CAMBRIC MILL - "Not For Cult Approval/The Rehearsal Tapes" (Pumf Records PUMF 812) 2020

 

Everyone likes a cult,especially the music of Cults.Of course I refer to the very Reverend and very dead, Jim Jones,Chuck Manson, and who can forget the great,and gratefully very dead,rockin' Jesus, David Koresh...among other manipulative sex abusers too numerous to mention.....ok I missed out the weirdest of the lot Sai Baba and I'm sorry.

In fact the main reason for joining a doomsday cult,or the new disciples of the latest incarnation of Jesus,is to make wacked out music with some genuine five star dysfunctional loony Toons. I'm sure that was at the top of the list for randy beatnik Father Yod,who used unhinged psychedelia to charm teenage ladies into their gods bed.......and i don't mean just to sleep either.The randy old cunt in a randy old cult is what he was, before crashing to the ground in a bizarre hang-gliding accident.He thought he was invincible and could fly....don't blame it on drugs pleeeeze,he was just a deluded twat with a Messiah complex is all.

No hang-gliders involved in the Cambric Mill story however,unless you can attribute the prefix 'bizarre' to over-indulgence in a cult member's Homebrew washed down with lashings of British pharmaceutical paracetamol. A very British mass suicide.......has anyone written a TV series called that? If not, then someone should. I guess the Homebrew was student strength British bitter ,and not the Jim Jones preferred communal brew of pure cyanide. I guess Jim didn't know that Paracetamol was so cheap at Wilko's, formerly Wilkinson's,and not anything to do with the actual god that is Wilko Johnson? You Europeans haven't lived until you visited Wilko's pharmaceutical section.....mix and match is recommended or they won't serve you at the tills.

Basically,as if you didn't know ,Cambric Mill are the Spinal Tap of Folky Industrial power Electronics with a hint of dr hook,and a smidgen of John Denver from just before his light aircraft crashed....apparently Not into a Rocky Mountain High after all it seems.A livid John Denver fan corrected me on that point...rather tersely I may add.....over liberal use of the word 'Cunt' ...Tut tut tut!The world's full of nutters innit?

Nearly every band I've been in have been conceptual bands,and self-mythologizing is part and parcel of such projects,alongside not being able ,or bothered to learn how to play an instrument properly....fuck that! That's for Americans and similar types.

None of these people, along with John Stumpy Pepys,Joe Mama Besser, Mick Shrimpton of Spinal Tap,are actually dead,nor even spontaneously combusted, they're just having a laugh and playing some nutty music,not unlike the stuff that came out of Father Yods gaff in Hawaii...except this comes from somewhere around gloomy old Blackpool......I am guessing that living members of The Ceramic Hobs could well be responsible for this lovely package on the prolific,and suitably cheap, Pumf Records.

The story/myth is that the band who spent so long rehearsing their new sound which they called 'Industrial Folk Power Electronics" - before tragically committing group suicide in a homebrew death cult ritual prior to even playing a gig!?....also sounds like all the bands I've been in too!?

For many years, there were rumors (pretends ones) circulating around that there were rehearsal tapes of a never heard group called Cambric Mill, and finally pStan Batcow of Pumf Records somehow got his hands on the original recordings,probably because he made them, and released it on CD.This is that CD....but I ain't allowed to share it 'cus it's for sale at Pumpf Records for the nominal transfer of a single lady Godiva into pStan's back bin. If it was on Vinyl On Demand or cash driven collector bastards like that,I would certainly share it....even in FLAC!....but, No, Pumf Records and their contributors are the real DIY thing,and get Zchivago's Seal of approval....I dunno where he is,probably off in the oceans chomping down some fish....the Seal not your author you berk! I call him 'Barky' by the way if you're interested.....

Now where's me Home Brew?

You can hear some handy samples to wet your kissers with a spitball of clarity by clicking HERE!

The Young Tradition – "Galleries" (Transatlantic Records – TRA 172) 1968

 As the cover artwork gets more Psychedelic ,the Young Tradition are subtly getting more desperate for commercial success.Even with Dave Swarbrick and Dolly Collins to sprinkle some fairy dust and provide some much needed instrumentation to their renditions, it weren't never gonna happen .

Neither the magic,or tragic, touch,of Sandy Denny, who makes an uncredited appearance playing piano on track 16, is enough to propel these 'Youngsters' into the lower reaches of the hit parade.

Teen appeal aside,the Tradition still manage to maintain the admirable quality of material to belt out,made all the more palatable thanks to a smattering of minimal instrumentation. They were soon to put the paisley shirts into mothballs for good,and Peter Bellamy to  continue his fledgling solo career,but not after upping their cred with Shirley and Dolly Collins.Peter would ,however, be spotted wearing even more ridiculous clothes in the coming years....and why not? Only his suicide would save us from greater fashion faux pas's;but at least we were also spared from any possibility of 'Bellamy died for you' T-Shirts.

Tracklist:

A1 Intro: Ductia 0:58
A2 The Barley Straw 2:15
A3 What If A Day 2:13
A4 The Loyal Lover 1:15
A5 Entracte: Stones In My Passway 1:00
A6 Idumea 2:07
A7 The Husbandman And The Serving Man 1:43
A8 The Rolling Of The Stones 0:54
A9 The Bitter Withy 2:18
A10 The Banks Of The Nile 2:09
B1 Wondrous Love 2:46
B2 Mediaeval Mystery Tour 2:14
B3 Divertissement: Upon The Bough 0:30
B4 Ratcliff Highway 1:56
B5 The Brisk Young Widow 1:43
B6 Interlude: The Pembroke Unique Ensemble 1:01
B7 John Barleycorn 2:24
B8 The Agincourt Carol 4:38

DOWNLOAD some minstrels on mushrooms HERE!

