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“An awesomely talented singer of traditional English folk music, possessing as pure and breathtakingly beautiful a voice as one could hope to have, she was the single most important influence on a group of female British folk singers that includes Sandy Denny, Maddy Prior, June Tabor, and Linda Thompson. Even Norma Waterson, herself a hugely important figure in the British folk revival of the mid-'60s, admits to being influenced by Briggs' singing and notes that Anne Briggs singlehandedly changed the way that English women folk singers sang.” This is what the authoritative music encyclopaedia and website All Music Guide has to say about Anne Briggs. After recording an album for Topic, and a second album for CBS she quit performing and recording permanently during the sessions for her third album and left for a quiet life in rural Britain. She has recently been featured on the BBC TV series Folk Britannia. A COLLECTION gathers together all her Topic recordings along with a couple of other odds and ends, in a superb package with a 36 page booklet which includes an extensive biographical essay by Colin Harper, notes on the songs and many contemporary photographs. This is an essential album for anyone with even the slightest interest in folk music. Anne Briggs was a unique and inspirational singer who influenced a generation of singers then retired from the public eye, but has never been forgotten. A new generation of folk singers have now discovered her and her recording are reaching a far greater audience than ever before. Tracks: The Recruited Collier / The Doffing Mistress / She Moves Through The Fair / Let No Man Steal Your Thyme / Lowlands / My Bonny Boy / Polly Vaughan / Rosemary Lane / Gathering Rushes In The Month Of May / The Whirly Whorl / The Stonecutter Boy / Martinmas Time / Blackwater Side / The Snow It Melts The Soonest / Willie O'Winsbury / Go Your Way / Thorneymoor Woods / The Cuckoo / Reynardine / Young Tambling / Living By The Water / Maa Bonny Lad.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
42 of 42 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Folk Music... it's a minefield, isn't it? Albeit one garnished with ancient copses and mediaeval ploughed furrows. My first introduction into traditional music was via Kate Rusby's superb album "Sleepless" some years back. Taste buds suitably tingling, I then delved into a variety of compilations, but they brought forth too much adenoidal bellowing, too many faux-West Country accents, and quite simply not enough to love. So, Rusby and a select few apart, I backed away.
Then last year the BBC came up with the excellent Folk Britannia trilogy and my ears pricked up to the genre again. Particularly when, for the first time, I encountered doe-eyed free spirit Anne Briggs. The brief snippets of her crystalline vocals were enough to send me searching out her recordings sharpish, and I duly spread my wad on "The Collection". Swipe me, what a revelation. Unaccompanied folk singers used to, at best, frighten me, or at worst hold about as much appeal as a cow pat. But Anne Briggs... well, she may be singing the same songs which have been ritually slaughtered by many a craggy country dweller in all those worthy old field recordings, but the effect her voice has on you is light years away. I realise traditional music is all about The Song, but when you get Anne Briggs to sing The Song, you're taken into an extra dimension.
Ten seconds into "Recruited Collier" and I was FLOORED. I had so many shivers running up and down the back of my neck that I thought the top of my head was going to flip up. She breathes such light and life into the standards "She Moves Through The Fair" and "Let No Man Steal Your Thyme" that her versions have to be definitive. And the takes here are live in concert. She may have suffered form terrible stage-fright but the vocals are flawless.
Yet it seems she hated the studio even more, and this allied to her wayfaring lifestyle, meant her 60s recordings, though stunning, were sporadic at best. In 1971, nine years after her first release, came her first long-player, included here in its entirety. And it's a mind-blower. At the time of writing I've had "The Collection" 6 months and I STILL get the heavy collywobbles every time I hear "Blackwater Side". And I play it a helluva lot. Her sparse guitar accompaniment drops like gentle, comforting raindrops on the window of her world and you never want the clouds to part. "Go Your Own Way" has me groping for appalling 6th form clichés in much the same way.
I could go on. These are but few of the numerous highs on a cd which will change your musical mindset. As vocalists go, Anne Briggs' beautiful voice is incomparable: no accompaniment, no artifice, no contest. Lose yourself.
Then last year the BBC came up with the excellent Folk Britannia trilogy and my ears pricked up to the genre again. Particularly when, for the first time, I encountered doe-eyed free spirit Anne Briggs. The brief snippets of her crystalline vocals were enough to send me searching out her recordings sharpish, and I duly spread my wad on "The Collection". Swipe me, what a revelation. Unaccompanied folk singers used to, at best, frighten me, or at worst hold about as much appeal as a cow pat. But Anne Briggs... well, she may be singing the same songs which have been ritually slaughtered by many a craggy country dweller in all those worthy old field recordings, but the effect her voice has on you is light years away. I realise traditional music is all about The Song, but when you get Anne Briggs to sing The Song, you're taken into an extra dimension.
