This Review and 259 more like it are available
In my e-Book "There's Something About 1970..."
Your All-Genres Guide To The Best CD Remasters
(No Cut and Paste Crap - All Reviews from the Actual Discs)
"...Gathering Wild Roses..."
Grapefruit Records have been
slowly winning the pickled hearts of collectors these last few years with a
steady stream of these 3CD clamshell-type Box Sets - and I suspect they'll be
avalanched with quite a few saucy Valentine Cards (even in late March) for this
wee buxom beauty.
Sixty genre-bending Folk and
Folk-Rock tracks from 1967 to 1973 across three CDs (four Previously Unreleased
with many others not stated as being Alternate or Rare Versions) and a Billy
Bunter sized 40-page booklet to scoff it all down with. It's off to the Tuck
Shop my wassailing lads and lassies of England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and
any other shire we may drag our non-European musical ruin stones and
shillelaghs through. Put your finger-in-the-ear people and hope for the best.
Here goes...
UK released Friday, 29 March
2019 (5 April 2019 in the USA) - "Strangers In The Room: A Journey Through
The British Folk-Rock Scene 1967-1973" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Grapefruit
CRSEGBOX054 (Barcode 5013929185401) is a 60-Track 3CD Clamshell Box Set of
Remasters that plays out as follows:
Disc 1 "Raise Your
Voice And Sing Sweetly" (79:15 minutes):
1. Stranger In The Room -
MICHAEL CHAPMAN (from the March 1970 UK LP "Fully Qualified Survivor"
on Harvest SHVL 764)
2. The Blacksmith - STEELEYE
SPAN (from the March 1971 UK LP "Please To See The King" on B&C
Records CAS 1029)
3. Dangerous Dave
(Alternative Version) - SPIROGYRA (PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED, Recorded February
1972) *
4. Murdoch - TREES (from the
February 1971 UK LP "On The Shore" on CBS Records S 64168)
5. Sad Song For Winter -
CHIMERA (Recorded November 1970 with a Wil Malone arrangement, not originally
issued) +
6. Shoeshine Boy - THE
HUMBLEBUMS (March 1970 UK 7" single on Big T Records BIG 130, A-side. Featured
the comedian Billy Connolly and singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty later with
Stealer's Wheel and a solo career)
7. Martha - HARVEY ANDREWS
(from the May 1972 UK LP "Writer Of Songs" on Cube Records HIFLY 10)
8. Hanging Tree - OO BANG
JIGGLY JANG (November 1971 UK 7" single on President PT 356, A-side -
featuring Peter Bramall and James Roper of The Motors)
9. She's Getting Married In
August - ALAN JAMES EASTWOOD [of The Exception] (from the February 1971 UK LP
"Seeds" on President PTLS 1037)
10. Amongst Anemones - JADE
(from the July 1970 UK LP "Fly On Strangewings" on DJM Records DJLPS
407)
11. I Don't Know Why -
KNOCKER JUNGLE (November 1970 UK 7" single on Ember EMBS 293, A-side. Were
Tony Coup and Keith Jones of Mandragon)
12. The Sailor - ROBIN SCOTT
(August 1969 UK 7" single on Head HDS 4003, A-side - members of Mighty
Baby featuring as the backing band)
13. Here Comes The Rain -
TRADER HORNE (February 1970 UK 7" single on Dawn DNS 1003, A-side.
