"The Acoustic Folk Box" by VARIOUS ARTISTS – Featuring Lonnie Donegan, Davy Graham, Alexis Korner, The Watersons, The Dubliners, The Ian Campbell Folk Group, Martin Carthy, The Incredible String Band, The Young Tradition, Dave Swarbrick, Anne Briggs, Sweeney's Men, Pentangle, John Renbourn, Shirley and Dolly Collins, Robin and Barry Dransfield, Lal and Mike Waterson, Richard Thompson, The Bothy Band, Dick Gaughan, Ralph McTell, Nic Jones, Steve Ashley, Dervish, Silly Sisters, Tim Hart and Maddy Prior of Steeleye Span, Bill Caddick, Roy Harris, Eliza Carthy, Andrew Cronshaw, Mary Black, Kate Rusby and many more (July 2002 UK Topic Records 4CD 85-Track Long Box Set covering Single and Album Tracks from 1957 to 2000 (Some Unreleased) with a 56-Page Long Booklet With David Suff Liner Notes and Denis Blackham Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Acoustic-Folk-Box-Various-Artists/dp/B00005Y49D?crid=1LOO9UUGK4PMK&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.ZvLPb0KfOmngPJ3hIbMy4Q.g9MTjl03G4AwFyv90KG5xWPTGT0jNGp4445tSPSnqDA&dib_tag=se&keywords=714822400121&qid=1709161315&sprefix=714822400121%2Caps%2C76&sr=8-1&linkCode=ll1&tag=mabasreofcdbl-21&linkId=39758208b8e70eb599da1f18a94bf318&language=en_GB&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

RATING: Content **** to ***** Audio *****

"…Let No Man Steal Your Thyme…"

When I worked the counters at Reckless Records (a busy Soho used record store) – this 2002 Box Set from Topic Records had an alarming track record for turning up in the I-want-to-sell-these-for-cold-hard-mullah piles. "Acoustic Folk Box" never did go for money, but those willing to audition a listen and not turn it down outright because it says the word Folk on it found a lesser-heard history of fabulous songs sounding all spiv-a-rooney and lovely-jubbly twain.

Although it calls itself an Acoustic Folk set, the genres are disparate and you will be rubbing shoulders with Fifties, Sixties, Seventies, Eighties to Twenties Folk, Folk-Rock, Protest Songs, Polkas, Mouth Music, Traditional Irish, English, Scottish and Welsh History Songs, Jigs, Reels and Chamber Music to name but a few. These are lusty don't-spare-the-blush tale-songs of ye old English squires, galliards, dirges, crafty Welsh maidens, comely Scottish wenches, impoverished Irish workers, emigration countering starvation, Geordie in trouble with the hangman, drunken sailors, tramps and hawkers chancing their arm, even more inebriated lads eyeing the lassies (shawls and cradles) and finally arriving at eligible but young and naïve townsfolk duped by the Blue Coats wielding the King's schilling. There are Acapella moments, regional voices, pipes and fiddles and banjos and gut-string guitars a-plucking and a-swirling. 

What sets Acoustic Folk Box apart is not just the range of material but the gorgeous DENIS BLACKHAM Remasters done at Skye Studios. The audio on the acoustic instrumental "3 / 4 AD" for instance is just fabulous – a hugely important song that introduced tunings that influenced Rock Giants later – least not of all Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin. There is a 1967 Incredible String Band recording of "First Girl I Loved" – a story song with almost-skin-cringing truth in it that did not see the light of day until 1997 on a rare comp ("The Chelsea Sessions"). So pretty - and ISB looser and full of song – I love it. There are lots like that. Let's get to the fairs she of the flaxen hair and dancing eyes moved through…

UK released 30 July 2002 - "The Acoustic Folk Box" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Topic TSFCD4001 (Barcode 714822400121) is a 4CD 85-Track Long Box Set covering 1957 to 2000 with a 56-Page Booklet and Denis Blackham Remasters. It plays out as follows:

CD1 (74:41 minutes):
1. Jack O' Diamonds – LONNIE DONEGAN And His Skiffle Group (December 1957 UK 45-Single on Pye Nixa 7N 15116, A-side)
2. 3 / 4 AD – DAVY GRAHAM and ALEXIS KORNER (1962 UK 3-Track Extended Play EP "3 / 4 AD" on Topic TOP 70)
3. MacPherson's Rant – THE GALLIARDS featuring Jimmy Hall and Jammie MacGregor (1960 UK 4-Track Extended Play EP "The Galliards" on Beltona SEP 90 in Mono)
4. Twa Corbies – RAY and ARCHIE FISHER (1961 UK Extended Play EP "Far Over The Forth" on Topic TOP 67)
5. Tramps And Hawkers – BOB DAVENPORT Accompanied by The Rakes (1962 UK Extended Play EP "Wor Geordie" on Topic TOP 83)
6. The Rocky Road To Dublin – THE DUBLINERS (1964 UK Debut LP "The Dubliners" on Transatlantic TRA 116)
7. Song Of The Iron Road – EWAN MacCOLL and Peggy Seeger (1964 UK LP "Steam Whistle Ballads" on Topic Records 12T 104)
8. She Moved Thro' The Fair – ANNE BRIGGS (December 1963 UK Various Artists LP "Edinburgh Folk Festival Volume 1" on Decca LK 4546 in Mono)
9. They Times They Are A-Changin' – THE IAN CAMPBELL GROUP (March 1965 UK 45-Single on Transatlantic TRA SP 5, A-side)
10. Across The Hills – THE THREE CITY FOUR (1965 UK LP "The Three City Four" on Decca LK 4705 in Mono)
11. Joy Of My Heart – THE FISHER FAMILY (1965 UK LP "Traditional & New Songs From Scotland" on Topic Records 12T 137)
12. Angi – BERT JANSCH (April 1965 UK LP "Bert Jansch" on Transatlantic TRA 125)
13. Reynardine – SHIRLEY COLLINS and DAVY GRAHAM (February 1965 UK LP "Folk Roots, New Routes" on Decca LK 4652 in Mono)
14. Geordie – JULIE FELIX (September 1966 UK LP "Changes" on Fontana STL 5368 in Stereo)
15. Dido Bendigo – THE WATERSONS (1966 UK LP "The Watersons" on Topic Records 12T142)
16. The Two Magicians – A. L. LLOYD – Albert Lancaster Lloyd (1966 UK LP "The Bird In The Bush (Traditional Erotic Songs)" on Topic Records 12T135)
17. The Moving On Song – THE EXILES (1966 UK LP on "Freedom, Come All Ye" on Topic Records 12T143)
18. Sovay – MARTIN CARTHY (November 1965 UK LP "Martin Carthy" on Fontana STL 5269 in Stereo)
19. First Girl I Loved – THE INCREDIBLE STRING BAND (1967 Recording First issued 1997 UK in the CD compilation "The Chelsea Sessions 1967" on Pig's Whisker Music PWMD5003)
20. Lyke Wake Dirge – THE YOUNG TRADITION (1966 UK LP "The Young Tradition" on Transatlantic TRA 142)
21. Transfusion – JOHN RENBOURN (June 1968 UK LP "Sir John Alot Of Merrie Englandes Musyk Thyng & Ye Grene Knyghte" on Transatlantic TRA 167)
22. You Never Wanted Me – SANDY DENNY (1967 UK LP "Sandy Denny" on Saga EROS 8153)
23. The Cuckoo's Nest – DAVE SWARBRICK (1967 UK LP "Rags Reels And Airs" on Bounty BY 6050)
24. The House Carpenter - SWEENEY'S MEN (1968 UK LP "Sweeney's Men" on Transatlantic TRA 170)
25. Spiral Staircase – RALPH McTELL (January 1969 UK LP "Spiral Staircase" on Transatlantic TRA 177)

CD2 (68:35 minutes):
1. Let No Man Steal Your Thyme – PENTANGLE (May 1968 UK Debut LP "The Pentangle" on Transatlantic TRA 162)
2. Bonnie Boy – SHIRLEY COLLINS (January 1968 UK LP "The Power Of The True Love Knot" on Polydor 583 025 in Stereo)
3. The Rout Of The Blues – BARRY and ROBIN DRANSFIELD (1970 UK LP "The Rout Of The Blues" on Trailer LER 2011)
4. Bright Phoebus – LAL and MIKE WATERSON (September 1972 UK LP "Bright Phoebus" on Trailer LES 2076)
5. Sorry The Day I Was Married – TIM HART and MADDY PRIOR (1971 UK LP "Summer Solstice" on B&C Records CAS 1035)
6. Scan's Polka – OAK (1971 UK LP "Welcome To The Fair" on Topic Records 12TS212)
7. Rattlin' Roarin' Willie / The Friar's Britches – DICK GAUGHAN (1972 UK LP "No More Forever" on Trailer LER 2072)
8. The Crafty Maid's Policy – FRANKIE ARMSTRONG (1972 UK LP "Lovely On The Water" on Topic Records 12TS216)
9. Billy Don't You Weep For Me – NIC JONES (1974, Recorded Live, PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)
10. The Rose Of Britain's Isle / Glorishears – JOHN KIRKPATRICK and SUE HARRIS (1974 UK LP "The Rose Of Britain's Isle" on Topic Records 12TS 247)
11. Hard Times Of Old England – THE ETCHINGHAM STEAM BAND (Recorded 1975, First UK Issued 1995 on CD on Fledg'ling Records FLED 3002)
12. The Kesh Jig / Give Us A Drink Of Water / The Flower Of The Flock /Famous Ballymore – THE BOTHY BAND (March 1976 UK Debut LP "The Bothy Band" on Polydor 2383 379, Mulligan Records in Ireland)
13. The Ant & The Grasshopper – LEON ROSSELSON and ROY BAILEY (1975 UK LP "That's Not The Way It's Gotta Be" on Acorn Records CF 251)
14. The Methody Parson – ROY HARRIS (1975 UK LP "Champions Of Folly" on Topic Records 12TS256)
15. John O' Dreams – BILL CADDICK (1976 UK LP "Rough Music" on Park Records SHP 102)
16. The Rose Of Allandale – BANDOGGS (1978 UK LP "Bandoggs" on Leader Records LTRA 504)
17. The Shepherd Of The Downs – PETER BELLAMY (1979 UK LP "Both Sides Then" on Topic Records 12TS 400)
18. Brighton Camp / The March Past – JOHN KIRKPATRICK & CHUMS (1976 UK LP "Plain Capers" on Free Reed FRR 10)
19. Harper's Frolick / Bonny Kate – NEW VICTORY BAND (1978 UK LP "One More Dance And Then" on Topic Records 12TS 382)
20. Once In A While – STEVE ASHLEY (Recorded 1979, 1982 UK LP "The Family Album" on Woodworm WR 002)