Ten seconds into "Recruited Collier" and I was FLOORED. I had so many shivers running up and down the back of my neck that I thought the top of my head was going to flip up. She breathes such light and life into the standards "She Moves Through The Fair" and "Let No Man Steal Your Thyme" that her versions have to be definitive. And the takes here are live in concert. She may have suffered form terrible stage-fright but the vocals are flawless.
Yet it seems she hated the studio even more, and this allied to her wayfaring lifestyle, meant her 60s recordings, though stunning, were sporadic at best. In 1971, nine years after her first release, came her first long-player, included here in its entirety. And it's a mind-blower. At the time of writing I've had "The Collection" 6 months and I STILL get the heavy collywobbles every time I hear "Blackwater Side". And I play it a helluva lot. Her sparse guitar accompaniment drops like gentle, comforting raindrops on the window of her world and you never want the clouds to part. "Go Your Own Way" has me groping for appalling 6th form clichés in much the same way.
I could go on. These are but few of the numerous highs on a cd which will change your musical mindset. As vocalists go, Anne Briggs' beautiful voice is incomparable: no accompaniment, no artifice, no contest. Lose yourself.
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Like the previous reviewer the first time I encountered Anne Briggs was hearing her on the BBC documentary series Folk Britannia. I've always liked folk music and the voices of singers such as Sandy Denny but I was transfixed when I first heard Anne Briggs voice which stood out from all the other voices (mostly exceptional) in the documentary.
I too have an aversion to earnest unaccompanied folk singers but I've become mesmerised by this album. The album has a spellbinding quality which made me listen intently to the words and become caught up in the stories that the songs tell. The purity of Anne Briggs voice is so intense that I've played it over and over again in the 3 weeks since I first bought it, something I've not been inspired to do for a long time. It's made me try and find out everything I can about this reclusive singer and to search out all her other recordings.
The quality of Anne Briggs singing is such that it physically affects me every time I hear her. Anyone with even a vague liking of folk music should have this CD in their collection.
I too have an aversion to earnest unaccompanied folk singers but I've become mesmerised by this album. The album has a spellbinding quality which made me listen intently to the words and become caught up in the stories that the songs tell. The purity of Anne Briggs voice is so intense that I've played it over and over again in the 3 weeks since I first bought it, something I've not been inspired to do for a long time. It's made me try and find out everything I can about this reclusive singer and to search out all her other recordings.
The quality of Anne Briggs singing is such that it physically affects me every time I hear her. Anyone with even a vague liking of folk music should have this CD in their collection.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
You'll be amazed at how many well-known folk artists have taken on traditional material brought to life by Anne in glorious accapella on this influential album.
It is very much an anthology of traditional folk song... very highly recommended if you enjoy artistes such as Peter Bellamy or are interested in ballad settings. Includes a really thorough account of Anne's relatively short time in the limelight and her shying away from the commercial music business. Great!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A sensational artist
I already had "The Time Has Come" and knew that Anne Briggs was a special Folk Artist, however until I heard the voice accapello I had not relaised how special this lady was. Read more
Published on 29 Sep 2009 by Philip N. Roberts
A voice from my past
It must be more than 40 years ago that I bought 'The Topic Sampler' (that's what they were called before some marketing bod thought of 'compilation'). Read more
Published on 24 April 2008 by Michael Furey
Just another young kid from the floor...........
I can remember this like it was yesterday - I'm sure that the venue was "The Scot's Hoose" in Cambridge Circus, London, circa 1964/5 (ish), and it was a Bert Jansch gig. Read more
Published on 16 Nov 2007 by W. Bolden
If you've looking for a quick review this is it.
I've never been into folk, but I found this album a delightful collection of wonderful music at it's most stripped back and purest.
Published on 12 Nov 2007 by biffbiffin
Inspirational
OK, so in my ignorance I had only heard about 1 tune from Ms Briggs before buying this album. Hearing just a small clip of Anne's singing sent me out looking to find the 'mystery... Read more
Published on 19 Oct 2006 by Lewis Hulatt
An essential collection of English folk songs
Anne Briggs' influence on the modern interpretaion of folk songs cannot be overstated. Put simply, no Anne Briggs = no Sandy Denny, Maddy Prior, Gay Woods, June Tabor, Jacqui... Read more
Published on 24 May 2004 by Midwich Records
As Good As It Gets
Eliza Carthy, June Tabor and Sandy Denny - they all played Kevin Rowland to Anne Briggs's Gino Washington; The original New Age Traveller, muse to Richard Thompson -... Read more
Published on 19 Jun 2003 by "jinbadthejailer"
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