The cover of this album is as excellent as you could hope for in a 46 year old album, with only minor rubbing at the corners. The spine is clearly legible and the inside of the gatefold is superb. The Dandelion labels are perfect. The vinyl has visible hairline scratches which cause occasional crackle on Side 1, with a few clicks on ‘Back to stay’. Side 2 also has a few crackles on ‘Making losing better’, but the music comes through superbly and will not affect your enjoyment of this beautiful album, remember its age, this has been a much loved and played album!! Cleaned on a VPI Cyclone RCM. For photos and music review, see my .com site

VINYL: VG

LABEL: Ex

COVER: Ex

Side 1

1. A day a way
2. City-crazy
3. Early morning song
4. Back to stay
5. Seagull-Sunday
6. If you’d been there

Side 2

1. Song for the Laird of Connaught Hall – Part 2
2. Making losing better
3. The Lady and the Gentleman
4. Downderry daze
5. The pebble and the man
6. It seems very strange

This was Bridget St John’s second album on John Peel’s Dandelion label. It has a different feel to her first album, as the vocals and guitar have been augmented by significant strings, brass and woodwind. This was the impact that Ron Geesin brought in his role as Producer. As a result, the album has a warmth that draws you in and gives you a cuddle. Despite vigorous marketing by Dandelion, the album was sadly a commercial failure.

Bridget’s vocals are fantastic with a lovely contralto being compared to Nico. She writes most of the tracks, with the addition of John Martyn’s ‘Back to stay’ and Donovan’s ‘The pebble and the man’. The album starts with the lovely ‘A day a way’ describing a day’s escape from the city – it has tremendous flute support, which really lifts an already good track. The second track adds to the anti-city feeling, with the aptly titles ‘City-crazy’ – much slower with gentle string backing, but her vocals are spot on. The ‘Early morning song’ is a short but beautiful love song, is the first track concerning her Laird. Her treatment of ‘Back to stay’ is fantastic (John Martyn would have approved), with the unusual inclusion of Ron Geesin on celestial organ, which really works. The album then moves up a gear with the Joni Mitchellesque ‘Seagull-Sunday’ which is a real triumph, but the first side then finishes on a bit of a downer with the introspective ‘If you’d been there’.

Side 2 starts with the delightful second part of her love song for her Laird, followed by the beautifully melancholy ‘Making losing better’. The title track starts with some laid back brass, with mellow vocals matching the mellow lyrics, this is a great song. ‘Downderry daze’, brings us down with a bump, as the positive messages of the previous track are torn up and Bridget sings in a beautifully melancholy way about lost love. Bridget’s version of Donovan’s ‘The pebble and the man’ is superb, although the addition of the male vocal backing has to be questioned. The album finishes with ‘It seems very strange’ and is a fine way to end the album with its dark and reflective lyrics.

This is probably Bridget’s finest album and in many ways is exceptional. While some of the lyrics are dark and reflect her desire to find a gentle soul to love her, these are poignant, not the despondency you may find in Nick Drake’s lyrics. It’s a very mellow album with Bridget’s slightly husky voice exploring wistful romances, seeking refuge in rural or seaside idylls and her voice expresses the very gentleness she seeks in her man.