Seasons They Change: The Story of Acid and Psychedelic Folk [Paperback]

A well researched history of the origins, life, death and resurrection of Acid and Psychedelic Folk. It's brought to life by a plethora of interviews specially undertaken for the book.

There's so much breadth, information and detail that I found it important to listen to Jeanette Leech's accompanying Spotify playlist. This complimented the reading experience and gave life to strands that I wasn't familiar with. Indeed, if she hasn't thought of it already, I suggest that she produce a series of sampler albums under the same 'Seasons of Change' banner.

A beautifully presented book, readable and informative.

Jeanette Leech's "Seasons they change" is an excellent and enjoyable book about acid (or psychedelic) folk, and you may be surprised to find how many artists can be tagged "acid folk". She handles the subject in a sympathetic and gentle way and if her style is somewhat terse, this is quite likely due to space limitations - considering the 350+ pages (though personally I wouldn't object to a considerabe expansion).

It's obviously well-researched and apparently she's spoken to quite a few of the artists she writes about. And there are a lot of them. I rummaged through my collection and practically all of them feature in this book (which made me realise how much of an acid folkie I am!). From the pivotal Incredible String Band to Pearls Before Swine, from COB to Circulus, from Vashti Bunyan to Holderlins Traum, from Mr Fox to Stone Breath, they're all here (except for, puzzlingly, Faun Fables).

Leech sticks to the facts and embellishes these with quotes from those involved, and thus avoids unnecessary and unwanted notions. When she does ventilate opinions (for a large part in her assessment of who's important and who's less so) I generally agree with her. She bravely undertakes to bring a narrative thread to the multitude of facts, persons and times she brings up, and this is perhaps the area where she's least successful - but no blame there as far as I'm concerned. Additional editing should eliminate a few typos like "Quicksilver Message Service".

The physical aspect of the book is fine as well, excepting its binding - it takes some effort to keep it open.

A warning is due: this book is dangerous. It makes you want to look into artists you weren't aware of, which will certainly drain more money from your pocket. Otherwise, it's highly recommended, nay, quite obligatory for all who take interest in folk that's not solely "trad.arr".

"Cosmic Tumble Drier was founded by Jefferson Stoner, formerly bass player in Norwich-based prog rock outfit Jam Sponge, together with percussionist Mungo Zboing (formerly Paul Smith) and virtuoso violinist Amelia Molecatcher. After touring the university circuit for a couple of years, it was spotted by Ebenezer Hare and signed to his Majestic Hat Stand label. The group's first album, `The Wizard walks from East to West and back again' emerged in 1971. This delicate succession of moody, wafer thin folk was heavily influenced by traditional Celtic music and West Coast psychedelia, and sold 57 copies. This was followed by `All Hail to the Goddess of the Trouser' (1973), a rougher-edged, more dynamic composition introducing elements of blues and brass band music. However, the cracks were already beginning to show. At a performance in Milton Keynes, disagreements over the correct use of a Corby Trouser Press saw the band disintegrate: Stoner went on to play in a series of psychedelic folk groups, most notably Druidic Fridge and Toboggan Wheel Harmony Experience, while Molecatcher enjoyed some success with death metal outfit, Extreme Terror Donut. Zboing, meanwhile, dropped out of the scene altogether to fulfil his lifetime ambition of becoming a traffic warden."

That's a paragraph taken from chapter 7 of `Seasons They Change'. No it isn't, I'm lying. I just made it up. However, it might as well have been.

Now, please don't take this the wrong way. I'm not taking the mickey. Well, alright I am, but only a little and affectionately. The truth is that this is a good book and I enjoyed it. It has many strong points, foremost amongst them that the author has done an incredibly thorough job of researching every aspect of alt. folk, weird folk, folk rock, acid folk, psychedelic folk, new weird America and a heap of other genres I hadn't even heard of. She has conducted a large number of original interviews, and gone into great depth to outline the histories of bands that in many cases only enjoyed a mayfly life. And she hasn't just limited herself to the US and Britain - you can find information here on alternative folk in Italy, Germany, even Eastern Europe before the crumbling of the iron curtain. For sheer thoroughness it's impossible to imagine how Seasons they Change could be beaten.

This makes it an ideal book for anyone who already has a good knowledge of the area and wants to plug some gaps. If that's your aim you will not be disappointed. However, the general reader should probably be warned off it. One of the other reviews described this book as `encyclopaedic', and that's exactly what it is. Unless you want to immerse yourself in the field as quickly and as completely as possible, it can be very hard going. Most of the chapters concern the doings of one small band after another, and unless you already know the music of at least some of them then pretty soon it can start to feel a bit samey.

An interesting contrast is with Rob Young's recent book on British folk, `Electric Eden'. Young's work is narrower in that it concentrates on Britain - really England - and has nothing much to say about developments after the 1970s. It is certainly a great deal less thorough, either in terms of the number of bands covered or the mistakes made (Electric Eden contains a number of embarrassing errors while, the odd typo and the inevitable disputes over selection aside, Seasons They Change seems relatively error free). However, Electric Eden is still probably the better book, especially for the more general reader. In concentrating more on the key people and developments, and then weaving them into the context of broader trends in society and culture, it feels more like a story and less a series of tenuously connected episodes.

The four stars is a compromise. If you know a fair bit about this area already and want to expand your listening further, this is the book for you - five stars. If, on the other hand, you have a few Steeleye Span LPs and a vague interest in hippie culture then you might want to start somewhere else.