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07 Oct 08 - 04:15 PM (#2459561) Subject: 70s Folk Rock From: GUEST,Charles J. Fish Hey... I brought this up in another thread and didn't get much of a response, so I thought I'd start a new topic. I get the impression this may be a long shot, but it can't hurt to try. I'm looking out for more folk-rock bands in the vein of 70s groups like Spriguns of Tolgus, Vulcan's Hammer, Brandywine Bridge, Tickawinda, Flibbertigibbet, Skibbereen, Frogmorton, Midwinter, Stone Angel, Hedgehog Pie, and Mr. Fox. They all have a fairly stripped back sound, and a lot of them really blur the line between folk and folk-rock. I'm not huge on drums unless they're very tasteful, but they won't stop me from enjoying the music. Multiple vocalists are always a plus, but again, not required. Any pointers, recommendations or links would be welcome. (The bands don't have to be from the 70s.) |
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07 Oct 08 - 04:24 PM (#2459571) Subject: RE: 70s Folk Rock From: GUEST,redmax I'd say on the whole they DO have to be from the 70s! I'm subjective, I know, but for me the prime phase of the folk rock scene (if indeed that's what you're after) ended about 30 years ago: Steeleye and Fairport called it a day, albeit temporarily, with Live at Last and Tipplers Tales. The Albion Band gave us Rise up Like the Sun, then Lark Rise, then... When these bands reconvened in the 80s they all to an extent modernised their sound, I suppose everyone wanted to be contemporary and fresh, but to my ears the albums from that period just sound plain awful now. Only Steeleye really stuck with the trad songs (again, if that's what you want). Anyway, this isn't answering your question. Try 5 Hand Reel, Folque, Malicorne, Spud and Fungus. Maybe also Jack the Lad and Scafell Pike. |
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07 Oct 08 - 04:39 PM (#2459581) Subject: RE: 70s Folk Rock From: jimL Maybe not quite what yu're thinking of, but I think The Oyster Band have been a consistent presence on the FR scene for over twenty years. Great stage show too... Jim The Yorkshire Polymoth |
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07 Oct 08 - 06:27 PM (#2459670) Subject: RE: 70s Folk Rock From: GUEST,Charles J. Fish Redmax -- yeah, I was kind of afraid that these bands were simply a product of the time. Oh well... I've heard Five Hand Reel, and they've never really worked for me. Same with Jack the Lad and Spud. Folque and Malicorne are solid, but the stories are half the reason I listen to folk music. Will look into Fungus and Scafell Pike, though. Thanks! jimL -- Thanks... I'll look into The Oyster Band too. |
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07 Oct 08 - 06:49 PM (#2459688) Subject: RE: 70s Folk Rock From: Spleen Cringe I think the problem with much post-70s folk rock is exactly as described by Redmax... they tried to update the sound and ended up sounding gimmicky and awful. I'd also agree with him in pointing you towards the continent: from France, La Bamboche, the aforementioned and truly wonderful Malicorne and if you can find it, stuff by bands like Sourdeline, Avaric and Tarantule. Further north, there is an album called "Dutch Rare Folk" you should get your hands on, and some interesting German stuff. PM me if you want more comprehensive details... As for contemporary stuff that references 70s folk-rock without trying to replicate it (we could call it modern electric folk)... well, as I type I'm listening to a cracking e.p. called "The Fabric of Folk" by the Owl Service and Alison O'Donnell (ex of Mellow Candle, Flibbertigibbet etc). It's on Static Caravan Records. The Owl Service album, "A Garland of Songs", on Southern Records, is a beaut. Personally, I can also hear those folkrockin' influences in Pumajaw, especially the new album "Curiosity Box" on Fire Records and of course, on Alisdair Roberts' masterly "No Earthly Man" on Drag City. Even if you don't think the influences are there, they are still blindingly good records. Much rockier at times and, I suppose, more 'conventional' are Mary Jane, who have four albums out - I think "The Gates of Silent Memory" is probably my favourite (imagine a rockier Trees). I think the problem of folk rock is that if your rock isn't good enough, your folk won't make up for it, and vice versa. Too much of what passes for folk-rock (and I do prefer the term 'electric folk' in some ways) is dull, bland and pedestrian. Folk-pubrock, if you will. Mr Fox will always be my favourites, I think. Now, if someone out their could marry up hauntingly sung traditional ballads with the ecstatic avant-rock bliss-outs of Godspeed You Black Emperor, I'd sign 'em up tommorrow! Seriously. Meanwhile, if you mine the 70s seam too deeply, as represented by some of the reissues on Kissing Spell and other labels, you very soon get to some right old shite... |
