Archie Fisher

For the artist, see Archie Fisher (painter).

Archie Fisher MBE (born 1939) is a Scottish folk singer and song writer.

The early years

Archie Fisher was born in Glasgow on 23 October 1939 into a large singing family. His sister Cilla Fisher is also a professional singer, as was his late sister Ray. In 1960 he moved to Edinburgh and appeared regularly at the "The Howff" folk club run by Roy Guest. In 1962 Ray and Archie released the single "Far Over the Forth" on the Topic Records label and appeared on the BBC 'Hootenanny' programme. In 1965 the whole family released the album "Traditional and New Songs from Scotland".

In 1963 Fisher ran a weekly fok club at the Crown Bar in Edinburgh, and it was there that he met acoustic musicians Robin Williamson and Clive Palmer who were performing together as a traditional folk duo. Mike Heron later auditioned to play rhythm guitar and the trio became The Incredible String Band.

Edinburgh Folk Festival

By 1964 the Edinburgh Fringe could boast a folk festival in its own right. An album of the participants was released on Decca. It was called "Edinburgh Folk Festival vol 2" and contained tracks by Ray Fisher, Archie Fisher, Anne Briggs and the Ian Campbell Folk Group (including Dave Swarbrick). Jansch and Briggs performed together but this was never recorded. At an early stage Archie recognised the power of Barbara Dickson's singing and in 1969 invited her to guest on his albums. His live act included 'All Around My Hat', later to become a hit for Steeleye Span. His song "Witch of the Westmorland" was recorded by Barbara Dickson in 1971 on her album "From the Beggar's Mantle", by Archie on "The Man With a Rhyme" in 1976, by Stan Rogers in 1979 and by Golden Bough in 1983.

The comeback

In 1983 he started hosting a long-running folk programme on BBC Radio Scotland, called Travelling Folk. He retired in April 2010, handing over presenting duties to fiddler Bruce MacGregor. He appeared as the lead guitarist on Tom Paxton's 1986 album, The Very Best of Tom Paxton and performed with Tommy Makem & Liam Clancy. After Barbara Dickson achieved fame as an easy listening singer it was many years before she sang folk songs again. When she did, Archie was invited back to join her. Archie has toured Canada and the U.S. as a solo act as well as appearing with first Garnet Rogers, and more recently, John Renbourn. His style of singing is very gentle and he avoids all electronic instruments. "Dark-Eyed Molly" has been recorded by Fairport Convention, Eva Cassidy, Stan Rogers and Sheena Wellington. "Lindsay" has been recorded by John Renbourn and has been a highlight at his live shows for years, while "Mountain Rain" has been recorded by Wizz Jones (along with John Renbourn on guitar). He now lives in the south of Scotland. He was awarded an MBE in the New Year Honours List in 2006.

Discography

Fisher Family

• Traditional and New Songs From Scotland (1965)

Solo recordings

• Archie Fisher (1968)
• Orfeo (1970)
• Will Ye Gang, Love? (1976)
• The Man With A Rhyme (1976)
• Sunsets I've Galloped Into (1988)
• Windward Away (2008)

With Barbara Dickson

• The Fate o' Charlie (1969)
• Thro' The Recent Years (1970)

With Garnet Rogers

• Off the Map (1986)