Gallery – The Wind that shakes the Barley (Midas Recordings 1972)

Gallery was yet another English folk band that unfortunately only got to release one album. But it’s a really beautiful and also unique album that you really should get – if you can find a copy, that is. I totally agree with a reviewer at the time, that stated: ‘Basically they have style and class and sound like they mean it!!’ What you will find here, are interesting and very well performed interpretations of English folk standards. All of them are wonderful, but my personal favourites are perhaps their versions of ‘Queen of Hearts’, ‘Dowie Dens of Yarrow’ and ‘Icy Acres’. These are all filled with the deepest of melancholia, but at the same time it’s all so touchingly beautiful. The band featured excellent vocals, both male and female, and the instrumentation is rather sparse but utterly tasteful. I especially like the violin playing by Mark Uttley. It can be heard in all its glory not at least in their interpretation of Bach’s ‘Chaconne’. The album as a whole is surprisingly good sounding, considering it was all recorded live in a bedroom! Yes, we’re not exactly talking massive production here, but it all worked beautifully for this charming band. They should have gotten more attention when this was released. Instead the album fell into total obscurity. But with the excellent reissue by Guerssen in 2014, the band has finally got the full attention it has long deserved. Essential stuff for the avid folk rock collector!