The Ballad Of Shirley Collins, a documentary following the story of one of folk music’s most important figures, will see its soundtrack released on limited edition pink vinyl on March 28 on Earth Recordings.
A deluxe DVD and CD package will also be released on the same day in the UK only, which boasts a range of extras including deleted scenes, audio commentary, behind the scenes footage and an unreleased short film by the filmmakers. The CD will also feature bonus tracks.
Above, you can hear a track from the release, a remastered recording of Ruby Vass singing ‘Single Girl, Married Girl’. You can view the rest of the tracklisting at the end of this article.
The vinyl release coincides with the theatrical release of the film, which plumbs the depths of a rich audio archive to retell Collins’ 1959 song-collecting trip through the Deep South of the USA alongside Alan Lomax.
The soundtrack contains never before released recordings from that trip by the likes of Alabama Sacred Harp Convention, Texas Gladden and Sidney Hemphill-Carter. It also features more recent recordings, excerpts from the original soundtrack music, a home recording of Shirley’s sister Dolly Collins, and two BBC session tracks from 1958 which get their first release 60 years on.
It was first premiered at the 2017 London film Festival, and continues to be screened across the UK. It will be featured as the first ‘Discover Tuesdays‘ film by Picturehouse Cinemas next week, and will also be made available on the Lush player in the UK from January 20.
To pre-order the release, click here
The Ballad Of Shirley Collins Tracklisting
Side A
- “All I Ever Wanted”
- Shirley Collins – ‘Cavalry Hill’
- Ishman Williams & The Williams Singers – ‘Got On My Travelling Shoes’
- “Do You Want Me To Start Again, Alan”
- Texas Gladden – ‘I Never Will Marry’
- Sid Hemphill and Lucius Smith – ‘Come On Boys, Let’s Go To The Ball’
- Horton Barker – ‘A Rich Irish Lady’
- Ian Kearey – ‘The Poor Drowned Sailor’
- Sidney Hemphill Carter – ‘Pharaoh’
- “I Used To Could Sing”
- Outtake (London, 1959)
Side B
- “There’s Never Been A Merry England”
- Andy Hemsley and Hastings Jack In The Green – ‘Seeds Of Love’
- N.J Brothers & The United Sacred Harp Musical Association – ‘Cavalry’
- Lucius Smith – ‘Make Lulu Behave Herself’
- Ruby Vass – ‘Single Girl, Married Girl’
- “I Can’t Really Forget Them”
- George Stoneman – ‘Sally Anne’
- Michael J York & Ossian Brown – ‘The Cloud House’ / Cyclobe – ‘Sons Of Sons Of Light’ / George
Collins – ‘Dolly’
- Dolly Collins – ‘Missa Humana (excerpt)’
- Shirley Collins – ‘Wondrous Love’
