Sweet England

The first CD reissue of Shirley Collins' debut album, recorded when she was 23, and still uncertain of herself. The album received a critical walloping on release, and it took another few years before Collins felt ready to record again (successfully, this time, in tandem with Davey Graham). It took a good decade before Sweet England itself began to be accepted as a key recording in the folk revival. It's easy to understand why the record struck an unsympathetic note -- Collins' vocal approach has a fragile, almost maudlin quality to it, presenting a raw sadness even when the songs themselves are light-hearted. Combine that with the bare arrangements, which depend on simple five-string banjo, and the result is a difficult listen -- the immediacy of much of the work being done in the folk revival is missing; Sweet England demands repeated listening, which becomes hard work indeed. Ironically, however, Collins' approach has more in keeping with folk tradition than many of the folk revival performers (one of the closer comparisons might well be A.L. Lloyd, another performer who was often not immediate in his impact.) Topic has cleaned up the master recordings as best they can; listeners will notice some flaws, and a very small degree of distortion on Collins' vocals. ~ Steven E. McDonald