Blackthorn were an obscure Irish electric folk band who produced 2 albums in 1977 and 1979. This is their second offering and was engineered by Dave peg (Fairport Convention) at his studios in Cropredy. It is a fabulous album of mainly traditional folk songs with an electric twist – the classic track being ‘Coal hole cavalry’ with some eccentric keyboards framing a great traditional song. But the album starts off with a great traditional sound based around Mark Powell’s mandolin on ‘Wetherby Market’. Nina Szifris makes this track her own, as she does consistently through the album. There are times when the band’s synthesiser makes its appearance, but despite these progressive touches, this album is closer to folk than folk rock. In contrast to their first album, they have really concentrated on English traditional folk songs, while using their creative arrangements to ensure that they created a captivating and unique album.
Side 2 starts in a cappella mode before the synthesiser introduces the rest of the band and Nina takes over the vocals superbly, followed by an atmospheric fiddle solo by Dave Hunnable. A great start that then morphs into ‘Danny Daniel’ (lyrics by Vin Garbutt) with a mandolin solo – a great transition. But the stand out track on Side 2 has to be the final track ‘A mans a man/I’ll keep it with me’ which is a captivating folk rock style winner – great electric guitar and Nina fighting her way through the brilliant music to deliver vocals that Sandy Denny would be proud of.
Nina Szifris, the band's lead singer is truly a gem and is still playing regularly today. The band are really talented musicians throughout the band and album. A must for the fans of Fairport Convention, Caedmon, Pentangle and Mellow Candle.
