"Milk Of The Tree: An Anthology Of Female Vocal Folk & Singer-Songwriters 1966-73" by VARIOUS ARTISTS (June 2017 Grapefruit 3CD Box Set) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Give Her The Day..."

Like many collectors and fans of the late 60ts and early 70ts - I've been singing the praises of Cherry Red's 'Grapefruit' label for some time now. I acquired and reviewed two three-CD sets they did in late 2016 called "I'm A Freak, Baby" and "Let's All Go Down And Blow Our Minds" - wads of Heavy Psych, Hard Rock and 1967 Trippy Vibes.

Well here comes another threesome but this time with a more gentile theme and a far wider range. "Milk Of The Tree..." offers up 60 songs from female trailblazers primarily in the Folk and Folk-Rock fields between 1966 and 1973 – some well known names and many that shouldn't be forgotten. I've been looking forward to this Mini Box Set for some months now and in the main it hasn't disappointed. Here are the Ladies Of The Canyon...

UK released Friday, 30 June 2017 (7 July 2017 in the USA) - "Milk Of The Tree: An Anthology Of Female Vocal Folk and Singer-Songwriters 1966-73" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Cherry Red/Grapefruit CRSEGBOX039 (Barcode 5013929183902) is a 60-Track 3CD Mini Box Set compilation of Remasters that plays out as follows:

Disc 1 (74:45 minutes):
1. Do You Believe - MELANIE (from the November 1972 US LP "Stoneground Words" on Neighborhood NRS 47005)
2. Blessed Are... - JOAN BAEZ (from the July 1971 US 2LP set "Blessed Are..." on Vanguard VSD 6570/1)
3. Light Flight - THE PENTANGLE (from the October 1969 UK 7" single on Transatlantic/Big T Records BIG 128, A-side)
4. Foolish Seasons - DANA GILLESPIE (from the October 1968 US Stereo LP "Foolish Seasons" on London PS 540)
5. Someone To Talk My Troubles To - JUDY RODERICK (from the December 1965 US LP "Woman Blue" on Vanguard VSD 79197)
6. Auntie Aviator - JOHN and BEVERLEY MARTYN (from the December 1970 UK LP "The Road To Ruin" on Island ILPS 9133)
7. Flying Away - THE SERPENT POWER (from the December 1967 US Stereo LP "The Serpent Power" on Vanguard VSD 79252)
8. It Could Have Been Better - JOAN ARMATRADING (from her debut November 1972 UK LP "Whatever's For Us" on Cube Records HIFLY 12)
9. Morning Morgantown - JUDE [featuring the Fickle Pickle] (Not originally issued, recorded mid 1970)
10. If Not By Fire - MANDY MORE (from the June 1972 UK LP "But That Is Me" on Phillips 6308 109)
11. Upstairs By A Chinese Lamp - LAURA NYRO (from the November 1970 US LP "Christmas And The Beads Of Sweat" on Columbia KC 30259)
12. I Thought I Knew The Answers - SUSAN PILLSBURY (from the November 1973 US LP "Susan Pillsbury" on Sweet Fortune SFS 804)
13. Give Her The Day - JAKI WHITREN (March 1973 UK 7" single on Epic S EPC 1338, A-side)
14. By The Sea - WENDY & BONNIE [Wendy & Bonnie Flowers] (from the June 1969 US LP "Genesis" on Skye Records SK 10060)
15. Come And Stay With Me - JACKIE DeSHANNON (from the November 1968 US Stereo LP "Laurel Canyon" on Imperial LP 12415)
16. Something Better - MARIANNE FAITHFULL (February 1969 UK withdrawn 7" single on Decca F 12889, B-side of "Sister Morphine")
17. An Everyday Consumption Song - SPIROGYRA [feat Barbara Gaskin on Lead Vocals] (from the April 1973 UK LP "Bells, Boots And Shambles" on Polydor 2310 246)
18. The Milk Of The Tree - POLLY NILES (not originally issued, recorded circa August 1969)
19. Chelsea Girls - NICO (from the October 1967 US LP "Chelsea Girl" on Verve V 5032)
20. Reverie For Roslyn - MARY-ANNE [Mary-Anne Paterson] (from the April 1970 UK LP "Me" on Joy Records JOYS 162)

Disc 2 (72:34 minutes):
1. Different Drum - THE STONE PONEYS [featuring Linda Ronstadt on Lead Vocals] (September 1967 USA 7" single on capitol 2004, A-side)
2. Please (MK. II) - ECLECTION (November 1968 USA 7" single on Elektra 45046, A-side)
3. Five Of Us - JADE [featuring Marian Segal on Lead Vocals] (from the July 1970 UK LP "Fly On Strangewings" on DJM Records DJLPS 407)
4. Who Has Seen The Wind? - THE SIMON SISTERS [Carly and Lucy Simon] (from the April 1969 US LP "The Simon Sisters Sing The Lobster Quadrille And Other Songs For Children" on Columbia CC 24506)
5. Jesus Was A Crossmaker - JUDEE SILL (October 1971 US 7" single on Asylum AS 11000, A-side)
6. January's Snow - THE WOODS BAND [featuring Gay and Terry Woods] (from the December 1971 UK LP on Greenwich GSLP 1004)
7. In My Loneliness - TRADER HORNE [featuring Judy Dyble on Lead Vocals] (from the March 1970 UK LP "Morning Way" on Dawn DNLS 3004)
8. Society's Child (Baby I've Been Thinking) - JANIS IAN (September 1966 USA 7" single on Verve Folkways KF 5027, A-side)
9. I Was - LILY & MARIA [Lily Fiszman and Maria Neumann] (from the October 1968 US LP "Lily & Maria" on Columbia CS 9707)
10. Feeling High - MELLOW CANDLE (August 1968 UK 7" single on SNB Records 55-3645, A-side)
11. Tomorrow Come Someday - TOMORROW COME SOMEDAY (from the January 1970 UK Privately-Pressed LP "Tomorrow Come Someday" on Sound News Productions SNP 97/98)
12. My Silk And Fine Array - JULIE COVINGTON (from the album "The Beautiful Changes" on Columbia SCX 6466)
13. Red Wine And Promises - NORMA WATERSON (November 1972 UK 7" single on Transatlantic/Big T Records BIG 507, A-side)
14. Mr. Fox - MR. FOX (from the November 1970 UK LP "Mr. Fox" on Transatlantic TRA 226)
15. The Dream Tree - BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE (from the September 1969 US LP "Illuminations" on Vanguard VSD 79300)
16. Munching The Candy - THE ACADEMY featuring POLLY PERKINS (March 1969 UK 7" single on Morgan Blue Town BTS 2, A-side)
17. Late November - SANDY DENNY (from the May 1971 LP "The North Star Grassman And The Ravens" on Island ILPS 9165)
18. Tomorrow Your Sorrow - HENDRICKSON ROAD HOUSE (from the December 1970 US LP "Hendrickson Road House" on Two: Dot Records HRH 81670)
19. Mornings - CHUCK & MARY PERRIN (from the January 1969 US LP "The Chuck and Mary Perrin Album" on Webster's Last Word Records WLW 2010)
20. Mr. Rubin - LESLEY DUNCAN (from the September 1971 UK LKP "Sing Children Sing" on CBS Records S 64202)

