Linda Thompson

A college friend of Nick Drake, Robert Kirby’s first commissioned works as an arranger were his unique, autumnal orchestrations for Drake’s “Five Leaves Left”. The sound was English and melancholic, closer to Vaughan Williams than Phil Spector. He was soon in demand and by the end of the 70s had worked with the cream of the British folk rock world. This is the first collection of Kirby’s very special sound.

Teddy Thompson, together with parents Richard and Linda, brother Jack, younger sister Kami, her husband James Walbourne, and nephew Zak Hobbs collectively dubbed Thompson will release a collaborative album of all new original songs entitled Family (Fantasy Records/Concord Music Group).

Four Decades of Folk Rock is an expansive box set, allowing one disc and over an hour of music for each decade. For those who would argue that folk-rock was primarily a 1960s phenomenon in the United States and a '60s and '70s phenomenon in Britain, the box counters that the musical strains of folk-rock have informed everyone from R.E.M. to the Bangles to David Gray. It's unlikely, though, that anyone but record shop nerds and music historians will be very interested in the debate. For everyone else, the set will be measured by the quality of the music itself, and on that account, Four Decades delivers a remarkable set list.

Four Decades of Folk Rock is an expansive box set, allowing one disc and over an hour of music for each decade. For those who would argue that folk-rock was primarily a 1960s phenomenon in the United States and a '60s and '70s phenomenon in Britain, the box counters that the musical strains of folk-rock have informed everyone from R.E.M. to the Bangles to David Gray. It's unlikely, though, that anyone but record shop nerds and music historians will be very interested in the debate. For everyone else, the set will be measured by the quality of the music itself, and on that account, Four Decades delivers a remarkable set list.