This 3-CD set includes a careful selection of late 60s to mid-70s folk artists from UK and Ireland picking up on everything from psych rock studio techniques so popular at the time, eastern folk inflections to jazz and soul and coming up with some wonderfully hip sounds that still stand the test of time. -spillmagazine
DEEP IN THE WOODS
1968年から1975年にかけて英国に残されたサイケデリック・フォークの名曲/レア曲を3CD、54曲収録した充実のBOX!
サマー・オブ・ラブを経て一気に拡散した英国のサイケデリック・ムーヴメントの中でも、フォーク風味のサウンドに焦点を当てたコンピレーション。サンフォレスト、メロウ・キャンドル、トゥリーズ、ヘロン、トレーダー・ホーン、クリスティン・ハーウッドといった面々に代表される、英国らしいトラッドとアシッド風味が混じりあうサウンドを一挙54曲収録。
またリンダ・ルイスなどのフォーキー・グルーヴ物、ダフィ・パワーなどのアコースティック・ブルーズなど、アコギの響きに焦点を当てた幅広い選曲で、英国におけるルーツ/トラッドが如何にトレンドとして取り込まれていったのかが良くわかる内容になっています。アシッドフォーク好きのみならず、英国ロックの深い森を探訪したいすべての人にオススメ。
'Triple CD set collecting rare cuts and cult favourites from the worlds of psychedelic, pastoral and funky folk, 1968-1975. Focusing on the outpouring of psychedelic folk flavours that emerged swiftly after the first psychedelic era. Featuring some wonderful selections from long collectable acts such as Sunforest, Mellow Candle, Trees, Heron, Trader Horne, Christine Harwood and many more. Compiled by Richard Norris (Beyond The Wizards Sleeve/The Grid), the compilation is themed around UK and Irish music from that hallowed period, and comes with a 7000 word essay and sleeve notes from the musician/producer. Celebrating the collision of traditional folk with new psychedelic studio techniques, new and exotic textures, and a developing groove. It's a wide and broad range of styles, drawing from folk, it's oral storytelling tradition, and also from jazz, beat, rhythm and blues, and the more mind opening sounds of psychedelia. Housed in a 3 CD digipack, designed in a striking wraparound collage by Lyndon Pike.'
Sensational Boxed set Deep In The Woods Explores Innovative Folk Roots During 1968-1975
By Angel Romero
“Deep In The Woods – Pastoral Psychedelia & Funky Folk 1968-1975” is a beautifully packaged 3-CD boxed set that presents an expansive look at the rich and groundbreaking folk scene in the UK and Ireland during the late 1960s and early 1970s. This was a period when musicians involved in the folk music revival embraced psychedelia, blues, funk, jazz, progressive music and other musical forms to create a fascinating world of new roots music.
The songs were selected by Richard Norris (Beyond The Wizards Sleeve/The Grid) who introduces dozens of talented artists from the near past to new generations. Although the entire collection is top-notch, I selected a handful of favorites, like the early environmental spirit of Open Road, the rock band that regularly backed Donovan’s touring band.
Irish act The Woods Band dazzles with its Celtic music flavor and vocal harmonies. Meanwhile, groundbreaking Welsh artist Meic Stevens was an early adopter of world music, combining Indian sitar with western psychedelic and folk instruments.
Coventry band Dando Shaft performed a delightful stringband style mix of bluegrass and Balkan rhythms.
The group Arrival had an ahead of its time progressive folk spirit. You’ll find more of that progressive music feel with Brian Davison’s Every Which Way; Davidson was a former member of pioneering progressive rock band The Nice.
Jade Warrior is one of the most familiar artists that appears on the anthology. This is their beautiful early material. The band later became part of the progressive music movement, releasing superb albums that combined progressive rock, world music and jazz.
There are plenty more innovators, such as psychedelic folk-rock band The Ghost, who added a dash of progressive rock; as well as progressive folk bands Second Hand and Fuchsia.
Although I gravitate towards the progressive leaning artists, the collection also features plenty of rootsier acts with an acoustic sound grounded in folk and blues, as well as funk-fueled folk. A case in point, Chris Harwood who delivers a fantastic combination of psychedelia, folk, funk, captivating jazz organ and electric piano, and Crosby Stills Nash and Young-style harmonies.
This is just a small summary of all the fabulous material you will find on these three meticulously selected recordings. The set contains a 7000-word essay and sleeve notes with abundant information about the time period and details about each artist featured.
In addition to the fantastic music, the boxed also includes a stunning and colorful 3-CD digipack collage design by Lyndon Pike.
