Born and raised in the heart of the industrial North East of England of Irish descent, Killen grew up in a musical family and carne early to a love of folk music. In 1958 he founded "Folk Song and Ballad, Newcastle" - one of the first folk clubs in Britain. He recorded two EPs for Topic in 1962 - and Northumbrian Garland. The following year he participated in the Trade Union sponsored "Centre 42" concerts, which led to an invitation from A L Lloyd to contribute to the important themed collections "The Iron Muse", "Farewell Nancy" and "Tommy Armstrong of Tyneside".
Louis Killen's first full-length solo recording, "Ballads & Broadsides", was published in 1965. The recording sessions look place in Bill Leader's Camden Town flat, when Killen was just thirty and had been a professional musician for two years. The album is a classic; one of the first solo recordings from Killen's generation of revivalists and has been an important influence on younger singers for over four decades.
Tracklist:
01 Young Edwin in the Lowlands
02 As we were a-saìling
03 The flying cloud
04 All things are quite silent
05 One may morning
06 The cock
07 The bramble briar
08 Thorneymoor woods
09 The banks of sweet Primeroses
Louis Killen: vocals, concertina
Louis Killen - Ballads & Broadsides (1965)
(ca. 192 kbps, cover art included)