The Young Tradition – "So Cheerfully Round" (Transatlantic Records – TRA 155) 1967

They look like one of those generic American Psychedelic groups from the cusp of 1967. They even have the creepy older bloke like many a Sunshine Pop combo from Connecticut. The psych era was a vertitable playground for the creepy old bloke who had a modern wardrobe. Free Love baby....or rather Free Rape...which meant, men could have sex with anyone they wanted even if the person in question didn't want to. A sort of acceptable rape trend (Groovy Pops!) .If the young lady in question didn't sleep around she was instantly labelled an off trend square. The sneakiest way around the consensual sex trap that the human male has ever invented in his long evil history. These psychedelic violators would have laughed at the idea of consent forms, which are looming in our mixed up muddled up society;which will surely lead to a boom in forgery will it not?

My favourite creepy old bloke in a pop group has to be the horrific manifestation of pure evil that was ,real name, Peter Mann,head honcho of sixties sunshine pop band 'The Sugar Shoppe'. It was even named after one of the pedophile's most trusted lures,a sweet shop.

Dig this...he's second from the right.....the one that looks like a sex pervert,not the one that looks like a little girl ready for beddie on the left.

The Unusual Suspects.....spot the perv in the line up.

I was once a sunshine Pop obsessive, and I found this 'Please Buy Me' item in Rhythm Records of Camden lock NW1 in the 90's.It pleaded with me to take it home, and I certainly wasn't disappointed......so i guess I should make a rare exception and post two download links.....if you want to hear the Sugar Shoppe,including drug references, then click HERE! Baby!

The run out of the opener, Skip-a-long Sam, is pure Hollywood cheese Psych gold.

I digress......But, don't get me wrong ,obviously Royston of The Young Tradition wasn't too much of a randy perv by all accounts....he was just Balding! Like me......er...but I'm a perv(like all men) so strike that comment!

The cover art and title,of the Tradition's album, is a naked attempt to infiltrate the UFO club psychedelic underground...after all, Fairport and The Incredible string Band played at all the Psych haunts in swinging London,so why not The Young Tradition?....of course they didn't,but they might sell some records to the less hip,a casual browser in Woolworths,or an out of touch grown up Beatle fan maybe?

However, once the casual buyer got this disc home,and slapped it on their Dansette,I doubt they would have continued past track one. No drums, no guitars,no sickly sweet harmonies,no songs about going to the cinema with yer girlfriend. If you liked Pop music, this would have been as shocking as a John and Yoko album.

Yes, they've been to Carnaby Street,but musically they were the real thing.....they just didn't look like it.

Tracklist:

A1 Daddy Fox 3:12
A2 The Season Round 4:02
A3 The Bold Dragoon 2:18
A4 Watercress-O 3:08
A5 The Old Miser 3:50
A6 The Foxhunt 1:40
B1 Knight William 4:39
B2 The Single Man's Warning 2:36
B3 The Pretty Ploughboy 5:25
B4 The Hungry Child 3:48
B5 The Whitsuntide Carol 2:15

DOWNLOAD the Young Tradition of being fashionable HERE!

The Young Tradition – "The Young Tradition" (Transatlantic Records – TRA 142) 1966

Groovy Baby! Its the Waterson's if they lived on Carnaby Street. Note the moody cover photo hiding their Granny Takes a Trip finery.

There must have been some Record Company meddling going on here,crossing the Waterson's with The Mama's and Papa's,and coming up with a still birth. That name too!? It sounds like one of those all singing, all dancing, groups of 'Young' people who invaded our homes during the Des O'Connor Show;but looking at them, they would definitely not  have got a birth in 'Hills Angels' on the Benny Hill Show.....unaware of this dodgy dance troop? Then treat yourself to an offensive on all levels clip of Benny and the Angels in action HERE!....blacked up old men, scantily clad schoolgirls,and what takes the biscuit...its superbly unfunny even on a child's level. We need crap like this NOW!

However, The Young Tradition,were as straight faced about their art as I was watching the Benny Hill Show.They seem,however, to have been accepted by the infamously snobby UK Folk Revival scene,the Young,and very middle class snobby Folk Revival Scene. They sang largely unaccompanied, like the Waterson's, were probably older than the Waterson's, but had a clothing budget,although  one of them had sideburns,and a comb-over baldness hiding hairdo,likely by Vidal Sassoon's dumber brother.

The not so Young Tradition do psychedelia

You can forgive the moronic record companies trying to sell this Folk Fad to the Beatles bobby-soxers, they were in business after all,even if they were clueless about the stuff they were forcing upon us.The Beatles were, after all, a contemporary electric Folk group. But John ,Paul,George and Ringo's vocal harmonies were certainly sweeter sounding that the harsh Folk realism of Peter,Heather and Royston's abrasive traditional vocalisations. The subject matter of the songs were usually X-rated,unlike the Fab Four's 'will you go out with me' storylines, so it was unlikely they were gonna trouble the British Market Research Bureau, who compiled the charts,too much.They were also terminally lacking in the Good looks department,something that was/is as essential in Folk Music as it is in Politics....Fuck the Music,Fuck the policies, the only thing that interests the casual human being is can you imagine wanting to fuck them....in this case,probably not,especially the groovy kat with the comb-over.

Tracklist:

A1 Byker Hill
A2 The Bold Fisherman
A3 Betsy The Serving Maid
A4 Henry The Poacher
A5 The Lyke Wake Dirge
B1 The Banks Of Claudy
B2 The Innocent Hare
B3 Dives And Lazarus
B4 Derry Down Fair
B5 The Truth Sent From Above
B6 Pretty Nancy Of Yarmouth

DOWNLOAD these crazy kids' first album HERE!

The Watersons – "The Watersons" (Topic Records – 12T142) 1966

1966, a fine year indeed, England won the world cup with a dodgy goal that pissed the Krauts off double LOL!,and The Watersons released their second album on Topic.

No selling out for The Waterson family,still banging out the ,largely,unaccompanied traditional songs mostly from East Yorkshire and the lovely city of Hull,with a swarthy gypsy's religious Zeal.No Aryans allowed here thanks.