Deep In The Woods fills an important gap in music history, opening a gate into the exciting music developed during a time of experimentation.
This epic trawl through the rich and varied folk underground of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s brings to light untold treasures and a fair bit of rainbow-hued trash too.
By Will Pinfold
'This three-CD set may share a title with one of Nick Cave’s most evocatively grim and gothic songs, but its subtitle gives a much clearer idea of the kind of harmless and sometimes charming hippie fluff to expect – although thankfully there’s more than that to it. In 1967, the Summer of Love had sprinkled rainbow-colored fairy dust over the whole spectrum of popular music, from blues to pop to easy listening, but by 1968 the musical vanguard had gone in a slightly different and less effervescent direction: the British blues boom, Beggars Banquet, Electric Ladyland, In-a-Gadda-da-Vida, The White Album and the rest.
In the musical undergrowth though, the more gentle, pastoral aspects of the psychedelic movement especially continued to grow and blossom. The influence of the Beatles, Stones, Dylan and Donovan goes without saying, but the real indicators of the more folk-inflected type of music to expect on this collection are the well-known artists of this subgenre whose careers had all launched – indeed some would peak – around 1968, like the Incredible String Band, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Gong and early Hawkwind. Sounds annoying? Well, sometimes it is and sometimes it isn’t, but the general rule is the further away the music gets from its ‘60s flashpoint, the more willfully silly and prog-influenced it becomes.
There’s a lengthy essay/sleevenote from the compiler/producer Richard Norris (of neo-psychedelic band Beyond the Wizard’s Sleeve), but I don’t have that, so let’s check out the music. If you listen to the discs from start to finish in order – which isn’t necessarily recommended as the best way into the music – it’s straight into a mass of nice but often inconsequential folk-pop to start with. First up, it’s the nicely fey “Leafy Lanes” from the second album by Fat Mattress, the band founded by Noel Redding as a vehicle for his own songs and guitar playing while he was still bass player in the Jimi Hendrix Experience. By the time Fat Mattress II came out, Redding had departed the band and “Leafy Lanes” is one of many songs penned by singer Neil Landon and Fat Mattress bass player Jimmy Leverton. Essentially, what the song has going for it is period charm and atmosphere – it’s a light, wistful, pretty piece of semi-acoustic hippy pop. File under “what’s not to like” (unless you dislike hippy pop I guess).
More obscure but better is “Not Even a Letter” by Knocker Jungle. That band is most notable for having Daves Pegg and Mattacks from Fairport Convention as their rhythm section, and if the moody “Not Even a Letter” perhaps borrows a little too much from “California Dreaming,” it makes up for it with its sheer pleasantness, even while anticipating Oasis’ unaccountably popular dirge “Wonderwall” by a few decades.
Folk music is by its nature derivative, but there are a few instances on Deep in the Woods of influences showing just a little too clearly for comfort. Notable among these is “The Evil Venus Tree” by the Occasional Word, a typical signing to John Peel’s Dandelion Records. The song is in a way a classic of spooky, droning 1969 psychedelia, but its marrying of a descending arpeggiated “Dear Prudence” guitar part with the nursery rhyme “Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary” feels contrived to the point of parody. In a similar vein but more earthy and vital, “I Need You” by Duffy Power – who was originally one of the class of 1959’s would-be British Elvises – is a forceful, soulful acoustic track with slight Nick Drake overtones.
So much for pastoral psychedelia – of which, more later – but the “funky folk” part of the title isn’t misleading and most of the album’s highlights are in that odd semi-genre. Perhaps foremost among them is the superb, if lyrically ridiculous “Magician in the Mountain” by the folk-rock trio Sunforest. Unpromisingly, the band’s best-known song is “Lighthouse Keeper,” the one eminently skippable track on the otherwise near-perfect soundtrack to Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange, but the laidback, eerie funk of “Magician in the Mountain” is in a completely different class. Where the vocals on “Lighthouse Keeper” were obnoxiously tongue-in-cheek and cheerful, the more chilled tone here gives some frankly unwarranted dignity to the song’s tale of mysterious wizardry. It seems like a sampler’s dream and of course it turns out that it has been sampled, in fact almost used wholesale as a backing track, by the Portuguese rappers Conjunto Corona – to great effect.
