Robin Morton
Born(1939-12-24)24 December 1939
Portadown, Armagh, Northern Ireland
Died1 October 2021(2021-10-01) (aged 81)
GenresFolk music, Celtic music
Years active1967–1979
LabelsTemple Records
Websitewww.templerecords.co.uk

Robin Morton (24 December 1939 – 1 October 2021) was an Irish folk musician, song collector, broadcaster, record producer, band manager, and founder of the Temple Records label and the Kinmor publishing company.

Early life and education

Morton was born in County Armagh, Northern Ireland on 24 December 1939 and was drawn to music from an early age through his father's interest in jazz, which motivated him to teach himself to play the cornet.[1] After leaving school, he taught mentally handicapped children for which he received training for a year in Manchester, where he bought his first guitar. In 1962, he enrolled at Queens University in Belfast to study for a diploma in Social work, and began to attend folk clubs. After graduating, he obtained further qualification as a psychiatric social worker from the London School of Economics. He then returned to Belfast and began working in child psychiatry. In late 1970, Morton moved to Scotland to study for a PhD at the University of Edinburgh, with a focus on the history of the treatment of madness, but he did not complete it.[1]

Career

Morton founded the folk band Boys of the Lough in 1967 along with Tommy Gunn and Cathal McConnell and left the band in 1979,[2] after setting up a folk label called Temple Records in 1978.[3]

In 1980, he became manager of the Scottish folk group Battlefield Band and continued to manage and release material by the band until his death on 1 October 2021.[1] Morton set up Temple US Records in the 1980s, as well as the publishing company Kinmor Publishing which produces music, and publishes books and sheet music.[4]

In 2006, the folk music magazine The Living Tradition covered Morton's life and career in an 11-page special published in their 66th issue.[5]

Personal life

Morton was married to the glass engraver and musician Alison Kinnaird.[6]

Discography

  • The Boys of the Lough (1973)
  • Second Album (1973)
  • Live at Passim's (1974)
  • Lochaber No More (1976)
  • The Piper's Broken Finger (1976)
  • Good Friends ... Good Music (1977)
  • Wish You Were Here (1978)

References

  1. 1 2 3 Gallacher, Alex (4 October 2021). "Remembering Robin Morton: Folk Legend Dies Aged 81". folkradio.co.uk. Folk Radio. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  2. ↑ Heywood, Pete. "Cathal McConnell". The Living Tradition. No. 31. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  3. ↑ "Welcome". templerecords.co.uk. Temple Records. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  4. ↑ "Books & Sheet Music". templerecords.co.uk. Temple Records. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  5. ↑ "Robin Morton – Singer, 'Boy' of the Lough, Battlefield Band manager and Temple Records supremo". The Living Tradition. No. 66. 2006. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  6. ↑ "The art school reject who became one of the world's top glass artists". BBC News. 15 January 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2023.


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