A.L. Lloyd
| A. L. Lloyd | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Albert Lancaster Lloyd |
| Born |
29 February 1908 Wandsworth, London, England |
| Died | 29 September 1982 (aged 74) Greenwich, London, England |
| Genres | Folk music |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Years active | 1950s–1982 |
Albert Lancaster Lloyd (29 February 1908 – 29 September 1982), usually known as A. L. Lloyd or Bert Lloyd, was an English folk singer and collector of folk songs, and as such was a key figure in the folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s. While Lloyd is most widely known for his work with British folk music, he had a keen interest in the music of Spain, Latin America, Southeastern Europe and Australia. He recorded at least six discs of Australian Bush ballads and folk music.
Lloyd also helped establish the folk music subgenre of industrial folk music through his books, recordings, collecting and theoretical writings.
Lloyd was born in Wandsworth, London, England. His father was an AA Patrolman and failed smallholder. His mother sang songs around the house and according to Lloyd mimicked the gypsy singers that she had heard. By the age of fifteen his mother had died and his father, an ex-soldier, was a semi-invalid, and Lloyd was sent as an assisted migrant to Australia in a scheme organised by the British Legion. There, from 1924–1930, he worked on various sheep stations in New South Wales and it was during this time that he began to write down folksongs he learned. In the outback of New South Wales he discovered that he could access the State Library and order books. His special interests being art and music he could get a grasp of those topics without seeing a painting or hearing any music. He also bought a wind-up gramophone and began to investigate some of the classical music he had previously read about.
When he returned to the UK in the Great Depression in 1935, in the absence of a permanent job, he pursued his interests in studying folk music and social and economic history, doing much of his research at the British Museum: he is quoted as saying that there is "nothing like unemployment for educating oneself". In 1937 he signed on board the factory whaling ship the Southern Empress bound for the southern whaling grounds of the Antarctic.
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