Fisher, Archie

Archie Fisher was born in Glasgow , Scotland on October 23 , 1939 in a large family where everyone sang (two of his six sisters, Ray and Silla Fisher, are also professional singers). In 1960, he moved to Edinburgh and regularly performed at The Howff Folk Club, run by Roy Guest. In 1962, Ray and Archie released the single “Far Over the Forth” on the label “Topic”. They also performed on the Hootenanny program on the BBC . In 1965, the whole family recorded the album Traditional and New Songs from Scotland. Archie met Robin Williamson, Clive Palmer and Mike Haron, who later formed The Incredible String Band .

The album of the festival participants was recorded on the Decca Records label. It was called "Edinburgh Folk Festival vol 2" and contained tracks recorded by Ray Fisher, Archie Fisher, Anne Briggs and The Ian Campbell Folk Group (with Dave Sworbrick). Jansch and Briggs performed together, but this was not recorded. Archie from the very beginning recognized the power of Barbara Dixon's singing, and in 1969 invited her to perform as a guest artist on his albums. His song “Witch of the Westmorland” was recorded in 1971 by Barbara Dixon for her album “From the Beggar's Mantle”, by Archie himself on the album “The Man With a Rhyme” in 1976, and by Stan Rogers in 1979, as well as Golden Boo in 1983.

In 1983, he began conducting the Traveling Folk program, dedicated to folk ("folk") music on Radio Scotland. This program is still broadcast. He played lead guitar on Tom Paxton's 1986 album, The Very Best of Tom Paxton , and also performed with Tommy Makeham and Liam Clancy . When Barbara Dixon returned to singing folk songs, Archie was invited to join her again. Archie toured Canada and the USA as a solo artist, as well as together with Garnet Rogers, and, more recently, with John Renborn. The style of his singing can be defined as quite gentle, so he avoids the use of electronic instruments. The song Dark-Eyed Molly was recorded by Fairport Convention , Eva Cassidy, Stan Rogers, and Sheena Wellington. “Lindsay” was recorded by John Renbourn and was a hit in his live performances for many years, and “Mountain Rain” was recorded by Wizz Jones (part) Guitars - John Renborn).

Now Archie Fisher lives in the south of Scotland . He is a Member of the Excellent Order of the British Empire in the list of awards in 2006.

With the Fisher Family

• Traditional and New Songs From Scotland (1965)

Solo Records

• 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)
• A silent song (2015)

With Barbara Dixon

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

With Garnet Rogers

• Off the Map (1986)

• [1] - Archie Fisher at allmusic.com
• Samhain - Traditions - Aerostat, issue 128, dedicated to Archie Fisher