Universal have released the compilation Electric Eden as a companion piece to The Wire editor Rob Young’s book about British folk music of the same name. We’ve got a selection of cuts from the album, including ‘Voices’ by Nick Drake (scroll through to track four) as well as Fairport Convention’s ‘Stranger To Himself’, Traffic’s ‘John Barleycorn Must Die’ and Bill Fay’s ‘Garden Song’ – have a listen below:
The compilation’s two discs are split into ‘Acoustic Eden’ and ‘Electric Eden’ and aim to consolidate Young’s book, published in 2010, with selections from well-known artists and some unsung heroes and extensive liner notes from the author.
Young says: “This compilation is designed to follow the flow from acoustic to electric folk in the late 60s and early 70s, a magical time in British music. I’ve tried to include a mixture of rarities, unheard versions, familiar names and unjustly neglected heroes and heroines. I’m particularly proud of including a rare original version of ‘A Sailor’s Life’ by Fairport Convention, literally the first time a rock drum kit was ever used on a traditional folk song. History in the making!”
Here’s the tracklisting:
CD ONE – ‘ACOUSTIC EDEN’
- Peter Bellamy – ‘Oak, Ash and Thorn’
- Traffic – ‘John Barleycorn Must Die’
- Bert Jansch – ‘The Waggoner’s Lad’
- Fairport Convention – ‘Stranger to Himself’
- Archie Fisher – ‘Reynardine’
- Bread, Love and Dreams – ‘Brother John’
- Bill Fay – ‘Garden Song’
- Water Into Wine Band – ‘Stranger in the World’
- Tudor Lodge – ‘Willow Tree’
- Comus – ‘Diana’
- Meic Stevens – ‘Yorric’
- Magic Carpet – ‘The Dream’
- Sweeney’s Men – ‘The Pipe on the Hob’
- Tim Hart & Maddy Prior – ‘False Knight on the Road’
- Dr Strangely Strange – ‘Dark-Haired Lady’
- Albion Country Band – ‘I Was a Young Man’
- COB – ‘Music of the Ages’
- Roger Nicholson – ‘The Carman’s Whistle’
- Bridget St John – ‘Fly High’
- John Martyn – ‘She Moves Through the Fair’
CD TWO – ‘ELECTRIC ALBION’
- Richard Thompson – ‘Roll over Vaughn Williams’
- Steeleye Span – ‘The Lark in the Morning’
- Unicorn – ‘Country Road’
- Fairport Convention – ‘A Sailor’s Life’
- Trees – ‘Glasgerion’
- Fotheringay – ‘Gypsy Davey’
- David Bowie – ‘Black Country Rock’
- John Martyn – ‘Glistening Glyndebourne’
- Mike Cooper – ‘Paper and Smoke’
- Shelagh McDonald – ‘Mirage’
- Spirogyra – ‘Disraeli’s Problem’
- Mick Softley – ‘Time Machine’
- Shirley Collins & The Albion Country Band – ‘Murder of Maria Marten’
- Pentangle – ‘Jack Orion’
- Incredible String Band – ‘Painted Chariot’
- Nick Drake – ‘Voices’