Further from the folk mainstream is “You Just Can’t Believe What You See” by Scotland-based African-American expat Marc Ellington, from his final album Marc Time (1975). In contrast with his earlier, more Dylanesque work, the song is Meters-like funk, but with Ellington’s distinctive, light and slightly Arthur Lee-like voice giving it a folk twist, especially on the chorus. Mike Hurst, producer and erstwhile member of the Springfields, made his debut as a solo artist with the 1970 album Home, from which is culled “Face from the Past,” a definitively of-its-era marriage of fragile baroque pop with full-blooded electric-piano-and-flaring-brass funk, which works far better than that description might suggest. Just as funky and even more soulful and let down only – like so many of these songs – by some silly lyrics, is “Natural Gas,” a convincingly gritty track by big-in-Germany British duo Hardin and York,
At the distant, folky, picked-acoustic guitars end of the spectrum there are the Woods Band (ex-members of Steeleye Span) with the sparkling instrumental “Noisey Johnny,” and the better-known Dando Shaft, whose bracing, very English “Cold Wind” from 1969 has a busy, Pentangle-meets-Richie Havens quality and some jazzy inflections, especially in its slightly pompous vocals. Quirkier, more jazz-influenced but less good is Nirvana’s “Nova Sketch,” which is essentially piano, bass, bongos and squelchy noises, but it’s pleasant enough while it lasts.
The second disc initially pleases by introducing some fantastic female singers into the collection, which prove to be its most memorable songs. There’s Chris Harwood’s “Wooden Ships,” very cool and again on that spooky-side-of-psych on the verses but it’s let down a little by a cheesy chorus. Bridget St. John is one of the compilation’s most familiar names, but although her “Fly High” is objectively quite lovely, it’s a little too fey and gauzy for its own good – a criticism that could be leveled at a reasonable percentage of the artists here, among them Fuchsia. The band, a prog-folk group not dissimilar from the better-remembered Comus, was formed in Exeter in 1970 and released one eponymous album, whose “Shoes and Ships” is a very nice tune somewhat overwhelmed by swathes of lush orchestration and overly twee singing. “Time Is my Enemy” by Birmingham psych-rock band the Ghost has almost the opposite problem. It’s a forceful performance with excellent snaking, jazz-inflected guitar, but vocalist Shirley Kent’s forthright, Julie Driscoll-like voice is a little too intense for the music and gives the song a pompous feel that undermines its more otherworldly qualities.
There’s a lot more here, good and less good (nothing is actually bad) and Norris has done a fantastic and very thorough job of mining deeply into a small but rich period of history to provide a musical tapestry that is dazzlingly rich and varied. As a single-disc compilation of 20 tracks or so, Deep in the Woods would be an irresistible, essential snapshot of the music made in the multi-hued aftermath of the first psychedelic period, but in a way the excess of it all is the point. For those who aren’t already enthusiasts, this collection may seem a little daunting in quantity and uneven in quality and taken en masse, the more music there is, the more charming it isn’t. Which is not to say that that it’s not a worthwhile purchase – far from it, the flamboyance and excess was after all part of the whole culture and it would be a shame to dilute it. Just remember to approach with caution if you’re not a devotee.'
As an overview of a hugely varied scene this arboreal archive cannot be faulted, writes Johnny Restall.
'The British folk scene of the late 1960s and early 1970s has drifted in and out of fashion over the years, with a particularly significant resurgence of interest in the 2000s. While it has garnered many evocative descriptions, some favourable and some less so, it has rarely been popularly described as “funky.” Yet the subtitle of Deep in the Woods, a new 3-disc compilation from Cherry Red subsidiary Strawberry Records, boldly proclaims itself to be a trove of “pastoral psychedelia and funky folk 1968-1975.”
In a further surprise, the album is curated by the electronic musician and producer Richard Norris, best known for his work as The Grid and Beyond The Wizards Sleeve. While Norris may not initially seem an obvious candidate to mastermind a folk compilation, he swiftly proves to be an inspired choice. His enjoyable and informative sleeve notes carefully establish a cultural and historical place for the music chosen, and persuasively expand on the unexpected titular reference to funk.
Norris defines his intriguing selection criteria as “hybrid music, influenced by both the revival of traditional folk…and also by the technicolour dawn of the psychedelic era,” explicitly declining the purist definitions of either folk or funk (or indeed any other narrow genre prescriptions). Instead of aiming to please ultra-traditionalists like Ewan MacColl or threatening funk pioneers like James Brown, the tracks collected here represent a certain strain of folkish music that has either a grooving “swing” to it or a bucolic hippy bent, a cross-pollination hard to define precisely but easy to recognise when heard.
