Fox Heather

Three-disc, 64-track collection. The folk revival that took place at club level during the Sixties introduced a whole new audience to traditional folksong, while also bringing to the fore the concept of the earnest young singer/songwriter. When, by the end of the decade, centuries-old songs were being given a sonic makeover by the new breed of electric folkies (headed by the likes of Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span, both of whom are represented on this collection), folk music had long since escaped out of the clubs and into the charts. This companion piece to similar 3CD sets concentrating on the Irish and Scottish folk scenes focuses on the astonishing depth of talent emanating from the English folk scene during this most tumultuous of decades. Every facet of the English folk genre is encompassed, ranging from club singers and trad folksong revivalists like Isla Cameron and Shirley Collins, the post-Dylan singer/songwriter (Donovan, Ralph McTell), folk-based fusion act Pentangle, and even such turn-of-the-decade acid folk iconoclasts as Synathesia and the mighty Comus.