Disc 3 (76:44 minutes):
1. Come Into The Garden - CHIMERA (Not originally issued, recorded circa mid-1970)
2. Early Morning Blues And Greens - DIANE HILDERBRAND (from the December 1968 US LP on Elektra EKS 74031)
3. Rainy Day - SUSAN CHRISTIE (Not originally issued, recorded 1969)
4. Autumn Lullaby - BRIDGET St. JOHN (from the August 1969 UK LP "Ask Me No Questions" on Dandelion 63750)
5. Ballad (Of The Big Girl Now And A Mere Boy) - PRINCIPAL EDWARDS MAGIC THEATRE (December 1969 UK 7" single on Dandelion Records 4405, A-side)
6. Windy - RUTHANN FRIEDMAN (Not originally issued, recorded 1968)
7. The Lonely - DESIGN (from the January 1971 USA LP "Design" on Epic Records E 30224)
8. Mirage - SHELAGH McDONALD (from the November 1970 UK LP "The Shelagh McDonald Album" on B&C Records CAS 1010)
9. Aderyn Llwyd (Sparrow) – MARY HOPKIN (June 1969 UK 7" single on Cambrian CSP 703, A-side. A Gallagher & Lyle song)
10. Love Song - VASHTI BUNYAN (May 1966 UK 7" single on Columbia DB 7917, B-side of "Train Song")
11. Sandman's Song - ANNE BRIGGS (from the November 1971 UK LP "The Time Has Come" on CBS Records S 64612)
12. When Will I Be Loved – THE BUNCH [featuring members of Fairport Convention and Fotheringay including Sandy Denny and Linda Peters who duet on vocals here] (April 1972 UK 7" single on island WIP 6130, A-side. An Everly Brothers cover)
13. The Lady And The Well – CAROLANNE PEGG (from the April 1974 UK LP "Carolanne" on Transatlantic TRA 266)
14. Think Of Rain – MARGO GURYAN (from the October 1968 US LP "Take A Picture" on Bell Records 6022)
15. Story Of Our Time/Beneath This Sky – ITHICA [featuring Peter Howell and John Ferninando] (from the 1973 privately-pressed LP “A Game For All We Know” on Merlin Records HF 6)
16. Murdoch – TREES [featuring Celia Humphries (nee Drummond) on Lead Vocals] (from the February 1971 UK LP “On The Shore” on CBS Records 64168)
17. Banquet On The Water – THE SALLYANGIE [featuring Sally & Mike Oldfield] (from the December 1968 UK LP "Children Of The Sun" on Transatlantic TRA 176)
18. Banquet On The Water – THE SALLYANGIE [featuring Sally & Mike Oldfield on Lead Vocals and Guitars] (from the December 1968 UK LP "Children Of The Sun" on Transatlantic TRA 176)
19. Pass The Night – EMILY MUFF [featuring Kathy Bushnell and Janet Dourit] (Previously Unreleased, recorded April 1972)
20. Morgan The Pirate – MIMI FARINA (from the December 1968 US LP "Memories" on Vanguard VSD 79263)

Compiled and Managed by reissue champs JOHN REED and DAVID WELLS - the 42-page booklet is a feast on both the eyes and the grey matter. Page after page of DAVID WELLS liner notes go deep into the artists and their backgrounds whilst rare 7" single picture sleeves, publicity photos, label repro's, acetates, demo copies and trade adverts all illuminate the text. It's a huge amount of effort and the details often amaze and amuse in equal measure. The mastering has been done by SIMON MURPHY over at Another Planet Music and naturally with so many disparate sources - the Audio varies like wildfire - gorgeous one moment and hissy-acceptable the next. But overall the quality is really good and with many of these ladies recorded by major labels - way better than that...

Disc 1 (Jackie DeShannon pictured) opens on a wee beauty - the slow and moving "Do You Believe" where Melanie Safka warbles out a passionate vocal that feels like a lost epic that shouldn't have gotten overlooked. "...In the shadow of God they sleep...blessed are the huddled hikers staring out at falling rain..." - Joan Baez writes of a confused generation in the double-album "Blessed Are..." - a song where parents are weeping for the young ones who've died in someone else's war far away. Perhaps dreaming of sexier things Dana Gillespie gives us the Simon & Garfunkel-cute "Foolish Seasons" - a very hooky melody where she wishes she could die in the ice cold of her winter heart. Getting older and thinking of all the things she's done - Judy Roderick comes on like a young Joni in "Someone To Talk My Troubles To" while the brilliant "Auntie Aviator" from John and Beverley Martyn only makes me want to listen to absolutely anything on Island Records by the great man and his lovely wife. Yorkshire lass Judith 'Jude' Willey finally gets her demo of Joni Mitchell's "Morning Morgantown" an airing here with the Fickle Pickle acting as her backing band and Mandy More too - but I find both tracks generally weak to what went before.

Not so the soaring Laura Nyro song "Upstairs By A Chinese Lamp" that feels older and wiser than 1970. A rather lovely discovery comes in the form of "I Thought I Knew The Answers" by Susan Pillsbury – a 1973 track that features guitarist Jay Berliner and Bassist Richard Davis who’d famously played on Van the Man’s "Astral Weeks" in 1968. Pillsbury and her vocal style is similar to Tim Buckley (in a good way) and Wells is right to say that Jaki Whitren deserved chart success with the lovely and moving "Give Her The Day" (I used to see the 1973 Epic LP "Raw But Tender" in the racks of Cheapo Cheapo where you couldn’t give it away). Barbara Gaskin and her airy Lead Vocals gives the Acid-Folk of "An Everyday Consumption Song" a period whimsy no man could. The title track for the Box Set "The Milk Of The Tree" turns out to be a John Barry cover – the flipside of “Goldfinger” from way back in 1964 – another lightweight jangle. "Reverie For Roslyn" is a pretty Disc 1 finisher - but the best here for me is the Marianne Faithfull B-side to "Sister Morphine" called "Something Better" – just as brilliant and stinging as the A-side that would eventually become immortalised on "Sticky Fingers" in 1971 by The Stones.  Another discovery on a first disc full of them...

Disc 2 (Buffy Sainte-Marie pictured) opens with the familiar Mike Nesmith melody of "Different Drum" by The Stone Poneys - a band that of course featured future superstar Linda Ronstadt on Lead Vocals (as brilliant a single as ever came out of the late 60's). I can't say I'm enamoured with either the dreadful Simon Sisters or Eclection tracks - might have been better to use the beautiful "My Luv Is Like A Red, Red Rose" with a killer Carly vocal. But those are forgotten once you clap your ears on "Five Of Us" by Jade - or Silver Jade as they're sometimes known. Fronted by a superb vocalist in Marian Segal - the album-track feels like it's Mellow Candle "Swaddling Songs" good and worth every penny of its £200 Rare Record Price Guide valuation. I would have used "The Kiss" instead of "Jesus Was A Crossmaker" - but any Judee Sill is good news in my books. The Gay and Terry Woods Traditional cover of "January's Snows" bears a close resemblance to the melody of the gorgeous "She Moves Through The Fair" and even if it is a bit hissy and badly recorded - it's full of feel and is the kind of Folk-Rock find collectors get weak at the knees about.