CD3 (69:38 minutes):
1. Miss Drummond Of Perth / Fiddler's Joy / Traditional Reel / The Shetland Fiddler – BATTLEFIELD BAND (1979 UK LP "Stand Easy" on Topic Records 12TS 404)
2. Farewell Welfare – RORY McLEOD – (1980 UK LP "Angry Love" on Forward Sounds LP 004)
3. Erin-Go-Bragh – DICK GAUGHAN (1981 UK LP "Handful Of Earth" on Topic Records 12TS 419)
4. Rockin' In Rhythm – RICHARD THOMPSON (1981 UK LP "Strict Tempo" on Elixir Records LP 1)
5. Stephan Baldwin's Schottisches Nos.1 & 2 / The kennet Jig – OLD SWAN BAND (1981 UK LP "Gamesters, Pickpockets And Harlots" on Dingles DIN 322)
6. In Trim / Mount Hooley / Lemington Bank – ALISTAIR ANDERSON (1982 UK LP "Steel Skies" on Topic Records 12TS 427)
7. Lay This Body Down – JUNE TABOR (1983 UK LP "Abyssinians" on Topic Records 12TS 432)
8. The First Cut Is The Deepest – MARTIN SIMPSON (1983 UK LP "Grinning in Your Face" on Topic Records 12TS 430)
9. Handsome, Johnny – THE ENGLISH COUNTRY BLUES BAND (1982 UK LP "No Rules" on Dingles DIN 223)
10. If – VIN GARBUTT (1983 UK LP "Little Innocents" on Topic Records 12TS 428)
11. The Maid & The Palmer – BRASS MONKEY (1983 UK LP "Brass Monkey" on Topic Records 12TS 431)
12. Shave The Monkey / Boys Of The Mill – BLOWZABELLA (1984 UK LP "Bobbityshooty" on Plant Life PLR 064)
13. A B Hornpipe / Mrs. Bolowski's – KATHRYN TICKELL (1988 UK LP "Great Moments Of Vinyl History" on Special Delivery SPM 1009)
14. Another Train – PETER MORTON (1988 UK LP "One Big Joke" on Harbourtown HAR 004)
15. Coal Not Dole – SWAN ARCADE (1990 UK Various Artists CD Charity Compilation "Circle Dance" on Hokey Pokey ConeD)
16. Blood & Gold / Mohacs – SILLY SISTERS (1988 UK LP "No More To The Dance")
17. Patrick Street / The Carraroe Jig – PATRICK STREET (1988 UK CD "Patrick Street" on Green Linnet GLCD 1071)
18. Wasps In The Woodpile – ANDREW CRONSHAW (1988 UK LP "Til The Beasts Returning" on Topic Records 12TS 447)
19. A Bhean Udai Thall – ALTAN (1989 UK CD "A Horse With A Heart" on Green Linnet GLCD 1095)
20. Fraoch A Ronaigh – MOUTH MUSIC (1990 UK CD "Mouth Music" on Triple Earth TRECD 109)

CD4 (78:51 minutes):
1. The Grey Funnel Line – EMMYLOU HARRIS, DOLORES KEANE and MARY BLACK (1991 UK 3LP/2CD Set "Bringing It All Back Home (Music From The BBC TV Series" on BBC Records CD 844)
2. A Call For The North Country – JEZ LOWE & THE BAD PENNIES (1993 UK CD "Bede Weeps" on Fellside FECD 94)
3. Reconciliation – RON KAVANA (1991 UK CD "Home Fire" on Special delivery SPDCD 1043)
4. Pharaoh – THE HOUSE BAND (1993 UK CD "The World Is A Wonderful Place" on Hokey Pokey 2002.2)
5. Out Come The Freaks – CHRIS WOOD (1992 UK CD "Lisa" on Ruf Records RUFCD 002)
6. Moving The Goalposts – BILLY BRAGG (1991 UK CD "Don't Try This At Home" on Go-Discs 828 279-2)
7. When First I Came To California – WATERSON: CARTHY (1994 UK CD "Waterson: Carthy" on Topic TSCD 475)
8. Beeswing (Live) – RICHARD THOMPSON (1996 UK 2CD Set "Two Letter Words" on Flypaper FLYCD 006)
9. Molly & Johnny – DERVISH (1995 UK CD "Playing With Fire" on Whirling WHRL 002)
10. Venus In Tweeds – SHOGGLENIFTY (1994 UK CD "Venus In Tweeds" on Greentrax CDTRAX 076)
11. The Graf Spey / The Boys Of Balisodare – MARTIN HAYES (1995 UK CD "Under The Moon" on Green Linnet GLCD 155)
12. Jerusalem Revisited – COOPE, BOYES & SIMPSON [Barry Coope, Jim Boyes and Lester Simpson] (1996 UK CD "What We Sing" on No Masters NMCD 4)
13. How Can I Leave – LAL WATERSON & OLIVER KNIGHT (1996 UK CD "Once In A Blue Moon" on Topic TSCD 478)
14. A Place Called England – JUNE TABOR (1999 UK CD "A Quiet Eye" on Topic TSCD 510)
15. Reel Du Pendu – NANCY KERR & JAMES FAGAN (1999 UK CD "Steely Water" on Fellside FECD 145)
16. Twankydillo – MADDY PRIOR (1999 UK CD "Ravenchild" on Park PRKCD 49)
17. Llatai – FERNHILL (1998 UK CD "Llatai" on Beautiful Jo BEJOCD 23)
18. The Cobbler's Daughter – KATE RUSBY (1999 UK CD "Sleepless" on Pure PRCD 06)
19. From Where I Lie / Sheepcounting – JOHN TAMS (2000 UK CD "Unity" on Topic TSCD 508)
20. 10,000 Miles – ELIZA CARTHY (1998 UK CD "Red Rice" on Topic TSDCD 2001)

The long 56-page booklet is extremely comprehensive – DAVID SUFF of Fledg'ling Records giving track by track breakdowns – musicians – original issue details – later CD reissues and so forth. There are reproductions of the rare Galliards, Sea Shanties, and Wor Geordie EPs (not growing on trees I can tell you). Alongside those you do get fanzines like Folk Review, Folk News, Pulse, The Living Tradition, Topic Records catalogues from the Sixties and Seventies especially, a ZigZag magazine cover with the luminous Sandy Denny, The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs – you get the picture. Inside the text pages there are photos of the new generations carrying on an old tradition (New Victory Band, Eliza Carthy and The Watersons, Kate Rusby) and paragraphs on the likes of Ralph McTell and other genre heroes like Ewan MacColl and Jansch and Renbourn and Richard Thompson. 

