Another visit to the world of the Fox. Did you know that one of the collective nouns for the group of foxes is a ‘Skulk’ or possibly an ‘Earth’. So perhaps we shall unearth some more foxy music.
“The Fox” is the title track from the fifteenth studio album by English musician Elton John, released in 1981. The album was produced by John, Clive Franks, and, for the first time, Chris Thomas, who would produce many more albums with John through most of the 1980s and ’90s. Five of the songs were recorded during the sessions for his previous album 21 at 33. All B-sides released around this time were also from those sessions. The whole album was considered as a hidden gem due to the limited success it received and the album was unknown to many people.
“The Fox” is a 1967 Canadian drama film directed by Mark Rydell.The film score was composed, arranged and conducted by Lalo Schifrin and the soundtrack album was released on the Warner Bros label in 1968. The main theme has since acquired notoriety in France as the music for Dim tights commercials.
“I Am The Fox” is a track by Nancy Kerr and James Fagan from their 2019 album ‘An Evening With…’ They are one of the best known duos in British Folk music, and have been playing together since 1995. They have twice won “Best Duo” at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards (2003, 2011). Both highly regarded singers, they are also acknowledged as masterful players of their respective instruments of fiddle and bouzouki.
“Reynard the Fox” is a traditional English Folk song that has been recorded by many leading figures in the genre, including Nic Jones, June Tabor and Fairport Convention. Martin Carthy commented on his version in 1982: Fox or hare hunting on foot is nowhere near as common as the posher horse variety these days, and is on the decline apart from the Lake District parts of Yorkshire and Gloucestershire and the six counties of Northern Ireland. Regardless of the rights and wrongs of hunting it is true to say that there is in the best hunting songs a dignity, even nobility that it would be stupid to deride or ignore. Reynard the Fox is memorable among other things for its use of the first person and is a Sussex version song which, considering the name—“Gaffer Ghylls”, probably has a more northern location. I learned it from Vic Gammon.
“The Fox” is a tradtional English folk song (Roud 131). It is also the subject of at least two picture books, The Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night, illustrated by Peter Spier and Fox Went out on a Chilly Night, by Wendy Watson. The earliest version of the song was a Middle English poem, dating from the 15th century, found in the British Museum. The countryside of England and later New England is depicted in the pictures accompanying this folk song in which a fox travels many miles to get dinner for his wife and ten cubs.
