Shirley Collins. Classic. Dud is not an option here, I'm afraid.

"dada is correct abt "rise up like the sun". "poor old horse" is probably worth the price of the album on its own.

did i say that? i dunno.

i don't like shirley with drums really. i don't like "amaranth" much, largely because of the echoey production.

i like shirley with dolly's arrangements, basically.

Amaranth is probably the worst (read least great) shirley collins music I have. I like the folk-rock arrangements on "no roses" tons, but I think it's probably enough of shirley w/that type of sound. Have you got the "etchingham steam band" cd amateurist? That's kind of...interesting, but not great.

you know i'm sort of suspicious of english folk-rock (i've really lost the taste for fairport/sandy denny/et al) in part because it's admirers don't seem to be critical at all; i've hardly read a bad review of a british folk-rock album. it doesn't seem like a world that encourages really serious musical experimentation, as opposed to kitschy "ambitious" stabs (like peter bellamy's "transports," arr. dolly collins, which i'm really NOT getting into).

all this to say that "no roses" sounds like a failure to me, in fact it almost pains me to listen to. but damned if i can find a single negative review of it.

i really don't think shirley has the audience she deserves.

Have you read the (rather lengthy) interview she did Johan @ perfect sound forever? real interesting read. i want to hear more of her albums. we had a copy of anthems in eden at the store and it was great. the only one i own is power of the true love knot. greaaat stuff. i wanna read her book, also.

ha, try criticizing Steely Dan or Tusk on here and let the hate roll down on you. Also, post thompson/denny Fairport gets lots of criticism, especially from the 80s on (and most of it is deserved)
I think part of the reason it gets a free pass to the extent that it does is because it's so small & insular a scene, I mean I don't care for polka, but I'm not going to spray hate on amazon reviews and such. If Brit folk-rock had ever broken in a big way, non-believers would go out of their way to take it down. This music really just appeals to a small section of the public, those who get it love it, those who don't pay it little mind.

it doesn't seem like a world that encourages really serious musical experimentation, as opposed to kitschy "ambitious" stabs (like peter bellamy's "transports," arr. dolly collins, which i'm really NOT getting into).

well it is FOLK music, to an extent, the "bold" experimentation was to deviate from the acoustic norm and dip into the "tainted" rock scene. Trad based things are rarely open to too much tinkering, part of the weakness, also part of the charm.

all this to say that "no roses" sounds like a failure to me, in fact it almost pains me to listen to. but damned if i can find a single negative review of it.

Well the Murder of Maria Marten is anything but a failure, it is just a MONSTER track. The rest doesn't quite excite as much, but it is certainly above average folk-rock.

Sounds like it's not that you're "suspicious" of English folk rock so much as you just don't like it!

you know i'm sort of suspicious of english folk-rock in part because it's admirers don't seem to be critical at all

I think a lot of people who discovered it (esp. outside the UK) and were just extremely enthusiastic about it and some of their critical faculties may have gone out the window temporarily

had never heard her, but picked up the new Harvest Years comp as an introduction...have to admit, took a little while to "adjust" my ears (some of this stuff is so archaic as to make Fairport Convention sound like dubstep..I know, I know: what did I expect?), but now that I'm into it, I'm into it!...(she was quite the looker, too)...

Yeah I don't know how that comp is sequenced (or what exactly is on it) but I could see some of her stuff being a bit "unadorned" for ears trained by folk rock. I have almost every album (not the boxed set though.) Love, Death & The Lady is my favorite, probably.

Happy birthday Shirley! 75 today.

Happy birthday Shirley!

Tomorrow is Shirley's birthday!!

Jul 5th * �7.00 * SHIRLEY COLLINS' BIRTHDAY PARTY

Now here is something really special!
In the first half, Shirley will be presenting a shortened version of her latest multi-media show, You Never Heard So Sweet.
In the second half she will introducing performances by friends including some of the best known names on the folk scene:-
THE COPPER FAMILY
MARTYN WYNDHAM-READ & IRIS BISHOP
RATTLE ON THE STOVEPIPE
NAOMI BEDFORD & PAUL SIMMONDS
IAN KEAREY & DAN QUINN (of DUCK SOUP)

Happy happy happy happy birthday, Shirley!

Oh shit, that's my friend Ian. Whereabouts is this thing happening?

