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Norma Christine Waterson (born 15 August 1939) is an English musician, best known as one of the original members of The Watersons, a premier English traditional group. Other members of the group included her brother Mike Waterson and sister Lal Waterson,[1] and in later incarnations of the group her husband Martin Carthy.
Waterson was born in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire and brought up there by her half-Gypsy grandmother.[3] Her eponymously titled solo debut Norma Waterson was produced by John Chelew and released by Hannibal Records in 1996, and was well received in the scene (including a nomination for the prestigious Mercury Music Prize), featuring collaborations with her daughter, Eliza Carthy, Martin Carthy and other members of The Watersons, as well as Danny Thompson (Pentangle), Richard Thompson (Fairport Convention) and Roger Swallow (Albion Country Band).
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Love of My Life [Freddy Mercury] (2.22)
Reply to Joe Haines [Lal Waterson] (2.39)
Blaze Away [Abe Holzman, Jimmy Kennedy] (2.11)
Josef Locke [Richard Thompson] (3.01)
Over the Rainbow [Harold Arlen, E.Y. Harburg] (3.16)
Bluebird (Judy G) [John B. Spencer] (1.01)
Dreaming [Loudon Wainwright III] (3.30)
Al Bowlly's in Heaven [Richard Thompson] /
The Very Thought of You [Ray Noble] (7.36)
River Man [Nick Drake] (3.55)
Solid Air [John Martyn] (1.22)
Change Partners and Dance [Stephen L Graziano] (3.03)
On Fridays He's Fred Astaire [Clive Gregson] (1.17)
Fallen Leaves [Eliza Carthy] (5.02)
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Recorded at The Sound Castle, Los Angeles;
Mixing at Studio Frisson, Montreal;
Produced and engineered by John Wood;
Mastering at Chop Em Out, London
utilising Pacific Microsonic high-definition analog to digital converters;
Original photograph of Norma by Tom Howard;
Digital artwork, photo montages and ‘leaves’ by John Haxby
Norma Waterson, vocals;
Richard Thompson, acoustic guitar [1, 8, 11-12], electric guitar [3-8, 10, 13], mandolin [3, 12], hurdy gurdy [9], backing vocals [4];
Martin Carthy, acoustic guitar [1, 3-12], backing vocals [3, 4];
Danny Thompson, double bass [2, 3-5, 7-9, 13], backing vocals [4];
Eliza Carthy, violin [4, 7, 9, 11-13], viola [2], backing vocals [1, 5];
Pat Donaldson, bass guitar [1, 5, 9-12];
Teddy Borrowiecki, piano [1-2, 3-5, 7-8, 10-11], Hammond organ [9-10], accordion [3-4, 8-9];
Chris Parkinson, accordion [5-7, 11];
Joel Pescin, tenor saxophone [8];
John McColgan, drums [1, 3-6, 8, 10-12]
"With two exceptions the songs are in pairs, and each has a story attached. Those stories range from childhood memories evoked by Fred Astaire of twice a week visits to the cinema with what seems like my entire family set alongside the fantasies indulged by an ordinary man to mask the drudgery of his daily life, to the regret of Al Bowlly's in Heaven for his premature death in an air raid contrasting to the pain of returning from war to the disappointment of peace. They include the feelings of disappointment for the unfulfilled promise of Nick Drake - that most careless (with himself) and most English of writers whose influences came from far and wide but who always makes my Martin think of Ivor Novello. They range from the extraordinary story which is attached to the writing of the song Josef Locke - the naughtiest and most optimistic of Irishmen - a song which comes out of an encounter between the man himself (was it or wasn't it?) and Fairport Convention in a pub in Covent Garden late on night to the white knuckle fury of my sister Lal's Reply to Joe Haines (originally called An Open Letter to Joe Haines) which is just that. A reply to the iniquitous article written by that man on the subject of Freddie Mercury's disclosure that he was HIV positive (indeed that he had full blown AIDS) and which the Daily Mirror saw fit to print.
The exceptions are Dreaming by the great US songwriter Loudon Wainwright III which he let me have in 1997 when I asked if he had any songs going (!) and Fallen Leaves, written for me by Eliza. It's a song triggered by many events, not least the life of Marilyn Monroe, the death of Princess Diana and society's (men's!) notions of what constitutes beauty in women.
This album is lovingly dedicated to the memory of my sister Lal."
[Norma Waterson]
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