''No Roses'' is an album by

Shirley Collins Shirley Elizabeth Collins MBE (born 5 July 1935) is an English folk singer who was a significant contributor to the British Folk Revival of the 1960s and 1970s. She often performed and recorded with her sister Dolly, whose accompaniment on ...

and the

Albion Country Band The Albion Band, also known as The Albion Country Band, The Albion Dance Band, and The Albion Christmas Band, is a British folk rock band, originally brought together and led by musician Ashley Hutchings. An important grouping in the genre, i ...

. It was recorded in the summer of 1971 and produced by Sandy Roberton and

Ashley Hutchings Ashley Stephen Hutchings (born 26 January 1945), MBE, sometimes known in early years as "Tyger" Hutchings, is an English bassist, songwriter, arranger, band leader, writer and record producer. He was a founding member of three noteworthy Engli ...

, who was Collins' husband at the time. It was released in October 1971 on the

Pegasus Pegasus (; ) is a winged horse in Greek mythology, usually depicted as a white stallion. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa. Pegasus was the brother of Chrysaor, both born from Medusa's blood w ...

label. It is very unusual to have 27 musicians and singers on an album of traditional folk songs. It happened because people simply dropped in during recording sessions and were asked to join in. "The Murder of Maria Marten", a lengthy song about the

Red Barn Murder The Red Barn Murder was an 1827 murder in Polstead, Suffolk, England. A young woman, Maria Marten, was shot dead by her lover William Corder at the Red Barn, a local landmark. The two had arranged to meet before eloping to Ipswich. Corder se ...

, is broken into segments, with parts of British folk rock alternating with more traditional parts featuring Shirley Collins' voice and a hurdy-gurdy drone. Shirley Collins had used a similar technique on "One Night As I Lay on My Bed" on "Adieu to Old England". Some songs, for instance "Poor Murdered Woman" and "Murder of Maria Marten", feature large parts of the

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 ...

line-up of late 1969 (''

Liege and Lief ''Liege & Lief'' is the fourth album by the British folk rock band Fairport Convention. It is the third album the group released in the UK during 1969, all of which prominently feature Sandy Denny as lead female vocalist (Denny did not appear on ...

''). In fact, Fairport Convention member Ashley Hutchings appears on all, Simon Nicol and Richard Thompson on eight, and Dave Mattacks on three of the nine songs on this album. ''Claudy Banks'' includes a composed duo performance by Alan Cave on bassoon and British

free jazz Free jazz, or free form in the early to mid-1970s, is a style of avant-garde jazz or an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventi ...

saxophonist

Lol Coxhill George Lowen Coxhill (19 September 1932 – 10 July 2012) known professionally as Lol Coxhill, was an English free improvisation, free improvising saxophonist. He played soprano saxophone, soprano and sopranino saxophone, sopranino saxopho ...

– his only performance ever in the context of British folk music. ''Hal-An-Tow'' features members of the two acclaimed folk vocal groups

The Watersons The Watersons were an English folk group from Hull, Yorkshire. They performed mainly traditional songs with little or no accompaniment. Their distinctive sound came from their closely woven harmonies. They have been called the "most famous f ...

(Lal and Mike Waterson) and The Young Tradition (Royston Wood). Both drummer Roger Powell and pianist Ian Whiteman previously played together in the band

Mighty Baby Mighty Baby were an English band formed in January 1969 by former members of the Action. They released two albums, ''Mighty Baby'' (1969) and ''A Jug of Love'' (1971). History Following the 1968 departure of singer Reg King from the Action, k ...

. The album title ''No Roses'' are the last words of the first verse of the folk song "The False Bride" ("I went down to the forest to gather fine flowers, but the forest won't yield me no roses."), which Shirley Collins sang on her EP

Heroes in Love Heroes or Héroes may refer to: * Hero, one who displays courage and self-sacrifice for the greater good Film * ''Heroes'' (1977 film), an American drama * ''Heroes'' (2008 film), an Indian Hindi film Gaming * '' Heroes of Might and Magic'' ...

in 1963.

Track listing

All the tracks are arrangements of traditional folk songs. ''Claudy Banks'' stems from Ron and Bob Copper. The line-up is according to the folk database ''Mainly Norfolk''. # "Claudy Banks" (4:37) #* ''

– lead vocals;

– bass guitar; Roger Powell – drums;

Simon Nicol Simon John Breckenridge Nicol (born 13 October 1950) is an English guitarist, singer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He was a founding member of British folk rock group Fairport Convention and is the only founding member still in t ...

– electric guitar; Richard Thompson – electric guitar; Ian Whiteman – piano; Dave Bland –

concertina A concertina is a free-reed musical instrument, like the various accordions and the harmonica. It consists of expanding and contracting bellows, with buttons (or keys) usually on both ends, unlike accordion buttons, which are on the front. The ...

; Alan Cave –

bassoon The bassoon is a musical instrument in the woodwind family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuosity ...

;

– alto saxophone'' # "Little Gipsy Girl" (2:16) #* ''Shirley Collins – lead vocals; Ashley Hutchings – bass guitar; Roger Powell – drums;

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 ...

– sticks; Simon Nicol – electric guitar; Dave Bland –

hammered dulcimer The hammered dulcimer (also called the hammer dulcimer) is a percussion-string instrument which consists of String (music), strings typically stretched over a trapezoidal resonant sound board (music), sound board. The hammered dulcimer is set bef ...

; Tony Hall –

melodeon Melodeon may refer to: *Melodeon (accordion), a type of button accordion *Melodeon (organ) The pump organ or reed organ is a type of organ that uses free reed aerophone, free reeds to generate sound, with air passing over vibrating thin metal ...

