Another Mandy Morton re-up (there'll be only one more, with the first alum by the Spriguns). I said it all in the first post below. So, the best is to let you read and catch it here. Actually, I appreciate more this album than 6 years ago. There are 3 or 4 great songs on this album, such as "Letter To A Lady" of course but some more too.
I hesitated to put this LP under the name of Mandy Morton and Spriguns cos' she composed all the songs (except the cover of "Blackwaterside"), but since on the sleeve it's written Spriguns only, I'll respect it. This is the LP they (hum, she) released the year before Magic Lady. It was issued on Decca and this could have helped them to reach popularity but it was not the case. In 1977, such a folk album, as doom it could be, had no real chance to sell. Don't expect a masterpiece as will be Magic Lady. Songs are weaker and the orchestration often suffers from wrong choice of instrumental sounds. It's also less punchy. It's rockier than the previous Spriguns albums (and than Magic Lady) and often sounds as Strawbs, except you got the wonderful way of singing of Mandy Morton (even if I'm a great fan of Dave Cousin's voice). Side 2 is much better than side 1 for reasons I ignore. It's like all the saddest songs had been gathered on the latter. Lyrics are as always about ancient stories of desperate ladies falling in love with robbers ending hanged at some tree or warriors dying on the battlefield. Don't forget the witches. Some orchestration is ambitious (particularly "Letter to a Lady"'s grande finale that I put in streaming below) and assured by Robert Kirby who had worked with Strawbs the previous years. All in all, a usefull addition to Magic Lady and Sea of Storms. Lyrics are in the rar file.
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