Their enviable,it says on the sleeve-notes, combination of dark good looks, ringing voices, abundant charm and immense vitality earned them a kind of star status within the UK folk song revival which was usually reserved for them silly pop singers. With unpretentious zestfulness for their craft they had little or no interest in the glamorous sewer of showbiz,and doubtless, showbiz had little interest in them? Unless they changed them into The Hollies or some 60's dross like that,and send the ladies to Mary Quant for a vast makeover.They luckily escaped this humiliation,unlike some of their fellow travellers,such as Sandy Denny who was made to go and get glammed up for David Bailey to take some of his shite photo's of her for that big push for stardom....which of course went very tits up indeed!

Tracklist:

A1 Dido Bendigo 2:53
A2 The North Country Maid 2:31
A3 Brave Wolfe 4:27
A4 The Jolly Waggoners 2:53
A5 I Am A Rover 4:59
B1 Fathom The Bowl 2:52
B2 The Thirty-Foot Trailer 3:30
B3 The Holmfirth Anthem 1:58
B4 Twanky-Dillo 3:38
B5 The White Hare Of Howden 1:59
B6 The Plains Of Mexico 1:49
B7 All For Me Grog 2:39

DOWNLOAD by the watersons HERE!

The Watersons – "Frost And Fire: A Calendar Of Ritual And Magical Songs" (Topic Records – 12T136) 1965

Hull,the home of Britain's longest road bridge,and due to its close proximity to the former Soviet Union,was chosen as the site for Britain's early warning system and listening stations pointing towards Moscow.Only been to Hull once,when I went a wassailing with a nice young lady I conversed with in the early days of the internet.She hadn't heard of the Watersons,or The Housemartins, but boy could she wassail.....and other things too (nudge nudge).Sadly I have forgotten her name,but she did have a interesting fantasy to be tied to a tree naked,taken advantage of, and left there!? The great conversationalist that I am,I asked her what she did for a living(no,not while tied to a tree....pleeeze!),which she wasn't at liberty to disclose because she had signed the Official Secrets Act"!? Hmmmm?

So, can we all name five famous people from Kingston upon Hull?.....er,as previously mentioned....there's that bloke from The Housemartins......er....ummm...oh yeah;and, of course, The four Watersons in The Waterson's, Folk's version of Crass.

They dressed in various shades of grey,had poker straight black hair,class war politics,and drank copious amounts of northern ale. Which for the female members of the group,including Norma, Martin Carthy's future wife, was shocking behaviour for the early sixties.

They performed mainly traditional songs with little or no accompaniment, and banged out the tunes with their distinctive close harmonies,and proud Hull accents, across the pubs and clubs of northern England,kick starting the UK Folk revival with an almost religious zeal. They had a great spartan image too, which is always a plus.

Crass at the Waterson themed Anarchy center fancy dress party 1977....Rimbaud is top left.

This debut on the legendary Topic Records was voted Melody Maker album of the year,which considering what it was up against (Bobby Dylan etc..) is a mildly impressive achievement.

Opening with what is something of a theme tune in "Here We Come A-Wassailing", this record was the benchmark for how to do contemporary versions of traditional song forms.

What the fuck is Wassailing anyway you may ask? Good question...well instead of asking your mates if they fancy a pint later,try asking them if they want to come A-Wassailing, which basically means are you coming tut pub to get wasted th'neet?

There's plenty of similarly themed tunes celebrating the simple things in life,and includes the definitive version of "Hal-An-Tow, the pagan anthem for the rebirth of summer.Which in Hull lasts approximately a wet fortnight in august.

One simply couldn't get further away from commercialism or the musick biz as this.

Tracklist:

A1 Here We Come A-Wassailing
A2 The Derby Ram
A3 Jolly Old Hawk
A4 Pace-Egging Song
A5 Seven Virgins Or The Leaves Of Life
A6 The Holly Bears A Berry
A7 Hal-An-Tow
B1 Earsdon Sword Dance Song
B2 John Barleycorn
B3 Harvest Song: We Gets Up In The Morn
B4 Souling Song
B5 Christmas Is Now Drawing Near At Hand
B6 Herod And The Cock
B7 Wassail Song

DOWNLOAD to come a digital wasailing HERE!

Martin Carthy – "Shearwater" (PEG – PEG 12) 1972

It be the great daddy of the UK Folk revival's 80th birthyday today. All Hail!

So as a tribute,and with virtually zero moronic waffle from me, here's One of Martin's bestest ever albums for you all to celebrate with...bloody crap cover though!? This may be an unimaginative piece of script,but its more than most other blogs can be bothered to write.Normally its jsut a picture and a highlighted "Link" that's long dead.....unlike the great Martin.

Happy 80th Birthyday Martin Carthy.....MBE.

Tracklist:

A1 I Was A Young Man
A2 Banks Of Green Willow
A3 Handsome Polly-O
A4 Outlandish Knight
A5 He Called For A Candle
A6 John Blunt
B1 Lord Randall
B2 William Taylor
B3 Famous Flower Of Serving Men
B4 Betsy Bell And Mary Gray

DOWNLOAD the leftie with the MBE,but with reasons,HERE!

Michael Raven & Joan Mills ‎– "Hymn To Ché Guevara" (Folk Heritage Recordings FHR 054) 1974

There aren't too many openly conservative Folkies. They're all looney left wing, unless you count Johnny Cash as Folk? Well at least in the UK, all Folk musicians were proud exponents in sucking the red end of the political spectrum. Michael Raven may well have the deportment of an off duty Police officer,but his recording career suggested that he was somewhat a frustrated Pinko. Firmly out of the closet by 1974,the title of this crime worshiping album kind of confirms a revolutionary bent.

Making a record in praise of Ché ,a terrorist by modern standards,quite possibly a war criminal by any code of contemporary civilised ethics, and very guilty of crimes against humanity for his role as Minister of Justice in Castro's early government.'Justice' meaning executing enemies of the people,aka, anyone they didn't like.

Very popular on T-shirts,crowned the sixties Jesus, Ché,was more a fashion token rather than someone to base a new world order on. Somehow I can't imagine Joan and Michael having an in depth discussion about Ché's concept of the 'New Man' and the collectivization of farmlands.....saying that ,however, he looked good,and if you have a cool image, crimes against humanity don't count for diddly-squat.