Norris’ compilation passes over the big names of the ‘60s and ‘70s folk scene in favour of more neglected artists, with no place for established titans like Fairport Convention or John Martyn, or late-blooming cult successes such as Vashti Bunyan or Nick Drake. However, committed crate-diggers will certainly recognise names like Mellow Candle, Dando Shaft, and Trader Horne, particularly if they are familiar with the well-received (and sadly long out-of-print) acid folk collections curated by Bob Stanley for the Castle label in the mid-2000s, Gather in the Mushrooms and Early Morning Hush.
The strongest tracks in terms of funky grooves come from former member of The Springfields Mike Hurst, making two fine appearances here, along with Sunforest’s atypically slinky Magician in the Mountain, and Linda Hoyle’s prowling and strikingly-titled Hymn to Valerie Solanas (Solanas being best known for writing the radical SCUM Manifesto and her unsuccessful attempt on the life of Andy Warhol). The more pastoral side of the collection reaches its apex with the gentle bliss of Heron’s Lord and Master and Fuchsia’s deliciously ramshackle Shoes and Ships, while Meic Stevens’ Yorric showcases a darker side to the trip, sounding sinister and ancient but for its prominent psychedelic sitar.
The remaining tracks range over every conceivable angle of alternative folk, from the hoary rock sound of Jade Warrior and Writing On The Wall, through to the lithe balladry of Bridget St John and Yvonne Elliman, before concluding with an unexpected sprinkling of soul courtesy of Linda Lewis’ Reach for the Truth. Second Hand’s Hangin’ on an Eyelid warrants a mention of its own as the most deranged offering – a wild slice of shockingly enjoyable prog-folk madness that should probably come with a health warning, and is all the better for it.
While the diversity of Norris’ selections is impressive, they occasionally makes for slightly bewildering listening (with Principal Edwards Magic Theatre’s am-dram epic The Death of Don Quixote being perhaps the most trying example of this). However, as an overview of a hugely varied scene the collection cannot be faulted. Deep in the Woods will be essential listening for fans of Rob Young’s seminal folk history volume Electric Eden, and stands as an excellent guide in its own right for those curious to explore the many hidden corners of this sometimes maligned but frequently rewarding genre.'
Cherry Red takes a deep dive into the mystic realm of acid folk – and lives to tell the tale
By John Barlass
'Much has been written on the subject of acid folk – or, if you prefer: psych folk, freak folk or even folk funk. Subtitled Unearthing Britain’s Visionary Music, Rob Young’s excellent Electric Eden (2010) was an in-depth exploration of the genre and Jeanette Leech’s Seasons They Change (also 2010) was similarly extensive. Both books traced the Genesis and development of the genre, identified the key influencers and exponents and established the scale and boundaries of the music, without attaching a rigid definition to the style.
In his excellent essay that he includes in the booklet notes to this new Cherry Red compilation, author, songwriter, musician, producer and sometime DJ, Richard Norris, has, eventually, made a brave attempt to apply a definition to this music. It is, he says, “…a hybrid music, influenced by both the revival of traditional folk that gained pace during the early and mid-twentieth century, and also by the technicolour dawn of the psychedelic era.” And, again in Richard’s words: “Deep in the Woods focuses on the outpouring of back-to-the-land meets the LSD folk flavours that emerged swiftly, between 1968 and 1975.”
And there’s a lot to get through, here. 54 tracks, spread over three discs and featuring around 50 artists. It’s a measure of the depth and width of the psych-folk classification that, despite following the same path as UMC’s equally eclectic 2012 compilation, Electric Eden – the soundtrack to accompany Rob Young’s book, there’s hardly any duplication of material and I reckon that Deep in the Woods forms a pretty good companion to its predecessor.
The choice of material selected for the compilation is, indeed, inspired. First of all, there are selections from what I’d term “The usual suspects” – bands and performers that you or I would readily classify as psych-folk acts and which you would confidently anticipate would be included on any meaningful compilation of that music. So, for example, Trees are here; they’ve been enjoying something of a revival lately, particularly since Gnarls Barkley sampled Geordie, a track from Trees’ second album, 1971’s On The Shore on their track St Elsewhere. Trees’ popularity has also bloomed in the wake of the 2020 deluxe boxset of their recorded work, issued to celebrate the band’s 50th anniversary. Here, they’re represented by Murdoch, another track from On The Shore, a fairly typical example of Trees’ sound, laced with the acoustic guitars of David Costa and Barry Clarke and a superlative, powerful vocal from Celia Humphris.
