The theme of sexuality and its power would become further explored in the folk and pagan horror movies of the time, culminating in The Blood On Satan’s Claw and The Wicker Man. Played by Big Jim Sullivan, and cut before Marianne became associated with The Rolling Stones’ Redlands drug bust, there’s a nascent psychedelic charm to it, strengthened by its sexual undertones. Marianne Faithfull’s version of the much-recorded traditional Irish folk “She Moved Thru’ The Fair,” from her 1966 album North Country Maid, is a rather early outing in British pop for the sitar, post “Norwegian Wood” and “Paint It Black,” but well ahead of the curve. Ever since David Crosby went weird with the philosophical dirge “Mind Gardens” on 1967’s Younger Than Yesterday, folk music had a pass to go anywhere. Opening with Welsh Dylan acolyte Meic Stevens’ Shakesperean-themed “Yorric,” from his 1970 cult English language album Outlander, the stall is set with a hippie era production, swathed in heavily strummed acoustic guitars, flute and sitar. Sitting under the loose banner of “Pagan, progressive and acid-folk” the music featured here takes in well-known artists, such as Marianne Faithfull and Traffic, to acid-folk outliers Mark Fry and Oberon. The Incredible String Band influenced many of the young acts included on this mix, too, who were undoubtedly trailblazers in what we now term “acid-folk” or, perhaps more accurately, psychedelic folk. If Dylan influenced The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, then so did the cosmic wordplay of The Incredible String Band, and The Incredible String Band also greatly inspired Led Zeppelin, proving how folk music of a fantastical and creative nature cast its distinctive magical force across the musical landscape. Not all of the acts featured here would ever have considered themselves as folk, but its influence permeated so much of the underground rock scene of the 1967-78 timeframe that it became an undeniable undercurrent. Like jazz, folk music is polymorphous and easy to adapt. In an era taken hold by liberal sexuality, mind-opening psychedelic drugs, and, as the 1970s dawned, an increasing fascination with the arcane practices of the pre-industrial age, folk truly spread its wings. The music featured on this playlist follows that moment in time and shows how folk music’s influence washed across popular music and morphed into the progressive and forward thinking. I saw him at The Royal Albert Hall in 1966 when he was booed, and with that came the background of counterculture, really. Fairport Convention’s Ashley Hutchings told Shindig!, “Bob changed everything, changed pop music forever. Once The Byrds had reimagined Dylan’s songs as electric pop music, and Dylan himself went electric, young people in the process of forming bands took note. Pete Seeger was a spokesperson, and Dylan was king. It was the music of the “left”-from Greenwich Village in America’s New York City to the basements of London’s Soho, spreading across into the political conversations taking place across Europe, and beyond. For more on Qobuz read our interview with MD Dan Mackta hereįolk music in the late ’50s and early ’60s was progressive. Play here or use the scrollable frame with tracklist the bottom of the page. The first of our monthly bespoke playlists, which will take in genres and sub-genres, scenes and beyond, focuses on what can loosely be termed “PAGAN, PROGRESSIVE & ACID-FOLK” We’re very excited to be media partners with the truly unique online streaming platform and download store Qobuz.
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