Biography
Bob Davenport (born Robert H. Davenport in Gateshead on 31 May 1932; died September 2026) was an English traditional folk singer remembered as a leading and influential voice in the British folk revival from the the early 1960s onwards. In the 1970s he recorded two albums with The Rakes as Bob Davenport & The Rakes.
Davenport lived in Camden, London, for most of his life. His quiet speaking voice belied his big-voiced singing style, which could be melodic or a cross between shouting and singing. His songs were often political - he was not a great fan of the so-called ruling classes. He also sang a range of traditional songs, telling little stories in between, often including hilarious monologues.
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He performed in folk clubs for more than 40 years - in 1963, as the result of an invitation from Pete Seeger, he appeared alongside Bob Dylan, Joan Baez & Tom Paxton at the Newport Jazz Festival.
He recorded two albums with The Rakes as Bob Davenport & The Rakes, and then played with the Flowers and Frolics, who for many years were the house band at the Islington Folk Club in its various venues around the London borough.
In 1997, he returned with an unchanged line-up of The Rakes - Plunkett, Gross and Hall - to record the album The Red Haired Lad, produced by Mike Harding. In 2004, he released The Common Stone, an album dedicated to his father, and comprising mostly traditional folk songs recorded with musicians including Richard Thompson, Martin Carthy, The Watersons, and the band Chumbawamba. In 2010, he performed with Kathryn Tickell at a concert in Gateshead.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.