Mumford & Sons: Best British Folk Band Of All-Time?

Mumford & Sons won the 2013 Grammy Award for Album of the Year and the 2013 Brit Award for Best British Group.  Their sophomore effort, Babel, was one of the bestselling albums of 2012 in both the U.K. and the U.S.  And for the last couple of years, Mumford & Sons tickets have been collected all over the world.  Regardless of where they perform their live shows are well-received and highly sought after.   Without a doubt, Mumford & Sons are one of the world’s top recording and live acts.

It’s early in their career but the success they’ve already achieved has made it necessary to ask “Are Mumford & Sons the best British folk band of all-time?”  While the isle has produced a bunch of great folk artists, Musicology-101 looks at just five M&S will have to pass in order to be crowned king of British folk.  They may have already passed a few of the acts listed below, and if they haven’t, they are definitely closing the gap.  If there’s one thing this list tells us, with one exception, is to be considered the best in this genre, either you or your legacy needs to be around for a long time.  For that, Mumford & Sons, who formed in 2007, has a long ways to go.

Donovan
Donovan was known in the 1960s as the British Bob Dylan.  That description wasn’t always meant as a compliment.  Donovan found fame in England and America after releasing hits such as “Sunshine Superman,” “Mellow Yellow,” “Catch the Wind,” “Atlantis,” and “Hurdy Gurdy Man.”  However, he was so closely associated with the 1960s, and was such the ideal hippie, that it hurt his career after the decade ended.  Even so, his music lived on and he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012.

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The Dream Academy
Mumford & Sons has only one album to go to catch The Dream Academy.  This English folk rock band made a name for themselves in the mid-1980s thanks to their smash-hit, “Life in a Northern Town.”   The band’s debut album went to number 20 in the U.S. but their next two albums failed to chart in the U.K.  While they’ve never duplicated the success of the aforementioned “Life in a Northern Town” they still made an important and lasting impact on the English folk rock scene.

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Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention is the band Mumford & Sons has to usurp to become the undisputed English kings of folk.  The Convention was formed in 1967, and minus a brief hiatus, they’ve been folk rocking ever since.  Fairport Convention is widely regarded as England’s most important folk rock band and credited with incorporating elements of traditional English music into rock and roll.  The band has undergone numerous lineup changes over the years with Simon Nicol and Dave Pegg being the longest serving members.

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The Waterboys
Comprised over the years of musicians from Scotland, England, Ireland, and America, The Waterboys have fused Celtic folk music with good old fashion rock and roll.  Sometimes they lean more towards rock and sometimes they lean more towards folk but whatever genre they’re playing The Waterboys did it with aplomb.  They haven’t achieved much commercial success since their formation in 1983 but their music has influenced countless artists over the years including Bono, World Party, Colin Meloy, and Eddie Vedder.

Yusuf Islam/Cat Stevens
Perhaps the biggest name on this list is Yusuf Islam/Cat Stevens.  Some have called Mumford & Sons’ Babel a modern day Tea for the Tillerman, which was an album Yusuf released in 1970 (as Cat Stevens).  Also as Cat Stevens, Islam released iconic songs like “Wild World,” “Peace Train,” and “Morning Has Broken.”  During his long career, Yusuf Islam/Cat Stevens established himself as one of folk music’s best performers as well as one of its greatest songwriters.  He was born in England thus putting him on M&S’ radar.  He’s a talent they’ll definitely have to work hard to catch.