Various Artists

Milk Of The Tree: An Anthology Of Female Vocal Folk And Singer-Songwriters 1966-73

Image of Various Artists - Milk Of The Tree: An Anthology Of Female Vocal Folk And Singer-Songwriters 1966-73
Record Label
Grapefruit

About this item

Notwithstanding one or two isolated exceptions, it wasn't until the mid-Sixties that independent female voices really began to be heard within the music industry. The feminist movement naturally coincided with the first signs of genuine musical emancipation. In North America, Joan Baez and Buffy Sainte-Marie emerged through the folk clubs, coffee-houses and college campuses to inspire a generation of wannabe female singers and musicians with their strong, independent mentality and social compassion, while the British scene's combination of folk song revival and the Beatles-led pop explosion saw record company deals for a new generation of pop-folkies including Marianne Faithfull, Dana Gillespie and Vashti Bunyan.

Within a year or two, the burgeoning counter-culture saw the arrival of psychedelia and folk-rock as the likes of Pentangle and (in the US) the Linda Ronstadt-fronted Stone Poneys emerged from the clubs and into the charts. But in America at least, burnout soon set in, and the era's excesses duly gave way to a quieter, more reflective musical and lyrical style. The LA rock and folk communities decamped to Laurel Canyon, in the Hollywood Hills region of the Santa Monica Mountains, to chill out in bucolic, soul-searching introspection, with sixties stalwart Jackie DeShannon's 1968 album Laurel Canyon leading the way.

Over the course of four hours and sixty tracks, Milk Of The Tree focuses on the music made in the late Sixties and early Seventies in both Britain and North America by either female solo artists or acts with featured female vocalists. Along the way, we encounter San Franciscan psychedelia, LA folk rock, Swinging London pop-folk, electric folk, progressive folk and even folk club folk as well as (of course) a plethora of singer- songwriters (including various ladies of the Canyon) from the movement's golden age. As well as featuring most of the leading figures from both sides of the Atlantic, Milk Of The Tree includes many performers who received little attention at the time but who now have a cult reputation amongst collectors. A significant number of tracks were unreleased at the time, while the set also includes the first-ever appearance by pioneering female rock duo Emily Muff, two American girls who were based in England during the period in question but failed to land a recording contract.

With a 44-page booklet crammed with rare photos and details of the various acts featured, the clambox-housed Milk Of The Tree is not only a fascinating social document but, we hope, a hugely entertaining snapshot of a particular time, place and frame of mind that produced some enduring, spellbinding music.

TRACK LISTING

Disc One:
1. Do You Believe - Melanie
2. Blessed Are... – Joan Baez
3. Light Flight – The Pentangle
4. Foolish Seasons – Dana Gillespie
5. Someone To Talk My Troubles To – Judy Roderick
6. Auntie Aviator - John & Beverley Martyn
7. Flying Away – The Serpent Power
8. It Could Have Been Better – Joan Armatrading
9. Morning Morgantown - Jude
10. If Not By Fire – Mandy More
11. Upstairs By A Chinese Lamp – Laura Nyro
12. I Thought I Knew The Answers – Susan Pillsbury
13. Give Her The Day – Jaki Whitren
14. By The Sea – Wendy & Bonnie
15. Come And Stay With Me – Jackie Deshannon
16. Something Better - Marianne Faithfull
17. An Everyday Consumption Song - Spirogyra
18. The Milk Of The Tree – Polly Niles
19. Chelsea Girls - Nico
20. Reverie For Roslyn – Mary- Anne

Disc Two:
1. Different Drum - Stone Poneys Featuring Linda Ronstadt
2. Please (Mk. Ii) – Eclection
3. Five Of Us - Jade
4. Who Has Seen The Wind? – The Simon Sisters
5. Jesus Was A Cross Maker – Judee Sill
6. January's Snows – The Woods Band
7. In My Loneliness – Trader Horne
8. Society's Child (Baby I've Been Thinking) – Janis Ian
9. I Was - Lily & Maria
10. Feeling High – Mellow Candle
11. Tomorrow Come Someday - Tomorrow Come Someday
12. My Silks And Fine Array – Julie Covington
13. Red Wine And Promises – Norma Waterson
14. Mr Fox - Mr Fox
15. The Dream Tree - Buffy Sainte-Marie
16. Munching The Candy - The Academy Featuring Polly Perkins
17. Late November – Sandy Denny
18. Tomorrow Your Sorrow - Hendrickson Road House
19. Mornings - Chuck & Mary Perrin
20. Mr Rubin – Lesley Duncan

Disc Three:
1. Come Into The Garden - Chimera
2. Early Morning Blues And Greens - Diane Hildebrand
3. Rainy Day – Susan Christie
4. Autumn Lullaby - Bridget St. John
5. Ballad (Of The Big Girl Now And A Mere Boy) - Principal Edwards Magic Theatre
6. Windy - Ruthann Friedman
7. The Lonely - Design
8. Mirage - Shelagh Mcdonald
9. Aderyn Llwyd (Sparrow) – Mary Hopkin
10. Love Song - Vashti Bunyan
11. Winter's Going – Bonnie Dobson
12. Sandman's Song – Anne Briggs
13. When Will I Be Loved – The Bunch
14. The Lady And The Well – Carolanne Pegg
15. Think Of Rain – Margo Guryan
16. Story Of Our Time/Beneath This Sky - Ithaca
17. Murdoch - Trees
18. Banquet On The Water – The Sallyangie
19. Pass The Night – Emily Muff
20. Morgan The Pirate - Mimi Fariña

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