Singer and songwriter Ewan MacColl was born - On this day in history

Ewan MacColl, folk singer and songwriter, was born on 25 January 1915 in Salford, Manchester. MacColl, whose real name was James Henry Miller, was born to Scottish parents and brought up amid a strong tradition of Scottish songs and stories. As a teenager, he joined the Young Communist League after being influenced by the politics of his parents - who were both strong Socialists.

MacColl recorded more than 100 albums, and during the Sixties, was noted for his protest songs on subjects such as the atomic bomb and the Vietnam War. His song The Manchester Rambler was written after his involvement in the Kinder Scout Trespass of the early 1930s.

MacColl's albums include:

• Scots Street Songs (1956)
• Shuttle and Cage (1957)
• Songs of Robert Burns (1959)
• The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (1961)
• Four Pence a Day (1963)
• Solo Flight (1972)
• Hot Blast (1978)