A World of Our Own - Cherry Red Records invite us to revisit the mid-sixties 'folk explosion'

Various Artists

A World of our Own: The UK & Irish Folk Explosion of 1965

Cherry Red Records

Being born in 1961 meant that a lot of the pop music I grew up listening to was infused by the folk revival of the mid-1960s. Itself drawing on blues and skiffle as well as traditional folk song native to the UK and Ireland, these folky vibes found their way into the pop songs I imbued from radio and TV. I'm not ashamed to admit that the first pop record I ever owned was The Settlers' infectious theme tune to TV series 'The Lightning Tree.' At the same time, it was the loose, jangly acoustic guitar solo on Unit Four Plus Two's 'Concrete and Clay' that made me want to play guitar, as much as the distinctive sound of the 12-string electric Rickenbacker of The Byrds' Roger McGuinn. So I was delighted to hear that the ever-reliable Cherry Red Records had released a compilation focusing on what they describe as the UK & Irish Folk Explosion of 1965.

Back in 1965, folk music was a very serious business. While The Beatles and The Stones had begun to reinvent pop music, a fervent army of artists throughout the UK and Ireland were engaged in an effort to interpret the folk tradition.

Shirley Collins, The Dubliners and Martin Carthy were delving into the tradition and reinvigorated it for more modern tastes. Donovan, Julie Felix and Vashti Bunyan were following in the wake of Dylan by taking elements of folk – storytelling, a simple accompaniment – to develop the concept of the ‘singer-songwriter.’ The Seekers, The Settlers and Unit Four Plus Two were mixing in ingredients from pop music.

At the heart of all of this, the acoustic guitar was often front and centre with some outstanding players – Davy Graham, John Renbourn and Bert Jansch are all represented here – but other acts got away with more rudimentary playing, compensated for with lashings of earnestness. Some sounded like they hadn’t yet learnt to have fun. After all, the sixties hadn’t yet begun to ‘swing’ but, before the year was out, The Byrds’ version of ‘Mr Tambourine Man’ and The Beatles’ ‘Norwegian Wood’ would demonstrate how to combine ‘folkiness’ with ‘cool.’

This new three CD compilation is not exaggerating when it refers to an ‘explosion’ of folk in 1965. There are 86 tracks collected here from as many artists. Some inclusions are a bit odd – Paul Simon, I suppose illustrates the transatlantic cross-pollination going on (with Martin Carthy teaching Simon ‘Scarborough Fair’, for example,) and Nico (who came to England in 1965 and found herself signed to Immediate Records.) 

As important as the physical discs is the lovingly-compiled booklet. Apart from the informative rabbit warren of the sleeve notes, listeners of a certain age will melt at the mere sight of images of the original singles, with their Pye and Decca labels. With thrumming 12-string acoustics and trilling voices, this music paved the way for folk-rock and psych-folk, where musicians really did seem to be striving for a world of their own.