Lovely work from one of the sweetest voices in the Carter Family – sister Anita Carter – nice stuff recorded for RCA in the 60s & 70s! Anita was fairly overlooked as a solo singer throughout her career, at least as far as breakout success goes (she likely didn't lack for the admiration and respect of her peers) – and the material on this excellent compilation by Omni is actually far more engaging than we expected, even as longtime fans of the Carters. The sound is probably a bit too quiet and folksy to have gotten over in the honky tonk scene of the time, and likewise a bit too modern, lean and crisp for fans of the uber old school Carter Family of earlier decades, but it holds up beautifully all of these years later. A discovery we're happy to have finally caught up with! Includes some duets with Waylon Jennings, Hank Snow, Johnny Cash, and the Carter Family. 28 tracks in all: "2001 (Ballad Of The Future)", "I Won't Change For You", "Poison Red Berries", "Hang A Little Sign", "Twelve O'Clock High", "Carmel By The Sea", "I'm Counting On You", "Sweet Memories" and lots more! CD

Early genius from the great Martin Carthy – the kind of set that had a huge influence on the acid folk generation to come, and one that also marks the start of a huge amount of contributions Carthy would make to the UK scene! The album is spare, with just Martin on vocals and guitar – and additional accompaniment from frequent partner Dave Swarbrick on fiddle and mandolin – both instruments used occasionally, but in really great ways. The production is wonderful – that eerie sound that makes so many of the UK folk sets so different than American ones of the 60s – and titles include "Springhill Mine Disaster", "Scarborough Fair", "Lovely Joan", "The Handsome Cabin Boy", "High Germany", and "The Trees They Do Grow High". LP, Vinyl record album

Johnny first LP collaboration with his soon to be wife June Carter, and it's a nice one! Carryin' On has it's share of sweet, lovely moments shared by the two, but also has a lot more cool 60s oddball touches than one would expect. The couple cover Dylan's "It Ain't Me Babe" and two Ray Charles tunes, "I Got A Woman" and "What I Say". All three sound pretty strange coming out of hard-nosed Johnny, and prove to be quite fun and endearing, and very indicative of the freedom he had at Columbia to do whatever the heck he wanted. Other tracks include "Shantytown", "Pack Up Your Sorrows", "Jackson", "What A Good Thing We Had", and "No, No, No". Includes two bonus tracks from the sessions, and new liner notes by old pal Carl Perkins. CD

