An Introduction to Shirley Collins

You could say Shirley Collins needs little introduction and, certainly within the folk world, that is true. But this serves as a well-informed and well-chosen selection from across her recording career (excluding her 2016 comeback album Lodestar).
Some have described her voice, especially on her earlier recordings, as angelic, but this is not so. It is unadorned, stripped to the skin. It is a voice that travels far, from East Sussex working-class roots into the wider world of folkloric music, which she herself collected on numerous trips, notably with Alan Lomax.
The music is spare, the songs gorgeous, remote and intimate. Ranging from her first EP, through 1967's The Sweet Primeroses to her last 70s recordings on For as Many as Will with her sister Dolly, this compilation includes some rarer tracks: a live cut from the Etchingham Steam Band, and from The Young Tradition's 1969 album The Holly Bears the Crown.