Who is the American musician and singer who performed a version of the traditional English folk song "The Cuckoo" and began his performance career at Southern Appalachian medicine shows?
The Cuckoo (song) "The Cuckoo" (Roud 413) is a traditional English folk song, also sung in the USA, Canada, Scotland and Ireland. It has been covered by many musicians in several different styles. An early notable recorded version was performed by Appalachian folk musician Clarence Ashley with a unique banjo tuning.
Harry Boardman Harry Boardman (1930–1987) was an English folk singer who was born in Failsworth, Lancashire. He sang both unaccompanied and accompanying himself on the Anglo concertina or banjo. "Boardman has specialised in the lore, songs and dialect poems of his native Lancashire. A fine singer, his recorded and printed work has done much to preserve the otherwise ignored aspects of his local tradition."—Fred Woods. He was active as a folk singer and collector of Lancashire folklore from the late 1950s with some collaboration from his wife Lesley. In 1991 the Harry Boardman Memorial Trust was established to increase public awareness of traditional music and related arts, including the folk music of the British Isles and local traditions of North West England. Harry appeared regularly, together with Dave Hillier at the Pack Horse Hotel in Bridge Street, Manchester during the early 1960s.