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08 Oct 08 - 05:03 AM (#2459951) Subject: RE: 70s Folk Rock From: Bryn Pugh For me, when you've said Steeleye, Oyster Band and Bellowhead, all that needs to be said has been said. Mr Fox never did it for me, nor did 5 hand reel. I quite liked Wishbone Ash, too, and Curved Air. |
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08 Oct 08 - 05:09 AM (#2459954) Subject: RE: 70s Folk Rock From: GUEST,redmax You probably already know about them, but just in case...the Morris On and Son of Morris On albums are indispensible. In fact, just about any Ashley Hutchings release from the 70s, Battle of the Field, The Prospect Before Us, wonderful stuff. Sadly Ashley was abducted by aliens at the turn of the decade and replaced by a clone who's been responsible for a bewildering array of mostly dismal albums. Somewhere out the the real Ashley is still held captive by little green men who tormented him by playing the "Folk Your Way to Fitness" CD. You heard it here first. |
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08 Oct 08 - 05:28 AM (#2459962) Subject: RE: 70s Folk Rock From: davyr Nobody's mentioned Horslips yet - some of their early stuff (Happy to Meet, Sorry to Part and The Tain) is worth a listen, I think. |
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08 Oct 08 - 05:48 AM (#2459975) Subject: RE: 70s Folk Rock From: Jack Blandiver For me the only two albums where the 70s English Folk Rock fraternity (Mr Fox notwithstanding) actually delivered something worth listening to were Bright Phoebus and The Battle of the Field. Otherwise rock music for folkies? Makes a certain sense when you think about it... The other way round of course things did get interesting, with many bands incorporating folk elements into their sound, such as the superlative Gentle Giant, early Jethro Tull (which is to say long before Songs from the fecking Wood), and, as already mentioned, pre-glam (almost) Wishbone Ash. And let's not forget the folk-glam of the Strawbs, bless 'em. Wary of folkish associations even back in the late 60s, Glen Sweeney described his Third Ear Band as a Pop Group (the keen-eyed will note that their Harvest albums carry the legend File Under Pop) and their influence extends as far as the dancing folk delights of Universe Zero... |
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08 Oct 08 - 06:38 AM (#2460015) Subject: RE: 70s Folk Rock From: theleveller I suppose you could just about include Tom Rapp's fantastic band, Pearls Before Swine. |
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08 Oct 08 - 07:10 AM (#2460032) Subject: RE: 70s Folk Rock From: Splott Man No-one's mentioned the mighty Lindisfarne Apart from those mentioned above, Fotheringay, Eclection, Trees, Amity, were all good enough for my interest at the time. Mixing the solidity of the folk movement with the creativity of rock. Splott Man |
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08 Oct 08 - 09:18 AM (#2460124) Subject: RE: 70s Folk Rock From: CupOfTea I didn't know it 'till years later, but it was the folk flavoring to much of what we now call Folk-Rock of the 70s that made that music appeal to me; also why I listen to trad rather than pop now. Fairport, Pentangle, Traffic (John Barleycorn in particular) early Tull - then the home grown stuff here in the US that came after - early Buffalo Springfiled, early Crosby Stills & Nash (heck, even early Jefferson Airplane, though Starship's Blows Against the Empire included Rosalie Sorrell's "Baby Tree" on it) It was the characteristics of the traditonal music that gave Folk-Rock the backbone and content and vitality that made it so delicious. I doubt I'm far from the only one who got introduced to the folk that was more traditionally flavored than the then pop PPM, Kingston Trio, etc. |
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08 Oct 08 - 11:52 AM (#2460266) Subject: RE: 70s Folk Rock From: clueless don I once attended a performance by The Oyster Band - probably in the 80's or the very early 90's. Bands change over time, but on that occasion I would say that they were not a folk rock band - they were a rock band, who happened to have an accordion as one of their instruments. Don |
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08 Oct 08 - 11:54 AM (#2460268) Subject: RE: 70s Folk Rock From: Les in Chorlton What about Alan Lomax and the Ramblers? Were they Folk Rock? Chiz L in C |
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08 Oct 08 - 05:43 PM (#2460580) Subject: RE: 70s Folk Rock From: GUEST,rich The Incredible String Band |
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08 Oct 08 - 07:42 PM (#2460670) Subject: RE: 70s Folk Rock From: Bobert Ya' know... I dug a few of the British alt folk rock bands... Mostly Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span and I'll be the first to admit that I never heard of most of the Brit folk rock bands that have been mentioned here but... ...here states side we had a bunch of real good ones... Here is a partial list of ours: New Riders and the Purple Sage Poco The Grateful Dead Cowboy The Flying Burrito Brothers Crosby, Stills and Nash The Byrds Teagarten and VanWinkle Goose Creek Symphony Bob Dylan Crazy Horse The Band Oh, and for the record, we've had some fine folk rockers ever since: Uncle Tupelo Wilco to some extent, Phish Gillian Welsh etc... B~ |
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08 Oct 08 - 08:30 PM (#2460690) Subject: RE: 70s Folk Rock From: GUEST,glueman Depending on your definition you could say folk-rock is one of the pre-eminent strands of popular music even today. 'Real' folk-rock was posited in a certain hairy sensibility that took cues from rock and folk but was very much its own thing. I agree with Clueless Don on the Oyster Band, AOR would be nearer the mark. Bellowhead are much more folk than rock for my money. Some of the names bring back memories, Frogmorton and Gentle Giant both good bands. What about Stackridge? |
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09 Oct 08 - 05:50 AM (#2460897) Subject: RE: 70s Folk Rock From: Colin Randall "who happened to have an accordion as one of their instruments" ....may have been true of the Oysterband gig Clueless Don attended, but rather overlooks the fact that their origins were as a ceilidh band and you will find the Uillean pipes, Northumbrian pipes and fiddles in their line-ups, and traditional songs and influences dotted all round their repertoire Not sure if they were doing it in the 70s, but certainly in the 80s the Doonan Family Band - Geordie/Irish - were brilliant at turning folk into rock and vice versa (Black Velvet Band and Bring It All Home, respectively, being great examples) Having recently trawled YouTube for different versions of Who Knows Where the Time Goes? for a piece at Salut! Live I find myself agreeing with those who nominate early Fairport (and Steeleye) as pretty much untouchable, good as many of the others were |
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09 Oct 08 - 06:01 AM (#2460899) Subject: RE: 70s Folk Rock From: Banjiman Definitely not 70's but for sublime, modern folk rock try The Duncan McFarlane Electric Band .... Fab they are. Paul |
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09 Oct 08 - 06:13 AM (#2460905) Subject: RE: 70s Folk Rock From: Colin Randall Yes....I'm with Banjiman on Duncan McFarlane. And coming late, due to successive periods of exile, to Bellowhead, I think they're outstanding whereever they fit into the spectrum of genres |
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09 Oct 08 - 06:36 AM (#2460918) Subject: RE: 70s Folk Rock From: GUEST,kenny Up in Scotland we had "The JSD Band", and "Contraband"[ not the Danish group of the same name], members of which went on to form "Ossian". |
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09 Oct 08 - 06:52 AM (#2460929) Subject: RE: 70s Folk Rock From: Folkiedave Can I add my support for Duncan McFarland - and mention that Fotheringay have a new record - Fotheringay 2 made from tapes recorded for a second album but never released. I also loved the JSD Band - I was living in Scotland when the came to prominence by winning a competition - but memory fades so that may be wrong. There's Irish band Kila, http://www.kila.ie/ and a Polish band (!!) Beltaine http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=R71N_bxREzM&feature=related |