Janis Ian shows her extraordinary writing chops in "Society's Child..." - a tune she penned at 14 about a mixed couple who get the authority's interracial tights in a tangle - it's baroque melodrama rhythms incredibly poignant and wise for a song cut in August 1965. Lily Fiszman and Maria Neumann get their (rather hissy) moment with "I Was" - a love song that trembles under the weight of its own search for tenderness. Unreleased or not Tomorrow Come Sunday is fey-Nico and probably better left in the can. Julie Covington successfully blends William Blake with guitar-led Folk Rock on the excellent "My Silks And Fine Array" (great audio too). Updated English Folk starts to show up a lot on Disc 2. "...Fell in the street in a drunken heap...I don’t nobody helping me..." moans Norma Waterson in the brill boozy ballad "Red Wine And Promises" – shameless and gut-hurting real like cheap red wine and the painful morning light. More misery follows as a poor maid falls fowl of the sly and violent "Mr. Fox" who cuts a girl only to have his comeuppance at the teeth of ravenous dogs (nice).

You forget how powerful Buffy Sainte-Marie's voice can be especially when she wraps that tremble around the worries and yearnings of women waiting for their sailor men to return unharmed and whole - long for one who is longing for me in "The Dream Tree". Dodgy substances surface in "Munching The Candy" where The Academy sings with a smile on their collective flower-painted faces. Uber rarities ahoy with Chuck & Mary Perrin and Hendrickson Road House - two US groups the first of which contained Sue Eakins and the second Chuck Perrin of The Shaggs. The HRH track is almost Jazz-Folk with great guitar work while "Mornings" is simple acoustic-guitar and voice folk with a superb lead from Mary Perrin - like The Mamas & Papas doing unplugged - undoubtedly a highlight on here. "Mr. Rubin" comes from Lesley Duncan's wonderful "Sing Children Sing" album from 1971 - a woman whose 'don't vote against love' voice and songwriting talent graced Elton's "Tumbleweed Connection" and Pink Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon". Coupled with Sandy Denny's "Late November" - both highlight the sheer talent and emotional reach amongst the English ladies.

Disc 3 (Vashti Bunyan pictured) opens with an unreleased cut from Lisa Bankoff and Francesca Garnett fronting Chimera as 'children of the sun'. The shadows of Grace Slick's Jefferson Airplane and Sandy Denny's Fairport Convention fill the trippy Folk-Rock soundscape as the guitars and voices chime (Pink Floyd's Drummer Nick Mason was the band's manager). "Early Morning Blues And Greens" brings the musical vibe firmly into Laurel Canyon Americana as Diane Hildebrand awakes to freshly scented sycamores and cold bare feet on someone's hardwood floor (this song was featured on the "Forever Changing: Elektra Records..." 5CD Box Set in 2006). I've loved and reviewed the Bridget St. John material - her Nico-like vocals beguiling again here. The fey hippy 'he walks like a child' track by Principal Edwards Magic Theatre will probably bring some out in a flute-induced rash - better is a trio of goodies from The Association/Jefferson Airplane associated Ruthann Friedman, the wistful acoustic harmony-vocal of Design in their Jimmy Webb-sounding "The Lonely" which has very clever brass jabs and 5th Dimension big choruses. But best is Shelagh McDonald whose "Mirage" track features of wad of cult luminaries - Keith Christmas and Andy Roberts on Guitars, Keith Tippett on Piano with Tristan Fry on Vibes. It even has Robert Kirby who did Nick Drake’s work as the Arranger. It's driving flick-guitar vs. vibes rhythm feels like Fairport crossed with a jazzy Pentangle. I can so hear why this 1970 debut and the "Star Gazer" from 1971 both attract the interest of so many collectors (they clock in at £200 each in 2017 if you can find copies).

The Mary Hopkin track which is a Welsh version of a Gallagher & Lyle song called "Sparrow" has to be one of the most bizarre covers I've ever heard and unfortunately isn't likely to be to anyone’s tastes. Darling of the thousand-pound-LP club Vashti Bunyan gets her moment too from 1966 with the B-side "Love Song" - a pretty ditty that was too lightweight at the time to get noticed. I'm kind of shocked at how good the Bonnie Dobson track is - "Winter's Going" cleverly mixing Sitar and Strings to create a very cool tie-dye hip shaker. Back in the realms of serious money - Anne Briggs' 1971 LP "The Time Has Come" on CBS Records has been escalating in value for years to a point where it now commands a £500 pricetag. But "Sandman's Song" is again a tad underwhelming. Not so the rather brill and strangely poignant cover of The Everly Brothers classic "When Will I Be Loved" by the UK Folk Supergroup 'The Bunch'. Featuring a mishmash of Fairport Convention, Fotheringay and Matthews Southern Comfort at its playing core – out by the mikes The Bunch had the gorgeous vocal-duetting of Sandy Denny and Linda Peters. I recall the Island Records single and album were poo-poo'd at the time by purists - but in hindsight the whole project and this cover in particular have turned out to be lambasted material that absolutely deserves a second go-round. Other winners include Celia Humphries fronting the much-revered Trees on "Murdoch" (the very definition of UK Folk Rock) and an amazingly pretty "Banquet On The Water" by a 15 and 18-year brother and sister team called Sally and Mike Oldfield as The Sallyangie (his playing was utterly extraordinary even then and you can so hear Tubular Bells brewing under the surface).

To sum up - at times "Milk Of The Tree..." is truly wonderful and will definitely get you in touch with the feminine side of your record collection. But at other times and despite all the right credentials being there - the song-selection on each disc just firmly refuses to fly – so for me it’s four stars instead of five.

But having said that there's more than enough here to be seriously impressed and genuinely look forward to Volume 2. Hats off to all involved and big-time praise to all the women and artists who opened the doors all those years ago...

"Let's Go Down And Blow Our Minds: The British Psychedelic Sound Of 1967" (October 2016 Grapefruit 3CD Box Set) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review Along With 300+ Others Is Available In My

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1960s and 1970s MUSIC ON CD - Volume 1 of 3 - Exceptional CD Remasters  

Just Click Below To Purchase for £3.95

Thousands of E-Pages - All Details and In-Depth Reviews From Discs 
(No Cut and Paste Crap)

"...Magic In The Air..."

The Summer of Love's 50th Anniversary has arrived in the Summer Of 2017. Well tickle my pink sideburns and stroke my soggy petunia - let's all run through fields with dandelion-stalks in our mouths toward the chocolate-bar trees with our crocheted doughnuts dangling in the wind while Granny takes a trip on the lysergic love-boat to Lewisham. Yeah baby...

England's 'Grapefruit' label is part of Cherry Red's pantheon of reissue companies and they're dedication to all things Psych, Hard Rock and hairy-bottomed Avant Garde has taken the collector's market by storm. I recently raved about their "I'm A Freak, Baby..." 3CD Box Set from July 2016 that offered up an amazing array of Heavy Psych and Hard Rock from the British Underground Scene between 1968 and 1972. A stone-to-the-bone five-star release if ever there was one – it comes housed in a beautifully presented clamshell box with a chunky booklet and great audio too (see review).

My point is that it was always going to be joined by an equally lunatic but worthy digital sibling. "Let's Go Down And Blow Our Minds..." is that spiritually connected follow-up but this time concentrating on just one pivotal year – 1967. Taking its name from lyrics in the song "Toyland" by The Alan Bown - Grapefruit have even managed to locate a Previously Unissued recording from the darlings of Mega-Money Psych 'Tintern Abbey' - a name that can make some collectors spontaneously genuflect and chant "I am so clearly not worthy..." a worrying number of times.

With a whopping 80-tracks to shake my ageing geranium at - there's a huge amount of detail to wade through. So once more my trippy-hippy paisley-pants wearing friends unto the LSD larynxes, lava lamps and love truncheons of barking-mad Blighty (and that's just Disc 1)...