Featured Judy Dyble of Fairport Convention and Jackie McAuley of Them)
14. My Delicate Skin - DAVE
CARTWRIGHT (May 1973 UK 7" single on Transatlantic BIG 510, A-side and the
May 1973 UK LP "Back To The Garden")
15. Almost Liverpool 8 -
MIKE HART (from the February 1970 UK LP "Mike Hart Bleeds" on Dandelion
S 63756)
16. Candy Dora - RICHMOND
(January 1973 UK 7" single on D'Art ART 2008, A-side - featuring Chas
Seward and Steve Hall)
17. Don't Know Why You
Bother Child - GARY FARR (from the December 1969 UK LP "Take Something
With You" on Marmalade 608 013)
18. 1917 Revolution - BEAU
(August 1969 UK 7" single on Dandelion 4403, A-side)
19. Jesus Was A Carpenter -
THE JOHNSTONS (from the November 1969 UK LP "Bitter Green" on
Transatlantic Records TRA 211 featuring Paul Brady and Paddy Maloney - Ewan
MacColl song)
20. We Can Swing Together -
ALAN HULL (December 1969 UK 7" single on Big T Records BIG 129, A-side -
later lead singer and songwriter in Lindisfarne)
Disc 2 "Back To The
Garden" (78:31 minutes):
1. Woodstock - MATTHEWS
SOUTHERN COMFORT (original 8-Track mix but not finally issued version, recorded
July 1970) +
2. The Man Who Called
Himself Jesus - THE STRAWBS (not originally issued alternative mix, Recorded
July 1968) +
3. As I Roved Out - THE
WOODS BAND (from the December 1971 UK LP "The Woods Band" on
Greenwich Records GSLP 1004 - featuring Gay and Terry Woods - Terry later with
The Pogues, Gay with Auto Da Fe)
4. Sir Patrick Spens -
FAIRPORT CONVENTION (not originally issued, recorded October 1969 during
"Liege & Lief" sessions) +
5. Be Not So Fearful (Demo
Version) - BILL FAY (not originally issued demo version, recorded early 1969) +
6. I Loved Her So Long -
UNICORN (from the June 1971 UK LP "Uphill All The Way" on
Transatlantic TRA 238)
7. Sarah In The Isle Of
Wight - AL JONES (from the September 1969 UK LP "Alun Ashworth-Jones"
on Parlophone PCS 7081 in Stereo)
8. Song For A Dead Mole -
LEA NICHOLSON and STAN ELLISON (from the June 1972 UK LP "God Bless The
Unemployed" on Transatlantic TRA 254)
9. There's A Place I Know -
BRIDGET ST. JOHN (February 1972 UK 3-Track 7" single on Dandelion 2001,
Track 1 of 2 on the B-side of "Fly Away")
10. People Smile With Ghosts
In The Land Of Make-Believe - JEREMY HARMER (from the privately pressed 1968 UK
LP "Idiosyncratics And Swallow's Wings" on JH Records JH 001 -
features David Costa of Trees and Celia Humphris sister Sue) +
11. Pucka-Ri - URBAN
CLEARWAY (not originally issued, recorded circa August 1972) +
12. Scranky Black Farmer -
C.O.B. [Clive's Own Band - Clive Palmer of The Incredible String Band] (from
the November 1971 UK LP "Spirit Of Love" on CBS Records 69010)
13. Lady Of St. Clare -
DAYLIGHT (August 1971 UK 7" single on RCA Victor RCA 2106, A-side)
14. Love Has Gone -
MARY-ANNE [Mary-Anne Patterson] (from the April 1970 UK LP "Me" on
Joy Records JOYS 162)
15. Time Machine - MICK
SOFTLEY (August 1970 UK 7" single on CBS Records S 5130, B-side of
"Can You Hear Me Now" - features Mike Vickers of Manfred Mann on
Keyboards)
16. Fleance - THIRD EAR BAND
(from the March 1972 UK LP "Music From Macbeth" on Harvest Records
SHSP 4019)
17. Morning Glow -
STORYTELLER (from the May 1970 UK LP "Storyteller" on Transatlantic
Records TRA 220)
18. Riverboat - DANDO SHAFT
(from the May 1971 UK LP "Dando Shaft" on RCA/Neon NE 5)
19. What I Am - FRESH
MAGGOTS (PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED, recorded circa October 1970) *
20. Like A Rolling Stone -
CANTICLE (November 1970 USA 7" single on Century Records 36685, A-side)
Disc 3 "Down Into The
Moonlight World" (77:21 minutes):
1. Queen Of The Moonlight
World - ANDY ROBERTS (from the March 1970 UK LP "Home Grown" on RCA
