Albion Country Band (sic!)

Hi there,


I know it's a cunning suggestion, but I do think that this band - under the name of the "Albion Country Band", not as "The Albion Band" - released two albums which are both artsy and tricky enough takes on folk rock to fit into the Prog Related area. (And don't get me wrong - these are the only two albums which this band has ever published, except for some BBC Sessions. All the other stuff came from "The Albion Dance Band" and "The Albion Band". I know that The Albion Band was already discussed for inclusion, but not specifically the Albion Country Band!)

The two albums are:

Shirley Collins & The Albion Country Band - No Roses (1971)
The Albion Country Band - Battle of the Field (1973;1976)


The former (No Roses) sounds a lot like Fairport Convention in those days, but adds a plethora of unorthodox medieval instruments which often play some quirky lines into the folk songs. Shirley Collins is one of the earliest folk revival singers, and the combination of a varied rock band and her voice makes up an unusual but beautiful album.

"Murder of the Maria Marten" switches between Dave Mattacks' weird 5+5/4 phrasing in some stanzas and a straight 4/4 measure in the other stanzas. In between there are stanzas which Shirley Collins sings to an intricate hurdy-gurdy arrangement. In the end there are sound effects whilst the guitar work of Tim Renwick, Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol is complex, too.
Four songs on this album (1,4,5,9) sound like 1970 Fairport Convention and were also recorded in a similar line-up. The ballad "As The Tide Was Flowing" is played completely through a flanger at some places. Even the rootsy tracks ("White Hare" and "Hal-An-Tow") sound totally unfamiliar due to the instrumentation (ophicleide, vielle etc)

Furthermore Shirley Collins brought in a fairly classical approach to folk music. "Claudy Banks" features a duo melody of alto saxophone (played by Canterbury Scene saxophonist Lol Coxhill) and bassoon, "Banks of the Bann" an intricate piano arrangement with 12-string guitar punctuations and "Van Dieman's Land" receives a bagpipe+brass backing in the third quarter (2:50).

Importantly, representatives of the whole British folk scene (The Watersons, Royston Wood, Maddy Prior, Shirley Collins, John Kirkpatrick, Barry Dransfield, Nic Jones...) appear on this album together the only time, along with representatives of the rock/experimental genre (Richard Thompson, Ashley Hutchings, Lol Coxhill, Tim Renwick, Dave Mattacks).


The latter (Battle of the Field) is more progressive in its song choice, featuring genuinely progressive arrangements of folk songs with "I Was A Young Man", "Hanged I Shall Be" (from 1:20 to the end), "Gallant Poacher" and the rhythmically tricky piece of electric folk "Cheshire Round". Progressive means: dominant solo oboe by Sue Kirkpatrick, strange rhythmic turns, complex acoustic guitar work by Martin Carthy and a clear rock backing by Ashley Hutchings and Simon Nicol. The set of Morris Dances, fronted by a quirky ballad'n'dance hybrid by Richard Thompson, is atmospheric and thoroughly electrified (including Moog synthesizer bass lines) and melodically entangled.


I know that many consider this stuff too rootsy and not enough eclectic for an addition to this site, but I think the complexity of the melodic arrangements and the rhythms justify an addition.

Adding the complete set of Albion (Dance) Band related stuff, including the prog-related albums "Rise Up Like The Sun" and "The Prospect Before Us" wouldn't be a good idea, in my opinion, because much of the later work of the Albion Band - which would follow then - is really far away from prog music.


Best wishes,

Einsetumadur




Edited by Einsetumadur - November 05 2012 at 09:25

First of all I'm glad to hear your response. I totally get your concern (except for the country bit which I only deem true for the post-1980s Albion Band. )

Some further points, maybe, to help clear that "member makes genre" thing up. There are, in my book, more reasons than simply the member argument - reasons on the level of the music which are immediately listenable.

- Martin Carthy, the acoustic guitarist on "Battle of the Field", would never be a candidate for inclusion here as a solo musician. But as soon as his guitar playing is set to a rock background - as it is here - it opens up a totally new range of rock guitar playing. He plays percussively, he sometimes lets more than just two melodies sound at the very same time and brings in an unusual way of vocal delivery, too. You rarely hear that guy strumming the chords, and this is one of the reasons why I once suggested the inclusion of Steeleye Span as well.

- A good sum of the songs is admittedly on the ridge - mostly excellent folk rock, but hardly any prog. However: on "Battle of the Field" the genuine prog folk stuff makes up more than 50% of the whole. Them 50% are genuine prog folk if you also consider Gryphon's debut album prog folk (polyphony, quickly changing rhythms, dance music, folk songs). If you don't, "Battle of the Field" is out of the discussion, too.

- The ratio in the case of "No Roses" is definitely under the 50% mark, making it a pretty shaky decision progwise. But if you listen to all those sound effects, the nearly megalomaniac use of instruments, the jangly guitars - or how Hutchings disjoints the pretty jolting dance number "Little Gipsy Girl" with that wobbly detuned hammered dulcimer: I do see a lot of experimentation and art rock in that melange. It's not totally obvious, but present nonetheless. 


Decide for yourself, I've made my points and look forward to having a nice discussion here.


Einsetumadur




Edited by Einsetumadur - October 31 2012 at 16:19

Apart from this discussion of the Albion Country Band, has Shirley Collins ever been considered here? Admittedly her music is nowhere near the prog mainstream (if there is such a thing) so I won't be surprised if the ultimate answer is no; but she was right at the centre of a whole lot of progressive moments in the history of British folk - her 60s albums with Dolly Collins, her early work with Albion as discussed here, arguably Lodestar.