I can just imagine these gentle folkies turning into blood thirsty killers come the revolution, hacking that doom metal fan next door into pieces with a scythe at the slightest wink from the latest Ché-a-like @ Facebook.com. Human's have a track record of stuff like this.

Depending on the blugeoner of course, I wouldn't mind being bludgeoned to death by an acoustic twelve string if it was wielded by Sandy Denny's resurrected ghost......as long as it was in tune mind!

That said, if the would be bludgeoner was some faux-folkie like James "You're Beaudiful" Blunt,or that Ginger twat from X-Factor,then I would willingly surrender my liberty,or even my life, to render them harmless with a couple of lead lined mandolin's. 

Raven and Mills, seem to enjoy singing about criminals in general it seems,because of the misconception that all criminals are the hard done by working class lads'n'lasses featured in many a traditional tune.Or was Raven really a plain clothes policeman after all?

 
Tracklist:

1 Belle Starr & Jesse James
2 Twenty Years
3 Tim Evans’ Dance
4 Melancholy Pavanne
5 Perry Mason’s Maggot
6 Hymn To Che Guevara
7 The Great Train Robbery
8 Magpies In Picardy
9 Little White Donkey
10 Dancing Lady
11 Over The Wall
12 Midnight City

DOWNLOAD the commie book of prayer HERE!

Michael Raven & Joan Mills – "Death And The Lady" (Folk Heritage Recordings – FHR 047) 1972

Well the tenuous connection between me getting Pfizered today and some twilit english folk moozick,is this sought after LP by Michael Raven and Joan Mills."Death and The Lady"

Death being the looming shadow of Co-Vid 19,and the lady being the charming young nurse who penetrated my left arm with the serum.

A liquid which, depending on which facebook post you last read instead of watching responsible news channels, or reading serious newspapers, will either render you a screaming vegetable as part some some fiendish genetic experiment, or turn you into a political zombie working for the Illuminati (Aren't we already?). There are many others that I can't be fucking bothered to list,but I do suspect,I'm crazy i know, that there wasn't any nano-bots or nano chips shot into my body, and the planet Earth is definitely elliptical rather than Flat.I know this because I can't see Australia,or at least the Himalayas from my nearest hillock.

Anyway, I've took one for the team to help free us all,even the Anti-vaxxers and conspiracy nuts, from this absurd repression......not that i've minded it at all.It kept people away from my front door,business increased by 500% due to the online boom,and i don't have to go anywhere.....look, I've got the photo's,so whats the point?

As lockdown is being lifted,and bars are opening, at least in the UK, I'm waiting for the anti-vaxxers to become the dominant breeding ground for super-covid,as the virus works out how to avoid the immune system altogether and become 100% lethal.My dearest wish is that it kills the Anti-Vaxxers in horrible slow agony before it gets to us responsible adult types.Dying will be worth it knowing that these post-truther fools got a free crash course in immunology before they realised that they just might have been....er,silly I know but.... wrong???....can't be?...nah?

"Do your Research" they said? Meaning watch some basket-case with a self-importance deficiency on YouTube,rather than doing 6 years at university studying immunology and/or virology.Duh!

Frank Farley of The Pirates as Joan Mills minder

However..... this album is rather mid-budget Pentangly, but worth the price of admission for the fact that Michael raven looked like a bald Frank Farley of the Pirates ,and sometimes like Roger Whittaker crossed with the Sweeney......sorry anyone not from the noisy island of Britain,I just can't help myself using Brit-culture references,it amuses me.

Joan mills has a nice line in delightfully dark(-ish) warbling,but tends to overdo it a bit.She so wanted to be Jacqui McShee (Pentangle),and almost pulled it off. But one cannot fault the quality of these songs.....the guitar playing, although very BBC schools program theme tune style is suitably haunting!......OUCH!...those nano-bots are starting to take over, I must kill,Kill KILL all non believers!

I predict the new 100% lethal'Super-Covid' will hit round about the end of the holiday season(sept).....and there'll be No escape....not even for Bo-Jo bless him,as he'll miss being voted the worst Prime Minister that ever got to redecorate the Downing Street Flat 'cus he'll be dead!

Tracklist:

1.Death And The Lady
2.The Jolly Highwayman
3.Lisa Lan
4.Ladies Don't Go A-Thievin'
5.Robin Hood's Dance
6.Staines Morris / La Folia Saraband / Adson's Saraband
7.Saraband
8.The Lichfield Greenhill Bower Processional
9.The Captain's Apprentice
10.Can Y Melinyd / Troseg Y Gareg
11.Sarah Collins
12.The White Gloves
13.La Russe Waltz / Paris Polka
14.The Queen Of The Night

DOWNLOAD some intravenous english folk HERE!

Barry Dransfield – "Bowin' And Scrapin' " ~~(Topic Records – 12TS386) 1978

Rumour has it that Barry Dransfield's fiddle bow was beefed up by strands of Barry's own eyebrow hair liberated by some handy wire-cutters,which adds that extra raspiness so characteristic of Barry's solo fiddle style. I suspect that Dave Swarbrick did the same thing, but this time using his ample sideburn hair.?

All the secret age old techniques of Folk music are being brought into the light here, so one must curtail these revelations pronto or risk a visit from a fuming Green Man with wood on,looking for sexual recompense of the type as described in "Recitation Upon A Gentleman Sitting On A Cremona Violin".

Although Barry's youthful looks as pictured on his first solo album had waned somewhat by 1978.This has to be the best album cover in the vast Topic Records catalogue. Which isn't saying too much,as most of 'em are bloody terrible.Here we have a police helicopters view of Barry's piercing eyes framed by the famed eyebrows,handling that fiddle like a freshly sheered sheep's arse.

The back cover has our second favorite fiddler doffing his cap in an unsettlingly Russell Brand-like pose,but with a better hairstyle than the self-styled Che Guevara of Hampstead,or Citizen Smith of Beverly Hills when he's on set in Hollywood.

But when Barry's a-fiddling he, the hideous spectre of ex-junkie stand up joker Brand,disappears like a mirage in a desert of forgotten folk reissues. 

