Leon Rosselson

Leon Rosselson (b. 1934) is a satirical songwriter and children's writer.

The folk years

Leon's early years are poorly documented. As he speaks good German and Hebrew, he may have been born in Germany, or at least had German parents. Eric Winter and John Hasted went to Berlin in the early 1950's with a choir they had formed, the London Youth Choir. This is sometimes considered to be Britain's first folk group. Leon Rosselson joined them. A few years later two Scotsmen, Robin Hall (1936-1998) and Jimmie MacGregor (b. 1930), came to London and performed in folk clubs. They made several EPs in 1959 before teaming up with Shirley Bland (Jimmie's wife) and Leon Rosselson to form a quartet called The Galliards. Leon did all of the group's arrangements. Almost all of their songs were Scottish traditional songs. The group seems to have broken up in 1962, though Robin Hall and Jimmie MacGregor continued to record until the 1970s. In 1965, Leon joined Martin Carthy and Roy Bailey in a group called the "3City4" (also written as Three City Four). At various times he also recorded sea shanties with Stan Kelly.

Related Topics:
German - Hebrew - Germany - EP - Martin Carthy

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