10 September 1966: The folk songs are not held at arm’s length but are sung with an intensity that shocks and forces them into life
On stage they look tastefully but conventionally mod. Bright gaudy PVC jackets, predictable haircuts, and predictable northern accents. At first sight they could quite easily pass for yet another one-record beat group. Maybe rather more articulate and less gimmicky than most, but predictable all the same. There are two girls, at first easily mistakable for Cathy McGowan disciples, and two boys who could easily be minor heroes of the hit-parade fringe.
It is an idea that no doubt would make them shudder, for the Watersons – who are appearing at 10.30 tonight at the Jeannette Cochrane Theatre, Holborn – are perhaps the most devoted exponents of traditional folk music in Britain today.