Ian Campbell

Musical Artist

1933 –

65

Who is Ian Campbell?

Ian Campbell was a British folksinger. As leader of the Ian Campbell Folk Group, he was one of the most important figures of the British folk revival during the 1960s.

Born in Aberdeen, he moved to Birmingham as a teenager, where he subsequently worked as an engraver in the city's Jewellery Quarter. He fell under the influence of the Birmingham Marxist writer George Thomson and joined the choir of the local branch of the Workers' Music Association, which was run by Thomson's wife. In 1957, he formed a skiffle group, initially called the Clarion Skiffle Group, which performed politically-charged material including Fenian and Jacobite songs, and songs of miners, industrial workers and farmworkers. In 1958, the group changed their name to the Ian Campbell Folk Group and in 1962 recorded Ceilidh At The Crown, the first ever live folk recording to be released on vinyl.

After disbanding the group in 1978, Campbell worked as an editor and television presenter for TV-am and as a community arts worker in Dudley. His sons Ali Campbell, Robin Campbell and Duncan Campbell were all members of the Birmingham reggae group UB40.

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Born
Jun 10, 1933
Also known as
  • Campbell, Ian

Submitted
on July 23, 2013

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