But there are weird anomalies in the collages of photos that base the Track List pages to the rear. For instance, Pages 50 and 51 picture the fabulous instrumental "Timedance" 12" Single Planxty did on WEA Ireland in 1981 with an awesome version of "Nancy Spain" on the flipside and a photo of The Chieftains Breakfast Early Tour of 1980 when neither artist is included in the box! And they get a few album titles wrong like Ray & Archie Fisher (Track 4) and The Fisher Family (Track 11) on CD1 and dates like 1964 for the Jansch debut when it was April 1965, the catalogue number for the Dransfield LP "The Rout Of The Blues" on Trailer Records as TER 2026 when it was TER 2011 and release date as 1971 when it was 1970 – all of which I have checked and corrected in the text above.

But my go-to reference here is the AUDIO which has been done with such care and precision by DENIS BLACKHAM of Skye Mastering. I have raved about his transfers before – the first Horslips LP from 1973 and the Mick Greenwood debut album from 1971 that features much of Fotheringay. The old stuff on CD1 especially belies its age and is in tremendous shape – but the Seventies stuff is a thrill for me because that’s where I picked up on Folk big time – both in Ireland and England. Many discovers to discuss – to the tunes…

CD1: The Box Set opens with a string of rare Topic Records EP tracks and the occasional Skiffle single thrown in. On the A-side of the scene-changing 3-track EP "3 / 4 AD" issued in 1962 by Davy Graham and Alexis Korner was "Angi" which Bert Jansch returns to in 1964 for his self-titled debut album – it's a clever inclusion (Track 12) and harks back to the sound Graham got on "3 / 4 AD" (Track 2) that influenced so many guitar players and not just those in the strict realms of Folk and Traditionals. I would admit that it might be hard going for the unsympathetic ear to wade through brae Lasses and twa Corbies as the songs flirt around poverty and drink and emigration and the ruling class always keeping the workers down. But there is no denying the beauty of an Acapella Anne Briggs wrapping her deeply expressive pipes around "She Moves Through The Fair" – a Traditional so emotive it is likely to well up even the hardest of hearts.

The legendary characters and vocalists Ronnie Drew and Luke Kelly of The Dubliners rollick through "The Rocky Road To Dublin" – not something I ever liked truth be told (too many drunken sots). Things get sweeter with Peggy Seeger on Guitar accompanying Ewan MacColl on the lovely and lonely "Song of The Iron Road", Producer Bill Leader letting their steeped-in-the-history-of-it-all talents shine. I have never seen the 1964 album "Steam Whistle Ballads" from whence the song comes – rarity ahoy. But everything truly moves up a notch with Bob Dylan – The Ian Campbell Folk Group doing for Bob what the Byrds did in the USA – stamping his generation-appealing lyrics on their cover of "The Times They Are A-Changin'". This is not a tired anthem in 1964 – you can feel that they believe in it and his hopes for a better world let alone America – dream or no. The Three City Four group had two great songwriters – Leon Rosselson (Vocals and Banjo) and Martin Carthy (Guitar) and again is an album I have never seen.

Julie Felix becomes the first Stereo track on CD1 with "Geordie" from her September 1966 "Changes" LP on Fontana – the kind of platter that was common in collections when I was buying back in the day (Martin Carthy on Guitar with a pre Fairports Dave Swarbrick on Fiddle). Things get fruity (when have they ever) when Albert Lancaster Lloyd (A.L. Lloyd to you) brings us "The Two Magicians" – a witty sexpot of a tune. The unheard-of Bandoggs had Nic Jones on Lead Vocals and Guitar while once again the long shadow on Martin Carthy shows up for the Leon Rosselson and Roy Bailey song "The Ant And The Grasshopper" (he plays guitar). And on CD2 goes to New Folk types like Steve Ashley and the kitchen-sink ensemble New Victory Band giving it some Melodeon, Hammer Dulcimer, Tuba, Whistle and Banjo on their cover of a Traditional. 

CD3 and CD4 are my faves and go-to plays: CD3 starts in 1979 but is dominated by the Eighties when both Folk and World Music were undergoing resurgences even before Peter Gabriel and Paul Simon made them hip. Traditional Scottish Pipes care of Duncan MacGillivray give the Battlefield Band track a welcome feel as its glorious sound is soon backed up by fiddles and gentle underlining Dulcimer rhythms (and in glorious audio too). Richard Thompson has a go at Duke Ellington for his brilliant acoustic guitar instrumental cover of "Rockin' In Rhythm", June Tabor gets all graveyard dramatic in her impressive Acapella "Abyssinians" album track "Lay This Body Down", Vin Garbutt does the Rudyard Kipling song "If" in an Acapella Ye Olde Englande hop-trip voice, while Martin Simpson reaches back to the 60ts Pop of Cat Stevens for his instrumental cover of "The First Cut Is The Deepest" – a truly lovely slide version done on steel guitars that I return too again and again (stunning production). Lightening the mood after the virtuoso slide steel playing of Simpson, "Handsome Johnny" is a jolly tune about a lad who has won a maid and her heart if only she could her sailor to settle down and leave the sea alone. 

