
Lark Rise to Candleford
Released
This 1980 set by England’s foremost folk-pop ensemble features not only a program filled with tunes both familiar (“The Girl I Left Behind Me,” “Speed the Plough,” “The Holly and the Ivy”) and obscure (“All of a Row,” “Postman’s Knock”) but also contributions from the likes of Martin Carthy, Shirley Collins, and Martin Simpson. The spoken-word bits sound a bit dated today, but the songs and tunes are timeless – and their rendition of “The Gresford Disaster” is genuinely heartbreaking.