neo-folk

Mr. Fox: Mr. Fox and Mendle (1970)

2014/10/25

Mr. Fox Here’s but a small taste of what’s coming during Hallowe’en. I hinted at before that by the end of the ‘60s a few groups like Forest, Steeleye Span, and even Fairport Convention were touching a bit on the dark side of folklore and hidden traditionals. By turn of the decade, groups like the…
John and Beverley Martyn: Annie the Aviator and Parcels (1970)

2014/10/24

John and Beverley Martyn What could have been? That’s the theme of Beverley Martyn’s (now Kutner) life. One time, a long time ago, John Martyn and her were destined to be the royalty of England’s neo-folk movement. I’ll pick up John’s story later but for now lets focus on Beverley. While other female folk singers…
Fotheringay: Gypsy Davy and Steeleye Span: Fisherman’s Wife (1970)

2014/10/23

Fotheringay – 1970 Today’s post tries to capture what exactly was going on with Sandy and Ashley after they left Fairport Convention. Sandy left because she felt her ability to contribute original songs was going to be ignored. Ashley left because he felt Fairport was going to start ignoring the new traditional route they’d taken…
Vashti Bunyan: Rose Hip November (1970)

2014/10/22

Vashti Bunyan – 1970 There was something special about the year 1970. Only in such a year, can a producer like Joe Boyd encourage a young gal who had resigned from industrial life altogether, venturing to leave it all behind to follow her boyfriend to live in a commune, only to come back and record…
Nick Drake: At the Chime of the City Clock and Northern Sky (1970)

2014/10/21

Nick Drake – 1970 The turn of the decade, now we’re spiraling into an era where English folk music could really spread its wings. Nick Drake, far from being the perceived sad sack they’d hear later on Pink Moon was attempting to present all his gifted taste and sophistication. Although, the failure of Five Leaves Left left him…
Nick Drake: Way to Blue and Thoughts of Mary Jane (1969)

2014/10/20

Nick Drake – Five Leaves Left Photo Sessions Nick Drake is a hard musician to write about. Most history that can be written about his life has already been combed over and detailed. Nick Drake, though was hardly an artist known or remembered as so during his brief living life. How could an artist who…
Tyrannosaurus Rex: Stones for Avalon and Iscariot (1969)

2014/10/18

Tyrannosaurus Rex – 1969 “The toad road licked my wheels like a sabre/Winds of the marsh lightly blew” those are the first two verses that greet you the first time you hear Unicorn. “Chariots of Silk” the opening track, serves as a salvo for what’s coming. Seemingly impenetrable on paper, or on computer display, the…
Tyrannosaurus Rex: Scenesof and Deborah (1968)

2014/10/17

Tyrannosaurus Rex – Steve and Marc Some of us will always see artists a certain way. For example, I’ll always think of David Bowie not as the miming artist he started out his career being, but as THE artistic mime we now know him as. I know people always see Marc Bolan as the pint…
The Pentangle: Light Flight and Hunting Song (1969)

2014/10/16

The Pentangle – 1969 Sometimes, I wish I had an interesting story to tell for certain bands. This one especially so. The album these songs were off of Basket of Light wasn’t created by a huge cataclysmic shift in sound or happening. This album was simply the work of immensely talented musicians who did the…
Fairport Convention: Matty Groves and Tam Lin (1969)

2014/10/15

Fairport Convention at Farley Chamberlayne Yesterday we left Fairport Convention finally realizing the vision they had to head towards to. Today, we see how they get there. This destination was the creation of English folk-rock as most people know it and a true classic no matter what country you come from. What does that mean?…