Tracklist:

A1 Rattling Roaring Willie / Metal Man 3:18
A2 Fiddler's Progress 2:29
A3 Who Know Where The Time Goes / My Lagan Love 4:15
A4 Sheffield Hornpipe / Pet Of The Pipers 2:18
A5 Up The Aisle Medley: Swedish Wedding March - Wedding Song - Bridie's Wedding - Norwegian Wedding March - Wedding Morris 6:35
B1 Sandy Bell's 1:19
B2 Obliged To Fiddle / Planxty Davy / Spanish Cloak 4:32
B3 Bushes And Briars / Swedish Air 2:45
B4 O'Carolan's Concerto 3:42
B5 Recitation Upon A Gentleman Sitting On A Cremona Violin 6:19
B6 Sally Gardens / Clonmel Races 2:06

DOWNLOAD without blowin' and crappin' HERE!

Barry Dransfield – "Barry Dransfield" (Polydor – 2383 160) 1972

Once voted thee most expensive Folk album on da planet,f-king hell, it costs even more than anything on elitest re-issue label Vinyl On Demand!!!? But infinitely better value for money music wise,in the fact that it is actually 'Music'. The more talented Dransfield brother, Barry, garnered himself a major label one album deal. with kraut label Polydor. Label mates with James Last was something to keep quite down at the Folk Club at the local pub.

It is,however a great piece of authentic contemporary folk art,made and played by the owner of the densest set of eyebrows this side of Chris de Burgh.I think I may have a man crush goin' on here?....no not De Burgh! Dransfield, B.

Of course it sank like the Titanic,with the Dransfields' ancestors trapped beneath decks in steerage ,such be the role of the working classes.Die in wars, die in factories, die in pits,die in luxury liner disasters. Not sure if there are any folk tunes about the Titanic....one must do some research, proper research, not the type of 'research'(ie watching you-tube video's by nutters) that anti-vaxxers and relatives always accuse your scribe of not doing.

Anyone know of any?

Tracklist:

A1 The Werewolf
A2 Be My Friend
A3 Jigs: Hyde Park Mansions / Irish Jig
A4 She's Like A Swallow
A5 Broken Barricades
A6 Girl Of Dances
B1 Lots Of Little Soldiers
B2 Lily's Ballade
B3 Reels: The Trip To Derrow / The Traveller / St. Anne's Reel
B4 Robin Hood And The Peddlar
B5 General Worthington

DOWNLOAD from steerage HERE!

Robin & Barry Dransfield – "The Rout Of The Blues" (Trailer – LER 2011) 1970

I noticed that the posting, previously, of some cassette kulture euro-Industrial led to a sharp upsurge in blog traffic, possibly due to a mention of  the blog's favourite fat idiot over at Vinyl On Demand,or, even sadder, that you lot out there can't get enough formulaic Industrial skronk ,that if i posted the same cassette over and over again,you'd download it again and again until you ate yourselves.

A happier tone seems to have been struck by a few complaints that i have forsaken my recent Folk direction deliberately to pursue viewing figures by giving them what they want?.......Nah!

Here's Yorkshire's 1970 version of The Proclaimers,but with two handsome farmer types replacing the rather unattractive geeky twosome, and with far less shouty spittle involved.

The cover photo does look like the Dransfields are looking around the site of the male rape scene with the Trump voters from  John Boorman's "Deliverance"....after all events like that are what most Folk tunes are written about.Subject matter rarely touched upon by the mainstream rock and punk bores.

1970/71 could well turn out to be the best years for music ever.....even Yes were good then for chrissakes!?

But what about the Punk Rock the aging Ramones shirted punx whine?....this stuff IS Punk Rock! Besides that you proto punk bores are always inventing new bands who were the first Punks before Punk every bloody week,so you should be happy in 1971...especially when you discover that there were actually no,zero, Punk bands in 1971 (pretty much like 1976 in fact)......and don't yee come back with Iggy effing Pop , the rocking dwarf. Pleeeeeze!

The real underground was the Folk scene.No-one bought the records, but they carried on oblivious of the global indifference.Even shunning electrical instrumentation.

So here we have the Dransfields giving it their all with a mixture of self-penned and traditional tunes, given a cutting edge by Barry's barely disciplined fiddle scraping.

I should have saved this for this coming Saturday's F.A. Cup final, in which I am expecting, nay demand, a Rout of the Blues by my beloved Leicester City...the Blues being the arrogant and Russian Oligarch financed Chelsea.

Like Rock and Punk music, Football used to be property of the common man,but the rich have stolen it,as they have Rock music;but Folk is still with us,and could never be bought by Russian blood money. Hopefully we can get the other stuff back one day; but not using the VOD method of selling it back to us in unaffordable over elaborate box sets with shite artwork,to display but not play.

Here,the music will remain free,so we can reclaim the notes without feeding the phat cats,or the fat twats.

Tracklist:

1.The Rout Of The Blues
2.Scarborough Fair
3.English Medley

     St. Clement's Jig

     The Huntsmans Chorus

     Nancy
4.The Waters Of Tyne
5.The Earl Of Totnes
6.Tapestry
7.The Trees They Do Grow High
8.A Week Before Easter
9.A Fair Maid Walking All In Her Garden
10.Who's The Fool Now

DOWNLOAD from the internet's rout 666 HERE

Spriguns Of Tolgus – "Jack With A Feather" (Alida Star – ASC 7755) 1971

Another pale blue off the shelf standard jacket,and another Fairport Convention emulator,and every line-up of Fairport and Steeleye Span is represented,but all on one LP. 

Noticed that an original copy of this private pressing is up for sale on Discogs for a very reasonable four grand!?....does anyone actually pay these prices? How they can look at themselves in the mirror I'll never understand.Sorry African children you'll have to continue to die horribly of disease and hunger 'cus I just bought a Spriguns Of Tolgus original pressing for Four grand! Luckily for us mentally normal persons there exists Cd's that we can rip and distribute to the poor, Robin Hood style.