UK released 20 October 2016 (27 October 2016 in the USA) - "Let's Go Down And Blow Our Minds: The Psychedelic Sounds Of 1967" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Cherry Red/Grapefruit CRSEGBOX033 (Barcode 5013929183308) is an 80-Track 3CD Compilation of Remasters housed in a Mini Clamshell Box Set that plays out as follows:

Disc 1 (77:56 minutes):

1. Toyland - THE ALAN BOWN (October 1967 UK 7" single on MGM Records MGM 1355, A-side)

2. Magic In The Air - THE ATTACK (Not originally issued, recorded late 1967)

3. Sunway (Smokey Pokey World) - THE TICKLE (November 1967 UK 7" single on Regal Zonophone RZ 3004, A-side)

4. I Can See Through You - EPISODE SIX (October 1967 UK 7" single on Pye 7N 17376, A-side. Featured Ian Gillan and Roger Glover of Deep Purple)

5. The Madman Running Through The Fields - DANTALIAN'S CHARIOT (September 1967 UK 7" single on Columbia DB 8260, A-side. Features Zoot Money)

6. Dogs In Baskets - GERANIUM POND (Not original issued, recorded October 1967)

7. Eiderdown Clown - THE SCOTS OF ST. JAMES (September 1967 UK 7" single on Spot Records JW 1, B-side of "Timothy". Bassist Alan Gorrie later formed Average White Band)

8. Dear Delilah - GEORGE ALEXANDER (Previously unissued, recorded circa August 1967, pre Grapefruit Demo)

9. Pink Purple Yellow And Red - THE SORROWS (June 1967 UK 7" single on Piccadilly 7N 35385, A-side)

10. Lazy Man - THE MIRAGE (Not originally issued alternate version, recorded mid-1967)

11. Give Him A Flower - THE CRAZY WORLD OF ARTHUR BROWN (September 1967 UK 7" single on Track 604008, B-side of "Devil's Grip")

12. Tanya - TINTERN ABBEY (Previously unissued, recorded November 1967)

13. Prodigal Son - FLUER-DE-LYS (September 1967 UK 7" single on Polydor 56200, A-side. Featured Guitarist Bryn Haworth)

14. See The People - THE LOMAX ALLIANCE (May 1967 UK 7" single CBS Records 2729, B-side of "Try As You May". Featured Jackie Lomax)

15. Time To Start Loving You - THE MICKEY FINN (December 1967 UK 7" single on Direction 58-3086, B-side of "Garden Of My Mind". The A-side is on the "I'm A Freak, Baby..." 3CD Box Set from July 2016 also on Grapefruit)

16. I Hear The Sun - THE FINGERS (Not originally issued, recorded June 1967. Featured Singer and Guitarist Richard Mills who formed CDR on Track 17) 

17. Nice - CROCHETED DOUGHNUT RING (October 1967 UK 7" single on Polydor 56204, A-side)

18. My House Is Burning - THE GOOD THING BRIGADE (Not originally issued, recorded late 1967)

19. Ice Woman - THE MOTIVES (October 1967 Dutch-Only EP "The World Is A Trapezium" on Telstar Special Products LP 1021, 120 copies only)

20. Look At The Sun - LOUISE (Not originally issued, recorded late 1967). Featured Tony Durrant of Fuchsia and Chris Cutler of Henry Cow)

21. I Won't Hurt You - NEO MAYA (September 1967 UK 7" single on Pye 7N 17371, A-side. A cover of a West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band song)

22. Path Through The Forest - CLIFF WARD (Not originally issued, recorded March 1967. Later had hits "Gaye" and "Wherewithal" as Clifford T. Ward)

23. Sanity Inspector (Single Version) - THE SPENCER DAVIS GROUP (December 1967 UK 7" single on United Artists UP 1203, B-side of "Mr. Second Class")

24. 'Cos It's Over - THE SUMMER SET (October 1967 US 7" single on Roulette R-4766, B-side of "Let's Go To San Francisco")

25. Try Me On For Size - THOSE FADIN' COLOURS (Not originally issued, recorded May 1967. An Electric Prunes cover)

26. Silver Tree Top School For Boys - THE SLENDER PLENTY (September 1967 UK 7" single on Polydor 56189, A-side. An original David Bowie song)

27. Evil Woman - GUY DARRELL (September 1967 UK 7" single on Piccadilly 7N 35408, A-side. A Larry Weiss song also later covered by The Troggs, Canned Heat and Spooky Tooth)

Disc 2 (79:12 minutes):

1. Flames - ELMER GANTRY'S VELVET OPERA (November 1967 UK 7" single on Direction 58-3083, A-side)

2. Double Sight - ONE IN A MILLION (December 1967 UK 7" single on MGM Records 1370, B-side of "Fredereek Hernando")

3. Keep It Out Of Sight - PAUL and BARRY RYAN (February 1967 UK 7" single on Decca F 12567, A-side. Written by Cat Stevens)

4. Defecting Grey - THE PRETTY THINGS (not originally issued full-length version, recorded October 1967. The November 1967 UK 7" single of "Deflecting Grey" ran to 4:28 minutes, here it's extended to 5:12 minutes)

5. Desdemona - JOHN'S CHILDREN (May 1967 UK 7" single on Track 604003, A-side. Featured Marc Bolan of T. Rex)

6. Smokeytime Springtime - THE DOVES (Not originally issued, recorded October 1967)

7. Flowers In Your Hair - JOHN WILLIAMS (August 1967 UK 7" single on Columbia DB 8251, A-side)

8. All So Long Ago - SWEET FEELING (May 1967 UK 7" single on Columbia DB 8195, A-side)

9. Reflections Of Charles Brown - RUPERT'S PEOPLE (July 1967 UK 7" single on Columbia DB 8226, A-side)

10. Toy Soldier - THE RIOT SQUAD featuring David Bowie (Not originally issued, recorded April 1967)

11. The Rise And Fall Of Bernie Gripplestone - THE RATS (Not originally issued, recorded late 1967. Featured Mick Ronson later with Bowie)

12. Something To Write About - CIRCUS (Not originally issued, recorded 1967)

13. Funny Face - DAVE DAVIES (from the September 1967 UK LP "Something Else By The Kinks" on Pye NSPL 18193)

14. Village Green - THE BROOD (Not originally issued, recorded circa September 1967. Produced by Keith Moon and John Entwistle of The Who)

15. Mr. Sun - TONY RIVERS & THE CASTAWAYS (Not originally issued, recorded 1967)

16. Your Servant, Stephen - THE PEEP SHOW (October 1967 UK 7" single on Polydor 56196, A-side)

17. And The Squire Blew His Horn - THE UGLYS (August 1967 UK 7" single on CBS Records 2933, A-side. Written by Steve Gibbons and Jimmie O'Neill)

18. Vote For Me - THE MOVE (Not originally issued, recorded August 1967)

19. A Day In My Mind's Mind - THE HUMAN INSTINCT (December 1967 UK 7" single on Deram DM 167, A-side)

20. She Was Perfection - MURRAY HEAD (May 1967 UK 7" single on Immediate IM 053, A-side)

21. Little Girl Lost And Found - PETER & THE WOLVES (October 1967 UK 7" single on MGM Records MGM 1352, A-side. A cover of The Garden Club hit)

22. Flower Power - BIG JIM SULLIVAN (from the September 1967 US LP "Sitar Beat" on Mercury SR-61137)

23. Kaleidoscope - PROCOL HARUM (Not originally issued Stereo version, recorded July 1967)

24. Crazy Dreams - THE SEARCHERS (November 1967 UK 7" single on Pye 7N 17424, B-side of "Secondhand Dealer")

25. In The Deep End - THE ARTWOODS (April 1967 UK 7" single on Parlophone R 5590, B-side of "What Shall I Do". Featured Keef Hartley, Art Wood (brother of Ronnie) and Jon Lord of Deep Purple)

