VA - Across the Great Divide, Getting It Together In The Country 1968-74 [2019] (3 x CD's)

FOLK ROCK

VA - Across the Great Divide, Getting It Together In The Country 1968-74 [2019] (3 x CD's)

At the height of psychedelia and the worldwide Summer of Love, Traffic retreated from the bright lights of the city and the music industry hurly-burly to get their act together in the wilds of rural Berkshire - where, away from the outside world, they worked on an organic fusion of jazz, folk, pop and R&B elements that would herald a game-changing new maturity in British rock. Over the next twelve months or so, Traffic's symbiosis of bucolic living and naturalistic music would be mirrored by events of the other side of the Atlantic: The Band's rootsy country/soul/R&B stew, The Byrds' move into country-rock and Crosby Stills & Nash's intricate harmonies and acoustic-led instrumentation would all strike a chord with British rock bands and the burgeoning hippie scene in general. Across The Great Divide: Getting It Together In The Country is the first compilation to shine a light on this curiously neglected stitch in the constantly-evolving British rock tapestry of the late Sixties/early Seventies. Joining huge names like Rod Stewart, Traffic and Fairport Convention are cult underground acts, mainstream Sixties pop groups updating their sound, a post-Dylan wave of back-to-the-land singer/songwriters and a clutch of righteously obscure rural rockers whose music failed to find an outlet at the time. Over four hours of music housed in a clamshell box containing a 44-page booklet, Across The Great Divide assiduously charts the fascinating period when a posse of British musicians bravely attempted to build Cripple Creek in perfidious Albion's green and pleasant land before shrugging their shoulders and moving on to either glam-rock, hard rock or the movement's logical successor, the spit-and-sawdust pub rock circuit. (Amazon)

It's an impressively deep and diverse track list, and anyone looking to explore this brief time when artists were casting off the shackles and trappings of the pop charts while looking to make music with minimal fuss will surely find planety of old favorites and new artists to check out. That's the best kind of archival set, and Across the Great Divide works both as a history lesson and a good listen. Great collection. Some old favourites and other more obscure fare.

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Track lists

CD1

01 Heads Hands & Feet Warming Up The Band 3:25

02 Fairport Convention Cajun Woman 2:44

03 Mott The Hoople Home Is Where I Want To Be 4:10

04 Mighty Baby Devils Whisper 3:40

05 Chilli Willi & The Red Hot Peppers Desert Island Woman 5:26

06 Shape Of The Rain Willowing Trees 3:51

07 Tony Hazzard Abbot Of The Vale 3:45

08 Hollies Louisiana Man 2:40

9 Mason Fading 3:11

10 Unicorn Sleep Song 4:57

11 Open Road Boy Youve Got The Sun In Your Eyes 5:23

12 Marmalade Cousin Norman 3:12

13 Richmond Clifftop 3:12

14 Starry Eyed And Laughing Lady Came From The South 3:44

15 Stray Oil Fumes And Sea Air 4:58

16 Rare Bird Redman 3:40

17 Sutherland Brothers Band The Pie 5:42

18 Matthews' Southern Comfort Touch Her If You Can 3:33

19 Quicksand Empty Street Empty Heart 3:41

20 Faces Ooh La La 3:30

CD2

01 Brinsley Schwarz Country Girl 3:09

02 McGuinness Flint When Im Dead And Gone 3:40

03 Traffic Forty Thousand Headmen 3:16

04 Bronco New Day Avenue 6:40

05 Tranquility Try Again 4:34

06 Cochise Velvet Mountain 3:24

07 Procol Harum A Souvenir Of London 3:20

08 Deep Set Cinnamon Girl 3:22

09 Stephen Jameson Day The World Ran Away 2:37

10 Byzantium I ll Just Take My Time 4:43

11 High Broom Its A Way To Pass The Time 2:41

12 Holy Mackerel Going To The Country 3:04

13 Montage Liquor Man 4:07

14 Shelagh McDonald Jesus Is Just Alright 2:59

15 Grannys Intentions We Both Need To Know 3:06

16 Heron Bye And Bye 2:21

17 Timebox Country Dan And City Lil 2:16

18 The Searchers And A Button 4:59

19 Orange Bicycle Take Me To The Pilot 3:01

20 Natural Gas The Jailer 4:52

21 Curtiss Maldoon So Nice 3:01

22 Jawbone Million Times Before 3:01

CD3

01 Carolanne Pegg Open The Door 4:24

02 Rod Stewart Country Comfort 4:45

03 Northwind Home For Frozen Roses 3:52

04 Bridget St John Nice 3:21

05 Pretty Things Country Road 4:47

06 Andy Roberts Home Grown 2:52

07 Edwards Hand Sheriff Myras Lincoln 5:57

08 Marian Segal Circle Round The Sun 3:55

09 Parlour Band Pretty Haired Girl 2:53

10 Tremeloes Hello Buddy 2:49

11 Greasy Bear Tallawaya 6:52

12 Man My Name Is Jesus Smith 4:06

13 Keith Christmas Metropolis 3:26

14 Deep Feeling Country Heir 3:23

15 Prelude Johnson Boy 3:51

16 Paul Bretts Sage Cottage Made For Two 2:38

17 Dave Cousins & Dave Lambert See How They Run 2:41

18 Mother Nature Clear Blue Sky 3:10

19 Idle Race Dancing Flower 2:13

20 Illusions Wheel Of Fortune 2:40

21 Gordon Ellis & Steel My Little One 3:41

22 Plainsong I'll Fly Away (Demo Version) 0:39

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