Shirley Collins - Sweet England

See For Miles Records Ltd. - LP

UK, 1959 (1987 repress)

Folk

"Historically significant" is an understatement when it comes to Shirley Collin's Sweet England, a recording that kickstarted the English Folk revival. Produced by Peter Kennedy and legendary folklorist Alan Lomax, her boyfriend at the time, It is a miracle of a record, the kind that changes the course of history. Beautiful and clean 1987 mono pressing.

These words might sound like a classic seller's stunt to oversell minor records, but in the case of Shirley Collin's recording debut, it still feels like a modest introduction. Not only is it indeed historically significant, as it was one of the first contemporary album of modern versions (arranged by Shirley Collins) of old folk songs, notably preceded by US singer and dulcimer player Jean Ritchie's LP's  - "the Mother of Folk", but it's also musically stunning. In her own words, Shirley Collins's vocals are "young and naive", but there are nonetheless extremely precise and the delivery's powerful. And so are the arrangements, precise and crystal-clear. No fuss, nothing superfluous: a manifesto for folk recordings.

In the 2017 documentary "The Ballad of Shirley Collins", she says that though she does not consider herself one of the best voices in English charts, she acknowledges that when she was singing at her best, she "was the essence of English song and sang it better than anybody else, and understood it better than nobody else", and I do agree, but most importantly, she acknowledges the fact that a song should be "spilled out", delivered without interpretation, leaving that part to the audience. And that's precisely what she does on Sweet England, each song existing as a whole, and certainly not as part of an artist's performance. And what songs! A corpus of wonderful "Love Songs and Ballads from Southern England", some of which were actually collected by Lomax in the States, from old families of English migrants, including the title song. Exceptional recording, and perfect Easter music. Highest recommendation. (VG+/VG+)

Tracklist

1. Sweet England
2. Hares On The Mountain
3. Hori-Horo
4. The Bonny Irish Boy
5. The Tailor And The Mouse
6. The Lady And The Swine
7. Turpin Hero
8. The Cuckoo
9. The Bonny Labouring Boy
10. The Cherry Tree Carol
11. Sweet William
12. Omie Wise
13. Blackbirds And Thrushes
14. A Keeper Went Hunting
15. Polly Vaughan
16. Pretty Saro
17. Barbara Allen
    
18. Charlie