters!

An ex-girlfriends mother had a tape with a mix o' stuff including mainly Silly Sisters stuff. But there's one tune that is either of a strange title and on the Silly Sisters' album or didn't make the cut. "Because of you, my love" I can't find it anywhere. If any body knows what I'm talking about, please point me in the right direction.

I know I've shared it before, but these are are my favorite old birds of old times I am advised that the correct modern term would be milfs, but I feel that is somewhat missing the point.

In my younger day, 50,000 hot cigarettes and 5,000 cold beers ago, I aspired to be a singer. Even before then, when I was 10 yrs. old, a capella was the most difficult way to sing. Unless a person has perfect pitch, it's impossible to carry a tune without the aid of a [loud ] band. Neither of them is as pretty as when I first heard them, but neither am I... :-))

@DickHBox iTunes is CD quality, so you can download it and burn it on a CD if you wish ;-) I only download, saves a lot of space instead of all these CD boxes...

serious singers...ironic they were the silly sisters...i guess irony is alive and well

can someone post the album, please, I lost it - or tell me where i can find it on cd? thanks.

Surely these kinds of songs were sung for the words. Apart from 'Four Loom Weaver' I can't understand any of them.

Pitfossil, Thanks for the kind words. I suspect that your English is better than my ability in your own language. If I knew what it is, I might try to answer you in your native tongue, just to give you a laugh...

Buttonpuncher, usual commentts on youtube are "oh, what crap"...someone admitting "I wishs I could have done that, if onloy once"...applause to you, for giving applause to incredibly good singers,. Pardon my bad English btw.

If they're a few pounds heavier than they were in their twenties, who care's?! People who want to see skeletons singing can go and watch 'Girls aloud'! Those of us able to appreciate meaningful ballads exellently performed will stick with Maddy & June!

A bit catty that last remark re spelling etc...Isn't it all about the music and not the aesthetics visual and linguistic.

@alexandrialeaving Okay Folks I apologize. I take back my sour comment !

I love folk music, but hate that nearly all the fans are always higher-middleclass types who probably own horses. Folk should be working class.

Proof you don't need to be beautiful on the outside to make beautiful music :)

mariah carey my arse!

English folk is painful to listen to....

Awful version of this lovely song. Sorry