Genuine jiggery-pokery lyrical brilliance comes from Rory McLeod as he goes through more brilliant observational rhymes than five Bob Dylan albums – his assessment of politicians and governments doing us in – on the money as he rips up the Harmonica too. Dick Gaughan and his fantastic vocals and guitar playing impresses no end on "Erin-Go-Bragh" which roughly translates into Beautiful or Good Ireland (Brian McNeill on Fiddle and Phil Cunningham on Whistle). Button Accordion anchors the pretty-fair-maid jaunt that is "The Maid & The Palmer" – the kind of dancing Folk that is forgotten but shouldn’t be (bourn the man nine children). You gotta love a group that calls their album "Bobbityshooty" and then gives you a cacophony of Hurdy-Gurdy, Bassoon and Melodeon with some mad Pipes thrown in for to make the hangover worse. Proper bellows return with the Northumberland Small Pipes of "A B Hornpipe…" from a clearly enamoured Kathryn Tickell (gorgeous audio). Plaintive acoustic guitar softens things with "Another Train" – Pete Morton trying to cheer up a person who feels their chance is past, but there is always another set of rolling stocks to take you on to somewhere better. 

Both Swan Arcade and The Silly Sisters put in two powerful Acapella performances – the first to do with the Miner Strikes from a seldom-seen Charity CD Compilation while Maddy Prior and June tabor of Silly Sisters are joined by several musicians on the beautifully recorded "Blood & Gold / Mohacs". CD3 romps home – Andy Irvine of Planxty and Paul Brady fame heads up Patrick Street singing about Patrick Street of Newry Town with other Irish Folk legends bringing up the rear – Kevin Burke of The Bothy Band on Fiddle, Arty McGlynn on Guitar and Jackie Daly on Accordion. A mastering error places Patrick Street at Track 17 and Andrew Cronshaw at Track 18 (I have reflected this in the list above). Andrew Cronshaw mixes Lead Guitars and Whistles and Fiddles with Donal Lunny tapping a Bass Bodhran in a song that sounds like Ry Cooder has decided to electrify Irish Traditionals and American Swamp chants (Martin Simpson is the one with the Cooder axe). Altan are cool but they are outdone by a gorgeous Mouth Music song where lead vocalist Talitha Mackenzie gives it some Lisa Gerrard and Gladiator soundtrack via Kate Bush Handsome Cabin Boy channelling with floating soundscapes for the ethereal "Fraoch A Ronaigh" – ending CD3 on a total high.

Opening CD4 is the most beautiful ballad – American Emmylou Harris, Brit Dolores Keane and Irish lady Mary Black floating in three-voice beauty over the Cyril Tawney song "The Grey Funnel Line". Produced by Bothy Band luminary and Irish Folk legend Donal Lunny – it turned up on the 1991 Irish immigration project "Bringing It All Back Home". Irish musician Declan Sinnott plays all instruments but most of it is low hum in the background that produces an almost filmic melancholy. A lonely worker pining for his gal so far away – it benefits from pinprick gorgeous production. Following that is the upbeat Jez Lowe & The Bad Pennies and his own World Music song "A Call For The North Country". Another plaintive ballad comes with "Reconciliation" – Ron Kavana sounding not unlike Liam Ó Maonlai of Hothouse Flowers fame – a lovely tune with Terry Woods of The Woods Band on Concertina. 

Living in Egypt Land, The House Band sees Ged Foley and Chris Parkinson harmonize fabulous vocals on "Pharoah" – all working for the big chief in his chair of gold. Woodwork squeaks and "Out Come The Freaks" – Chris Wood strumming his fiddle like it’s a mandolin on a five-minute tale of a Vietnam vet struggling to cope while his girl becomes a stripper (gorgeous audio). Billy Bragg gives us a prettier than usual "Moving The Goalposts". The softness continues but moves back to Traditionals when Norma Waterson takes lead vocals on "When I First Came To California" – Eliza Carthy providing Fiddle while Martin Carthy picks an expert acoustic guitar – such a lovely sound and sentiment – the lyrics aching for love and home (paper from Pennsylvania and ink from Cali-forn-nigh-ay). Fiddle player Angus Grant of the wonderfully named Shogglenifty is obviously channeling his inner Velvet Underground when he changes Venus In Furs into "Venus In Tweeds" – the instrumental shuffling along like a Corrs whig-out - sweet. 

Hogging a stage together, Pete Zorn plays Flute beside Richard Thompson as he does a live Acoustic Guitar rendition of "Beeswing". The tale of a lost young love that got away because of drink and tempers may be live, but it's elevated because of it – the lyrics and story and flute solos crammed with urgency and beauty. A typically brilliant performance by the Fairport Convention mainman – a rare thing indeed as the lyrics go. Dervish are huge in Ireland – Cathy Jordan on Lead Vocals for the Traditional "Molly & Johnny". Backed up by four quality musicians and toppermost Production – there's is very much an updated-Bothy Band feel – stories wrapped around hop-skip tunes. Ian Carr plays guitar on the Kate Rusby tune "The Cobbler's Daughter" while Eliza Carthy brings it all home with a lovely "10,000 Miles" – the Scottish Traditional that Mary Chapin Carpenter did so effectively for the "Fly Away Home" movie.

