Sunbeam Rec..
Mary-Anne : Me (UK,1970,re.2006)****'/***'
I missed this album at the time of the release and perhaps there might not have been as much effort to promote this album, but again it is a very good choice and another surprise from the 60s vaults. Mary-Anne lived in all the advantage of the folk revival days around Edinburgh, and in looking for more funds to set up her dream for an arts centre for children, she recorded a demo in London which was adapted by president records. The album was supplemented by a group of local buskers who did a really good job. Mary-Anne’s music shows personality, makes unusual interpretations of folk and even some gospel traditionals (“Candyman” for instance which sound bluesier and playful with shakers), showing a gorgeous friendliness, a near hippie-time sweetness with a quality and honesty which nowadays (in these harshened days) might wrongly be confused with naivety if someone would come up with that much purity today, -child-friendly. There are really many surprises in the interpretations. “Black Girl” has a fastened dramatic freak-out part with flutes and such, and also “wandering so far” sounds slightly psychedelic. Sad that here and there the recording quality, like that of the flute on “the jute mill song” is slightly distorted by the times. The album received no promotion when Mary-Ann made clear of her fund-raising intentions only. Luckily these unique spontaneous moments get a new chance to be experienced, as a relief in our times with something well expressed and honest, with a spontaneously achieved new vision on folk music.
