''Easy'' is the 1974 album by

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

Folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

musician

Ralph McTell Ralph McTell (born Ralph May; 3 December 1944) is an English singer-songwriter and guitar player who has been an influential figure on the UK folk music scene since the 1960s. McTell is best known for his song " Streets of London" (1969), which ...

. Guest musicians include folk pioneers

Wizz Jones Raymond Ronald "Wizz" Jones (25 April 1939 – 27 April 2025) was an English acoustic guitarist, and singer-songwriter. He performed from the late 1950s and recorded from 1965 until 2025. He possessed what was described as "unparalleled virtuo ...

Bert Jansch Herbert Jansch (3 November 1943 – 5 October 2011) was a Scottish folk musician and founding member of the band Pentangle (band), Pentangle. He was born in Glasgow and came to prominence in London in the 1960s as an acoustic guitarist and ...

and

Danny Thompson Daniel Henry Edward Thompson (born 4 April 1939) is an English multi-instrumentalist best known as a double bassist. He has had a long musical career playing with a large variety of other musicians, particularly Richard Thompson and John Ma ...

from

Pentangle Pentangle may refer to: *Pentagon, a five-sided polygon *Pentagram, a five-pointed star drawn with five straight strokes *Pentangle (band), a British folk rock band ** ''The Pentangle'' (album), a 1968 album by Pentangle *Miss Pentangle, a character ...

;

Gerry Conway Gerard Francis Conway Thomas, Roy. "Roy's Rostrum" (" Bullpen Bulletins") in '' Marvel Super-Heroes'' #43 and other Marvel Comics cover-dated May 1974. (born September 10, 1952) is an American comic book writer, comic book editor, science ficti ...

from

Fotheringay Fotheringay was a short-lived British folk rock group, formed in 1970 by singer-songwriter and musician Sandy Denny on her departure from Fairport Convention. The band drew its name from her 1968 composition " Fotheringay" about Fotheringhay C ...

; and

Dave Mattacks David James Mattacks (born 13 March 1948) is an English rock and folk drummer, best known for his work with British folk rock band Fairport Convention. Fairport Convention He replaced Martin Lamble, who had died on 12 May 1969 in a road ac ...

from

Fairport Convention Fairport Convention are an English British folk rock, folk rock band, formed in 1967 by guitarists Richard Thompson (musician), Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, bassist Ashley Hutchings and drummer Shaun Frater (with Frater replaced by Marti ...

. McTell started writing for the album at a friend's cottage in a tiny hamlet near the village of St Ewe, Cornwall. He fell in love with Cornwall and purchased a derelict cottage which he made habitable and still possessed 30 years later. Things were going well with the recording until Tony Visconti’s manager tried to get McTell to sign with his “Rare Earth” production company. McTell's manager was his brother, Bruce, who thought it a bad idea, which resulted in Visconti being taken off the record.

and McTell finished the production. The cover painting was by Enrica Y Auque Serra. It was one of a pair of popular Victorian prints popularly known as "Morning" and "Evening".

Track listing

All tracks composed by Ralph McTell ;Side One #"Take It Easy" - 2:32 #"Maddy Dances" - 2:15 #"Maginot Waltz" - 3:24 #"Sweet Mystery" - 2:32 #"Stuff No More" - 3:15 ;Side Two #"Run Johnny Run" - 4:15 #"Zig Zag Line" - 3:40 #"Let Me Down Easy" - 3:13 #"Would I Lie to You?" - 3:20 #"Summer Lightning" - 2:38

Personnel

*Ralph McTell - acoustic guitars (1–10), lead vocals (1–10), banjos (7), harmonium (3), harmonica (5, 7) *

- guitar (1) *

- guitar (6) *

- double bass (1–2, 4–6, 8–10), bass drum (5), hi-hat (5) *Steve Bonnett - mandolin (1, 2) *Mike Piggott - fiddle (4) *Lynsey Scott - fiddle (1) *

- drums (1, 2) *

- drums (4, 6, 9) *Michael Bennett - backing vocals (1) *

John Kongos John Theodore Kongos (born 6 August 1945) is a South African singer and songwriter of Greek ancestry, best known for his 1971 Top 10 hit single " He's Gonna Step on You Again", on which Happy Mondays based their hit " Step On". His other big hit ...

- backing vocals (6)

Production

*Producers: Ralph McTell, Danny Thompson and

Tony Visconti Anthony Edward Visconti (born April 24, 1944) is an American record producer, musician and singer. Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers. His first hit single was T. Rex's " Ride a White Swan" in 1970, the first of man ...

*Recording Engineers: Phil Dunne, John Kongos, Mike Noble, Victor Gamm and Tony Visconti *John Ashcroft - art direction, typography *Enrica Y Auque Serra - cover painting

Awards and accolades

*"Easy" reached number 31 in the

UK Album Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Offici ...

soon after its release in March, 1974. *"Easy" was awarded a

Silver disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

for record sales in August, 1976.

Release history

Track variations

The UK 1999 CD release includes two bonus tracks taken from a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

released in 1972:"Easy" CD insert, 1999. * "Teacher Teacher" (Ralph McTell) * "Truckin' Little Baby" (

Blind Boy Fuller Fulton Allen (July 10, 1904 – February 13, 1941), known as Blind Boy Fuller, was an American blues guitarist and singer. Fuller was one of the most popular of the recorded Piedmont blues artists, along with Blind Blake, Josh White, and Budd ...

)

References

{{Authority control Ralph McTell albums 1974 albums Albums produced by Tony Visconti Reprise Records albums