Shirley Elizabeth Collins MBE was born on 5 July 1935 and is an English folk singer who was a significant contributor to the British Folk Revival of the 1960s and 1970s.
21 Facts About Shirley Collins
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Shirley Collins often performed and recorded with her sister Dolly, whose accompaniment on piano and portative organ created unique settings for Shirley's plain, austere singing style.
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Shirley Collins was born in Hastings, East Sussex, England on 5 July 1935.
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Shirley Collins's father left the family when she was about twelve or thirteen, and her Uncle Fred, who was an author, largely took his place.
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Shirley Collins grew up, with her older sister Dolly, in the area, in a family which kept alive a great love of traditional song.
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On leaving school, at the age of 17, Collins enrolled at a teachers' training college in Tooting, south London.
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Lomax and Shirley Collins lived together in London, with Shirley Collins assisting Lomax on various European projects and singing backing vocals on a version of MacColl's "Dirty Old Town" by Alan Lomax and the Ramblers, in 1956.
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In 1958 Shirley Collins recorded her first two albums, Sweet England and False True Lovers, featuring sparse arrangements, with Shirley Collins accompanying herself on the banjo.
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Shirley Collins recorded a series of EPs in 1958 and 1959 with The Foggy Dew and English Songs being released in 1959.
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Back in Britain, Shirley Collins met Austin John Marshall, whom she later married.
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Shirley Collins proceeded with her singing career, appearing on three compilations albums in 1960 and an EP, Heroes in Love, in 1963.
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Dolly Shirley Collins created arrangements featuring David Munrow and various other players from his Early Music Consort.
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Shirley Collins left Steeleye Span that year and he and Collins assembled the first incarnation of the Albion Country Band to accompany her on the 1971 album No Roses, with a total of 27 musicians participating over numerous sessions.
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Shirley Collins provided guest vocals on the Hutchings project Morris On in 1972.
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The only recording by the band available at the time appeared on the 1974 compilation album A Favourite Garland, although Terry Potter and Ian Holder appear on some tracks on Adieu to Old England, a Shirley Collins album released in 1974.
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Shirley Collins made one last appearance with the Albion Band, on the 1980 album Lark Rise to Candleford.
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Shirley Collins edited a CD entitled I'm a Romany Rai in the series The Voice of the People.
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In 2013, Shirley Collins appeared on Justin Hopper's text composition, "Fourth River: Ley Line", to be released on the Contraphonic Sound Series.
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On 8 February 2014, at Union Chapel, Islington in London, Shirley Collins sang for the first time for many years, performing two songs; "All the Pretty Little Horses" and "Death and the Lady".
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Shirley Collins was accompanied by Ian Kearey from the band Oysterband.
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Shirley Collins returned to recording and in November 2016, Collins released Lodestar, her first new album in 38 years.