It's not bad musically, but when a disc is judged mainly for its rarity rather than quality,it can cloud certain person's vision. They did however get signed to a proper record label on the basis of this,and now enjoy a 'cult' following in Scandinavia,which is what we all dream of in our nascent adolescent pop stardom fantasies is it not?

The band photo's on the cover are rather amusing anyway,dressed up as knights, wizards and jesters.....which ,may I suggest, should be made compulsory for at least one day a month during the full moon?

On later records,they did get darker,and so should it be.

Listen carefully for Singer Mandy Morton's Bongo's.

Tracklist:

1.Lambton Worm
2.Let No Man Steal Your Thyme
3.Derby Ram
4.Jigs:Rakes Of Malo / St. Patrick's Day / Ten Penny Bit
5.Flodden Field
6.Troopers Nag

7.Curragh Of Kildare
8.Keys Of Canterbury
9.Twa Magicians
10.Seamus The Showman
11.Barren Banks Of Aden

DOWNLOAD and pay no less than zero quid HERE!

Gallery – "The Wind That Shakes The Barley" (Midas Recordings – MFHR 046) 1972

On the aptly named Midas label.Anyone who touches this turns it into gold.Fetching up to a grand for this Folk Wave long missing pastel blue progressive folk rarity.

A lot of these independent releases seemed to go for the pastel shade jacket around 1972 to '76.....obviously it was either cheap,or it was a take it or leave it situation.

Of course, I don't own an original copy.If I did it'd be straight to eBay. However, as with most bands from rediscovered genres, it got a re-released version,adding some bonus home-recordings, which are included here for all you rabid Gallery-ettes out there...of which I'm sure there are dozens?

Tracklist:

1 Seven Gypsies 2:54
2 False Bridge 4:36
3 Queen Of Hearts 3:45
4 Gilderoy/Staten Island/Harvest Home 22:36
5 Let No Man Steal Your Thyme 2:28
6 Dowie Dens Of Yarrow 4:03
7 The Wind That Shakes The Barley 4:22
8 Broomfield Wager 2:46
9 Chaconne 2:58
10 The Baron Of Brackley 4:27
11 Icy Acres 5:01
12 Home Recordings 20:06

DOWNLOAD a folk art gallery HERE!

Fresh Maggots – "Fresh Maggots... Hatched" (Sunbeam Records – SBR2LP5002) 1971

 It wasn't the Punx who first sang about life on the Dole (unemployment Benefit) apparently?Among a lot of other traits that they shared with earlier times,like all those ridiculous 'Punk before Punk' groups that get discovered everyday,just to put that to bed,Punk Rock only existed when it had a name,which was basically all it was about musically,but there were some good clothes at least;unlike the Hippies. Two of which can be heard on this sunk without trace Psychedelic Folk monster from 1971,singing about The Dole...among other topics, including anti-war and anti-monarchy tunes.

This Nuneaton#(UK) based pair  obviously heard The Incredible String Band,and Donovan,and realised just a couple of acoustic guitars and a penny whistle could possibly get them on the Hippie Folk bandwagon,and maybe, able to sign off the Dole? This may have occurred, but by 1972 they were back on the Dole after failing to shift enough units to make a second album economically viable..... a familiar tale.

#The Home town of the great Larry Grayson if anyone's interested.So its very possible that the good Larry would have heard Fresh Maggots at some point while walking up and down Nuneaton high street.I can just imagine he,Slack Alice, Non-Stick Nell,Apricot Lil and Once a Week Nora, standing at the back of the hall while the Maggots were going off on one. Any late comers would have been swiftly advised to "Shut that Door!"......just don't tell Everard for christs sake!

Ooooh look at the muck in 'ere!

Tracklist:

A1 Dole Song 3:27
A2 Rosemary Hill 3:34
A3 Quickie 1:21
A4 Everyone's Gone To War 3:55
A5 And When She Laughs 2:49
A6 Spring 3:22
B1 Balloon Song 3:56
B2 Guzz Up 1:37
B3 Who's To Die? 3:55
B4 Elizabeth R 2:53
B5 Frustration 5:58
C1 Car Song 4:06
C2 What Would You Do? 2:47
D1 Frustration (Live) 5:54
D2 Rosemary Hill (Live) 3:49
D3 Quickie (Live) 1:29
D4 And When She Laughs (Live) 1:29
D5 Spring (Live) 3:06

DOWNLOAD the flys that hatched from the maggots HERE!

Trees – "On The Shore (Expanded Edition)" (CBS – 64168) 1970

Following on from Forest, the group, not the crap footy team, comes another contender for the fourth best Folk-Rock group in the UK and Ireland.

So what makes up a Forest?.....yeah,very good,...Trees.

They were on CBS , got the sleeve designed by Hipgnosis, and sold about twenty two copies of their debut album,and even less, probably 17 of this follow up. It has a very recognisable cover photo,and i hear there's a new pressing on coloured vinyl that i may purchase to leave out on my coffee table for my regular fine wine and cheese fondue soirées. That should cement my place in the bourgeoisie as a newly qualified permanent resident of France under the Brexit agreement......they took my fingerprints the fookers! I get a plastic card with my face and biometric data on it,which leaves an empty feeling after four years of being used as a negotiating chip by both the European Union and dear old blighty........Kuntz!....There was a German footballer called Kuntz i seem to recall.He was a Cunt too.

Its all fine stuff,but some of the acid guitar playing does irk somewhat.It's that fizzy transistor distortion,of which there was rather too much of, that spoils the overall sound a tad.Great for The Gang Of Four, but for progressive Folk....Nah!

There's,naturally, a lovely lady sharing the singing duties again, the recently deceased, Celia Humphris.This one can actually sing to boot.....Mmmmm nice. Apparently Cecilia lived in France too,probably next door to me.....i'm that sociable that i would never know.Hopefully she not stressed out by our bastard politician chums in her last days?...cunts!

So to make up for all this bureaucratic fascism i've only gone and  knocked up an expanded edition of the Tree's second and best album "On The Shore",padded out with peel sessions,demo's, and unreleased third album demo's too!?  