To sum up - I know that much of the early Sixties material on CD1 will not appeal to many over the age of 30 – too Traditional – too finger-in-ear perhaps. But anyone willing to give this set a chance will find so much more to discover and love. The Folk Tradition and Folk-Rock offshoots have produced incredible talent – male and female – and that's what leaps off the lovely 4CD crapshoot that is "The Acoustic Folk Box". 

Maybe make a date with The Cobbler's Daughter – you might be surprised how well that ancient-to-now shoe will fit…

PS: see also my review of the 7CD Book Set "Three Score & Ten: A Voice To The People – 70 Years Of The Oldest Independent Record Label In Great Britain – Topic Records" from October 2009 – another bountiful and surprising vaults haul…

"I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight" by RICHARD and LINDA THOMPSON (2004 Island Remasters 'Expanded Edition' CD) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...A Butterfly For A Day..."

There's an argument that 'anything' on Island Records (no matter which decade) has musical value and should be in your collection as a matter of necessity - and a real man (that's me) would shed a big girl's blouse full of puffy Laura Ashley tears if this were not the case (I’m baring my gorilla-like chest as I type this). Sat proudly amidst those wise musical decisions would of course be the first two albums from 1971 and 1972 by Fairport Convention and Fotheringay's vocalist Sandy Denny - and Richard Thompson's own "Henry The Fly" from 1972.

But somehow the three albums this staggeringly good British guitarist and songwriter made in the mid Seventies with his then wife Linda (nee Peters) - "I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight" (1974), "Hokey Pokey" and "Pour Down Like Silver" (both from 1975) – weren't so much publicly overlooked at the time of release - but as I recall - almost outright ignored - and on both sides of the pond. As with the two LPs that followed "I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight" - the critics raved about them but the public just stayed away...

But time has changed all that - seeing both the influential and terminally hip Mojo and Rolling Stone magazines including "Bright Lights" in their '100 Greatest Albums Ever Made' lists. And returning to it and Island Records in general in the sunny halls of 2016 - a full 42 years after the event - I'm down with those retro-periodical assessments. I'd truly forgotten just how good "I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight" is as an album. And it has to be said this 2004 'Island Remasters' CD Reissue has done that criminally overlooked LP a proper solid on all fronts (a big audio improvement too on the March 1993 version).

Let's wipe away the condensation - here are the details...

UK released April 2004 - "I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight" by RICHARD and LINDA THOMPSON on Island Remasters IMCD 304 / 981 790-7 (Barcode 602498179079) is an 'Expanded Edition' CD Remaster of the 1974 10-track LP with Three Bonus Tracks added on and plays out as follows (53:24 minutes):

1. When I Get To The Border

2. The Calvary Cross

3. Withered And Died

4. I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight

5. Down Where The Drunkard's Roll

6. We Sing Hallelujah [Side 2]

7. Has He Got A Friend For Me

8. The Little Beggar Girl

9. The End Of The Rainbow

10. The Great Valerio

Tracks 1 to 10 are his 2nd solo LP "I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight" - released April 1974 in the UK and USA on Island Records ILPS 9266. Produced by RICHARD THOMPSON and JOHN WOOD - it failed to chart in either country.

BONUS TRACKS (Previously Unreleased):

11. I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight (Live)

12. Together Again (Live)

13. The Calvary Cross (Live)

Tracks 11 to 13 recorded live at The Roundhouse, London on 7 September 1975. As well as Richard & Linda Thompson - the band included John Kirkpatrick, Pat Donaldson and Dave Mattacks.

Musicians:

RICHARD THOMPSON - All Guitars and Lead Vocals (Backing and Duet Vocals on "Down Where The Drunkards Roll" and "The Little Beggar Girl")

LINDA THOMPSON - Lead Vocals on "Withered And Died", "I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight", "Down Where The Drunkards Roll", "Has He Got A Friend For Me?", "The Great Valerio" and Duet Vocals with Richard on "The Little Beggar Girl"

SIMON NICOL - Dulcimer

JOHN KIRKPATRICK - Anglo Concertina and Accordion

BRIAN GULLAND and RICHARD HARVEY - Klummhorn

PAT DONALDSON - Bass

DAVE MATTACKS - Drums

ROYSTON WOOD, TREVOR LUCAS and CWS (Manchester) SILVER BAND - Backing Vocals

Original April 2004 issues of this CD came in a natty-looking card slipcase (reissues just have the jewel case) - both issues have a 12-page booklet with the lyrics from the original LP's inner sleeve, musician credits and short but heartfelt and informative set of liner notes by DAVID SUFF of Fledg'ling Records - a reissue label with a long Fairport Convention history. The only slightly stupid and obvious glitch is the Pink Island label with the Black and Orange ‘Eye’ logo on the CD itself – a label variant that's only found on late Sixties Island LPs in the UK - it should be the Pink-Rim Palm-Tree Island records logo to repro the original 1974 LP. It doesn't say who did the remaster (maybe Denis Blackham at Skye Mastering) or where - but my God is it good. Every track on this Folk-Rock masterpiece feels new and in your face for all the right reasons. Tons of presence and a huge sound...

It opens with the upbeat Folk-Rock of "When I Get To The Border" - Thompson's guitar chopping and chiming like a goodun as the melody ambles on. The magnificent "Calvary Cross" has the most amazing warbling electric lead guitar - a sort of tremulous English Blues Folk-Rock chug that feels so heavy as it plays - ten-ton bricks in its hurting guts (hardly surprising to see a live cut of this fan-fave included as a Bonus Track). "Withered And Died" is beautiful and sad - a butterfly for a day tale. Not surprisingly this lilting song was chosen as the album's representative on the 2006 Island Records Folk-Rock 3CD Box Set "Meet Me On The Ledge". Those Klummhorns provided by Royston Wood and Trevor Lucas on the title-track "I Want To See The Bright Lights" gives it a colliery brass band feel – it’s rhythm playfulness - like it’s a debutante at a ball itching to dance. It's also at this point that you notice the lyrics - earthy, fun, working man observant - they floor you. Side 1 ends with such a feeling as the gorgeous "Down Where The Drunkards Roll" with Linda on Lead Vocals. I’ve always thought it a masterpiece – lonely yet moving.