An amazing legacy in music from Mike Cooper – a British musician who started out in the world of folk blues, but never ended up moving towards some of the rockish modes of his contemporaries – instead finding his very own sort of special space in the freedom allowed by the Dawn Records label! The set begins with the very spare Oh Really – a set that has Mike Cooper mostly on guitar and vocals, in a style that's part Piedmont, part Delta blues – but also given a more folksy spin, and graced with Cooper's unusual vocals – almost making the whole thing feel like a spare acoustic version of Canned Heat territory – with titles that include "Maggie Campbell", "Saturday Blues", "Electric Chair", "Crow Jane", and "You're Gonna Be Sorry". Do I Know you is a record that follows up with a sound that's maybe a bit fuller than Mike Cooper's debut, but still relatively spare – with Mike on acoustic guitar and slide guitar, Harry Miller on bass (really great bass, by the way!), and Poor Little Anne on a bit of vocals. Miller brings these deep tones to the record that really transform things – and titles include "Do I Know You", "Start Of A Journey", "First Song", "Theme In C", and "The Link". Trout Steel is a beautiful set from the British scene at the start of the 70s – a record that's got a fairly folksy tone, but lots of jazzy currents as well! The set was issued on the seminal Dawn Records label – and really shows that imprint's commitment to the left side of the spectrum – as Mike Cooper's vocals and acoustic guitar come into play with more guitar from Stefan Grossman – plus alto sax from Mike Osborne, tenor and soprano from Alan Skidmore, piano from John Taylor, and bass from the late Harry Miller – all key players on the UK avant jazz scene of the time! The mix of these players with Cooper's core inspiration is not unlike some of the most progressive material coming from Island Records – or, even better, the special jazzy moments on records by Tim Buckley or Tim Hardin – company that Cooper could very easily keep, given the strength of his songwriting. Titles include "Don't Talk Too Fast", "On My Way", "Hope You See", "Weeping Rose", "Trout Steel", "I've Got Mine", "That's How", and "Pharoah's March". Places I Know blends Cooper's acoustic guitar and rootsy vocals with some very compelling arrangements from Mike Gibbs – the British jazz talent who was already known for his larger ensemble creations at the time, but who works here in these really subtle ways – to inflect Cooper's core inspirations with just some slight instrumental colors, tones, and phrases on most numbers – while Cooper brings in the core Machine Gun Co group on a few more. The result is a record that's way more than familiar folk – and arguably a lot hipper than most of the British acid folk of the time, too – on titles that include "Night Journey", "Paper & Smoke", "Country Water", "Time To Time", "Goodbye Blues Goodbye", and "Places I Know". The Machine Gun Co album is a partner record to Places I Know – recorded in the same sessions, but with tracks that are longer, and even more openly expressive – all with backings from the sweet Machine Gun Co quartet, a group with some especially nice electric piano from Alan Cook! Heavy use of that instrument really works against some of the folksier elements in Cooper's music – with these blocks of warm sound and color that really illuminate the tunes, and almost unlock a new level in the vocals. Cooper plays a bit of electric guitar at times – and titles include "So Glad That I Found You", "Lady Anne", "Midnight Words", and "Song For Abigail". CD also features songs from singles – "Your Lovely Ways (parts 1 & 2)", "Time In Hand", and "Schaabisch Hall". (Rock, Folk/Country) CD

An album as lovely as its title, and John Fahey's 8th record – mostly solo guitar, but with guest drums and bass on 2 cuts – "March For Martin Luther King" and "Dance of The Inhabitants Of The Invisible City Of Bladensburg". The sound is extremely magical – introspective, yet far-seeing – with that fragile sense of being in the world that's made Fahey's work endure far longer than that of most of his contemporaries. Other titles include "Irish Setter", "Commemorative Transfiguration & Communion At Magruder Park", and "Lion". LP, Vinyl record album

An album as lovely as its title, and John Fahey's 8th record – mostly solo guitar, but with guest drums and bass on 2 cuts – "March For Martin Luther King" and "Dance of The Inhabitants Of The Invisible City Of Bladensburg". The sound is extremely magical – introspective, yet far-seeing – with that fragile sense of being in the world that's made Fahey's work endure far longer than that of most of his contemporaries. Other titles include "Irish Setter", "Commemorative Transfiguration & Communion At Magruder Park", and "Lion". CD

An album as lovely as its title, and John Fahey's 8th record – mostly solo guitar, but with guest drums and bass on 2 cuts – "March For Martin Luther King" and "Dance of The Inhabitants Of The Invisible City Of Bladensburg". The sound is extremely magical – introspective, yet far-seeing – with that fragile sense of being in the world that's made Fahey's work endure far longer than that of most of his contemporaries. Other titles include "Irish Setter", "Commemorative Transfiguration & Communion At Magruder Park", and "Lion". CD

Completely charming work from the great Dan Hicks – one of the few cats who could make us like music like this so much! Dan sings and plays rhythm guitar – and the group also features vocals from Maryann Price and Naomi Eisenberg – that lovely pair whose harmonies with Hicks really helped the group find their sound! As before, instrumentation is all acoustic, but used in these jazzy ways that are very unique – not folk, not string band, nor swing – but something very unique, and a real breath of fresh air in the 70s scene! Titles include "Long Come A Viper", "It's Not My Time To Go", "My Old Timey Baby", "Lonely Madman", "Cowboy's Dream No 19", and "Payday Blues". (Rock, Folk/Country) CD

