VA - Meet on the Ledge an Island Folk-Rock Anthology

VA - Meet on the Ledge an Island Folk-Rock Anthology - 2009

from recordcollectormag.com

For long-time Island fans the most fun way to celebrate this hugelytrumpeted anniversary would be reissuing the two budget-price samplers which introduced so many cash-strapped kids to the label in 1969. The wide range of musical strains presented was packed with avenues to explore, but You Can All Join In’s Side Two, Track One was Fairport Convention’s hauntingly anthemic Meet On The Ledge, heralding the label’s oncoming “quiet revolution” combining folk and electric rock forms, examined here over three CDs.

The astutely-picked selection swings quite naturally from the worthy traditionalism of The Albion Band into the late, great John Martyn revamping the same form with his treated electric guitar (one of seven beauties from the man). In between these sonic goalposts bubble a diverse gaggle including the mighty Traffic, intensely poignant Sandy Denny, wonderfully-whimsical Dr Strangely Strange, Richard & Linda Thompson, Cat Stevens, Nick Drake, Incredible String Band, Jethro Tull, Ronnie Lane and less-remembered names such as Jess Roden’s Bronco and The Sutherland Brothers. The worthy nose-pinching element may put some off but folk has always been either a multi-faceted or much-divided field, depending on personal standing, so it’s further tribute to Island that they covered all these bases and made it look quite natural.

CD 1
01. John Martyn - Cocaine
02. Fairport Convention - She Moves Through The Fair
03. Traffic - Withering Tree
04. John Martyn - Seven Black Roses
05. Fairport Convention - A Sailor's Life
06. John & Beverley Martyn - The Ocean
07. Dr. Strangely Strange - Strangely Strange But Oddly Normal
08. Jethro Tull - Living In The Past
09. Fairport Convention - Matty Groves
10. Traffic - John Barleycorn Must Die
11. Fotheringay - Banks Of The Nile
12. Nick Drake     One Of These Things First
13. Fairport Convention - Sir Patrick Spens

CD 2
01. Fairport Convention - Dirty Linen
02. Cat Stevens - On The Road To Find Out
03. Sandy Denny - Late November
04. Mike Heron - Flowers Of The Forest
05. Amazing Blondel - Spring Season
06. Bronco - Time Slips Away
07. Claire Hamill - The Man Who Cannot See Tomorrow's Sunshine
08. Amazing Blondel - Siege Of Yaddlethorpe
09. The Incredible String Band - Dear Old Battlefield
10. Robin Williamson - Dark Eyed Lady
11. Richard Thompson - Poor Ditching Boy
12. Morris On - The Nutting Girl
13. Sandy Denny - Bushes And Briars
14. The Incredible String Band - Black Jack David
15. Sutherland Brothers - Sailing
16. John Martyn - Over The Hill
17. Nick Drake - Things Behind The Sun
18. Ashley Hutchings & Chums - Haste To The Wedding/The Triumph/Off She Goes

CD 3
01. The Albion Band - Hanged I Shall Be
02. John Martyn -  Eibhli Ghail Chiuin Ni Chearbhail
03. Richard & Linda Thompson - Withered & Died
04. John Martyn - Spencer The Rover
05. Bryn Haworth - Darlin' Cory
06. Richard & Linda Thompson - The Sun Never Shines On The Poor
07. Ronnie Lane & Slim Chance - Stone
08. Richard & Linda Thompson - Dimming Of The Day/Dargai
09. Ashley Hutchings & Chums - Upton Upon Severn Stick Dance
10. Richard Thompson - Calvary Cross
11. Sandy Denny - I'm A Dreamer
12. John Martyn - May You Never
13. Fairport Convention - Meet On The Ledge

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