Marc Ellington is another of the names that I was unsurprised to spot amongst the cast of Deep in the Woods. Massachusetts-born, Marc came to the UK in 1967 to avoid being drafted to serve in Vietnam and he stayed here for the rest of his life. Like many people, I was probably most aware of Marc through his role as a backing vocalist on Fairport’s 1969 Unhalfbricking album, but between 1969, he was prolific in his own right, releasing a string of five albums, culminating in his 1975 offering, Marc Time, from which the track, You Just Can’t Believe What You See, featured here, is taken. It’s a song that sits right on the “funk” end of the folk funk continuum, full of choppy guitar licks and vocal harmonies that jump right out of the CSN guidebook.
Arrival are possibly a less-anticipated presence in the collection. They’re probably most famous for their two 1970 hit singles, Friends and I Will Survive and for their well-received appearance at the massive 1970 Isle of Wight Festival. The band’s trademark sound was the tight four-part harmonies, delivered by vocalists Dyan Birch, Carrol Carter, Paddy McHugh and Frank Collins, but that’s a feature that’s missing from the track selected for Deep in the Woods. Taken from the band’s eponymous 1970 album, La Virra is a funky, piano-driven instrumental.
I’d heard about Dando Shaft long before I’d ever heard any of the band’s music. Formed in Coventry in 1968, the band’s lineup included multi-instrumentalist Martin Jenkins, who later went on to play with Bert Jansch, and, even later, with Dave Swarbrick in Whippersnapper; super-guitarist Kevin Dempsey, who also later featured in Whippersnapper and who regularly tours with American fiddler Rosie Carson; and vocalist Polly Bolton, of future Albion Band fame. Dando Shaft lay claim to two tracks on Deep in the Woods, both taken from the 1969 album, An Evening With Dando Shaft: Cold Wind, a Balkan-flavoured bluesy number and Rain, a fantastic blend of frantic mandocello, jazzy rhythms and folky vocals.
Bridget St. John is another artist enjoying something of a late-career renaissance, thanks mainly to the recent sequence of Cherry Red reissues of her early work – most recently the 2022 compilation of her 1974-1982 UK and US recordings, From There/ To Here. Bridget was, of course, mentored by John Peel, who signed her to his Dandelion label in 1969. She features twice on Deep in the Woods, with a couple of selections taken from her 1972 album, Thank You For: Fly High, a spacy, folky song that ticks every possible “psych folk” box and Silver Coin, a sweet, contemplative folk ballad. And it’s great to be reminded of that beautiful, intimate, slightly husky voice once again!
The British, original, Nirvana entered our collective consciousness when their track, the wonderful Rainbow Chaser, was included on the 1968 Island Records sampler, You Can All Join In. Originally a vocal duo: Patrick Campbell-Lyons and Alex Spyropoulos, the duo had, by 1971, separated and the 1972 Nirvana album, Songs of Love and Praise was, primarily, a Campbell-Lyons solo project. Nova Sketch, a track taken from that album and included here, is a loose, jazzy piano instrumental with a compulsive Latin rhythm.
Another Peel/ Dandelion discovery, Kevin Coyne, was an intense and thoroughly unorthodox performer. His vocal delivery, his open-key guitar style and his no-holds-barred lyrics – which often dealt with difficult subjects such as self-harm, mental illness, loneliness and old age – were entirely unique and, to be quite honest, not to everyone’s taste. But, to his followers, he took on a god-like status and many successful musicians – John Lydon and Sting amongst them – have cited Kevin Coyne as a formative influence. I personally came across Kevin back in 1974 when he was touring to promote Marjory Razor Blade, his first album on the Virgin label. I bought the album and played it to death. It was folk, Jim, but not as I’d known it and his inclusion on a compilation such as this one is a no-brainer. The chosen track, Flowering Cherry, is the ‘B’ side to Kevin’s 1972 single, Cheat Me, is a Dylanesque restrained curio with a sparse production, bass way out in front and some pleasant guitar fills.
Mighty Baby are a band that I always tend to classify as one of those outfits destined for big things who fell at the point of takeoff. Evolving from top mod band, The Action, Mighty Baby released two albums – their eponymous 1969 debut and, in 1971, A Jug of Love. They’re another band that appeared at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival and, just maybe, their fate was being scribbled onto the wall even then. A review of the festival noted that, although the band were well received, getting the audience up on their feet and accompanying the bashing on their improvised percussion, the reviewer, Brian Hinton, suggests that “…by 1970, Mighty Baby’s freewheeling, essentially uncommercial music, was already becoming an anachronism.” Be that as it may, the band members were amongst the first in the musical community to embrace the Sufi faith and they are regularly credited with bringing the faith to the attention of Richard Thompson. It’s the title track of that second album that’s been selected for inclusion on Deep in the Woods, and it’s an inspired choice – a pedal steel-laden slice of country-flavoured folk rock, that adds a quirkily English touch to a very evident Byrds influence.