The sweet, lovely and lush full length debut of Mary Hopkin for Apple Records! Mary's vocals are fragile and sweet, and Paul McCartney's production frames it like a pillow on the softer tunes – with light bits of acoustic guitar – and makes are sound like the queen of all natural on the more grandly orchestrated tracks. 15 tracks on the original album, including "Those Were The Days", "Lord Of The Reedy River", "Love Is The Sweetest Thing", "The Puppy Song", "Inchworm", "Young Love", "The Game", "Someone To Watch Over Me" and more. Has 3 bonus tracks: "Turn Turn Turn" & two versions of "Those Were The Days". CD

A beautiful early 70s debut LP from a then 20 year old, Halifax-reared Catherine Howe – produced and arranged by US jazz pianist Bobby Scott in a mode that manages to feel lush and opulent while never belying Catherine's warmth, intimacy and maturity! The sound is warmly baroque, and Catherine's lovely vocals and evocative songwriting style is sheerly natural – recorded in a fairly stripped down setting and fleshed out with strings by the London Symphony Orchestra. The mix of intimacy and grandeur makes the record a bit of stylistic cousin to Nick Drake's Bryter Layter – we take our Drake seriously and we don't throw that comparison out lightly! Released by a doomed Reflection Records, which closed up shop the same year – the album was almost instantly relegated to obscurity, but has become the stuff of legend over the years – thanks to reissues, and interest in Howe's music from younger generations. Titles include "Up North", "On A Misty Morning", "Nothing More Than Strangers", "My Child", "The Innocence Of A Child", "It Comes With The Breezes" and more – plus the bonus demo "In The Hot Summer" – which led to the next phase of Catherine's career at RCA. CD

The second album from Incredible String Band – and incredible it is, a UK psychedelic folk gem that finds the group challenging conventions across the board – both artful and inviting, it's wonderful stuff! At this point, Clive Palmer had left, and Mike Heron and Robin Williamson contribute lead vocals with the additional vocalist Licorice also taking lead on a few tunes, the sound is fleshed out with more accompaniment and a rich warmth on a bevy of instruments – guitar, sitar, bowed gimbri, finger cymbals, tamboura, oud, rattles, flute, bass and piano. Includes the lovely and oft-covered "The First Girl I Loved", plus "Chinese White", "No Sleep Blues", "Painting Box", "The Eyes Of Fate", "The Hedgehog's Song", "You Know What I Could Be", "Gently Tender", "Way Back In The 1960s" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Truly amazing work from Bridget St John – an artist who's unlike anyone else we can think of – and who belongs in that rare stratosphere of completely distinct talents at the end of the 60s – a space that might include Nico, Nick Drake, or Bill Fay! Like all those three, St John is clearly a product of her time, and does have some musical relations to the world of folk, rock, and singer/songwriters – but her end result is so distinct, so unique, she's practically a genre unto herself – and a small one overall, given how few records she released! This set brings a focus on the best tracks from those albums – with one full disc of the best tracks from her studio albums – then adds in an even bigger disc of rare material, which includes early demos, BBC performances, other TV moments, rare tracks, and even a few duets with Michael Chapman. The second disc also has a few brief interview snippets – and Bridget's spoken voice is as lovely as her singing – and titles include "Lazarus", "Downderry Daze", "Ask Me No Questions", "Hello Again", "Thank You For", "The River", "Silver Coin", "Fly High", "It Seems Very Strange", "Suzanne", "There's A Place I Know", "Nice", and lots lots more! (Rock, Folk/Country) CD

A lovely little record – every bit as wonderful as you might expect from the cover, with an evocative sound that fits right in with the concept of a rainy day raga! Peter Walker plays acoustic guitar, but he does so in these long, winding ways that are clearly inspired by Indian music – yet which come across with much more of an Americanist vibe – supported with some additional guitar from Monte Dunn, a 12 string "drone" from Alex Lukeman, and even some flute from Jeremy Steig – plus a bit of tamboura and bells too! The album's one of the most haunting we've ever heard on Vanguard – way more than familiar folk – and titles include "Morning Joy", "River", "April In Cambridge", "Sunshine", "Rainy Day Raga", "White Wind", and "Bianca". (Rock, Folk/Country) CD