Tracklist:


On The Shore

1 Soldiers Three 1:50
2 Murdoch 5:09
3 Streets Of Derry 7:34
4 Sally Free And Easy 10:08
5 Fool 5:22
6 Adam's Toon 1:12
7 Geordie 5:05
8 While The Iron Is Hot 3:20
9 Little Sadie 3:10
10 Polly On The Shore 6:09

Demo's and Sessions:

11 Polly On The Shore (Demo 1970) 5:45
12 Streets Of Derry (Demo 1970) 6:12
13 She Moved Thro' The Fair (Demo 1969) 5:28
14 Pretty Polly (Demo 1969) 4:54
15 The Great Silkie (BBC Session 1970) 6:51
16 Soldiers Three (BBC Session 1970) 1:42
17 Little Black Cloud (Demo 1969) 2:16
18 Forest Fire (BBC Session 1970) 4:09

Demo's for Unreleased Third album (1971):

19 Prince Heathern 4:33

20 Tom Of Bedlam 7:56

21 Cry Of Morning 2:56

22 Bergen Polka 3:33

23 Friar Tuck 6:49

24 Innocent Hare 2:05

25 Van Dieman's Land 7:13

DOWNLOAD if you're really shore HERE!

Forest – "The Full Circle" (Harvest – SHVL 784) 1970

On this weekend that sees all leading sports clubs,especially Football clubs and their sickening playing staff boycott social media for four days(????),why not forever if they really gave a shit(?), in a fruitless attempt to end online abuse,and general offensive behaviour(sounds good to me...the abuse stuff not the protest shit). Another small step for a small mind,but another giant leap for mankind towards that magnolia existence that is creeping ever closer.

I for one is gonna have to go through this blog with a fine tooth-comb to eek out anything that could make a poor social media user cry or angry or sad.Usually this manifests itself by myself being labelled racist, or a neo fascist for not being a fan of Reggae,and other absurd notions such as that!?

 I've backed it all up by the way,so fuck 'em. I demand my right to offend and to be offended,we're all grown-ups here thanks.

So how does this tie in with my current interest in Hippie and traditional Folk,which inexplicably seems to offend a few of our visitors,so they might complain to our Google masters and get this site deleted,alongside other similar arseholes. An internet full of fluffy bunnies,pink unicorns and rainbows......I may slash my wrists right now!Zog's drummer has already done that with an angle-grinder (true!) but survived,leaving him without the ability to either Drum, wank or work! All he has is the Internet.....naturally now avoiding the copious amounts of free Porn, for obvious reasons;which, alas will also soon be erased from this increasingly dull medium.

Right, time to get offensive,abusive and display acts of mild bullying.

I fucking HATE Forest!....down in the deepest sewers of my black heart.

Noooooo Not Forest, the superb progressive Folk band from the early seventies, that fucking shit Football team from Nottingham, whose staff are also going on this silly half-arsed boycott.

For those too sensible to have any interest in this petty triballism to know, Nottingham is the  neighbouring city to Leicester (my personal Bethlehem)festering in the East Midlands hinterlands of the UK. 

In my yoof  Forest were rather successful,and we Leicester fans never heard the last of it. These Notts... (they hate being called 'Notts' Forest hehehe),i'll say it again, Notts Forest Fans, forgot that old showbiz rule of, be careful how you treat people on the way up,for you will surely meet them again on the way down......and down they went,as far as one can go. Suitably humbled by Leicesters continuing success post 2016 Premier league triumph,we long passed these crowing reprobates ,and for the runners-up prize the same fate befell those other lesser rivals,Derby County,and Coventry City. Shame innit?

Enough Gloating.....well maybe......but,one Forest I do love is this Acid Folk masterpiece  which travels a full circle from Football,of which there is actually very little to like,ne'r mind love? We sad fans are a captive audience,emotionally blackmailed by the super rich and despicable mercenary playing staff....fuck 'em I say. Love my club, but everything else about footy makes my stomach contents defy gravity.

Forest,the folky groop, however, are the opposite of stupidity,greed and big business.They also make some delightfully dark progressive folk music, that strangely ,at times, remind one of The Pale Saints if the 4AD legends had long hair and acoustic instruments.

Thankfully, neither Forest the Band,or The Pale Saints, came from Nottingham, so they're definitely ok by me.

Grimsby gave birth to Forest,thanks to their connections to Hull on the other shore of the Humber estuary,where legendary folkers, 'The Watersons' hung out in the sixties.But, disquietingly too close to Lincolnshire,which does in fact harbor some Forest Fans, and is full of Gammon faced Brexit voters.....double stupid. 

Tracklist:

A1 Hawk The Hawker
A2 Bluebell Dance
A3 The Midnight Hanging Of A Runaway Serf
A4 To Julie
A5 Gypsy Girl & Rambleaway
B1 Do Not Walk In The Rain
B2 Much Ado About Nothing
B3 Graveyard
B4 Famine Song
B5 Autumn Childhood

DOWNLOAD a good argument for the deforestation of football HERE!

Mellow Candle – "Swaddling Songs" (Deram – SDL 7) 1972

 Not all Irish Folk is about pixie dancing,and playing the same tunes with different titles on a penny whistle. Here in France,if you play any Folk Music, even Fairport Convention, the French cannot help themselves from exclaiming with great joy, "Ahhh! La Musique Irelandaise".

It's all Irish music to them,from Steeleye Span,Jethro Tull to A.L.Lloyd and the Watersons. Which is rich coming from a place that has precisely zero traditional music,except for some funny stuff from Brittany,whose very name is a big clue as to where that came from.

Mellow Candle, although not 100% Irish, were Ireland's answer to Sandy Denny's Fairport Convention, and were almost as good as The Pentangle......someone said.

They also had a few under-age teenage girlies doing the vocal duties.....whoops...nearly said oral duities then, for which I apologise profusely. Alison Williams and Clodagh Simonds,provide fair Denny and McShee impressions ,which could have ,in a more just world, won them the accolade of Fourth Best Folk-Rock group in the UK...and Ireland,and beyond.

