Editing Ewan MacColl (section)

=== Singer-songwriter ===
Seeger and MacColl recorded several albums of searing political commentary songs. MacColl himself wrote over 300 songs, some of which have been recorded by artists (in addition to those mentioned above) such as [[Planxty]], [[the Dubliners]], [[Dick Gaughan]], [[Phil Ochs]], [[the Clancy Brothers]], [[Elvis Presley]], [[Weddings Parties Anything]], [[The Pogues]] and [[Johnny Cash]]. In 2001, ''The Essential Ewan MacColl Songbook'' was published, which includes the words and music to 200 of his songs. [[Dick Gaughan]], Dave Burland and [[Tony Capstick]] collaborated in ''The Songs of Ewan MacColl'' (1978; 1985).

Many of MacColl's best-known songs were written for the theatre. For example, he wrote "[[The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face]]" very quickly at the request of Seeger, who needed it for use in a play she was appearing in. He taught it to her by long-distance telephone while she was on tour in the United States (from where MacColl had been barred because of his Communist past). Seeger said that MacColl used to send her tapes to listen to whilst they were apart and that the song was on one of them.<ref>{{cite book | last = Picardie | first = Justine| contribution =The first time ever I saw your face | title =Lives of the great songs | editor-last =De Lisle | editor-first =Tim | publisher =Penguin | year =1995 | location =London | pages =122–26 | isbn =978-0-14-024957-6}}</ref> This song, which was recorded by [[Roberta Flack]] for her debut album, ''First Take'', issued by Atlantic records in June 1969, became a No. 1 hit in 1972 and won MacColl a [[Grammy Award for Song of the Year]], while Flack received a [[Grammy Award for Record of the Year]].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=441| title='First Time Ever I Saw Your Face' by Roberta Flack|website=Songfacts.com|access-date=7 October 2019}}</ref>

In 1959, MacColl began releasing LP albums on [[Folkways Records]], including several collaborative albums with Peggy Seeger. His song "[[Dirty Old Town]]", inspired by his home town of [[County Borough of Salford|Salford]] in Lancashire, was written for the play ''Landscape with Chimneys'' (1949) produced by [[Joan Littlewood]] and [[Theatre Workshop]].<ref group=a>In a BBC radio documentary about “Dirty Old Town”, Professor Ben Harker (author of ''Class Act: The Cultural and Political Life of Ewan MacColl'', 2007, Pluto Press) explains that although MacColl later claimed the song was written as an interlude "to cover an awkward scene change", studying the script of the play ''Landscape with Chimneys'' reveals the song occurs at the beginning and end of the play. Harker argues the song is important to the play because “it captures the movement from dreamy optimism and romance to militancy, frustration and anger. That’s the trajectory of the song and of the play.”{{cite web| url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0020xjr| title = Dirty Old Town at 75| author = Mike Sweeney| date = July 6, 2024| access-date = July 10, 2024| website = BBC Sounds}}</ref> It went on to become a folk-revival staple and was recorded by [[The Spinners (UK band)|the Spinners]] (1964), [[Donovan]] (1964), [[Roger Whittaker]] (1968), [[Julie Felix]] (1968), [[the Dubliners]] (1968), [[Rod Stewart]] (1969), [[the Clancy Brothers]] (1970), [[the Pogues]] (1985), [[the Mountain Goats]] (2002), [[Simple Minds]] (2003), [[Ted Leo and the Pharmacists]] (2003), [[Frank Black]] (2006) and [[Bettye LaVette]] (2012).

MacColl's song "[[The Shoals of Herring]]", based on the life of Norfolk fisherman and folk singer [[Sam Larner]] was recorded by the Dubliners, the Clancy Brothers, the Corries and more. Other popular songs written and performed by MacColl include "[[The Manchester Rambler]]", "The Moving-On Song" and "The Joy of Living".

Ewan has a short biography of his work in the accompanying book of the [[Topic Records]] 70-year anniversary boxed set ''[[Three Score and Ten]]''.<ref name="Three Score and Ten Accompanying Book">{{Cite web|title=Topic Records » THREE SCORE & TEN|url=http://www.topicrecords.co.uk/category/three-score-ten/|access-date=7 October 2019|website=Topicrecords.co.uk}}</ref>{{rp|11}}  Five of his recordings, three of them solo, appear in the boxed set:
* on CD #4: 
** track 2, "Come All Ye Fisher Lads", with [[Archie Fisher|the Fisher Family]], from their album ''The Fisher Family''.
* on CD #5: 
**track 4, "Go Down You Murderers", from ''Chorus from the Gallows''
* on CD #6:
**track 9, "To the Begging I Will Go", from ''Manchester Angel''
**track 14, "[[Sixteen Tons]]", with Brian Daly, from the single ''Sixteen Tons/The Swan Necked Valve'' 
** track 18, ''[[Dirty Old Town]]'', from the single ''Dirty Old Town/Sheffield Apprentice''.