Biography
A collection of BBC sessions featuring traditional British folk songs, captured throughout the 1950s by cousins Bob and Ron Copper, has grown into an enduring reservoir of repertoire for British strummers, singers, fiddlers, and concertina players. In contrast to the exhausted open-pit mine in Butte, MT, this Copper gains worth across successive generations. Regrettably, Ron Copper, who died in the early 1970s, never witnessed the expanding recognition, most notably the 2001 ceremony at which the then-86-year-old Bob Copper received a special folk-tradition award. The cousins were the central figures whose work enabled the Copper Family to emerge as one of the most esteemed and longest-active groups within British folk music.
That standing rests on the BBC recordings, first circulated privately by the network and later assembled into numerous reissues, compilations, and tribute collections. Based in Rottingdean, Sussex, the family had already been performing together across six generations when the British folk revival gained momentum. Musicologist Kate Lee documented the family's songs as early as 1898, an era when their activities were limited to local pubs and domestic gatherings. Bob Copper's great-great-grandfather, Honest John Copper, was a storied singer who passed the repertoire to his sons, Brasser Copper and Tom Copper. Brasser Copper's sons, Jim and John Copper, continued the practice and instructed many songs to Bob and Ron Copper. Seamus Ennis and Peter Kennedy, working as both producers and performers, launched the BBC recording project. A 1952 appearance at Royal Albert Hall by the fathers and sons proved especially influential, contributing to the spread of folk clubs across the country. Ron Copper's final sessions, completed in 1963 and 1964, consisted of duets with his cousin.
That standing rests on the BBC recordings, first circulated privately by the network and later assembled into numerous reissues, compilations, and tribute collections. Based in Rottingdean, Sussex, the family had already been performing together across six generations when the British folk revival gained momentum. Musicologist Kate Lee documented the family's songs as early as 1898, an era when their activities were limited to local pubs and domestic gatherings. Bob Copper's great-great-grandfather, Honest John Copper, was a storied singer who passed the repertoire to his sons, Brasser Copper and Tom Copper. Brasser Copper's sons, Jim and John Copper, continued the practice and instructed many songs to Bob and Ron Copper. Seamus Ennis and Peter Kennedy, working as both producers and performers, launched the BBC recording project. A 1952 appearance at Royal Albert Hall by the fathers and sons proved especially influential, contributing to the spread of folk clubs across the country. Ron Copper's final sessions, completed in 1963 and 1964, consisted of duets with his cousin.
Albums