But, as well as acts and song that fit snugly within the common perception of psych folk, there’s quite a lot on Deep In The Woods that, at first reckoning, most of us might struggle to slot into the genre…
…Curtis Knight, for example. The late American soulster is infinitely better known as the frontman to 60s R&B outfit, The Squires, which featured a certain guitarist, James Marshall Hendrix, within its ranks. After Hendrix became famous, Squire and his manager, Ed Chalpin, released a string of budget-priced early recordings with the sole aim of grabbing a wodge of the Hendrix dollars. By the early 70s, Knight had located himself in London and had formed Curtis Knight Zeus – the band’s lineup featured the young future Motörhead guitarist, “Fast” Eddie Clarke – and they recorded Sea of Time, a collection of psychedelic, funk-influenced songs, including the underground favourite, The Devil Made Me Do It. New Horizon, included here, is another track from that same album. Surprisingly, New Horizon does fit the bill for a compilation of psych-folk tunes – it’s folky and pastoral, with occasional bursts of raunchy gospel thrown in for good measure, and Knight’s vocal – always his great strength – is passionate and gutsy.
Sticking with the Hendrix connection, I was equally surprised to see Fat Mattress included on the album’s roster – although maybe I shouldn’t have been. Fat Mattress was, of course, the band formed by Noel Redding, bassist in The Jimi Hendrix Experience. By mid-1968, Redding was becoming increasingly frustrated by the limitations of his “sideman” role in The Experience, and was keen to expand his horizons, playing lead guitar and singing; Fat Mattress was the vehicle that allowed him to realise that ambition. They weren’t with us for very long; Redding quit the band in 1970 whilst recording the band’s second album and Fat Mattress fell completely apart shortly afterwards. My own previous experience of the band was limited to their 1969 single, Magic Forest, a track taken from the band’s first album and a sizeable hit in The Netherlands and a song that would certainly have fitted well within the theme of Deep in the Woods. Instead, the compilers have selected Leafy Lane, a track from the band’s second album and a delightful slice of poppy pastoral psychedelia. Life is full of surprises and Leafy Lane prompted me to make a note in my diary – “Check out Fat Mattress a bit more thoroughly…”
Duffy Power was around before The Beatles. Indeed, his 1963 cover of I Saw Her Standing There (a recording that also features Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker and Graham Bond) was one of the first recorded cover versions of a Lennon/McCartney composition and the pre-fame fabs had auditioned to be Power’s backing group whilst he was incumbent amongst the Larry Parnes stable of would-be pop idols, alongside the likes of Marty Wilde, Billy Fury and Johnny Gentle. As Duffy matured, so did his musical inclinations and he developed a growing fondness for jazz and blues. He sang with Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated and became a close confident of future Pentanglers Danny Thompson and Terry Cox. I Need You, his featured track on Deep in the Woods is taken from his 1972 solo album – an album that included contributions from the likes of Alexis Korner and Dana Gillespie. I Need You is a wonderful amalgam of pastoral folk, with Pentangle-like jazzy leanings and more than just a touch of passionate white soul.
Perhaps one of the more obscure choices for inclusion on Deep in the Woods is Hanging on an Eyelid, from Streatham-based proggers Second Hand. Originally known as The Next Collection, Second Hand were put together in 1965 by teenagers Ken Elliott, Kieran O’Connor and Rob Gibbons. The band changed their name to The Moving Finger when they signed with Polydor records in 1968 and then, in quick-order, Spinal Tap style, changed once again to Second Hand, when they learned of another band with the Moving Finger moniker. They recorded three albums before their 1972 disintegration, with success proving elusive throughout their career. Hanging on an Eyelid, taken from the 2nd Second Hand album – Death May Be Your Santa Claus (1972) – is a fascinating song; an absorbing blend of jazzy Cole Porter coolness and ELP-style orchestral rock. It works, but I’m not convinced that it sits comfortably within the concept of this collection. But does that really matter?
Back in 1974, Global Village Trucking Company was a band in the ascendancy. Their lifestyle and beliefs – they lived together in a Norfolk commune, they rejected offers to sign with commercial record companies and were regular performers at free festivals – won them a large following (including the likes of John Peel) and they were a major draw on the then-thriving college gig circuit. Their eponymous, self-released album came out in 1974 and included The Inevitable Fate of Ms Danya Fox, the track selected for this compilation. It’s a pleasant enough song – a good example of the blue-eyed soul that was so popular within the Pub Rock movement that was going great guns at around the time of the album’s release, but I suspect that its inclusion on Deep in the Woods is more a factor of the band’s pastoral hippy lifestyle than its generic compatibility.
