Fred Jordan at St Andrews Folk Club circa 1967-68 (artiste only)

Based on an archived audio recording of Shropshire singer FRED JORDAN performing at St Andrews Folk Club in the Star Hotel, St Andrews, Fife, Scotland circa 1967/68. FRED JORDAN was born January 5th 1922 in Ludlow and lived all his life around the Corve Dale area of Shropshire. A farm labourer by trade and by choice - Fred was well educated – a man of intelligence and education, with a love of singing. He would earn his living and make his home at the farms where he worked, generally looking after the horses, fencing, hedging, ditching and harvesting. Fred’s repertoire consisted of traditional country songs and ballads many of which came from his family. Initally his repertoire expanded with songs learned from workmates and visiting Travellers. He would later incorporated into his performance, songs gleaned from others he came into contact with through the folk revival of the 60’s. Fred’s singing was recorded by the BBC in 1952 for their ‘Folk Music and Dialect Recording Scheme’ and in ‘57 he appeared on BBC Television. In ‘59 he performed at the English Folk Music Festival in Cecil Sharp house and later at the Royal Albert Hall. At the time of this recording Fred would have been about 45 years of age and was thought of as one of the older “traditional” singers, singing material assimilated in youth from relatives and friends. However as a young man he would pay frequent visits to folk clubs and festivals bringing him into close contact with other singers and he would pick up various versions of their songs. A relaxed performer Fred’s singing entertains as if he was with a group of friends sitting in his ‘local’ hostelry telling his stories through his songs with little preamble. With little interest in the trappings of the age owning neither a television or radio yet he remained knowledgeable regarding current affairs. Whilst he did not dress down for effect his style was to appear as normal as possible dressed in his working clothes, boots and cap. In 1966 Fred was awarded the English Folk Dance and Song Society's highest honour, the gold badge, for services to folk music. A number of records and compilation albums featuring Fred were released from 1966 until his death in 2002, mainly on the Topic label. This was followed by his inclusion as track twelve (CD2) of Topic’s 70-year anniversary boxed set “Three Score and Ten” Fred passed away on 30th July 2002 aged 80 following a period of ill health culminating in a heart attack. His life is commemorated by the "Fred Jordan Memorial Competition" at the Bromyard Folk Festival, honouring his name and encouraging traditional singers.

Added 25 Sept 2026