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09 Oct 08 - 01:10 PM (#2461198) Subject: RE: 70s Folk Rock From: GUEST,Charles J. Fish I've always found the JSD Band to unlistenable. There version of "Johnny O'Breadislea" is particularly awful. Although I suppose he is Scottish, the vocalist sounds like he's trying to pull of a Scottish accent without any of the inflections. The Duncan McFarlane Electric Band are pretty good... thanks for the recommendation. =) |
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09 Oct 08 - 01:16 PM (#2461207) Subject: RE: 70s Folk Rock From: Les in Chorlton Whapweasel? |
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09 Oct 08 - 03:04 PM (#2461327) Subject: RE: 70s Folk Rock From: GUEST,Nicholas Waller None too traditional, and more punk-rock folk than folk rock (an English Pogues), but The Men They Couldn't Hang had some good songs. Like Rain, Steam and Speed (which is the title of a Turner painting) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrfV4ZMn4EE |
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09 Oct 08 - 03:14 PM (#2461343) Subject: RE: 70s Folk Rock From: Bainbo I think The Eighteenth Day Of May might tick all the right boxes. |
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09 Oct 08 - 05:19 PM (#2461440) Subject: RE: 70s Folk Rock From: Colin Randall .....and wasn't there Boiled in Lead, a rather good American (Boston?) band? |
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09 Oct 08 - 05:36 PM (#2461459) Subject: RE: 70s Folk Rock From: GUEST,Joseph de Culver City How about MacGuiness/Flint? Always loved 'Dream, Darling, Dream'... |
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10 Oct 08 - 06:13 AM (#2461875) Subject: RE: 70s Folk Rock From: GUEST,Wayne I recently discovered Loudest Whisper and Mellow Candle. Both very exciting (and now available on cd.) Fairfield Parlour's album is also fab (....When Emily Made Confetti is one of the oddest songs I've heard in a long time). Don't know if this is on cd but there are copies of the vinyl record available on Gemm.com. |
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10 Oct 08 - 07:13 AM (#2461915) Subject: RE: 70s Folk Rock From: GUEST,redmax With bands like Loudest Whisper and Mellow Candle I think it's valid to ask whether a listener wants "folk rock" or folk INFLUENCED rock. It might seem like splitting hairs, but I've known people whose attraction to folk rock was mainly from a liking for pastoral or supernatural flavoured music, and folk seems to fit the bill. Frankly, though, if that's what you're after you might as well cut to the chase and get Jethro Tull's "Songs from the Wood", a wonderful, atmospheric album, but "folk" only in vibe, not in content. Then there are bands like Lindisfarne and the Strawbs, neither of whom recorded traditional folk songs (although I think Wild Mountain Thyme was a Strawbs B-side). Plenty to like there, but definitely a different gottle o' geer to Fairport, Steeleye or Mr Fox. |
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10 Oct 08 - 11:48 AM (#2462179) Subject: RE: 70s Folk Rock From: Irene M I loved Frogmorton. Eventually found a second hand album of theirs. Also loved Contraband. At the time I also loved Faraway Folk, then a few years later I listened to the LP of theirs again, and it was the most hideously naff thing I had ever endured. For some reason (possibly horrified fascination) I still have it. I hasten to add that at the time of my infatuation, I was 15! |
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10 Oct 08 - 03:08 PM (#2462362) Subject: RE: 70s Folk Rock From: M.Ted Sonny and Cher were originally considered a "Folk Rock" band--remember that it was applied much earlier than the 70s--All the pop bands led by former folkies and anything with acoustic guitar and a backbeat fell under the rubric-- The Byrds, The Lovin' Spoonful, The Association, Barry Mcguire, all were called "Folk Rock" Dylan and The Band, of course, tend to be credited or blamed for originating the form, which is an absurd idea. Rock and Roll is really folk rock--and what about blues? Folk Rock morphed into Psychedelic, and then to country rock, as evidenced by Bobert's list. The marketing folks and the publicists touted Folk Rock as considered a sort of "fusion" music,that took your tired old hand-me-down folk music and making something new and exciting out of it--"The Kaleidoscope" and "It's a Beautiful Day" are a couple of bands that really did that--which is probably why most people have forgotten them-- |