Disc 3 (76:01 minutes):

1. Finding it Rough - HAT & TIE (January 1967 UK 7" single on President PT 122, B-side to "Bread To Spend" (re-issued April 1967 with sides reversed). Features Patrick Campbell-Lyons (later with England's Nirvana) and Chris Thomas of The Second Thoughts (The White Album and The Sex Pistols)

2. Fashion Conscious - THE FRESH WINDOWS (June 1967 UK 7" single on Fontana TF 839, B-side of "Summer Sun Shines". Written by Brian Barrett - not Syd Barrett as some have claimed)

3. The Addicted Man - THE GAME (January 1967 UK 7" single on Parlophone R 5553, A-side. Withdrawn due to lyrical content)

4. Meditations - FELIUS ANDROMEDA (November 1967 UK 7" single on Decca F 12694, A-side)

5. Delighted To See Me - THE HONEYBUS (Not originally issued Demo Version, recorded April 1967)

6. So Many Times - ICE (October 1967 UK 7" single on Decca F 12680, B-side of "Anniversary (Of Love)". Later became Vertigo Prog rockers Affinity)

7. A Walk In The Sky - THE FLOWER POT MEN (November 1967 UK 7" single on Deram DM 160, A-side)

8. Friends And Mirrors - FIVE'S COMPANY (Not originally issued, recorded May 1967)

9. Family Tree - THE LATE (Not originally issued, recorded late 1967)

10. I Think I Need The Cash - THE SECRETS (June 1967 UK 7" single on CBS Records 2818, B-side of "I Intend To Please". Featured Clifford T. Ward)

11. Schizoid Revolution - SKIP BIFFERTY (Not originally issued, recorded early 1967. Written by Newcastle's Alan Hull later of Lindisfarne)

12. Granny Takes A Trip - THE PURPLE GANG (April 1967 UK 7" single on Transatlantic/Big T Records BIG 101, A-side)

13. Emily Small (The Huge World Thereof) - THE PICADILLY LINE (September 1967 UK 7" single on CBS Records 2958, A-side. Band name deliberately misspelt with one 'c' instead of two to avoid a clash with London Transport)

14. Help Me Please - THE OUTER LIMITS (April 1967 UK 7" single on Deram DM 125, B-side of "Just One More Chance")

15. 'Cept Me - FOCAL POINT (Not originally issued, recorded June 1967. First signings to The Beatles Apple label)

16. Great Shadowy Strange - JADE HEXAGRAM (Not originally issued, recorded November 1967)

17. Busker Bill - THE TRUTH (Not originally issued, recorded mid-1967)

18. Life's Not Life - THE MOODY BLUES (January 1967 UK 7" single on Decca F 12543, A-side. Written by Denny Laine and Michael Pinder)

19. I Can't Get Away From You - DON CRAINE'S NEW DOWNLINERS (February 1967 UK 7" single on Pye 7N 17261, A-side. Cover version of a song by the American Garage Band The Remains from 1965)

20. Again - THE SYMBOLS (December 1967 UK 7" single on President PT 173, B-side of "(The Best Part Of) Breaking Up")

21. Odd Man Out - THE HI-FI'S (from the June 1967 German LP "Snakes And Hi-FI's" on Star Club 138 035 STY)

22. Laughing Man - THE MARMALADE (August 1967 UK 7" single on CBS Records 2948, B-side of "I See The Rain". Written by William 'Junior' Campbell who would have several hits in the early Seventies on Deram as a solo artist)

23. Ginger - T.J. ASSEMBLY (from the November 1967 UK LP "Travellin' Round" on House Of Sound HOS 007. Private Pressing, 25 Copies Only)

24. Michelangelo - THE 23rd TURNOFF (Not originally issued Demo Version, recorded July 1967)

25. Supporters - Support Us - THE Q.P.R. SUPPORTERS (March 1967 UK 7" single on Eyemark EMS 1008, A-side)

26. Listen To The Sky - SANDS (September 1967 UK 7" single on Reaction 591017, B-side of the Bee Gees cover "Mrs Gillespie's Refrigerator")

Throughout the fantastic 42-page booklet - the text references and pictures epicentres of the Underground and Mod Scene of 1967 London - the UFO Club on Tottenham Court Road, the Middle Earth in Covent Garden's King Street and the Marquee in the capitol’s main thoroughfare - Oxford Street. Aside over 60 rare 7" single labels, picture sleeve repro's and acetate photos - you get wads of memorabilia, buttons, flyers, trade adverts, psych artwork and gig posters crammed onto every page. There's even a W.H. Smith advert in evocative Day-Glo lettering advertising their 'Psych Sounds '67' with cartoon butterflies emerging from a flower-power gramophone (as they do). As you can imagine - it's a feast and my fanboy hat goes off to DAVID WELLS and JOHN REED for the Liner Notes and Project Management - two names collectors both admire and trust. SIMON MURPHY did the Mastering over at Another Planet Music and given the disparate sources - the Audio is uniformly solid. Even when some of the unreleased stuff is sounding rough - it has air around it and feels in your face in all the right ways. A nice job done. To the music...

Disc 1 - you know you're in good company when the quote on Page 1 of the text reads "Straight to Heaven in '67!" It was EMI advertising The Pink Floyd's "See Emily Play" and although conspicuous by their absence (licensing rights I'd imagine) - the first instalment opens on a cutesy period piece - "Toyland" by The Alan Bown in its Mono Single Mix glory. The box set title comes at us in the lyrics as we're told we must go down and blow our minds where Teddy Bear has the scene all sewn up and there's honey and buttercups (whatever you say mate). Moving on from whimsy we get a more hard-edged guitar with the suitably named The Attack who assure us there's "Magic In The Air". Dreaming no doubt of "Space Oddity" by David Bowie - guitarist Mick Wayne of The Tickle would end up playing on that groundbreaking song - but in the meantime he'd some peace 'n' love to dispense to a girl on his below-the-ground "Subway (Smokey Pokey World)". Colours abound in the 'it's gonna blow' mean-guitar of "Pink Purple Yellow And Red". And if it's not rainbows and spectrums of colour then many songs are fixated on flowers. The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown's incredibly witty "Give Him A Flower" offers up the right balance of nettles vs. roses in its observations on the whole hippy movement (why isn't this slice of quotable genius on the radio every day to cheer commuters up). "Tanya" by the legendary Tintern Abbey speaks of a young lady leaving her land of cherry blossoms for revelations in Soho's Wardour Street that don’t quite expand her mind but do deplete her purse.

For sure the brutally crude audio that accompanies "Time To Start Loving You" by one of the big bands for collectors The Mickey Finn - isn't going to win any Living Stereo awards right soon - but the track still rocks (neither is Cliff Ward's "Path Through The Forest" for that matter). There's amazing musicality to "Prodigal Son" from Fleur-De-Lys - Bryn Haworth's wonderful way with melody already showing (see my review for his first two solo albums on Island Records in 1974 and 1975 - "Let The Days Go By" and "Sunny Side Of The Street" reissued by Gott Discs a few years back). The heavy Psych guitar of Guy Darrell's "Evil Woman" combined with its cool organ groove proved to have amazing legs because a plethora of artists latched onto it as a cover version they could almost call their own song - The Troggs, Spooky Tooth and Canned Heat amongst them. Nice way to end Disc 1 too...