Thompson opens Side 2 starts with a very Fairport vocal on "We Sing Hallelujah" - a rowdy-dowdy old-fashioned melody that feels hundreds of years old (very clever doubled voices). In direct contrast comes the 'Saturday night and I'm all alone' sadness of "Has He Got A Friend For Me" where Linda sounds like a lost teenager rather a happily married woman. With big acoustic guitars and a concertina as its base - the song has a sound Paul Brady would get on his magnificent Irish Folk LP "Welcome Here Kind Stranger" (September 1978 on Mulligan Records) - another winner when it comes to melodies. "The Little Beggar" At times BL feels like the great album Fairport Convention should have made in 1974 but never did. Taking money off snobs sings "The Little Beggar Girl" - the most Traditional Folk song on the album - mandolins and jaunt abound. Another one of the album secret gems is the desperately bleak social commentary of "The End Of The Rainbow" - a song sung by Richard about a child subject to a brutish father - only half protected by a mother who is trying her hardest - but Richard only sees an inevitable hurting future for the kid. The album ends with Linda doing the ballad "The Great Valerio" - a high-wire walker - we the people watching from below as this balancing hero keeps his eye on the target of the other side.

Amidst the three Bonus Tracks is a sharply recorded ten-minute version of "Calvary Cross" – the live band in fine form as Richard stretches out on those solos to the clear delight of the crowd. But even better is Linda's lusty vocal on the Buck Owens Country classic "Together Again" – her Patsy Cline vocals followed by great guitar playing from RT - these two alone making the extras feeling like real bonuses and not just reissue filler...

I've always thought that Richard and Linda Thompson's "I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight" was part Fairport Convention on top form combined with that second album Fotheringay never made - and that's a combo I'll take any day of any week. 

And at under a fiver online in 2016 - "I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight" by RICHARD and LINDA THOMPSON is a big old classic for very small change...

"Rendezvous" by SANDY DENNY (2005 Universal/island 'Expanded' CD - Denis Blackham Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...I'm A Dreamer..."

"Rendezvous" features Steve Winwood of Track, John “Rabbit” Bundrick of Free, 

Jess Roden of Bronco and members of both Fairport Convention and Fotheringay

Her fifth and final solo LP (six including her stay with "Fotheringay" in 1970) was released in the UK in May 1977 to widespread public indifference and press bewilderment and would unfortunately prove to be her swan-song. Because of its deliberately 'modern' sound and the heavy-on-the-sauce productions on some numbers – "Rendezvous" has been applauded and berated in equal measure. But at least this gorgeous CD remaster gives it another chance. And I'd argue too damn right. Because as alway it's the good stuff with Sandy Denny that stays with you and obliterates all the rest. Here are the details for England's finest Lady Singer...

UK released May 2005 (reissued August 2007) – "Rendezvous" by SANDY DENNY on Universal/Island IMCD316 / 982 802-4 (Barcode 602498280249) is an 'Expanded Edition' CD Remaster and plays out as follows (58:40 minutes):

1. I Wish I Was A Fool For You (For Shame Of Doing Wrong)

2. Gold Dust

3. Candle In The Wind

4. Take Me Away

5. One Way Donkey Ride

6. I'm A Dreamer [Side 2]

7. All Our Days

8. Silver Threads And Golden Needles

9. No More Sad Refrains

Tracks 1 to 9 are her fifth and final album "Rendezvous" – released May 1977 in the UK on Island Records ILPS 9433. Produced by Trevor Lucas – all songs are Sandy Denny originals except "I Wish I Was A Fool For You (For Shame Of Doing Wrong)" by Richard Thompson, "Candle In The Wind" by Elton John and "Silver Threads And Golden Needles" by Jack Rhodes and Dick Reynolds (covered by The Springfields, Linda Ronstadt and Fotheringay).

BONUS TRACKS:

10. Still Waters Run Deep – a Sandy Denny original non-album B-side to "Candle In The Wind" - released May 1977 in the UK on Island WIP 6391 ('DJ Promo' copies only)

11. Full Moon – Previously Unreleased Outtake originally issued on the January 1986 4LP/3CD Box Set "Who Knows Where The Times Goes" on Island SDSP 100

12. I’m A Dreamer (Demo) – recorded at home, Byfield, Northants in March 1976. First issued on the October 2004 5CD Box Set "A Boxful Of Treasures" on Fledg'ling Records NEST 5002

13. Easy To Slip – a Little Feat cover version

14. Moments – a Bryn Haworth cover version

Tracks 13 and 14 first appeared on the 1995 Australian CD compilation "The Attic Tracks 1972-1984" for Sandy Denny and Trevor Lucas on Raven RVCD-46

As with all of these superb Sandy Denny CD reissues on Island's 'mid price' series – the project was researched and co-ordinated by DAVID SUFF and TIM CHACKSFIELD with assistance from JOE BACK at Universal. There’s a very tasteful card slipcase, a Pink Island label on the CD (that should actually be an Orange label to match 1977 and not the 1969 Pink-Eye variant) and hand-written lyrics from "So More Sad Refrains" on the inlay beneath the see-through CD tray. The 12-page booklet features brief but informative liner notes from Fledg'ling Records head honcho and Sandy fan DAVID SUFF - as well as repros of hand-written lyrics and music charts (the lyrics to the songs that were on the vinyl insert are also there too). But the big news is a Remaster by a fave Engineer of mine – DENIS BLACKHAM of Skye Mastering. And what a gorgeous job he's done. This CD sounds superb and is also one of those instances where the BONUS TRACKS tip the purchase into a 'must have'...