I was even more surprised to see a song from Mick Farren’s Deviants amongst the Deep in the Woods track listing. Originally The Social Deviants, the band was put together by singer, songwriter and social agitator Mick Farren with members chosen from London’s Ladbroke Grove community. Musically, the band took their cue from The Who, The Velvet Underground and The Mothers, hence my surprise at their inclusion on a folk-themed compilation but, in fact, their chosen track, Bun, taken from the band’s 1967 album, Ptoof, is a soft, pleasant, almost ambient, couple of minutes of instrumental guitar and is a fully appropriate selection.
The other name that took me a little by surprise as I scanned the Deep in the Woods track listing was Bill Nelson. A long-term favourite on this site, Bill is obviously best known as the leading light of Be Bop Deluxe. His featured Deep in the Woods track, Rejoice is taken from the 1971 debut Bill Nelson LP, Northern Dream, yet another record to championed by John Peel when it was released – Peel’s publicity was instrumental in EMI signing the nascent Be Bop Deluxe to their Harvest label. The compiler’s choice of Rejoice is entirely justified; it’s a delightful taste of rich, baroque folk – engaging and highly atmospheric.
But, just maybe, it’s the left-field surprise selections that make Deep In The Woods such a rewarding listen. There are quite a few names amongst the lineup that are new to me, and it’s here, perhaps that the most interesting items can be found.
Take Knocker Jungle, for instance. A strange choice of name, of that there’s no doubt, but the inclusion their two tracks on Deep in the Woods is a truly inspired decision. Knocker Jungle were built around the guitarist/songwriter duo of Tony Coop and Keith Jones and the sound on their self-titled debut album, from which both tracks – Not Even a Letter and Oh to be Free – are taken, was fleshed out by Fairport’s rhythm section of the day, bassist Dave Pegg and drummer Dave Mattacks. The Fairport guys, particularly DM, certainly make their presence felt on both tracks. Not Even a Letter sticks closely to the pastoral folk menu, with its contemplative lyrics and lazy, summery flute touches, whilst Oh to be Free is a rockier affair – dazzling acoustic guitars, underpinned by some wonderfully explorative drumming from Mr Mattacks. Vocally, they suggest to me where Marc Bolan could have headed if he’d eschewed the glitter and the posing and developed the folkier aspects of Tyrannosaurus Rex. Knocker Jungle is certainly worthy of further investigation.
The same can be said of Mike Hurst, another of the compilation’s lesser-known artists whose work has merited two track selections. Although little-known as a performer in his own right, Hurst is another artist with a long and impressive pedigree. He was a member of The Springfields, back in the early sixties, before Dusty broke away to set new standards in white soul vocalizing, but is perhaps best known as a producer-of-some-repute; he’s been responsible for hits by the likes of Cat Stevens, Manfred Mann, PP Arnold, The Spencer Davis Group, New World and Showaddywaddy. Taken from his debut solo album, Home (1970), Face From the Past is a stunning chunk of baroque/funk fusion, whilst for second selection, Place In The Country – taken from the same album – Mike blends his trademark funk with C&W. It shouldn’t work, but it does.
Ray Fenwick’s I Wanna Stay Here is a chunk of early 70s Americana that sounds like an overlooked out-take from Elton John’s Tumbleweed Connection album, and that’s hardly surprising when you consider that he used Elton’s rhythm section on the track. Probably too smooth and sophisticated to fit the mantle of psych-folk, it’s an excellent song, nevertheless, from a highly respected session musician.
And it’s certainly stretching a point to classify Linda Hoyle’s Hymn to Valerie Solanas as having any kind of folk root – pastoral, psychedelic, funky or otherwise – but it’s a fine song nonetheless. Linda is probably best known as the singer in late 60s jazz-rock outfit, Affinity and Hymn To Valerie Solanas is taken from her 1970 solo album, Piece Of Me. It’s a sultry and sinister song, dedicated to the leader and author of the manifesto of the Society for Cutting Up Men (SCUM), who attempted the murder of Andy Warhol in 1968. It might not really fit the album’s theme, but it’s one of the strongest cuts in the whole collection.
