Thursday, March 27, 2014

Marian Henderson "Cameo" 1970 LP

I have been trying to get this LP for years but have been totally unsuccessful. The problem has been that the few copies that are occasionally offered for sale are far too expensive for my budget especially considering the risk that the LP may not be up to a standard I might need.

Consequently, I am now publishing a rip of that album which I downloaded from some obscure source overseas some month ago, as is. (Many thanks to the regular who pointed me to its listing). It is an unedited rip at 320 CBR so there are some defects which, after much consideration and some experimentation, I have decided to accept. Really, the quality is fairly good.

Two tracks have some light clicks and pops, namely tracks 5 and 6 ("Fotheringay" and "Streets of Forbes") and are quite acceptable. Track 12 "Sprig of Thyme" has serious distortion issues which render it painful to listen to.The other issue I have with this rip is that the album has been "normalised" to produce a relatively even sound level throughout the tracks and over the entire album. My view is that the decision to normalise should be left to individual downloaders. It is easy to do but impossible to undo. I am, of course, unable to estimate the overall effects of normalising in this instance. Hopefully, not much.

Still, do not be put off by this because there are some superb vocal performances by the masterful Marian Henderson ably assisted by appropriate musical backing. This album is often labelled as 'psych folk' but that is not really useful. It appears to be an eclectic mix of traditional folk, contemporary folk and modern ballads as can be seen by the below tack list. Anyway, to sum it up it is a delight to listen to Marian Henderson's deft handling of these varied tracks. Enjoy!

Track List
1. Antique Annie's Magic Lantern Show
2. Miss Otis Regrets
3. Stranger Song
4. Lady of Carlisle
5. Fotheringay
6. Streets of Forbes
7. First Boy I loved
8. Country Girl
9. Guess Who I saw Today
10. Bald Mountain
11. Convict Maid
12. Sprig of Thyme

I only have a small graphic of the album front included.

Click here to download compressed file (101Mb)
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7 comments:

  1. DeutrosApril 18, 2014 at 10:48 AM

    Hi Paul thanks for the post I have this but was missing the Fotheringay track. I had a listen to track 12 Sprig of Thyme with headphones on and couldn't hear the distortion you mentioned sounded fine to me thanks again for the download.

    Deutros.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousJuly 28, 2014 at 8:58 AM

      I have this album and would be very reluctant to part with it. I particularly love Marian's rendition of Stranger Song and First Boy I loved. I also have an LP 3 Floors Down (three floors of stairs below the YWCA building in Sydney). Marian (spelt Marion) Henderson' Moon and Mice features on this LP. I saw Marian perform at this venue and also at ANU. Loved her rendition of Suzanne. Mary

      Delete
  2. AnonymousSeptember 2, 2014 at 9:40 AM

    I have this album. One of my all time favorites. It skips in a few places. I copied it onto cassette tape years ago.My copy also doesn't have Fotheringay on it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousOctober 25, 2014 at 3:03 AM

    Thanks very much. This is new to me.

    ReplyDelete
  4. eweanmeNovember 4, 2017 at 8:10 PM

    One of my all-time favourite LPs - and Voices!
    Vale, Marian.....

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousDecember 19, 2017 at 6:45 AM

    Thanks from Italy for this gem!

    Alb

    ReplyDelete
  6. UnknownJune 30, 2018 at 9:39 AM

    Just letting readers know of the official re-release of this album in 2017(?) as a 2-CD compilation with extra tracks, as detailed here: http://rockasteria.blogspot.com/2017/07/marian-henderson-cameo-1964-70.html

    ReplyDelete

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