From the wind-in-her-hair against a city backdrop artwork and the opening keyboard-rock of Richard Thompson's "I Wish Was A Fool For You..." and the funked-up Miles Davis trumpet of "Gold Dust" – it's clear that this album trying real hard to leave 'Folk' behind – and kind of succeeding. You're also aware of the huge number of instruments and players present. Although it doesn't say who exactly plays on what – the big name luminaries impress - Steve Winwood of Traffic, John 'Rabbit' Bundrick of Free, Jess Roden of Bronco, Jerry Donahue, Richard Thompson, Dave Mattacks and Bob Pegg of Fairport Convention, Billy Lively of Ronnie Lane's Slim Chance, Pat Donaldson of Fotheringay, Bob Weston of Fleetwood Mac and even Reggae artist Junior Murvin. Not to be outdone by these band playing upstarts – the Backing Singers included a neat roll call too - Benny Gallagher and Graham Lyle of Gallagher & Lyle, famed session lady Sue Glover, Sunny Wheatman of 6ts female duo act Sue & Sunny, Kay Gardner of The Ladybirds and the wonder-larynx of Claire Torry whose vocals blew everyone away on Pink Floyd's "The Great Gig In The Sky" from 1973's "The Dark Side Of The Moon".

Sandy's dreadful cover of "Candle In The Wind" is an undoubted and much-derided clunker – and one can only wonder what Island was thinking releasing it as a 7" single to represent the album (four years after Elton's original nailed it in 1973). I've only ever seen 'DJ Promo' copies of WIP 6391 (and they're rare) – so I guess it was withdrawn and never made the stock copy stage. Far better is her self-penned non-album B-side "Still Waters Run Deep" (Track 10 in the Bonuses) – a jaunty tune with great female backing vocals that would surely have fitted better on the LP rather than the mawkish "Candle...”. The slow but wonderfully Soulful "Take Me Away" (credited as "Take Me Away The Load" in the booklet for some reason) is one of my poisons – a masterpiece that showcases her warm voice, songwriting talent and yet still manages to modernise her sound (I'd love to know who plays that great lead guitar - doesn’t sound like Richard Thompson). "One Way Donkey Ride" is cited by fans as another nugget and rightly so.

It's not surprising that the lushly-orchestrated "I'm A Dreamer" was chosen as the album's representative track on the 2009 "Meet On The Ledge" 3CD Box Set celebrating the Folk-Rock of Island Records – it's a highlight on here. "All Our Days" has a touch of the Kate Bush in its ambitious orchestration – a forgotten gem. "Silver Threads And Golden Needles" was a minor hit for The Springfields (with Dusty Springfield) way back in September 1962 (No. 20 in the US charts) while Linda Ronstadt covered it too on her April 1969 debut solo LP "Hand Sown...Home Grown". Sandy's own UK folk band Fotheringay would release a version of it on the belated album project "Fotheringay 2" in 2008 – the supposed 2nd LP from 1970 that never was. That 2008 version is similar to the languid feel of the "Rendezvous" take just minus the colliery band backing (some prefer it). The "Rendezvous" LP ends on "No More Sad Refrains" – a sophisticated love song that is perhaps too loaded down with syrupy strings.

When you hear how good both "Still Waters Run Deep" and the gorgeous ballad "Full Moon" are ("...tonight is like the fist night we met...") – it's pretty damn clear that mistakes were made in choosing "Gold Dust" or "Candle In The Wind" as LP tracks instead. It's arguable that had "Full Moon" been released as a UK 7" single – surely radio would have picked up on its beauty? Her 'Demo' of "I'm A Dreamer" is hissy for sure but that's more than wiped away by the delicacy of the performance – her and a piano – gorgeous. The final two bonuses are cover versions – Little Feat's "Easy To Slip" (from 1973's "Sailin Shoes") and Bryn Haworth's "Moments" (from 1978's "Grand Arrival"). The Little Feat cover just doesn't really work (they had such a unique sound) but the beauty of Haworth's "Moments" makes for a more satisfying listen – a sweet little melody with great guitar-work (I wish someone would pair Haworth's A&M albums "Grand Arrival" from 1978 with 1979's "Keep The Ball Rolling" onto 1CD).

After 1975's "Rising For The Moon" and 1977's "Rendezvous" failed commercially – both her former muckers Fairport Convention and Sandy Denny herself were dropped by Island Records – out in the wilderness so to speak. After a freak accident in a friend's home in the spring of the following year (she fell down some stairs) - Sandy went into a coma and horribly - a brain haemorrhage took her not long after.

Alexandra Elene MacLean Denny passed 21 April 1978 – gone too soon – a voice many considered too beautiful for words. This last stab at commerciality might have offended purists at the time with its cod Reggae and overdone productions in places. But over time – the beauty-moments on "Rendezvous" have revealed themselves to be more than the whole. And it's a cheap too as a Remaster.

"...Miss you more than I can say..." - Sandy sang on the beautiful love song "Full Moon". Set up a meeting with this underrated and forgotten album...because I reckon the good bits are going to improve your listening world big time...

PS: see reviews for "Fotheringay" (1970) and her 1972 debut on Island Records "Sandy"