Duncan Browne Give Me Take You (Immediate 1968)

This has become a really special album for me. Already on the first playthrough I knew by instinct that ‘Give Me Take You’ would be one of those albums I will never tire of listening to, and that will stay with me forever. So who is this Duncan Brown guy? Well, for one thing he was a British folky singer/songwriter who *really* had a grasp on how to write beautiful and haunting melodies! This album is full of these, and the atmosphere is simply sacred at times. Also he obviously did everything by himself. The instrumentation is restricted to just acoustic guitar, some strings and his wonderful and oh so British vocals that at times are overdubbed and distorted in a quite psychedelic way. At the same time this sounds really epic. Also, there is a feeling of nostalgia and innocence not only lost but also regained. In other words, one might be thrown back to childhood and much easier times by listening to this fantastic album – I know I do! There is no need for me to pick out certain songs here, as ‘Give Me Take You’ is an album you must listen to all the way through’ without any distractions. And you will surely want to do just that if you’re into pastoral folk! It’s discoveries like this that makes music – and especially old British folk – such an everlasting passion for me. It’s a really rare album, though, but ‘Give Me Take You’ has actually been reissued both on CD and LP. As the artwork is like it is, you should try to get this gem on LP. It’s worth the effort! Duncan Browne made four solo albums after this masterpiece of a debut, but I haven’s heard any of those. After his two first solo albums he actually made some commercial success too, in the band Metro, but their style of music was flashy art pop/new wave rather than folk.