Maarten Allcock (61) – multi instrumentalist with Fairport Convention and Jethro Tull, was born on January 5, 1957 in North Manchester, England.
After an apprenticeship in folkclubs and dancebands, he ran away to join the Bully Wee Band, a Celtic folk group, which led on to an 11-year stint with folk-rock legends Fairport Convention, four years with rock band Jethro Tull and a session career which has included over 300 albums. A fretless bass player and guitarist, Maartin had an interesting youth.
After studying music at Huddersfield and Leeds he played on his first tour with Mike Harding in 1977. He moved to Brittany for a while, where he learned to cook. He then trained as a chef and worked in the Shetland Islands.
In 1981 he returned to music with The Bully Wee Band. After they broke up he toured in UK, Ireland and Europe with Kieran Halpin until he was invited to join the re-forming Fairport Convention as lead guitarist in 1985, touring extensively in UK, USA, Europe, Australia, Turkey, Hong Kong & Bermuda until 1996.
In 1988 he was asked to concurrently join Jethro Tull on keyboard, which he stayed with for four years, touring in North & South America, Western & Eastern Europe, Turkey and Estonia. In summer 1991 he also played keyboards for The Mission (known as Mission UK in the USA).
In October 1999 Maart, as his friends called him, recorded his second solo album, OX15, with guest appearances from Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull, Indian girl singer Najma Akhtar and other past and present members of both Jethro Tull and Fairport Convention.
In 2000 Maart moved to mountainous Snowdonia in North Wales and studied Welsh at Coleg Harlech.
In 2002, Maart toured with Blue Tapestry, Kieran Halpin, Orchard (featuring Dave Swarbrick, Beryl Marriott and Kevin Dempsey) as well as performing with Gilly Darbey and touring the UK, Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands with The (new) John Wright Band.
In 2003 there were eleven albums, 2 TV series and tours of Holland, Germany and Italy. Plus the Dave Swarbrick Fiddlecase Tunebook and the recording of the third solo album, ‘Serving Suggestion’.
In 2004 there was a Danish tour with John Wright, the Kieran Halpin Songbook Two, the Fairport Convention Songbook One v2.0, an album with Mairi Armstrong, a couple of Blue Tapestry gigs, Ralph McTell’s 60th birthday concert and a UK tour with Beth Nielsen Chapman. Also the setting up of Squiggle Records.
In 2005 there was more session work for Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens), albums with Miranda Sykes Band, Kieran Halpin, Ken Nicol, and Ian McCalman & friends, and Maart and his old chum Des Friel got two songs in a movie, Irish Jam, starring Anna Friel. Also Maart produced albums from top Welsh traditional band Crasdant and harpist Gwenan Gibbard. An educational DVD band came together as The Working Party and the new trio Swarb’s Lazarus was formed.
In 2006 Swarb’s Lazarus began touring and Maart married his wife Jan in Snowdonia. More production work for Sain Recordiau with Heather Jones, Sarah Louise and Robin Huw Bowen. Festival appearances with Gwenan Gibbard, Sarah Louise, The Paperboys, Swarb’s Lazarus, Fairport Convention with guest Glenn Tilbrook.
In 2007 there was some recording with Ralph McTell for the Steve Tilston boxset, two UK tours with Beth Nielsen Chapman, more recording and production work and ongoing dates with Swarb’s Lazarus.
In 2008 there was recording with Ian McCalman, gigs with Gwenan Gibbard, Netherlands and Belgium dates with Swarb’s Lazarus, recording with the late John Wright, a TV appearance with Heather Jones, and a lot of notation work, including work for Sain Recordiau and the start of the Dave Swarbrick Fiddle Tunes book. A lot of production work for Sain Recordiau too, including the debut album from young Welsh traditional band Calan and the second album for Gwenan Gibbard. There were a couple of visits to Rome and Barcelona for Jethro Tull Fan club conventions.
The Bad Shepherds was formed along with Ade Edmondson and Troy Donockley. After a few false starts including a week’s rehearsal in St. Lucia (Caribbean), the lineup finally came together with fiddler Andy Dinan and a lot of work started to come in for the band. In October Maart took part in Yr Arbrawf Mawr – The Big Experiment, a three day course in traditional music at Coleg Harlech. Another UK tour with Beth Nielsen Chapman followed in November and the year finished on the run up to Xmas with dates with The Bad Shepherds, who also started recording their album.
2009 started with a new album with Kieran Halpin, and a Burns Night supper in Stockholm for RBS with Mairi Armstrong. Most of the year was taken up with The Bad Shepherds, but Maart left at the end of the summer to concentrate on various other projects, including more production work for Sain Recordiau and transcription work for both Richard Thompson and Dave Swarbrick. In May Maartin Alcock was the subject of a half hour documentary on the BBC Radio Wales Arts Show, and he now has a monthly column in Acoustic magazine. In October, he was once again a guest of Rome-based Tull tribute act OAK.
2010 included two UK tours with Beth Nielsen Chapman, and a songbook of the new album, Back To Love, transcribed in time for the tour. More session work and a special concert of John Martyn’s music at Birmingham Town Hall with Danny Thompson, JM’s band and guest singers Eddi Reader, Beth Orton, Krystal Warren, Ian McNabb and Beverley Martyn.
Allcock later released several solo albums and worked as a multi-instrumentalist, session man and record producer on over 200 recordings by artists including Robert Plant, Beverley Craven, Judith Durham, Breton guitarist Dan Ar Braz (six albums), Ralph McTell, Dave Swarbrick, Cat Stevens, and Dafydd Iwan.
Maartin Allcock died in a Welsh hospital on September 16, 2018. He was 61 and had been suffering from inoperable liver cancer.
His approach to his terminal illness was serene and philosophical. After his diagnosis he wrote to fans: “I will go with dignity, good humour and good grace. “I just have to wait now for transport back to my own planet. I only came for the curry anyway.”
This year was meant to be my travel gap year. I was going to revisit friends and favourite places around the world before slowing down to enjoy the evening of my years. I made it as far as Madeira in January for some heat, a place I’d never considered before, but I loved it. Such a beautiful fragrant isle, truly a paradise.
A week after my return, I developed jaundice, and had to go to hospital. Scans and tests revealed that there were more sinister things happening inside me. Now the race is run and the final chapter has begun, and my liver cancer is terminal. I am in absolutely no pain or discomfort at this time. For the time being, to look at, you wouldn’t think there was much wrong with me. I am fully mobile, with energy, eating and sleeping well, and totally at peace with what the future holds. How long that future lasts is anyone’s guess, but I probably won’t make it to next summer. I shall play my final live performance at the Fairport Cropredy Convention this August, but I shall continue to make music while I draw breath. My main priority now is to finish the autobiography I began in January, and which now has an additional final chapter. I had no idea the deadline was so strict then.
So, do not be sad. I achieved everything I ever wanted to do from daydreaming in a council house in north Manchester to traveling the world with my heroes, playing to thousands and thousands of people, and getting paid for it. I have lived a lot, laughed a lot and loved a lot, and I shall leave this planet with eternal love and gratitude for my wife Jan, my three children Madeleine, Jered and Jane, and their mum Gill, and all of you who took any interest in this mad northerner. Thank you all so much. Be happy and shower the people you love with love.
What a giant of a man!
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