Victor SF 8086 - ex Liverpool Scene, later with Everyone, also with Iain
Matthews in Plainsong)
2. The Cuckoo - THE
PENTANGLE (from the October 1969 UK LP "Basket Of Light" on
Transatlantic TRA 205)
3. Little Woman (Single
Version) - MR.FOX (November 1970 UK 7" single on Big T Records BIG 135,
A-side - featuring Bob and Caroline Pegg - different mix from the LP, first
appearance on CD since release) +
4. Father Forgive Them -
RALPH McTELL (from the November 1970 UK LP "Ralph McTell Revisited"
on Transatlantic TRA 227)
5. Just As The Tide Was A
Flowing - SHIRLEY COLLINS and THE ALBION COUNTRY BAND (from the November 1971
UK LP "No Roses" on Pegasus PEG 7)
6. Oh Did I Love A Dream -
THE INCREDIBLE STRING BAND (not originally issued, recorded circa mid-1972) +
7. Strange Days - PAPER
BUBBLE (not originally issued, recorded October 1970) +
8. Dahlia - PAULK BRETT'S
SAGE (March 1973 UK 7" single on Dawn Records DNS 1021, A-side – possibly
withdrawn and never released) +
9. Your Lovely Ways (Part
One) - MIKE COOPER (May 1970 UK 7" single on Dawn Records DNX 2501,
A-side) +
10. River Of Fortune – HERON
(not originally issued, recorded July 1970) +
11. Beverley Market Meeting
– JUDE (not originally issued, recorded February 1971 – Judith Willie) +
12. All In A Dream - STEVE
TILSTON (from the May 1972 UK LP "The Collection" on Transatlantic
Records TRA 252)
13. Carry Me – PRELUDE (from
the October 1973 UK LP "How Long Is Forever" on Dawn Records DNLS
3052 – Irene Hume on Lead Vocals)
14. City Girl - JOAN
ARMATRADING (from the November 1972 UK LP "Whatever’s For Us" on Cube
Records HIFLY 12)
15. Furniture – HORSLIPS
(from the January 1973 Ireland and UK debut album "Happy To Meet, Sorry To
Part" on Oats Records MOO 3)
16. Who Cares - GERRY
RAFFERTY (PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED, recorded mid 1971) *
17. Young Waters - JSD BAND
(from the June 1973 UK LP "Travelling Days" on Cube Records HIFLY 14)
18. September - 9.30 FLY
(from the June 1972 UK LP "9:30 Fly" on Ember NR 5062)
19. Waxing Of The Moon -
LIFEBLUD (PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED, recorded circa January 1970) *
20. Who Knows Where The Time
Goes - SANDY DENNY (not originally issued, recorded July 1967) +
* PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED
+ ALTERNATE or RARE VERSION
Put together by the
uber-knowledgeable and Baby Driver with-it JOHN REED – his equally sexy
co-compiler DAVID WELLS pours on the facts in the multitudinous 40-page booklet
– each artist and song given a full appraisal usually sided by period photos,
ticket stubs, flyers, trade adverts and those impossibly rare single and LPs
pictured throughout. Take the Steve Tilston entry for his "All In A
Dream" song on Disc 3. It advises that in late 1972 after the album's
release in May, Steve did an interview with Zig Zag magazine ruminating on how
fame and fortune might affect his songwriting. None other than John Lennon
replied in writing (to his worries) and that was the basis for the rather
insipid Al Pacino film vehicle "Danny Collins" – or that Prelude who
had a huge hit with their truly gorgeous Acapella version of Neil Young's
"After The Gold Rush" sang backing vocals on another huge Folk-ish
hit - "Streets Of London" by Ralph McTell. I didn’t know either of
those things and I dare say, neither did you. Each entry is full of great
name-checks like that. Beautifully laid out and aimed at collectors and novices
alike – when I think of the recent miserable 8-page inlay given to Fleetwood
Mac and their supposed '50 Years – Don’t Stop' 3CD celebration, it really does
show how independents light the way, when the majors seem content with what
they can get away with.
