One of the primary successes of a folk cross over into the heavyweight world of pop / chart worthiness. This kicks off with one of the most famous songs, still very enjoyable many years later (ok, ok FOTN was massive but I felt Lady Eleanor was a more traditional, ‘closer to the bands roots’ type of song than the commercial success of ‘Fog’). But for me, the stand out track on Side A is ‘Winter Song’ which is stunning. To be honest, only a slightly better production could have improved it.
Of course you wouldn’t get a band like this, nowadays, securing the commercial success of Lindisfarne (ok, maybe Mumford?) but I suspect non-believers, whilst remembering them, could only name a couple of their songs. On the other hand, the followers could probably sing every word of ‘We can swing together’ and I suspect the roof came off on several venues when this was played live. It’s a peach of a ‘singalong’ song.
You get a great LP here, recorded at the height of their success first time round. Well worth adding to any collection, especially if the folk corner of the room is a little light…
