Strangers In The Room: Journey Through The British Strangers In The Room: Journey Through The British CD

Three CD set. It's now half-a-century since British folk rock became A Thing, with the early practitioners breaking new ground and inspiring an entire scene that peaked in the late '60s/early '70s. Earnest young post-Dylan singer/songwriters moved away from the intimacy of the folk clubs in favor of the nascent college/university circuit. Housed in a clamshell box featuring a lavish 40-page booklet, Strangers In The Room documents that hugely fertile period, when everything was grist to the mill in what quickly became a glorious stylistic melting pot. As with other Grapefruit genre anthologies, the set features many of the scene's prime movers while taking a broader look at the overall picture with the inclusion of several acts who ploughed a similar musical furrow without the same level of acclaim. These include Hertfordshire-based group Lifeblud, who supported many of the leading bands of the era and recorded no less than three albums of original material (none of which made it past acetate stage), and university student Jeremy Harmer, who cut a privately-pressed album that inspired his friend and second guitarist David Costa to put together Trees. Ranging in scope from seminal UK folk rock texts and chart-topping singles to lo-fi demo recordings, and featuring a number of previously unreleased tracks from the disparate likes of Gerry Rafferty and cult favorites Fresh Maggots, Strangers In The Room pays thrilling testimony to the depth of talent that existed within the British and Irish folk rock scene during the period in question, and whose influence still reverberates some fifty years later.

1. Stranger in the Room - Michael Chapman 2. The Blacksmith - Steeleye Span 3. Dangerous Dave 4. (Alternative Version) - Spirogyra 5. Murdoch - Trees 6. Sad Song for Winter - Chimera 7. Shoeshine Boy - the Humblebums 8. Martha - Harvey Andrews 9. Hanging Tree - Oo Bang Jiggly Jang 10. She's Getting Married in August - Alan James Eastwood 11. Amongst Anemones - Jade 12. I Don't Know Why - Knocker Jungle 13. The Sailor - Robin Scott 14. Here Comes the Rain - Trader Horne 15. My Delicate Skin - Dave Cartwright 16. Almost Liverpool 8 - Mike Hart 17. Candy Dora - Richmond 18. Don't Know Why You Bother Child - Gary Farr 19. 1917 Revolution - Beau 20. Jesus Was a Carpenter - the Johnstons 21. We Can Swing Together - Alan Hull 22. Woodstock - Matthews Southern Comfort 23. The Man Who Called 24. Himself Jesus - the Strawbs 25. As I Roved Out - the Woods Band 26. Sir Patrick Spens - Fairport Convention 27. Be Not So Fearful (Demo Version) - Bill Fay 28. I Loved Her So Long - Unicorn 29. Sarah in the Isle of Wight -Al Jones 30. Song for a Dead Mole - Lea Nicholson ; Stan Ellison 31. There's a Place I Know - Bridget St. John 32. People Smile with Ghosts in the Land of Make-Believe - Jeremy Harmer 33. Pucka-Ri - Urban Clearway 34. Scranky Black Farmer - C.O.B 35. Lady of St. Clare - Daylight 36. Love Has Gone - Mary-Anne 37. Time Machine - Mick Softley 38. Fleance - Third Ear Band 39. Morning Glow - Storyteller 40. Riverboat - Dando Shaft 41. What I Am - Fresh Maggots 42. Like a Rolling Stone - Canticle 43. Queen of the Moonlight World - Andy Roberts 44. The Cuckoo - the Pentangle 45. Little Woman - Mr. Fox 46. Father Forgive Them - Ralph McTell 47. Just As the Tide Was a 'Flowing - Shirley Collins ; 48. The Albion Country Band 49. Oh Did I Love a Dream - Incredible String Band 50. Strange Days - Paper Bubble 51. Dahlia -Paul Brett's Sage 52. Your Lovely Ways (Part One) - Mike Cooper 53. River of Fortune - Heron 54. Beverley Market Meeting - Jude 55. All in a Dream - Steve Tilston 56. Carry Me - Prelude 57. City Girl - Joan Armatrading 58. Furniture - Horslips 59. Who Cares - Gerry Rafferty 60. Young Waters - JSD Band 61. September - 9.30 FL 62. Waxing of the Moon - Lifeblud 63. Who Knows Where the Time Goes - Sandy Denny