''Freedom and Rain'' is a 1990 album by British folk rock band

Oysterband Oysterband (originally The Oyster Band) is a British folk rock and folk punk band formed in Canterbury around 1976. History Early history The band formed in parallel to Fiddler's Dram, and under the name "Oyster Ceilidh Band" played purely as ...

and singer

June Tabor June Tabor (born 31 December 1947 in Warwick, England) is an English folk singer known for her solo work and her earlier collaborations with Maddy Prior and with Oysterband. Early life June Tabor was born and grew up in Warwick, England. ...

. The album features a mixture of traditional material and contemporary covers including "Lullaby of London" by Shane MacGowan, " All Tomorrow's Parties" by

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician and songwriter. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. Althoug ...

, "Valentine's Day Is Over" by

Billy Bragg Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, author and political activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic th ...

and "Night Comes In" by Richard Thompson. It was produced by Oysterband. Oysterband and Tabor would reunite for the 2011 album ''

Ragged Kingdom ''Ragged Kingdom'' is a 2011 album by June Tabor and Oysterband. Tabor and Oysterband had collaborated previously on the 1990 album ''Freedom and Rain''. The majority of the tracks are interpretations of traditional folk songs but also includes co ...

''.

Critical reception

The ''

Edmonton Journal The ''Edmonton Journal'' is a daily newspaper published in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It is part of the Postmedia Network. History The ''Journal'' was founded in 1903 by three local businessmen — John Macpherson, Arthur Moore and J.W. Cunn ...

'' said that "Tabor's solemn magnificence commands the usual reverence, while the Oysters bump and grind in typical cavalier fashion."

Track listing

# "Mississippi" ( Si Kahn) - 3:18 # "Lullaby of London" ( Shane MacGowan) - 2:45 # "Night Comes In" ( Richard Thompson) - 4:54 # "Valentine's Day Is Over" (

) - 3:26 # " All Tomorrow's Parties" (

) - 3:47 # " Dives and Lazarus" (Trad.) - 4:18 # "Dark Eyed Sailor" (Trad.) - 4:15 # "Pain or Paradise" ( John Tams) - 3:13 # " Susie Clelland" (Trad.) - 5:16 # "Finisterre" (Ian Telfer) - 3:45

References

1990 albums June Tabor albums Oysterband albums Cooking Vinyl albums {{1990s-rock-album-stub