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10 Oct 08 - 03:21 PM (#2462374) Subject: RE: 70s Folk Rock From: GUEST,Spleen Cringe My belief is that M.Ted is talking about American folk rock, which I would contend - much as I like some of the bands he cites, so this is not a value judgement - is an entirely different beast to UK folk rock, although UK folk rock was arguably inspired by the challenge to do with British folk forms what The Band had done with the American equivalent. I agree with Redmax's comment about Mellow Candle, Loudest Whisper et al being folk influenced rock as opposed to folk rock. I'd add Comus, Bread Love and Dreams, Dr Strangely Strange and a few others to the mix. Personally I'd rather have folk influenced rock than rock influenced folk which often seems to consist of grafting a soul destroyingly pedestrian, painfully plodding rock rhythm section to a perfectly good folk song... I won't cite examples in order to protect the tedious... |
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10 Oct 08 - 05:10 PM (#2462501) Subject: RE: 70s Folk Rock From: GUEST,glueman Many years ago I bought a re-issue of Fairport's first album with Judy Dyble and it's a belter. To all intents a rock album but it's worn better than most stuff of that era. I'm always minded of John Boorman's Excalibur when I hear early folk rock, trippy, green and very far out. |
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10 Oct 08 - 05:16 PM (#2462512) Subject: RE: 70s Folk Rock From: GUEST,glueman I meant to say, Dr Strangely Strange provide the backing music for the estimable Centre for Fortean Zoology's monthly webcast. http://cfzmonthly.blogspot.com/ |
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10 Oct 08 - 06:57 PM (#2462578) Subject: RE: 70s Folk Rock From: M.Ted I give you no argument, all British music, even when it is deliberately imitative of American music, is an entirely different beast. Not that it's bad--we certainly listened to, and loved, a fair number of British bands--and there was a certain esoteric prestige associated with listening to say, Lindisfarne--and more than a few American groups were heavily influenced by British groups-- I've forgotten my point, but no matter, as since this is a music, not a political one, no one is likely to notice;-) |
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11 Oct 08 - 06:28 AM (#2462841) Subject: RE: 70s Folk Rock From: Les in Chorlton M.Ted, "as since this is a music, not a political one, no one is likely to notice" He he, I will be as surprised as you if you get away with that! Chiz L in C |
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12 Oct 08 - 06:32 AM (#2463513) Subject: RE: 70s Folk Rock From: Jack Blandiver and there was a certain esoteric prestige associated with listening to say, Lindisfarne This is my Lindisfarne story, fraught, as you will see, with esoteric prestige. I shall call my tale... The Thing in the Fog on the Tyne Some 18-20 years back it was my custom to commute the twenty miles or so into Newcastle-upon-Tyne by means of public transport for the purpose of general drudgery and humiliation in respect of work. On Wednesday nights I would visit a friend in Fenham, one who had a peculiar penchant for practical jokes which made my visits all the more entertaining - just as long I was not the butt of same. It was, as I recall, darkest and coldest winter, and I'd be coming in from the sticks after tramping a merry rustic mile over hedges, ditches, brooks and bridges to get to the nearest bus stop, sensibly wearing my trusty old Barbour, which, upon my arrival, would be hung up on said friend's Victorian coat stand whilst we banished the foibles of the late 20th century around a roaring log fire, smoking fine briar churchwardens (Petersons of course) and listening to the very latest in avant-garde Industrial Noise, or else choice Field Recordings of Eastern Europe Folk Music, all the while sipping the finest brandy, and tucking into our Weekly Game Pie made with the spoils of our respective weekend endeavours. Our night at an end, I'd pull on my Barbour, and we'd bid one another a hearty farewell before I set off into the sleet of the night, East along the West Road, back into town to catch my last bus back out to the sticks, where, it must be said I lived a good deal more urban life than my inner-city friend. Anyhoo, this one particular night, I was waiting for my bus in a freezing fog with my faithful Walkman blasting my numb brains with the latest waxing from The Fall (I fancy it was Extricate, which dates the episode to around 1990-91), and zipping up my Barbour the blood freezes in my veins to see there... a glinting in the street light as though of a... can it truly be? Yes... I rather think it is... it's... a small enamel badge... bearing the legend... Lindisfarne... and... a deep dread horror as I realised the truth that the unspeakable thing was pinned to the corduroy lapel of my jacket! Forgetting about my bus, I ran in a blind panic back up to Wingrove Road where I hammered upon my friends door. Upon answering, I grabbed the scoundrel by the neck, pinning him to the wall. 