Review
An English folk singer of the 1960s, Anne Briggs was part of a folk movement fascinated by authenticity and simplicity. But the names we tend to know nowadays from its ranks - Richard Thompson, Bert Jansch, the Incredible String Band - all spilled over into the messier ground of psychedelia and folk-rock. Ms. Briggs seemingly resisted the call. She made three albums and then left music altogether, moving to Scotland, where she still lives.
Anne Briggs, just re-released by Water, is the first of those albums, from 1971. Most of it is a cappella, though on four tracks she plays guitar or bouzouki.
Blackwater Side is here; it's a song she had taught to Mr. Jansch a few years earlier, and his recorded version was the blueprint for Jimmy Page's instrumental
Black Mountain Side, recorded with Led Zeppelin. Also here is
Go Your Way, the model for a recent Beth Orton song,
Shadow of a Doubt. The
Anne Briggs music has been available on a CD with other of her recordings, but it is better standing alone: half an hour of patient, chilling, totally imposing performances, in traditional English folk-music style, marked with original, plain-spoken touches. --Ben Ratliff, NY Times, October 2008
Product Description
The first full length album from the legendary folk singer, originally released in 1971. Anne Briggs was a huge influence on the entire British folk-rock movement, especially other female singers such as Sandy Denny, Jacqui McShee, and Maddy Prior. A cappella and bouzouki accompanied songs,
Anne Briggs is a strong collection of traditional folk and original material and one of the most important releases of the British folk revival. Despite the fact that Briggs had been on the folk scene since the early 60s this was her first full length effort, delayed by erratic behavior and studio fears, and she would record only two more records before dropping off the scene entirely. Thankfully we have this, her first and strongest record, reissued with the original cover and on CD for the first time.
