FRDCD 18 - "Up to Now"

Robin & Barry Dransfield's first new release since 1978, due out on Free Reed, June 15th. The impending release of Robin and Barry Dransfield's new double-CD on Free Reed - 'Up to Now' (FRDCD 18)- features the legendary duo's very first newly available recordings since the vinyl issue of 'Popular to Contrary Belief' on Free Reed, way back in 1977. The 39-track/two and a half hours package includes 11 new and unissued tracks from long-lost BBC John Peel Shows and ''In Concert'" sessions from the 1970s, featuring the boys as a duo, as soloists, and many rare recordings of their fine electric band 'Dransfield'. There are nine tracks from their first Free Reed album 'Popular to Contrary Belief'- arguably their best acoustic work - and two tracks from the classic1976 electric album 'The Fiddler's Dream' - now a welcome CD re-release on Castle's 'Transatlantic Essentials' series, ESMCD 462. And that's not all! - So as to create a serious and definitive retrospective of these most seminal of British folk music performers, Free Reed's Neil Wayne has located a wealth of rare and lost tracks: from their 1970 'Folk on Friday' debut recording; from Robin and from Barry's solo albums on Topic; and on the old Polydor/FolkMill label; and the boys' performances on Free Reed's 'Tale of Ale' and Island's epic 'Morris On' album - arguably the birth of British folk-rock!. Some of the real jewels in this package are the inclusion of two tracks from each of the Dransfields' ground-breaking first two LPs on Bill Leader's Trailer label, recorded back in 1970 & 1971. These recordings have been thankfully conserved, along with many other of the most important recordings of Britain's early Folk Revival, in Dave Bulmer & Neil Sharpley's Leader Archives, and thanks to Dave and Neil, these tracks from 'Lord of all I Behold' and 'Rout of the Blues' are at last seeing light of day some 15 years after their untimely deletion. To bring this 'History of the Dransfields' bang up to date, Free Reed has included choice tracks from Barry Dransfield's two marvellous solo LPs on the respected Rhiannon label - 'Be Your Own Man' (RHYD 5003), and 'Wings of the Sphinx' (RHYD 5010) - with brother Robin adding the odd harmonies, and which brings their 'long strange trip' through 27 years at the heart of the British folk scene right "Up to Now"! As you'd expect from a Free Reed release, the double-CD package comes complete with a detailed 32-page booklet, with a complete discography of the Dransfields, session details and dates of all the tracks, and reproductions of all the original sleeves. Central to the booklet is a fascinating memoir of the whole history of Robin and Barry's music since their earliest recordings by the doyen of Folk writers Colin Irwin - himself almost a veteran of the British Fok scene - in which he links together the stories that lie behind the wealth of rare recordings on the double CD. Track Listing: Disc One: 1. The Rout of the Blues (2.33) 2. The Trees they do Grow High (5.00) - from the Leader Sound Ltd LP 'Rout of the Blues', Trailer LER 2011, released 1970 3. The Morpeth Rant/Nancy (2.01) - from the BBC Records LP 'Folk on Friday', BBC REC 95S, released 1970. 4. Lord of all I Behold (5.22) 5. Bold Nelson's Favourite - Bold Nelson's Praise/The Princess Royal/Saddle the Pony (3.57) - from the Leader Sound Ltd LP 'Lord of All I Behold', Trailer LER 2026, released 1971. 6. The Werewolf (3.44) 7. Girl of Dances (5.37) - from the Polydor/Folk Mill LP 'Barry Dransfield', Polydor Super 2383 160, released 1972 8. The Cuckoo's Nest (5.27) - from the Island Records LP 'Morris On', originally released as Help 5 in 1972. 9. Up to Now (4.48) - from "Dransfield's" 'Radio One In Concert' session of 21 February 1976, 10. The Blacksmith Pt 1 (1.49) 11. The Alchemist and the Pedlar (7.52) - from "Dransfield's" 'John Peel Show' session of 5 October 1976. 12. It's Dark in Here (4.01) - from Robin Dransfield's 'John Peel Show' session of 21 February 1974, 13. The Handsome Meadow Boy (6.14) 14. The Fool's Song (3.44) - from "Dransfield's" re-issued Transatlantic CD 'The Fiddler's Dream', ESMCD 462, released by Castle Communications in February 1997. 15. The Ballad of Dickie Lubber (4.34) - from "Dransfield's" 'John Peel Show' session of 5 October 1976 16. What Will We Tell Them? (2.35) 17. Violin (5.28) - from " The Dransfields'" 'John Peel Show' session of 18 December 1975. 18. You Can't Change me Now (2.15) - from "Dransfield's" 'John Peel Show' session of 5 October 1976, Disc One - total time 78.00 Disc Two: 1. The Talcahuano Girls (3.01) 2. The Conscript's Farewell (3.35) 3. Bogie's Bonnie Belle (5.33) 4. Hornipe: The Sligo Fancy/Jig: Coleman's Two Halves (2.39) 5. The Seeds of Love (3.23) 6. Peggy Gordon (3.10) 7. The Banks of the Sweet Dundee (5.09) 8. The Holmfirth Anthem (3.23) 9. The Two Ravens (4.13) - all from the Free Reed LP 'Popular to Contrary Belief', Free Reed FRR 018, released 1977. 10 Good Ale for my Money (3.50) - from the Free Reed double LP 'The Tale of Ale', FRRD 023/024, released 1977.. 11. Doctor Slime (3.33) 12. Too Much to Do (2.56) 13. Catch the Morning Dew (3.26) - from Robin & Barry Dransfield's 'John Peel Show' session of 10 February 1978, 14. Fiddler's Progress (2.29) 15. O'Carolan's Concerto (3.44) - from Barry Dransfield's solo LP on Topic Records - 'Bowin' and Scrapin', Topic 12TS 386, released 1978. 16. Tidewave (3.10) 17. Spencer the Rover (4.30) - from Robin Dransfield's solo LP on Topic Records - 'Tidewave', Topic 12TS 414, released 1980. 18. Be Your Own Man (2.59) 19. Daddy Fox (4.01) - from Barry Dransfield's solo CD on Rhiannon Records - 'Be Your Own Man', Rhiannon RHYD 5003, released 1994. 20. A Week before Easter (3.54) 21. Irish Session (5.02) - from Barry Dransfield's second solo CD on Rhiannon Records - 'Wings of the Sphinx', Rhiannon RHYD 5010, released 1996. Disc Two: total time 78.40 More 'Up to Now' Information Press Release The first Reviews!! Neil Wayne's Notes on the making of 'Up to Now' Folk Roots 'CDs of 1997' Poll Results Sales Points/Dealer Briefing Distributor and Export Price Structure

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