Disc 2 - apparently taken aback by The Pink Floyd when they played support to those wild Psych boys in March 1967 - Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera infused their previous R&B driving beat with fuzzed-up guitars and came up with the fabulous raver "Flames" in November of that year. That hybrid R&B/Psych sound continues on the musically excellent "Double Sight" by One In A Million and you can almost justify its staggering £1000 price tag in the 2018 Edition of the Record Collector Rare Records Price Guide. The genuine quality continues on the classy "Keep It Out Of Sight" where Paul & Barry Ryan make the most of the excellent dancer gifted to them by a young Steven Georgiou (Cat Stevens). The Pretty Things bring up the whimsy front initially on "Defecting Grey" but then win our hearts by lashing into a stunning phased Sitar break that is quickly followed by driving fuzz-guitar. "Defecting Grey" is the kind of tune that seems to offer up more musical brilliance in its 5:12 minute duration than most bands can manage in an entire album.

The familiar but cherubic face over to the far right of the rare picture sleeve for "Desdemona" by John's Children is of course Marc Bolan - whose distinctive warble would soon be seeking out prophets, seers and sages with Tyrannosaurus Rex before making the world "Get It On" with T. Rex in 1971. Others winners on CD2 include the shockingly soulful "Reflections Of Charles Brown" by Rupert's People - an organ bluesy number with more than a hint of Procol Harum's "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" in its sound and pace. Not nearly so flowers and peace - Prime Minister Harold Wilson took major legal action and MI5 stalking revenge on Roy Wood and Co. for defaming his name on the huge hit "Flowers In The Rain". The clearly angry and anti-establishment "Vote For Me" song by The Move thereafter got quietly buried in the vaults – a rather good 'it seems my clothes are a drag' rocker that at last stands tall here on Disc 2. 

Disc 3 - Jukebox Jury got all morally righteous on the ass of what they thought was the celebratory "Addicted Man" by The Game – a call to arms in favour of more drug-taking and less crew cuts/bowler hats. Predictably the British tabloids got their collective tights in a tangle (have they ever been any other way) and Columbia fired their A&R man and withdrew the single. Underground pirate stations though took their revenge on uptight establishment by playing the buggery out of the 'message to the kids' tune - but the joke was ultimately on the South London band who had written it as an 'anti' drugs song only to have their pleadings misconstrued. It was withdrawn and no one got a penny (cracking tune btw). B-sides lost in time include "So Many Times" by Ice - a band that contained Keyboardist Lynton Naiff and Drummer Grant Serpell who along with Linda Hoyle and Mike Jopp would form the much-revered Vertigo Prog rockers Affinity in 1970. Another is the readies-strapped "I Think I Need The Cash" by Kidderminster's The Secrets which included one Cliff Ward who would finally emerge out of the musical shadows on Charisma Records as Clifford T. Ward in 1973 with the deeply beautiful melodies "Gaye" and Wherewithal" (from his album "Home Thoughts From Abroad").

Rarities on Disc 3 include a genuine coup in "Schizoid Revolution" by darlings of the Psych Scene Skip Bifferty. Cut as a demo in the spring of 1967 at Impulse Studios in Wallsend - the song was written by their pal and then psychiatric nurse - Newcastle's Alan Hull who would of course later form the much-loved Lindisfarne. Both Hull, Skip Bifferty Keyboardist Mickey Gallagher and Drummer Tommy Jackman had played as The Chosen Few over on Pye Records. And we will all be forever in debt to the King's Road Boutique at No. 499 called "Granny Takes A Trip" for the song of the same name - a zeitgeist moment of a song adopted as their anthem by the hippest of the hip at Joe Boyd's 'UFO Club' in Tottenham Court Road. Even now it's 'of the moment' words, sound and feel transport me back. And I've never seen the picture sleeve to The Symbols B-side "Again" on President Records (shown on Page 36) or the German Hi Fi's album from their stint at Hamburg's Star Club in all my years of rarity buying at Reckless in Berwick Street.

Plug In, Turn On and Freak Out people - you know it makes sense. Or doesn't make sense. And isn't that why "Let's Go Down And Blow Our Minds..." is such a joy. 

All joking aside - hats off to everyone involved in getting this forgotten music back out there in such triumphant style...

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"Dust On The Nettles: A Journey Through The British Underground Folk Scene 1967-72" by VARIOUS ARTISTS (2015 Grapefruit 3CD Box Set Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...A Branchy Tree..."

I love box sets like this. Brilliantly put together, chock full of forgotten left-of-centre music that’s worth rediscovering (mostly Acid Folk) and all of it presented in fact-filed style by good guys who genuinely care (compiled by David Wells and John Reed). In terms of Audio and Presentation everything about "Dust On The Nettles" on the Grapefruit Label (a part of Cherry Red Records) feels classy and even features some big-time scoops in Previously Unreleased demos for mighty names like Fairport Convention, The Incredible String Band and Tyrannosaurus Rex.

I know my music from the period (or at least I thought I did) – but I’d happily admit that there are obscurities on "Dust On The Nettles" that have completely eluded my decades of scouring racks – and they’re not the kind of musical creations that should be forgotten either. Some of these rarities number 10 copies (The Moths) or 99 copies (Frozen Tear) while others made it unto decent independent labels like Dawn, Pye, Island, Dandelion, Immediate and Decca. It’s also pleasing to say that apart from a few rough tapes here and there and despite the myriad sources – the audio is exceptionally good throughout - and as you can see from the total playing times – each disc is generously chock to the gills. There’s a ton of stuff on here – so once more with our dandelion stalks and joss sticks unto the pagan green altars (ye heathens of England)...

UK released 29 June 2015 (July 2015 in the USA) – "Dust On The Nettles: A Journey Through The British Underground Folk Scene 1967-72" is a 63-track 3CD Set in a Clamshell Box on Grapefruit CRESEGBOX 030 (Barcode 5013929183001) with a 36-page booklet and pans out as follows:

Disc 1 (78:34 minutes, 20 tracks):

1. Let No Man Steal Your Thyme – THE PENTANGLE (from their debut UK album "The Pentangle" released June 1968 on Transatlantic TRA 162. Also issued in the USA as a 7" single on Reprise 0794, A)

2. Willow’s Song – MAGNET (Recorded in 1972 for "The Wicker Man" Soundtrack LP but not issued)

3. Come All You Travellers – WIGHT (September 1970 French-Only 7" single on French Festival SPX 147)

4. Love Is A Funny Thing – SPIROGYRA [with Barbara Gaskin on Lead Vocals] (on the UK LP "St. Radigunds" released September 1971 on B&C Records CAS 1042)

5. Images Of Passing Clouds – GARY FARR (recorded 1968, Previously Unreleased Demo Version)

6. Peek Strangely And Worried Evening – SYNANTHESIA (on the LP "Synanthesia" released November 1969 on RCA Victor SF 8058)

7. Glass Of Water – BOG & CAROLE PEGG (on the UK LP "And Now It Is So Early: Songs Of Sydney Carter" on Galliard GAL 4017)

8. Winter Is Blue – VASHTI BUNYAN (on the Various Artists Soundtrack LP "Let's All Make Love In London" released July 1968 in the UK on Instant INLP 002)

9. Winter Is A Coloured Bird – COMUS (from the 3-track 7” Single EP "Diana" first released in the UK January 1971 on Dawn DNX 2506 – non-album track).

