Milk of the Tree: new collection focuses on female folk and singer-songwriters
Milk of the Tree is a new collection of folk and singer-songwriter material from the late 1960s and early 1970s, featuring female solo artists or acts with featured female vocalists.
Due on 30th June via Cherry Red, the 3CD set includes 60 tracks from both Britain and North America with material drawn from San Franciscan psychedelia, LA folk rock, ‘Swinging London’ pop-folk, electric folk, progressive folk and a plethora of singer- songwriters.
From the press release:
“In North America, Joan Baez and Buffy Sainte-Marie emerged through the folk clubs, coffee-houses and college campuses to inspire a generation of wannabe female singers and musicians with their strong, independent mentality and social compassion, while the British scene’s combination of folk song revival and the Beatles-led pop explosion saw record company deals for the likes of a new generation of pop-folkies including Marianne Faithfull, Dana Gillespie and Vashti Bunyan.
Within a year or two, the burgeoning counter-culture saw the arrival of psychedelia and folk-rock as the likes of Pentangle and (in the US) the Linda Ronstadt-fronted Stone Poneys emerged from the clubs and into the charts. But in America at least, burnout soon set in, and the era’s excesses duly gave way to a quieter, more reflective musical and lyrical style. The LA rock and folk communities decamped to Laurel Canyon, in the Hollywood Hills region of the Santa Monica Mountains, to chill out in bucolic, soul-searching introspection. With Sixties stalwart Jackie DeShannon’s 1968 album Laurel Canyon leading the way, workers from the hit song factories of the publishing companies joined the dyed-in-the-wool folkies in a new movement of singer/songwriters that reached its zenith in 1971 with the release of seminal albums like Joni Mitchell’s Blue and Brill Building refugee Carole King’s multimillion-selling Tapestry.”
Tracklist:
Disc 1:
1. DO YOU BELIEVE – Melanie
2. BLESSED ARE… – Joan Baez
3. LIGHT FLIGHT – The Pentangle
4. FOOLISH SEASONS – Dana Gillespie
5. SOMEONE TO TALK MY TROUBLES TO – Judy Roderick
6. AUNTIE AVIATOR – JOHN & BEVERLEY MARTYN
7. FLYING AWAY – The Serpent Power
8. IT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER – Joan Armatrading
9. MORNING MORGANTOWN – Jude
10. IF NOT BY FIRE – Mandy More
11. UPSTAIRS BY A CHINESE LAMP – Laura Nyro
12. I THOUGHT I KNEW THE ANSWERS – Susan Pillsbury
13. GIVE HER THE DAY – Jaki Whitren
14. BY THE SEA – Wendy & Bonnie
15. COME AND STAY WITH ME – Jackie DeShannon
16. SOMETHING BETTER – Marianne Faithfull
17. AN EVERYDAY CONSUMPTION SONG – Spirogyra
18. THE MILK OF THE TREE – Polly Niles
19. CHELSEA GIRLS – Nico
20. REVERIE FOR ROSLYN – Mary-Anne
Disc 2:
1. DIFFERENT DRUM – Stone Poneys featuring Linda Ronstadt
2. PLEASE (MK. II) – Eclection
3. FIVE OF US – Jade
4. WHO HAS SEEN THE WIND? – The Simon Sisters
5. JESUS WAS A CROSS MAKER – Judee Sill
6. JANUARY’S SNOWS – The Woods Band
7. IN MY LONELINESS – Trader Horne
8. SOCIETY’S CHILD (BABY I’VE BEEN THINKING) – Janis Ian
9. I WAS – Lily & Maria
10. FEELING HIGH – Mellow Candle
11. TOMORROW COME SOMEDAY – Tomorrow Come Someday
12. MY SILKS AND FINE ARRAY – Julie Covington
13. RED WINE AND PROMISES – Norma Waterson
14. MR FOX – Mr Fox
15. THE DREAM TREE – Buffy Sainte-Marie
16. MUNCHING THE CANDY – The Academy featuring Polly Perkins
17. LATE NOVEMBER – Sandy Denny
18. TOMORROW YOUR SORROW – Hendrickson Road House
19. MORNINGS – CHUCK & MARY PERRIN
20. MR RUBIN – Lesley Duncan
Disc 3:
1. COME INTO THE GARDEN – Chimera
2. EARLY MORNING BLUES AND GREENS – Diane Hildebrand
3. RAINY DAY – Susan Christie
4. AUTUMN LULLABY – Bridget St. John
5. BALLAD (OF THE BIG GIRL NOW AND A MERE BOY) – Principal Edwards Magic Theatre
6. WINDY – Ruthann Friedman
7. THE LONELY – Design
8. MIRAGE – Shelagh McDonald
9. ADERYN LLWYD (SPARROW) – Mary Hopkin
10. LOVE SONG – Vashti Bunyan
11. WINTER’S GOING – Bonnie Dobson
12. SANDMAN’S SONG – Anne Briggs
13. WHEN WILL I BE LOVED – The Bunch
14. THE LADY AND THE WELL – Carolanne Pegg
15. THINK OF RAIN – Margo Guryan
16. STORY OF OUR TIME/BENEATH THIS SKY – Ithaca
17. MURDOCH – Trees
18. BANQUET ON THE WATER – The Sallyangie
19. PASS THE NIGHT – Emily Muff
20. MORGAN THE PIRATE – Mimi Fariña