And, to be honest, the above examples are a mere scratch on the surface of what is an eclectic and engaging compilation. There’s a whole lot more to enjoy, including quite a few old favourites: Keith Christmas, Trader Horne, Wizz Jones, Yvonne Elliman and Ian A Anderson amongst them. Principal Edwards Magic Theatre even get a look in with The Death of Don Quixote, a track from their much sought-after 1969 album, Soundtrack. Linda Lewis, The Woods Band (featuring founder Steeleye members Gay and Terry Woods) and Heron are all here, plus many, many more. Hours of deep listening pleasure are guaranteed!
As is usual with a Cherry Red product, the whole shebang has been lovingly and thoughtfully assembled. The three discs are housed in an attractive wraparound pack that is illustrated with a delightful Lydon Pike collage. And it wouldn’t be a Cherry Red retrospective without the usual highly informative and tastefully illustrated booklet – as well as the detailed and well-written essay from Richard Norris, there are background notes to all of the selected artists and stacks of fascinating period photographs.
Congratulations, Cherry Red – you’ve done it again!'
Various – Deep In The Woods (Pastoral Psychedelia & Funky Folk 1968-1975)
Label: Strawberry – CRJAM012T
Format: 3 x CD, Compilation
Country: UK
Released: 2022
Style: Psychedelic, Folk, Funk
1-1 Fat Mattress – Leafy Lane 2:51
1-2 Knocker Jungle – Not Even A Letter 3:19
1-3 Duffy Power – I Need You 2:02
1-4 Mike Hurst – Face From The Past 4:05
1-5 Ray Fenwick – I Wanna Stay Here 4:48
1-6 Hardin And York – Natural Gas 2:39
1-7 Open Road – Mother Earth 5:19
1-8 Paul Brett – Motherless Child On A Merry-Go-Round 2:35
1-9 The Woods Band – Noisey Johnny 2:38
1-10 Meic Stevens – Yorric 8:49
1-11 Marc Ellington – You Just Can't Believe What You See 3:46
1-12 Alan James Eastwood – Crystal Blue 3:46
1-13 Arrival – la Virra 4:46
1-14 Dando Shaft – Cold Wind 4:14
1-15 Linda Hoyle – Hymn To Valerie Solanas 4:01
1-16 Nirvana – Nova Sketch 1:53
1-17 Brian Davison's Every Which Way – Castle Sand 6:47
1-18 Jade Warrior – Yellow Eyes 2:57
1-19 Writing On The Wall – Buffalo 6:54
2-1 Chris Harwood – Wooden Ships 5:02
2-2 Bridget St. John – Fly High 3:23
2-3 Dando Shaft – Rain 5:07
2-4 Heron – Lord And Master 4:53
2-5 Mellow Candle – Silversong 4:29
2-6 Trees – Murdoch 5:11
2-7 Keith Christmas – Foothills 4:01
2-8 Trader Horne – Morning Way 4:38
2-9 Miller Anderson – Shadows Cross My Wall 6:04
2-10 The Ghost – Time Is My Enemy 4:09
2-11 Kevin Coyne – Flowering Cherry 2:45
2-12 Second Hand – Hangin' On An Eyelid 4:21
2-13 Fuchsia – Shoes And Ships 6:16
2-14 Mike Hurst – Place In The Country 3:23
2-15 Amber – Swan In The Evening 4:38
2-16 Global Village Trucking Company – The Inevitable Fate Of Ms Danya Sox 2:53
2-17 Mighty Baby – Jug Of Love 6:22
3-1 Sunforest – Magician In The Mountain 4:14
3-2 Chris Harwood – Crying To Be Heard 5:05
3-3 Wizz Jones – City Of The Angels 6:06
3-4 Jade Warrior – Lady Of The Lake 3:22
3-5 Knocker Jungle – Oh To Be Free 2:53
3-6 Bridget St. John – Silver Coin 3:06
3-7 Friends – In The Morning 3:17
3-8 Alan James Eastwood – Lotus Child 3:28
3-9 The Deviants – Bun 2:41
3-10 Jade – Amongst Anemones 3:54
3-11 Principal Edwards Magic Theatre– The Death Of Don Quixote 13:32
3-12 Yvonne Elliman – Hawaii 3:12
3-13 The Occasional Word – The Evil Venus Tree 3:52
3-14 Ian A. Anderson – Goblets And Elms 1:27
3-15 Bill Nelson – Rejoice 4:46
3-16 Zior – Time Is The Reason 2:48
3-17 Curtis Knight With Zeus – New Horizon 3:53
3-18 Linda Lewis – Reach For The Truth 4:48
Notes
This set includes detailed liner notes on each artist and selection as well as a 7000 word essay explaining the whole genre.