Audio is by ALAN WILSON and
with so many sources is a mixed bag of the astonishing vs. the muffled with
most being way better than that. For sure the audio dips on each of the CDs
when it comes to those fast and loose demos and alternate mixes, but the rest
of it is impressively presented and in some cases (as I say) will blow your
socks off for recordings that are mostly 50+ years old. To the garden of
delights...
Across 60 tracks there are
those fabulous discoveries - the debut Unicorn LP on Transatlantic Records
where the chosen debut album song "I Loved Her So Long" is the link
between Matthews Southern Comfort and Plainsong (much of their better material
in the mid 70ts on Harvest Records had the same hooky gorgeous melodies) - the
beautiful ethereal harmony vocals of Fairport Convention's Judy Dyble and
Them's Jackie McAuley in their Trader Horne incarnation for "Here Comes
The Rain" (see my separate review of that album reissued by Earth Records
on CD). Some of it (as already mentioned) is unfortunately ropey Audio wise -
the hissy Billy Fay demo and The Woods Band is disappointingly muddied but on
the other hand Dave Cartwright's McGuinness Flint-sounding "My Delicate Skin",
Michael Chapman's box-set title song "Stranger In A Room" (see my
review for Light In The Attic's stunning reissue of his second album
"Fully Qualified Survivor" and Storyteller's early Genesis-like
"Morning Glow" all sound superlative - huge acoustic guitars, voices
and clever string arrangements.
Only winners are the
fabulous Folk-meets-Pastoral union in Dando Shaft's flute-and-acoustic shuffle
"Riverboat" - the jolly acoustic jostle of my "Lady Of St.
Clair" by the staggeringly collectable Daylight - and even if Jeremy
Harmer's self-recorded "People Smile With Ghosts In The Land Of
Make-Believe" gives us some 'ships in squalls that change to gurgling
laughter' might be a hippy lyric too far - the 99-only copies LP contained
David Costa from Trees with their singer Celia Humphris' sister Sue doing
harmony vocals (just about as cultish and collectable as it can get). Paul
Brady and Paddy Maloney newly attached to The Johnstons transform the Ewan
MacColl song "Jesus Was A Carpenter" into a "Woodstock"
beautiful moment while Mick Softley gets fully-fledged Audio quality on his
impressive "Time Machine" where he sings 'who will they be in 5000
AD' - indeed – a star tripper maybe. Speaking of that famous Joni song, I love
the 8-Track Tape Version of the Matthews Southern Comfort UK No. 1 - it's a
version that unlike the single has the acoustic and pedal steel guitars much
more to the fore. And although it doesn't say it anywhere in the box, I think
it's the version that turned up on the "Three's A Charm" privately-pressed
CD from Iain Matthews in 1999 for his fans – the mix that was remastered by
Bradley Kopp in Boulder, Colorado and is featured in his forthcoming
"Orphans And Outcasts" 4CD Box Set. Anyway – it's a keeper, much like
this fabulously inventive little box set...
A companion piece to
Grapefruit's much praised duo of threesomes - "Milk Of The Tree: An
Anthology Of Female Vocal Folk & Singer-Songwriters 1966-73" from June
2017 (see review) and "Gathered From Coincidence: The British Folk-Pop
Sound Of 1965-1966" from June 2018 (review to follow) – March 2019’s
"Strangers In The Room: A Journey Through The British Folk-Rock Scene
1967-1973" is a deserved Amazon No 1 in the Folk-Rock genre section.
Cadburys Easter Eggs on
every desk and big-time kudos to the compilers and everyone else involved...
