The vinyl has some faintly visible lines, which do not affect the sound at all. The sound is crisp, deep and rich. The labels are perfect, while the spine is perfectly legible. The cover is in VG+ condition, only short of Ex grading due to a small mark on the front cover.

VINYL: VG+

LABEL: Ex

COVER: VG+

Side 1

1. Claudy banks
2. The little gypsy girl
3. Banks of the Bann
4. Murder of Maria Marten

Side 2

1. Van Dieman’s land
2. Just as the tide was a ‘flowing
3. The white hare
4. Hal-an-tow
5. Poor murdered woman

This album contains the who’s who of the British folk revival. Apart from Shirley herself are such luminaries as The Watersons, Richard Thompson, Maddy Prior, Simon Nicol, Ashley Hutchings (Shirley’s husband), Tim Renwick, Barry Dransfield, Nic Jones, Dave Mattacks, Dolly Collins amongst others. This is considered as a seminal album, as it was one of the first times that a traditional folk singer had gone ‘electric’, with most of Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span backing her. So the sound is undoubtedly very close to some Fairport albums (Full House?) with the delicious addition of Shirley’s smokey traditional vocals. If you like folk music, this is a must to have in your collection, if you do not know folk music, then this is a great place to start.