'How long has it been there?' I demanded, as said friend choked, spluttered, wide eyed at this unprecedented outburst, and obviously as innocent as he was clueless. But who else could it have been? ' - The badge, Sir! The damn badge! How long?' 'You mean you've just noticed?' came the reply. ' - I'm afraid I rather forgot, old man - ' 'But - how long?' 'It was - I'm afraid it was last year, old thing - the week before Christmas - ' 'The week before Christmas? B-but it's - February now,' I stammered, tears in my eyes, releasing my hold on said friend's windpipe as the horrible truth dawned on me, resulting in the idiot passivity known as a state of shock. ' - That's - five weeks - almost six - all that time - all that time - ' 'Come on through into the study, old boy,' counselled my by now seriously concerned friend. ' - I'll crack open a bottle of Amontillado - and - I must say - looks like you need it.' 'But - the thing, Sir! The badge - six weeks you say? 'Yes, yes - six weeks - but - it's gone now - we'll not see that again - ' 'But - six weeks - oh no - oh - no - no - no - ' That I can even write of this episode now is the result of some eighteen years serious counselling on the matter. I've seen the best psychologists money can buy, and undergone courses of therapy as extensive as they were expensive, but even so, for all that, I know that I'll never be truly rid of the ghastly trauma that tore a sizeable chunk from my soul on that foggy winter Tyneside night all those years ago. And yet, so glibly you say and there was a certain esoteric prestige associated with listening to say, Lindisfarne... |
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12 Oct 08 - 12:24 PM (#2463687) Subject: RE: 70s Folk Rock From: Peg Too bad Mark Coyle's Unbroken Circle website got hacked, as well as his other websites, as he was a wizard of finding and sharing music of this kind, from old to new. as for contemporary bands or artists who embody this sound: Green Crown Stone Breath In Gowan Ring Dragonsfly (Glastonbury UK) Devendra Banheart |
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12 Oct 08 - 03:26 PM (#2463810) Subject: RE: 70s Folk Rock From: M.Ted For you,listening to Lindisfarne may have been like eating circus peanuts, but to us, hunkered down in a suburban basement in Lansing, Michigan, hearing that first Lindisfarne album was a bit like having the Holy Grail appear above one's dining room table--not that we were allowed in the dining room-- In those days, we didn't know the band's peculiar name was that of a place, and none of us had even heard of St. Aidan. Times were different then, and it had been necessary, on reading of the band in some underground paper or other, to order it special from The Disc Shop, where they sympathized with those who cared about the advanced quality of"British Imports". We also didn't realize that the music had been heavily influenced by American music, some of which we at least feigned to disdain. Older and wiser now. Well, at least older. |
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13 Oct 08 - 01:51 PM (#2464575) Subject: RE: 70s Folk Rock From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego I was a fairly large fan (around 15.25 stone)of Gordon Lightfoot in his earlier, mostly acoustic period. Some of his later, 70's, material seemed to be an attempt to capitalize on the folk-rock genre that seemed to be eclipsing a lot of older folk-oriented performers. He had some success in this. But, while the production quality was always there, I felt the results were somewhat uneven. When you've had big commercial success, and you see others passing you by, it is hard not to "do what they're doing" in order to recussitate your career. In the end, you may reinvent yourself over and over, but you risk becoming passe' unless you are awfully, awfully good. |