If the English folk revival has a single guiding spirit, then Martin Carthy is it. Apart from being the most gifted guitarist working the circuit-Musician magazine named him among the 20th Century's 100 greatest guitarists-Martin is a powerful singer with no pretensions or affectations, and a prodigious arranger, with a talent for collecting the fragments of songs and making them whole in performance. By the time he recorded his first album, in 1966, Martin was mentor to virtually every serious aspiring folk musician in England. At least three major bands-Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span, and the Albion Band-were formed with his help and influence. He also had a significant effect on two Americans, Bob Dylan, who based his Bob Dylan's Dream on Martin's version of Lord Franklin, and Paul Simon, who adopted Martin's arrangement of Scarborough Fair, intact. Since then, Martin has performed with his wife Norma Waterson and her brother and sister, Mike and Lal, as a member of England's leading folk group, The Watersons, with violinist Dave Swarbrick, and with Norma and daughter Liza as Waterson:Carthy. In concert as on his 1998 album, Songs of Life (Topic), Martin's drive and enthusiasm are evident as he follows an insatiable musical curiosity that makes him one of folk music's greats.