10. The Seagulls Scream – CHRISSIE QUAYLE (from the 1970 UK LP "Sounds Like West Cornwall" on Sentinel SENS 1001)

11. Stories Of Jesus – CLIVE PALMER (recorded 1967, not originally issued)

12. Amanda – STEVE PEREGRIN TOOK’S SHAGRAT (Recorded circa November 1969, Not Originally Issued)

13. Curious Crystals Of Unusual Purity – BRIDGET ST. JOHN (from the August 1969 UK LP "Ask Me No Questions" on Dandelion S 63750)

14. Roses For Columbus – MARK FRY (from the June 1972 Italian LP "Dreaming With Alice" on ZSLT 70006)

15. Till The Morning Comes – DANDO SHAFT (from the May 1971 UK LP "Dando Shaft" on RCA Neon NE 5)

16. Black Girl – MARY-ANNE (Paterson) (from the April 1970 UK LP "Me" on Joy Records JOYS 162)

17. The Garden Of Jane Delawney (from the May 1970 UK LP "The Garden Of Jane Delawney" on CBS Records S 63837)

18.  Weirdsong Of Breaking Through At Last – PRINCIPAL EDWARDS MAGIC THEATRE (from the February 1971 UK LP "The Asmoto Running Band" on Dandelion Records DAN 8002)

19. Minas Tirith – OBERON (from the August 1971 UK LP "A Midsummer Night's Dream" on Acorn OBE LPS 1)

20. Prisoners, Victims, Strangers, Friends – PAPER BAUBLE (recorded October 1970, Previously Unreleased)

Disc 2 (79:29 minutes, 22 tracks):

1. Pilgrim – GERALD MOORE (recorded 1972, Previously Unissued)

2. River Lane – MELTON CONSTABLE (recorded 1972, Previously Unissued)

3. Way Out Hermit – MOONKYTE (from the November 1971 UK LP "Count Me Out" on Mother SMOT 1)

4. All Things Are Quite Silent – STEELEYE SPAN (from the June 1970 UK LP "Hark! The Village Wait" on RCA Records SF 8113)

5. Upon Reflection – HERON (from the November 1970 UK LP "Heron" on Dawn DNLS 3010)

6. Love Is Come Again – PARCHMENT (from the December 1972 UK LP "Light Up The Fire" on Pye International NSPL 18388)

7. Stargazer – SHELAGH McDONALD (from the September 1971 UK LP "Stargazer" on B&C Records CAS 1043)

8. There Are No Greater Heroes – TONY CARO & JOHN (1972 UK Self-Financed LP "All On The First Day")

9. Visionary Mountain – JOAN ARMATRADING (from the November 1972 UK LP "Whatever's For Us" on Cube Records HIFLY 12)

10. Glow Of The Firelight – TUESDAY (recorded August 1972, Previously Unreleased)

11. Searching For Lambs – WARM GOLD (from the 1972 UK LP "Sounds Like North Cornwall" on Sentinel SENS 1011)

12. Samantha Carol Fragments – BENJAMIN DELANEY LION (from the October 1969 Privately Pressed UK LP "Satori" on Hollick & Taylor, 70 Copies Only)

13. Fotheringay (Demo Version) – FAIRPORT CONVENTION (recorded February 1969, Previously Unreleased)

14. You Know What Has To Be – FROZEN TEAR (Privately Pressed UK 7” single of 99 Copies released September 1969 on RA Records RA 5001. B-side is a cover version of Free's "The Hunter" that was mistakenly credited as the A)

15. Meanwhile Back In The Forest – HUNT, LUNT & CUNNINGHAM (March 1972 UK 7” single on Pye International 7N 45125, A)

16. First Girl I Loved – THE INCREDIBLE STRING BAND (recorded early 1969, Previously Unreleased Demo Version)

17. Halfdan’s Daughter – THE MOTHS (July 1970 UK LP "The Moths" available only on a Deroy Sound Service Test Pressing, 10 copies)

18. The Mutant – TRADER HORNE (from the March 1970 UK LP "Morning Way" on Dawn DNLS 3004)

19. Meeting By The Moonlight Mill – DRY HEART (recorded early 1970, Previously Unreleased)

20. Highways (Misty Mist) – TYRANNOSAURUS REX (recorded August 1967, Previously Unreleased)

21. Gabilan – DUNCAN BROWNE (from the August 1968 debut UK LP "Give Me Take You" on Immediate IMSP 018)

22. Sand All Yellow – KEVIN COYNE (from the November 1972 UK LP "Case History" on Dandelion 2310 228)

Disc 3 (78:50 minutes, 21 tracks):

1. Garden Song – BILL FAY (recorded early 1969, Previously Unreleased Demo Version)

2. Music Of The Ages – C.O.B. [Clive’s Own Band] (from the November 1971 UK LP "Spirit Of Love" on CBS Records S 69010)

3. A Song For The System – EVERYONE INVOLVED (from the 1972 Privately Pressed LP (1000 copies) of "Either/Or" on Arcturus ARC 4)

4. The Colour Is Blue – COUNTRY SUN (from the November 1972 UK Label Sampler LP "There Is Some Fun Going Forward" on Dandelion 2485 021)

5. Silent Village – WILD COUNTRY (from the May 1970 UK 7" single on Trafalgar TRAF1, A)

6. Welcome To The Citadel – MARC BRIERLEY (from the February 1969 UK LP "Welcome To The Citadel" on CBS Records S 63478)

7. The Evil Venus Tree – THE OCCASIONAL WORD (from the February 1970 UK LP on "The Year Of The Great Leap Sideways" on Dandelion DAN 63753)

8. Standing On The Shore – ANNE BRIGGS (from the November 1971 UK LP "The Time Has Come" on CBS Records S 64612)

9. Kind Sir – AGINCOURT (from the 1970 UK LP "Fly Away" on Merlin HF 3)

10. Eagle – MICK SOFTLEY (from the November 1970 UK LP "Sunrise" on CBS Records S 64098)

11. Rosemary Hill – FRESH MAGGOTS (from the September 1971 UK LP "Fresh Maggots" on RCASF 8205)

12. The Happy King – MUSIC BOX (from the 1972 UK LP "Songs Of Sunshine" on Westwood MRS 013)

13. Me And My Kite – FUCHSIA (from the October 1971 UK LP "Fuchsia" on Pegasus PEG 8)

14. Wizard Shep – THE SUN ALSO RISES (from the October 1970 UK LP "The Sun Also Rises" on Village Thing VTS 2)

15. Scarborough Fair – FOLKAL POINT (from the 1972 UK LP "Folkal Point" on Midas MR 003, 500 copies only)

16. Prisoner – MARIE CELESTE (from the Privately Pressed April 1971 UK LP "And Then Perhaps" (No label), 200 copies only)

17. Patrice – SIMON FINN (from the April 1971 UK LP "Pass The Distance" on Mushroom 100 MR)

18. Girl Of The Cosmos – SHIDE & ACORN (from the June 1971 UK LP "Under The Tree" on Solent SM 011, 99 copies only)

19. Elegy To A Dead King – CHIMERA (recorded circa 1968, Previously Unreleased)

20. Silence Returns – BEAU (from the June 1971 UK LP "Creation" on Dandelion DAN 8006)

21. Orange Days And Purple Nights – MOTHER NATURE (from the October 1971 UK 7" single on B&C Records CB 166, A)

The 36-page booklet is beautifully done – each artist gets a detailed paragraph and in most cases their rare albums pictured – the text is also peppered with memorabilia like concert tickets, trade adverts for eclectic labels like B&C Records and Kingdom, double colour plates for Oberon, Heron and Mark Fry with black and whites of all the others. I know the Anne Briggs, Parchment, Heron and Trader Horne album covers fairly well and I've reviewed the likes of Bridget St. John, Dando Shaft and Marc Brierley on quality reissue CDs - but stuff like the Euro releases of Wight and the privately pressed LPs are new to me. The DAVID WELLS liner notes are fabulous – full of details that amaze with pithy observations that tickle your interest for more - while the whole shebang is dedicated to two heroes of the genre who passed in 2014 and 2015 – Clive Palmer of The Incredible String Band and John Renbourn of Pentangle. The audio is by SIMON MURPHY at Another Planet Music and is superb overall (with the occasional dip depending on the rarity of the source).