ROYAL OAK
3 Station Street,
Lewes
BN7 2DA

If you go, please tell Shirley happy birthday for me!

listening to love, death & the lady: happy birthday shirley collins and may there be many more!

That venue is only about 3 miles away from where I'm sat right now, which makes me feel all the more lame for inevitably not going.

When I lived in Brighton I used to go there quite a lot for the folk nights with Shirley, the Copper Family, Martin Carthy and so on. Great little place.

Never been! The thought of bowling up by myself to that sort of cosy, intimate space gives me the willies.

http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~tinvic/intro.jpg

"Here, budge up a bit Norma would you..."

I only ever went on my own, primarily because no-one else would go with me...

Damn, you should've given me a shout.

Not going = not cool

If I had a zillion dollars, I would fly across the ocean to celebrate Shirley Collins' birthday with her and the Copper family in a tiny intimate venue.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SHIRLEY!

She's 77 today btw.

She looks about 10 years younger though! There were some nice birthday celebration photos of her online somewhere or other.

Her beauty always shines forth like a fountain of snow!

Oh yeah, her 70th birthday:
http://www.shirleycollins.co.uk/birthday.htm

happy b-day shirley!
reading electric eden made me angry at ashley hutchings for being a jerk to shirley.

reading electric eden made me angry at ashley hutchings for being a jerk to shirley.

I didn't know what but, uh, doesn't surprise me tbh

i'm still miffed that she doesn't get more credit for the alan lomax "sounds of the south" recordings. she gets one line in the box set liner notes, iirc. her book about that trip is great btw. it's sentimental, but i have no problem with that.

Seems like she could have made better choices when it came to men!

Who among us can claim a clean slate on that front?

When courting the boys, don't be easy and free.

precious booty from one of those Royal Oak evenings a few years back:

http://i.imgur.com/aej60.jpg

Cool

my face looks kinda weird in this picture and the room is messy, but you can see two of my framed & signed anthems in eden poster!
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7246/7508668582_ca06eefb0f.jpg

haha!
i have no signed collins memorabilia, but listening to the shirley/dolly harvest years comp RIGHT NOW.
https://search.mog.com/v2/albums/15406939/image.jpeg?size=800

I got a Christmas card from her once. It resides in the boxed set to this day.

Tomorrow at Cecil Sharp House: http://www.spiralearth.co.uk/news/story.asp?nid=6503

At Cecil Sharp House on 1 November 2012 Shirley Collins, EFDSS President, who was herself a collector and whose voice has enchanted folk music audiences all over the world, will present an illustrated talk about Bob Copper's song collecting, to be followed by some songs and stories from the Copper Family themselves.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8176/8029993454_7b938b8883_z.jpg
shirley and nic jones awww

listening to the albion band - no roses! this is great, like whole nother awesome fairport convention record you haven't heard basically

great album!

my favorite yard sale find remains a NM vinyl copy (w/some acceptable front cover damage) of 'adieu to old england' for $1.

Wowza

been rinsing this one lately

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Sn3ZgtIsFw

Usual stab of anxiety whenever this thread gets bumped? CHECK!

But aye, what a glorious album.

sorry Chinaski, but she has a new album coming out in May!

https://shirleycollins.bandcamp.com/album/archangel-hill

One of the most important voices in British folk music Shirley Collins returns with Archangel Hill, her third album for Domino. Due for release on May 26th, it showcases another peerless collection of songs chosen by Collins, some from traditional sources but others from favourite writers of hers.

Produced by Ian Kearey - Shirley Collins’ musical director - the arrangements were shared between Collins, Kearey, Pip Barnes, as well as Dave Arthur and Pete Cooper, players from The Lodestar Band.

All of the songs on Archangel Hill were recorded last year except for “Hand And Heart”, which was taken from a live performance at the Sydney Opera House in 1980 and features an arrangement by Shirley’s beloved and talented sister Dolly Collins.

Hooray! Go Shirley!

yay. had somehow not noticed dave arthur played on the last two albums.

also just learned that there's been a new & updated iteration of the electric muse book/comp including the circa folk roots/new routes track that i think only came as a bonus on the deluxe version of heart's ease.

https://www.discogs.com/release/19452991-Various-The-Electric-Muse-Revisited-The-Story-Of-Folk-Into-Rock-And-Beyond

Yaaaaay get it Shirley!!

https://shirleycollins.bandcamp.com/album/archangel-hill

nobody? very good record imho