Martin Carthy (with Dave Swarbrick) - Albums Collection 1965-1971 (4CD)

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Martin Carthy (with Dave Swarbrick) - Albums Collection 1965-1971 (4CD)

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Martin Carthy (with Dave Swarbrick) - Albums Collection 1965-1971 (4CD)

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Martin Carthy (with Dave Swarbrick) - Albums Collection 1965-1971 (4CD)

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Carthy's debut album rates a place alongside the album by Bob Dylan, as the debut work of a man who ultimately revolutionized folk music performance in England (Carthy is mentioned as an influence on the notes to Dylan's Freewheelin' album). This is Carthy's purest and simplest folk effort, an all-acoustic recording done in barely an afternoon that includes his version of "Scarborough Fair," awhich Paul Simon learned from Carthy (including the chords and changes from Carthy's arrangement) and transformed into a hit of his own. Also here is "Two Magicians," a song that later entered the repertory Steeleye Span, and "Lovely Joan," a folk song that is most familiar to classical listeners as the source of the counter-melody to Ralph Vaughan Williams' "Fantasia on Greensleeves." The playing and the interpretations are somewhat less ambitious and rather rougher than subsequent efforts, with Dave Swarbrick guesting on fiddle on about half the tracks, and Carthy's guitar covering all but the acapella tracks.

Review by Bruce Eder, Allmusic.com

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Martin Carthy (with Dave Swarbrick) - Albums Collection 1965-1971 (4CD)

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Martin Carthy (with Dave Swarbrick) - Albums Collection 1965-1971 (4CD)

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Martin Carthy (with Dave Swarbrick) - Albums Collection 1965-1971 (4CD)

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This record stands in British music history and Carthy's career roughly where Another Side of Bob Dylan does in American music–the more florrid tracks here, recorded with violinist Dave Swarbrick, show the path to the bridge between Carthy's traditional singer/scholar background and the folk-rock played by bands such as Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span. "Lord Franklin" is a narrative tour-de-force (from which Bob Dylan got the melody for "Bob Dylan's Dream" on Freewheelin' ), "Ramblin' Sailor" is boisterous cautionary tale about the company the title character keeps ashore, and there's also an acoustic recording of "Sailor's Life," a song that Fairport Convention would transmute into an epic electric version, and "Lowlands of Holland," which Steeleye Span later recorded.

Review by Bruce Eder, Allmusic.com

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Martin Carthy (with Dave Swarbrick) - Albums Collection 1965-1971 (4CD)

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Martin Carthy (with Dave Swarbrick) - Albums Collection 1965-1971 (4CD)

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Martin Carthy (with Dave Swarbrick) - Albums Collection 1965-1971 (4CD)

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Byker Hill was the first album on which Carthy and Swarbrick had more than two or three hours' studio time, and, as a result, which was actually rehearsed and programmed weeks in advance. The results are less spontaneous than their earlier work, but also show a level of professionalism that few folk albums of the era ever demonstrated. The differences lie in the careful nuances, and the sophistication of the paired voice and instruments, which are much more studied than anything previously heard. The music is glorious in its own unassuming way–Carthy's acapella performance on the haunting "Brigg Fair" (a Lincolnshire tune originally collected by Percy Grainger, and which was the basis for a classical piece by Frederick Delius), the interweaving of Carthy's voice and Swarbrick's violin on "The Bloody Gardener," the dazzling title track, and maybe the best version of "John Barleycorn" ever recorded, are among 14 of the most prized songs in their careers.

Review by Bruce Eder, Allmusic.com

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Martin Carthy (with Dave Swarbrick) - Albums Collection 1965-1971 (4CD)

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Martin Carthy (with Dave Swarbrick) - Albums Collection 1965-1971 (4CD)

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Martin Carthy (with Dave Swarbrick) - Albums Collection 1965-1971 (4CD)

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Following his departure from Steeleye Span, Martin Carthy returned to a solo career, with one of his strongest and most varied albums to date. He rips into the traditional material, from the potent "Here's Adieu to All Judges and Juries," about a man transported for "crime," to the a cappella "Cruel Mother," one of the most gruesome and unrelenting ballads ever passed down. But there's also a smattering of contemporary music, from David Ackles' barren "His Name Is Andrew" to John Kirkpatrick's "Dust to Dust," about…death. Not exactly all light and joy here, then, but Carthy has such a way with a song that it never seems like unrelenting misery. Especially wonderful are "Cold Haily Windy Night" and "The Broomfield Hill," the latter a song that occurs with many titles, and may be the only playful piece here. It features some inspiring guitar work – a reminder of just how excellent Carthy can be on the fretboard, and that he tends to make everything subservient to the song itself, pushing its meaning across. But he doesn't rely on the strings to back him – Carthy's equally comfortable stripping a song all the way down and singing unaccompanied. He's an all-rounder, and this album simply confirms him as one of modern music's great interpreters, a man unafraid of chances and challenges.

Review by Chris Nickson, Allmusic.com

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Martin Carthy (with Dave Swarbrick) - Albums Collection 1965-1971 (4CD)

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Martin Carthy (with Dave Swarbrick) - Albums Collection 1965-1971 (4CD)

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