Shirley Collins and The Albion Country Band – No Roses (Philips 1972)

Shirley Collins is of course a legend, and for many the very definition of classic British folk. She made her debut album as early as 1959, and has in recent years – she has now passed 80 – made a huge and successfull comeback! In the early 70’s, when ‘No Roses’ was relased, she was already an institution in folk(rock). On this album, she was joined by a star team of British folk musicians that are legends themselves. Among them were Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol – both on electric guitar, and Ashley Hutchings on electric bass. The results are wonderful. The album starts off with ‘Claudy Banks’, which manages to be uplifting and melancholic at the same time. It features a wonderful melody, a quality it shares with all the other songs on ‘No Roses’. Next song is ‘The Little Gypsy Girl’, which is jolly good fun. It always gets me in a good mood. The contrast is quite big to the utterly sorrowful ‘Banks of The Bann’ and then one of two fantastic murder ballads on this album, namely ‘Murder of Maria Marten’. The lyrics are gory, and the song structure quite original (one could even say progressive). Both tempo and volume change throughout the song, in a way that gives it a rather dizzying and disturbing feel. Great stuff, though. One has to remember that classic folk and folk rock often deal with rather brutal themes – like hangings, sorrowful brides and various kings that get their heads cut off! Side two begins with ‘Van Diemen’s Land’, one of my very favourites on the album. It’s simply a wonderful song, with a melody to die for. Then comes some short and very uplifting songs again, before the album closes with another murder ballad that in my view is even better than the aforementioned one. Yes, ‘Poor Murdered Woman’, as it’s called, is a total masterpiece of utterly dark and haunting folkrock. It gives me goosebumps every single time. So there you have it. ‘No Roses’ should be your first album by Shirley Collins. It’s simply one of the best folkrock albums ever made, and completely essential. (PS: My review is based on the 1972 version on the album, released by Philips. The album was first released the year before, by Pegasus and with a completely different cover.)