'' # "Banks of the Bann" (3:38) #* ''Shirley Collins – lead vocals; Ashley Hutchings – bass guitar;

Dolly Collins Dorothy Ann Collins (6 March 1933 – 22 September 1995), was an English folk musician, arranger and composer. She was the older sister of Shirley Collins. Born in Hastings, Sussex (now East Sussex), she grew up in an artistic, socialist, ...

– piano; Simon Nicol – acoustic guitar; Richard Thompson – acoustic

12-string guitar A twelve-string guitar (or 12-string guitar) is a steel-string guitar with 12 strings in six courses, which produces a thicker, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar. Typically, the strings of the lower four courses are tuned in ...

; John Kirkpatrick –

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

'' # " Murder of Maria Marten" (7:28) #* ''Shirley Collins – lead vocals;

Nic Jones Nic Jones (born Nicolas Paul Jones; 9 January 1947) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. Regarded as a prominent figure of the British folk revival, he has recorded five solo albums and collaborated with various musicians. Biography ...

– backing vocals and fiddle; Ashley Hutchings – bass guitar; Richard Thompson – electric guitar; Simon Nicol – electric guitar;

Tim Renwick Timothy John Pearson Renwick (born 7 August 1949) is an English guitarist. He is best known for his association with Al Stewart in his early career and for his long-standing role as lead guitarist for the Sutherland Brothers & Quiver. His single ...

– electric guitar; Dave Mattacks – drums; Barry Dransfield – fiddle; Francis Baines –

hurdy gurdy The hurdy-gurdy is a string instrument that produces sound by a hand-turned crank, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin (or nyckelharpa) bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar ...

'' # " Van Dieman's Land" (4:59) #* ''Shirley Collins – lead vocals; Ashley Hutchings – bass guitar; Ian Whiteman – piano; Simon Nicol – acoustic guitar; Richard Thompson – electric guitar; Roger Powell – drums; Dave Bland –

; Colin Ross –

Northumbrian smallpipes The Northumbrian smallpipes (also known as the Northumbrian pipes) are bellows-blown bagpipes from Northeastern England, where they have been an important factor in the local musical culture for more than 250 years. The family of the Duke of ...

; Alan Lumsden –

ophicleide The ophicleide ( ) is a family of conical-bore keyed brass instruments invented in early 19th-century France to extend the keyed bugle into the lower range. Of these, the bass ophicleide in eight-foot (8′) C or 9′ B took root over the cour ...

'' # "Just as the Tide Was A-Flowing" (2:13) #* ''Shirley Collins – lead vocals;

Maddy Prior Madeleine Edith Prior MBE (born 14 August 1947) is an English folk rock singer, best known as the lead vocalist of Steeleye Span. She was born in Blackpool and moved to St Albans in her teens. Her father, Allan Prior, was co-creator of the p ...

– backing vocals; Ashley Hutchings – bass guitar; Richard Thompson – electric guitar; Roger Powell – drums; Simon Nicol – acoustic guitar; Dave Bland – concertina'' # "The White Hare" (2:43) #* ''Shirley Collins – lead vocals; Ashley Hutchings – bass guitar, percussion; Roger Powell – drums; Tim Renwick – acoustic 12-string guitar; Richard Thompson – electric guitar; Royston Wood – backing vocals; Lal and Mike Waterson – backing vocals; Steve Midgen –

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most o ...

'' # " Hal-An-Tow" (2:54) #* ''Shirley Collins – lead vocals; Ashley Hutchings – bass guitar, percussion; Roger Powell – drums; Tim Renwick – acoustic 12-string guitar; Richard Thompson –

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos that ...

; Dave Bland – hammered dulcimer; Tony Hall – melodeon;

Royston Wood The Young Tradition was an English folk group of the 1960s, formed by Peter Bellamy, Royston Wood and Heather Wood. They recorded three albums of mainly traditional British folk music, sung in arrangements for their three unaccompanied voices ...

– backing vocals; Simon Nicol – backing vocals; Gregg Butler – serpent; Trevor Crozier –

jew's harp The Jew's harp, also known as jaw harp, juice harp, or mouth harp, is a lamellophone instrument, consisting of a flexible metal or bamboo tongue or reed attached to a frame. Despite the colloquial name, the Jew's harp most likely originated in ...

'' # " Poor Murdered Woman" (4:17) #* ''Shirley Collins – lead vocals; Ashley Hutchings – bass guitar; Dave Mattacks – drums; Dolly Collins – piano; Richard Thompson – electric guitar; Simon Nicol – electric guitar; Dave Bland – concertina''

The Albion Country Band

The members of the band are listed on the front of the album: *

Lal Waterson Elaine "Lal" Waterson (15 February 1943 – 4 September 1998) was an English folk singer and songwriter. She sang with, among others, The Watersons, The Waterdaughters and Blue Murder. She was born in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire. In 1998, s ...

Mike Waterson Michael Waterson (17 January 1941 – 22 June 2011) was an English writer, songwriter and folk singer. Biography Waterson was born in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. After being orphaned at an early age, he was brought up there, w ...

* Francis Baines *Steve Migden *Roger Powell * Richard Thompson * Colin Ross *Alan Lumsden *

*Alan Cave *

*Dave Bland *Tony Hall *

*Ian Whiteman * Barry Dransfield *

*Gregg Butler * John Kirkpatrick * Trevor Crozier

References

{{Authority control 1971 albums The Albion Band albums Shirley Collins albums Albums recorded at AIR Studios