Robin Scott - Woman From the Warm Grass (1969)

This album has great acoustic arrangements backed by some of the most beautifully composed and personal lyrics i have heard as of late. Alot of the time it breaks from its folk mold and becomes more of a folk rock or even baroque pop record.  The legendary pysch group Mighty Baby plays with Robin on this record when his acoustic guitar needs some full band backing to turn his heartwrenching songs into full-blown baroque ballads. You can hear clear influences of folk legends  such as Dylan and Donovan (who most English folk artists drew inspiration from at the time). Although his influences are clear, this album draws together many aspects of folk music and he fashions them all into his own unique sound. With this record out of press for decades and only having recently been released on cd, it has become on of the most sought after acid folk rock albums of all time.

Robin Scott's 1969 album Woman from the Warm Grass was very much in the mold of many British folk-ground artists of the time who were gingerly making the transition to a folk-rock sound. In fact, in material and presentation, Scott was fairly similar in feel to a few other artists that producer Sandy Roberton worked with, including Al Jones, Keith Christmas, and Shelagh McDonald. Scott's vocals and songs were earnest and verbose, with the reflective fragile moodiness (and yearning, sometimes florid romanticism) found in many British folk/folk-rock singer/songwriters of the era, from Al Stewart andDonovan on down. As artists in this genre go, Scott's pleasant and reasonably interesting, though not distinguished. He and Roberton do vary the arrangements, sometimes opting for just solo acoustic guitar and voice, at others using full rock backing from the band Mighty Baby. Generally, the unplugged tracks work better; "The Sound of Rain," with subdued orchestration backing the acoustic guitar, has the sort of narrative-oriented mystical acid folk pioneered by Donovan, while "Song of the Sun" has the poetic wordy gray melancholy very particular to this period of British folk. So there's a lot here for listeners who dig this particular micro-style in general, with the notable exception of an overwhelmingly strong vocal or songwriting individuality, though Scott's likable enough. [The 2006 CD reissue on Sunbeam adds a nice bonus cut from a BBC session, "Tattoed Lady," that doesn't appear on the original album in any form. This track has lead singing by Scott's girlfriend of the time, Penny Lamb (with Scott on guitar and vocal harmonies), and a slightly brighter, poppier, and more melodic feel than the material that had been recorded for the LP.] ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide

Try

Buy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6lBA-p6jm8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCtSvheT4Jg

Sunforest - Sounds Of Sunforest (1969)

This is an excellent psych/folk album from the shores of merry old England. You can definitly hear the English folk influences with some songs having an almost renaissance sound. Although what separates this album from so many other english folk albums of the time is the cleary American folk/bluegrass influences that are found in tracks like "Old Cluck" and "Lighthouse Keeper" (they even use a banjo in some songs! The only English folk ive heard to use the instrument). Unlike many other pysch/folk albums that focus more on making the songs seem "dreamy" rather than focusing on song structure, Sunforest writes short, well crafted, catchy folk songs. The rhythm section on this album is spectacular, the bass lines are funky and at the forefront of the recording and the drumming is so crisp that i could see many of the drums tracks being easily sampled for modern day hip hop/trip hop. Although they only lasted a year and released one album to little acclaim, this is close to the top of my list for English acid folk of the period.

Download

Buy (i would post a link to buy if this were still being pressed)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga_LVA-qux8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PAD3BtEPPc

let the good times roll

Alright, im trying out this music blog dealie and we shall see how it goes/how often i update. This blog will mostly focus on various forms of psychedelic music (acid folk/prog/freakbeat/pop/etc etc), folk, and hip hop, with a little bit of everything else thrown in. Basically, im gonna post albums that ive been listening to and enjoying lately and hopefully you will all enjoy them as much as i do. If you own any of the music on this website and would like me to stop sharing, just send me a message and i will take down links ASAP.

There are going to be times when we can't wait for somebody. Now, you're either on the bus or off the bus. If you're on the bus, and you get left behind, then you'll find it again. If you're off the bus in the first place-then it won't make a damn. - Ken Kesey