Clodagh Simonds,was also the chief Songwriter, contributing to most of the tracks on this LP,enabling them to steer clear from that quagmire of Rocked up traditional tunes.

And, of course, Mellow Candle was snuffed out by that equally traditional Rock malady of near zero album sales.Which is a pity for one of the most consistent Progressive Folk albums ever made....100% prog with no terrible Rock'n'Roll,Bob Dylan, or jazz covers that blighted the career of Sandy and Fairport.And even better....No bloody String Sections.....just some Mellotron,a fact which is a recommendation in itself is it not?

Tracklist:

1.Heaven Heath
2.Sheep Season
3.Silver Song
4.The Poet And The Witch
5.Messenger Birds
6.Dan The Wing
7.Reverend Sisters
8.Break Your Token
9.Buy Or Beware
10.Vile Excesses
11.Lonely Man
12.Boulders On My Grave

DOWNLOAD something astonishingly mellow HERE!

Midwinter – "The Waters Of Sweet Sorrow" (Porcelain – PCN 001) 1996/1973

By 1973 every urban street had a Progressive Folk Band with a lady singer of questionable ability singing about country life,while the blokes squabbled over who was gonna be the Bert Jansch of the group.

Alas, also by 1973 the kids were turning a blind ear to these urban folkies and went in a very ill advised ELP direction. So it was unlikely you were gonna get your album released by Island or any other previously Folk orientated label. So your tapes were stored on the shelf until the crate diggers of the nineties 'rediscovered' your rejected efforts,and burnt it to CD for the Japanese market.

Midwinter were one of these doomed ,too late for the wave, kind of things, which rose up from deepest darkest Great Yarmouth; a grim seaside town, that had less than nothing happening during the Winter season...except for the Folk Club,where our anti-heroes met up.......during the bleak Midwinter of 1972.

The tapes were indeed found in guitarist Ken's Attic, and now they enjoy the cult status that was denied them when it was most needed.Better late than never I guess?

Impressively this is quite good indeed,despite yet another version of "Scarborough Fair". Jill Child's singing comes from a Jacqui McShee via Shirley Collins direction,but,of course lacking either of their charisma's or talent, .Lets face it you ain't gonna find a Sandy Denny living down your street in Great Yarmouth are you?....Probably in the eighties if she fell on hard times maybe, but we'll never know......so Jill Child it is.However, her simple understatedness suits the music much more authentically than any of those Female Folk legendesses.

Tracklist:

1.Sanctuary Stone
2.To Find A Reason
3.The Skater
4.Scaborough Fair
5.The Oak Tree Grove
6.Dirge
7.Maids And Gentlemen
8.The Waters Of Sweet Sorrow
9.All Things Are Quite Silent
10.The Two Sisters
11. Winter Song

DOWNLOAD the midwinter of discontent HERE!

Paul Giovanni and Magnet – "The Wicker Man OST" (Die or DIY? Version) 1973

I'm still waiting for Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber to do a west end/broadway version of  one of the greatest movies ever made,namely, "The Wicker Man", the Citizen Kane of Folk Horror Musicals.Or was Orson Wells' career defining moment actually The Wicker Man of  post war Hollywood mystery dramas? Both I think?

What Sir Andrew would do to this classic Dark Folk soundtrack makes one fear for the survival of humanity. What makes this music even more remarkable is that it was written by an American, the late Paul Giovanni,who can be seen in the Green Man pub singing "Gently Johnny" in the outtake sequence and in the finale singing "Summers a Coming In".These all sound like authentic ancient Folk tunes,but,no sir, written by a yank!?

The funniest story about this film is that Rod Stewart threw a wobbler about Britt Eklund getting her jugs out and doing a sensual naked dance to tempt the virgin Fool played by Sergeant Edward Woodward into being deflowered by Brit as the Landlords Daughter.

So much did rock'n'roller Rod moan about this that a body double was used for the dancey bits.....but Wow! What a body double...Phwaoooer!

Also funny, is why on earth is christian society so scared of Paganism? Calling this bizarre film a Horror movie reveals humanity as the death-fearing bunch of simpletons we really are.After-all, Christianity is virtually Paganism but with the green man replaced by a bearded old bloke/entity in the sky.....now that's even sillier than Rod Stewart.

Britt Eklund wishing Rod Sewart had a body double with a smaller nose

Even more silly than Rod Stewart has to be the absurd 'remake' starring Nicholas Cage. I managed ten minutes of this drivel before I switched channels. I can only imagine Cage brandishing a firearm at the head of one of those Pagan scum demanding "Ok you Pagan Son of a Bitch!This .44 magnum says you know the whereabouts of Rowan Morrison"?

The fuckers also did the same to UK crime thriller "Get Carter",this time even worse, Sly Stallone as Carter!?....Hollywood leave us alone please...in fact leave everyone alone....pretty please!?

What if Richard Curtis did a remake of "Mean Streets" with Hugh Grant as Johnny Boy, or Mike Leigh's version of "Halloween" starring Dame Judie Dench as Mike Myers eh?....I dunno, I'd actually quite like to see these films!

PS...there are so many versions of this soundtrack, so i done a sort of a best of...for yers.

Tracklist:

Songs From Summersisle Ballads Of Seduction, Fertility And Ritual Slaughter

1 Corn Rigs 2:35
2 The Landlord's Daughter (movie Version) 2:37
3 Gently Johnny 3:32
4 Maypole 2:43
5 Fire Leap 1:26
6 The Tinker Of Rye 1:50
7 Willow's Song 4:40
8 Procession 2:15
9 Chop Chop 1:41
10 Lullaby 4:29

Incidental Music From 'The Wicker Man'

12 Opening Music / Loving Couples / The Ruined Church 4:13
13 The Masks / The Hobby Horse 1:25
14 Searching For Rowan 2:22
15 Appointment With The Wicker Man 1:18
16 Sunset  1:05

17 The Landlords Daughter (Studio Version) 2:40

DOWNLOAD a good harvest of modern folk tunes HERE!

or 

via the mediafire ferry from the mainland HERE!