Background
He was born in Leicester. His father, an Royal Air Force pilot, died in the Second World War, and he was educated at Christ"s Hospital school in West Sussex.
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Austin Marshall
Edit ProfileEducation
He studied at the Slade Art School and the London College of Printing, becoming a graphic designer whose work was published in Vogue, The Observer and elsewhere.
Career
Writer Karl Dallas described him as "one of the great unsung pioneers of contemporary British folk song". Marshall continued to work at The Observer, and began taking an interest in traditional music In 1964 he arranged for Collins to work with innovative guitarist Davy Graham on their joint album Folk Roots, New Routes, conceiving the album"s approach and writing its liner notes.
He also wrote lyrics for the song "Dancing At Whitsun", first published by Dallas and sung by Collins on Anthems In Eden.
He also launched ambitious film projects, working on the film of Jimi Hendrix"s Rainbow Bridge concert, where he applied feedback techniques to the video image "with results that have never been equalled". And on the Incredible String Band"s film Be Glad for the Song Has Number Ending.
He started a short-lived record label, Streetsong, where he recorded Bert Jansch. He also tried to launch an experimental anti-war folk musical, Smudge, reflecting on the effects of the First World War on English society.
He moved to New York in 1981, establishing himself on the Lower East Side.
There, his Smudge project was eventually performed several times in the 1980s. He became a performance poet using the name John the Angel Fish, and became known for his murals. In later years he suffered from emphysema and chronic pulmonary disease.
He died in New York in 2013 at the age of 76.
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Born
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Died
November 3, 2013 (aged 76) -
Nationality
English