Superb Final Album from the Watersons
Robert R. Hudson | Grand Rapids, MI | 01/16/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This was the final full-length album recorded by the Watersons, and while it is not one of their most accessible recordings, it is one of their most rewarding. Not as immediately appealing as some of the other albums (notably FROST AND FIRE and FOR PENCE AND SPICY ALE -- their two acknowledged masterpieces), it rewards the patient listener. Its beauties reveal themselves after repeated listenings: such as the subtle major-minor shift on the chorus of "Prickle-Holly Bush" (the only Watersons' song, by the way, on which Martin Carthy sings lead vocal), the infectious melody of "Young Banker," and the rascally pathos of "Hare's in the Old Plantation." The Watersons' repute would have suffered little had they never recorded this album, for indeed, their greatest, most influential recordings were already behind them. But this final album remains an lesser-known masterpiece and a fitting farewell to one of the most original choral folk groups of the entire folk revival."