Archie Fisher born 23 October 1939

Archie Fisher MBE (23 October 1939 – 1 November 2025) was a Scottish folk singer and songwriter. Although he was a legendary figure in the Scottish folk music world he remained largely unknown to the greater pop music mainstream. Her hosted his own radio show on BBC Radio Scotland for almost three decades.

Archie Macdonald Fisher was born in Glasgow, into a large family of semi-professional musicians and learned to play the guitar at a young age. After Hyndland senior secondary school, Archie joined the merchant navy. On a New Jersey jukebox he heard the Glaswegian Lonnie Donegan’s skiffle version of Rock Island Line and bought a guitar on his return home. Hearing the 1957 album The Weavers at Carnegie Hall and seeing Pete Seeger and then Josh White in concert in his late teens steered the direction of Archie’s music, making him more politically aware, and conscious of the Scottish song tradition. He sang at the newly opened Glasgow Folksong Club alongside an informal group of singers known as the Broomhill Bums.

Ray & Archie 1960

Archie dropped out of agricultural college and, in 1960, moved to Edinburgh, where he joined the regular performers including Hamish Imlach, Bert Jansch and Billy Connolly at the celebrated folk club the Howff, which became a hive of activity during the Edinburgh fringe. With the encouragement of the future Labour MP Norman Buchan, Archie and Ray recorded an EP, Far Over the Forth, for Topic in 1961, and they sang both solo and together on the albums Edinburgh Folk Festival volumes 1 and 2, for Decca, recorded during the fringe. Following the lead of the BBC TV programme Tonight, which featured the folk singers Robin Hall and Jimmie Macgregor, Scottish Television introduced Here and Now, with songs from Archie and Ray, and they also appeared on the BBC’s Hoot’nanny Show (1963-64).

                     Here's "Whatever Happened To Me?" from above LP

                              

In the tradition of the Coppers and the Watersons, Archie and Ray joined with their parents and sister Cilla and her husband Artie Tresize to form the Fisher Family. Playing both traditional material and Archie's own compositions, the Fisher Family were fixtures on the British folk circuit through the mid-'60s and released the album The Fisher Family: Traditional & New Songs from Scotland in 1965. 

The family group split up in 1966 when Ray married and moved to London and Archie began his solo career. Fisher's first album, Archie Fisher, was released in 1968. Around that time, Fisher also began his decades-long association with the BBC; Fisher wrote original songs for BBC documentaries on subjects like rural island communities in the Hebrides, and also appeared on radio and television music programs with regularity.

At an early-stage Fisher 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 Dickson in 1971 on her album From the Beggar's Mantle, by Fisher himself on The Man With a Rhyme in 1976, by Stan Rogers in 1979 and by Golden Bough in 1983. Eventually, Fisher began working regularly with the BBC as a producer of radio documentaries and features. In 1983, Fisher inherited the series Traveling Folk, which he produced and hosted, from the previous presenter Robin Hall until April 2010, when he handed 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 and Liam Clancy on television, recordings and concert tours. He also produced the Irish duo's first four albums. Fisher's recorded output, for someone with such a long and prolific career, was surprisingly sparse, consisting of a handful of solo albums and a live duo album with Canadian fiddler Garnet Rogers. His style of singing was very gentle, and he generally avoided all electronic instruments, an exception is the recording of 'The last time I saw Esau Shaw' from the album 'Orfeo'. "Dark-Eyed Molly" has been recorded by Fairport Convention (who also recorded "The Wounded Whale"), 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 Renbourn on guitar).

Fisher was much more active both as a live performer at festivals and concerts around the world (he directed the much-respected Edinburgh Folk Festival from 1988 to 1992) and as a producer for other artists, including several albums by the duo of Tommy Makem and Liam Clancy and the phenomenal group Silly Wizard. After Barbara Dickson achieved fame as an easy listening singer, it was many years before she sang folk songs again. When she did, Fisher was invited back to join her.

For many years, Archie lived in the Scottish Borders, where he kept horses and was a keen rider; he also pursued his deep interest in horse riding in Canada. Many of his songs reflected his love of the landscape and riding and their imagery, including Ride Through the Rainbow, The Black Horse and Ontario Dust. Recognized for his contributions to Scottish folk music, Archie was inducted into the Scots Traditional Music Hall of Fame. He was also appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2007 New Year Honours, for services to Traditional Scottish Music. Archie’s 2008 album, Windward Away, his first for 20 years, included long-lost recordings from the 70s. His final album, The Best Times After All (2019), was with his long-time collaborator the Canadian Garnet Rogers.

Archie Fisher died on November 1, 2025 at the age of 86.

(Edited from AllMusic & Wikipedia)