CD-Charts Position 1
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The Girl Who Couldn't Fly

CD-Charts > Music > Traditional Folk
by: Kate Rusby

Release Date November 05, 2007
Kate Rusby is a treat and possibly the most unsung performer in the UK. I own hundreds of CDs and very few of them continue to move me like "The Girl Who Couldn't Fly". From the teasing, light-hearted rhyme of `Mary Blaize' to the haunting simplicity of `Fare Thee Well', this album is a treat for the ears and a journey for the emotions. 'No Names' is the ultimate highlight for me, specifically because of Roddy Woomble's fantastic contribution. The vast space between Kate and Roddy's tones serves only to add to the bittersweet parting message that the song contains. This is a wonderful album that deserves much wider critical aclaim than it has received so far.

CD-Charts Position 2
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Diamonds & Rust

CD-Charts > Music > Traditional Folk
by: Joan Baez

Release Date February 20, 2003
Having bought the single way back in the 70's when it was first released and heard what seemed the fashionable comment at the time that "some records were too good for the charts" I wanted to buy the album when funds permitted. No disappointments - this is a classic that doesn't waste a track. Different in style to other albums that Joan Baez has done but more than worth hearing and at a fantastic price. Buy, play, enjoy, you will not regret.

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CD-Charts Position 3
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The Best of the Vanguard Years

CD-Charts > Music > Traditional Folk
by: Joan Baez

Release Date January 31, 2005
By no means all the greatest early songs, this compilation does include her hits and well-known album tracks from the 1960s and early 1970s. It focuses on the later Vanguard years when she moved into pop and rock. Four Dylan tracks are included plus her greatest commercial success, The Band's The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, a lilting melodious song about the civil war, her big hit from 1971.

Farewell Angelina from the album of the same name is another gem, and then there's the civil rights anthem We Shall Overcome. Other highlights include The Dangling Conversation (penned by Paul Simon), the bitter Love Is Just A Four Letter Word and the stirring There But For Fortune. Help Me Make It Through The Night and Let It Be must be two of the most ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 4
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Underneath The Stars

CD-Charts > Music > Traditional Folk
by: Kate Rusby

Release Date August 11, 2003
This is a fantastic CD by a fantastic artist. It's very like Kate Rusby's other work, but if you like that then you will love this CD. I personally prefer it to some of her older CD's, as it has a lot of fast and memerobal tracks in it that you'll find yourself singing all day! Great tracks on this CD - "The Good Man", "Let me be", "The Blind Harper", "Young James". All the songs are uniquely Kate Rusby though, and it's a great addition to any collection!

CD-Charts Position 5
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Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs and Chanteys

CD-Charts > Music > Traditional Folk
by: Various Artists

Release Date August 25, 2006
I can understand some folk purists wanting to hate this before they've even heard it, and it could have ended up as a complete dogs breakfast. Yes if they'd given the whole undertaking to Bellowhead it might have been a classic, but on the whole it's not turned out too bad, and there's something to be said for the eclectic nature of the thing.

I'll have nothing said against Baby Gramps, he's a fine guitarist and that's no affectation, he really does sound like Popeye's drunken brother. Surprisingly of the "Big Names" Sting makes the best fist of his effort. I say surprising because he strikes me as the most unlikeable of people. Unsurprisingly Bono misses the point completely, and confirms that he is now completely and utterly up himself.

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CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

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The Very Best of Peter Paul and Mary

CD-Charts > Music > Traditional Folk
by: Peter Paul & Mary

Release Date September 12, 2005
I can understand some folk purists wanting to hate this before they've even heard it, and it could have ended up as a complete dogs breakfast. Yes if they'd given the whole undertaking to Bellowhead it might have been a classic, but on the whole it's not turned out too bad, and there's something to be said for the eclectic nature of the thing.

I'll have nothing said against Baby Gramps, he's a fine guitarist and that's no affectation, he really does sound like Popeye's drunken brother. Surprisingly of the "Big Names" Sting makes the best fist of his effort. I say surprising because he strikes me as the most unlikeable of people. Unsurprisingly Bono misses the point completely, and confirms that he is now completely and utterly up himself.

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CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

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The Definitive Collection

CD-Charts > Music > Traditional Folk
by: Eliza Carthy

Release Date October 06, 2003
1) She's part of folk royalty (if you didn't know) - her dad is Martin Carthy, her mum is Norma Waterson (both legends in their own right), her aunt and uncle are Lal and Mike Waterson and Oliver Knight is her cousin!
2) She can't half play the fiddle.
3) She has one of the most beautiful voices you'll ever hear, and she can really sing, I mean, really. I saw her live and the first song she did accapella... gobsmacking. And she's from Yorkshire! What more do you want?!
4)Her versatilty. Some of her songs are thigh-slappingly folktastic but then you get songs like Stumbling On, which is more or less jazz, or Billy Boy, which starts of sounding almost like dub reggae, goes folky and then has a Santana-ish guitar solo. And it's not just genre that changes: ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 8
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Good As I've Been to You

CD-Charts > Music > Traditional Folk
by: Bob Dylan

Release Date February 10, 1997
What I like about Dylan is that he does plenty of covers.Self Portait and its still-not-issued-on CD sequel DYLAN was Dylan playing the covers game-which at least proved he wasn't big headed enough to keep doing his own songs.
I also liked the way he walloped other peoples' songs and passed them off as his own-though mainly this came from the common stock.
The recent Theme Time Radio Hour indicates what's always been there-that Dylan is a Human Jukebox just waiting to be plugged in.
He's covered songs no one else would have touched but may I suggest he now does a version of Dust my broom

CD-Charts Position 9
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The Best Of Joan Baez

CD-Charts > Music > Traditional Folk
by: Joan Baez

Release Date March 14, 1991
Very few people can be said to have changed the world - even fewer of them to have done so through song. Joan Baez is one of the few, so those expecting this collection to contain a string of glorious protest songs in the "We Shall Overcome" mode may be disappointed. The recordings on this album are of a later vintage and show a more introspective Joan. What they do, however, is showcase one of the most angelic voices ever recorded - the voice of an artist with tremendous passion and soul, and an unfailing ear for a beautiful melody.

The opening track, "Diamonds and Rust", is sheer haunting melancholy, an ode to the wreckage left by a departed lover; and it sets the standard for much of the album, walking a fine line between heartbreak and whimsy. "Love Song to a Stranger", ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

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Sailor's Songs and Sea Shanties

CD-Charts > Music > Traditional Folk
by: Various Artists

Release Date May 24, 2004
Very few people can be said to have changed the world - even fewer of them to have done so through song. Joan Baez is one of the few, so those expecting this collection to contain a string of glorious protest songs in the "We Shall Overcome" mode may be disappointed. The recordings on this album are of a later vintage and show a more introspective Joan. What they do, however, is showcase one of the most angelic voices ever recorded - the voice of an artist with tremendous passion and soul, and an unfailing ear for a beautiful melody.

The opening track, "Diamonds and Rust", is sheer haunting melancholy, an ode to the wreckage left by a departed lover; and it sets the standard for much of the album, walking a fine line between heartbreak and whimsy. "Love Song to a Stranger", ... Read More: