Plenty of opportunities for new folk discoveries
J. Ross | Roseburg, OR USA | 08/22/2004
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Calling itself "The Ultimate Folk Collection," one must determine whether this 3-CD set released in 1999 from the United Kingdom includes the fundamentally significant folk music repertoire. Certainly Donovan's 1965 hit, "Catch the Wind" belongs in such a collection. As does Ralph McTell's best known song, "Streets of London." Pentangle, a British folk group that included Bert Jansch and John Renbourn, incorporated jazz into their folk stylings, and some still wonder if they ever lived up to their expectations. Jansch and Renbourne as soloists are also featured on a few cuts on this collection. I`m happy to see the inclusion of The Johnstons, an Irish folk group of the late 60s/early 70s which included Paul Brady, Mick Moloney, Adrienne and Lucki Johnston. They popularized a number of great songs, including Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now" which is included here. Stefan Grosman, the virtuoso guitarist from Brooklyn, was a revivalist of sorts. "Candyman" is a favorite song which I think was originally from Blind Blake. Gerry Rafferty is a Scottish singer/songwriter and folk rock guitarist who worked with Billy Connolly in The Humblebums. I haven't heard The Young Tradition in years. They were a U.K. folk group in the sixties with Peter Bellamy, Heather Wood, Royston Wood. They took their name from a club (The Grand Tradition) and they incorporated elements of Balkan and American sacred harp singing into their sound.
Folk aficionados are bound to make some new discoveries among the over 3 hours of music here. You don't need to be an expert on the UK's folk scene in the 60s/70s to enjoy these selections. While some big names are included, there are others who didn't achieve the same notoriety yet they provided very good folk music: Gryphon, Dransfield, Gordon Giltrap, Finbar, The McCalmans, Hamlish Imlach, Dransfield, Decameron, Mr. Fox, Richard Digance, The Spinners, Walt Nicol, Isla Cameron, Black Country Three, Carolanne Pegg, Matt McGinn, Alex Campbell, Archie Fisher, and Storyteller. From that perspective, this collection introduced me to a number of groups that I had heard much from ... or, in some cases, never heard.
It's unfortunate that this collection was produced without any liner notes. What is this collection's intent? Vision? How did they pick which songs and artists to feature? Sure would've been nice to add a few sentences about each of the artists. Sorry I don't have the time to research them all so take this collection for what it is... a budget-priced value of 60s folk music primarily from the U.K. Pick one up now so you're ready for the next folk revival when it hits soon. (Joe Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now)
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Track Listings (20) - Disc #1