Disc 1 opens on an absolute winner – Pentangle mixing Traditional English Folk with trippy Rock thereby creating Folk-Rock (or Acid Folk in this case). As Jacqui McShee sings "...a woman is a branchy tree..." and John Renbourn slaps those chiming six strings - the audio on this sucker is awesome – beautifully in your face like 1967's "London Conversation" by John Martyn. It's followed by a clever choice "Willow's Song" – an acoustic ballad from "The Wicker Man" soundtrack (never released at the time) sung by Linda Mackay who played Daisy in the horror movie (apparently Pentangle were lined up to do the music hence the connection). Gary Farr’s track is gorgeous too and so inventive in its rhythms and vocal arrangements. Unfortunately there’s bad tape wobble on the gorgeous Synanthesia track “Peek Strangely And Worried Evening” – as lovely a Folk Rock melody as I’ve ever heard. Former Mr. Fox couple Bob & Carole Pegg make lovely racket on the very Mike Oldfield sounding “Glass Of Water”. Amongst collectors Vashti Bunyan’s sole album “Just Another Diamond Day on Philips in its pretty stippled gatefold has now become a legend for both its Prog Folk musical beauty and its staggering cost (£1500 + to acquire a copy). Here we get Vashti’s equally heralded earlier work at the hands of Andrew Loog Oldham where he teamed her up with members of Immediate’s Twice As Much to produce the spellbinding “Winter Is Blue” for the 1968 “Let All Make Love In London” soundtrack LP. The 8-minute Comus track (EP only) steps away from their usual doom and gloom “First Utterance” songs to offer up a truly fabulous piece called “Winter Is A Coloured Bird” where they come at you like a cross between Deram’s Mellow Candle and Roy Harper on Harvest (a combo that will send shivers down the spine of many). It’s one of those long songs that doe not overstay its welcome but amazes – not just in terms of the acoustic guitar playing but especially the vocal layers – up and down like waves in the sea – inventive and special.

Disc 2 has a gorgeous Previously Unreleased track in “River Lane” by the delightfully titled MELTON CONSTABLE and you can ‘so’ hear why the fantastic trippy Sitar Folk of MOONKYTE commands some astronomical prices on original vinyl (£400 to £600 in a pop-up Spire sleeve). I’ve never been moved by STEELEYE SPAN but the HERON track is superb (literally recorded in a Berkshire field while smoking Lebanese) – very Matthews Southern Comfort in its English Folk-Rock feel as they sing of “...making daisy chains...” Sung by Sue McClellan - “Love Is Come Again” by PARCHMENT is another Sitar trippy jaunt that makes you want to shake your head from side to side as you exit the city rat race. It’s cleverly followed by the beautiful Robert Kirby string arrangements of “Stargazer” and the Sandy Denny-like vocals of SHELAGH McDONALD. Her two albums on Charisma’s B&C Records have steadily risen in value over the years as people discover their Mellow Candle beauty. I wouldn’t have thought of including JOAN ARMATRADING in this compilation – but it’s another smart choice. “Visionary Mountains” from her overlooked 1972 debut LP “Whatever’s For Us” features piano, acoustic guitars and more importantly a Sitar background that lends the track an Acid Folk hippy feel (Manfred Fred covered the song on their 1975 “Nightingales And Bombers” LP). The Fairport demo is excellent if not a little hissy (Denny’s voice still thrills). With a decidedly dodgy band name like HUNT, LUNT & CUNNINGHAM – their lone Pye single “Meanwhile Back In The Forest” sounds like 1960s Jefferson Airplane meets The Mamas and Papas for a 1972 song (and amazingly there’s a publicity photo for them on Page 24 advertising the single). The 5-minute Acoustic Demo of “First Girl I Loved” by The Incredible String Band is gorgeous – a real find – pure and melodic and a sweet professional recording too. I’ve always thought the Trader Horne album a bit of a masterpiece. Apparently named after John Peel’s Nanny – it sounds like Al Stewart Acoustic Folk mixed with Ian Anderson Flute. Roughest audio cut (clearly dubbed from a disc) goes to “Meeting By The Moonlight Mill” by Dry Heart – which is a damn shame because there’s genius in the guitars and doubled-vocal melodies (I’d love to hear a good tape of this). A highly polished Demo of “Highways (Misty Mist)” has Bolan’s high whine giving the song a huge (bit of a sweet find too). Duncan Browne’s magical classical guitar and top-end vocals imbibe “Gabilan” with a beauty that is quite breathtaking at times. Disc 2 ends with a winner – Kevin Coyne’s Folk Rock “Sand All Yellow” where he sings like a strangulated Captain Beefheart warning about over-zealous Doctors and their helpful pills.

Disc 3 has Clive’s Own Band (C.O.B.) giving us the pretty air of “Music Of The Ages” – another massively collectable album and artist. The hippy nonsense of “come little mirror” at the end of “A Song For The System” by Everyone Involved may indeed be a chant too far for many – but better is the Acoustic beauty of Country Sun’s “The Colour Is Blue” where they sound like America or Help Yourself at their most mellow. The audio on the Wild Country track isn’t great (like a bootleg). I’ve reviewed both of the Marc Brierley albums reissued for CD by Esoteric Recordings (see my SOUNDS GOOD Book – Exceptional CD Remasters 1960s and 1970s Volume 2) – and both are lovely. There’s a superb one-two with The Occasional Word and Anne Briggs – two Folk tunes that feel timeless and yet innovative somehow. And on it goes...

Admittedly after a while it can be hard to hear another fay vocal accompanied by a hovering low-breath flute ensconcing lyrics about communing with dandelions, fairies and a set of stones in Bognor Regis – but – and I do mean this - there is so much to discover on here and more importantly – so much to love. Like Blues and Country – Folk Music seems to throw up an unending amount of genius and genuine innovation for a genre that is perceived by many as being locked into only one groove and one sound. The British Underground Folk Scene from those two astonishing decades seems to finally be coming out to play.

Equal in my books to the wonderful Universal 3CD Box Sets covering the Island, Polydor, Decca, Deram and Vertigo Labels of a few years back (I've reviewed them all) – and acting as a sort of complimentary set to the "Love, Poetry & Revolution" 3CD Box Set that mines similar territory (also on Grapefruit) - there is so much to enjoy on "Dust On The Nettles" – there really is.

A dangling conversation indeed... Well done to the boys at Grapefruit for frolicking in the fronds, snorting fennel and dancing naked around the campfire for us (at my age I tend to keep my clothes on)...

This review and many others like it is available in one of my 5 e-books on CD Remasters: 

SOUNDS GOOD: Exceptional CD Remasters 1960s and 1970s Volume 2...

Click the link below to see and buy...