The Complete Vanguard Studio Recordings [Box set]

The Complete Vanguard Studio Recordings [Box set]

Track Listings
Disc: 1

1. Rocks And Gravel

2. Old Blue

3. C.C. Rider

4. Un Canadien Errant

5. Handsome Molly

See all 26 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. You Were On My Mind

2. Moonshine Can

3. The Jealous Lover

4. Four Rode By

5. Brave Wolf

See all 25 tracks on this disc

Disc: 3

1. Short Grass

2. The French Girl

3. When I Was A Cowboy

4. Changes

5. Gifts Are For Giving

See all 24 tracks on this disc

Disc: 4

1. The Mighty Quinn

2. Wheels On Fire

3. Farewell To The North

4. Taking Care Of Business

5. Southern Comfort

See all 15 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Of all the young lovers smitten by folk music in the '60s, Ian Tyson and Sylvia Fricker cut the most striking couple, and--as a couple--many of the most striking sides. Over seven Vanguard albums, recorded between 1963 and 1968, Ian & Sylvia lent their vibrato-heavy voices to traditional folk and country songs with strenuous and studied results. However, on indisputably classic Tyson tunes such as "Summer Wages" and "Four Strong Winds," and well-chosen (and, at the time, obscure) ballads by peers such as Bob Dylan ("Tomorrow Is a Long Time") and Steve Gillette ("Darcy Farrow"), their ethereal harmonies and uncluttered acoustic arrangements go a long way towards explaining the duo's popularity and influence. Hard-core fans may frown over the sole previously unreleased track (a toss off called "Je T'aime Marielle"), but they will also cherish Vanguard's sparkling remastering and packaging (a delightfully written appraisal by Colin Escott is included) of this much-needed collection. No better overview of Ian & Sylvia's art can be located. Although you won't find their best album (1970's country-rock gem Great Speckled Bird) here, you will find a cache brimming with the strengths and weaknesses of the folk revival. --Roy Kasten

Tracks:

Pay Day
I'm Satisfied
Candy Man
Make Ma a Pallet On Your Floor
Talking Casey
Corrinna, Corrinna
Coffee Blues
Louis Collins
Hot Time In the Old Town Tonight
If You Don't Want Me Baby
Spike Driver Blues
Beulah Land

Tracks:

Since I've Laid My Burden Down
Moaning the Blues
Stocktime (Buck Dance)
Lazy Blues
Richland Woman Blues
Wise And Foolish Virgins (Tender Virgins)
Hop Joint
Monday Morning Blues
I've Got the Blues And I Can't Be Satisfied
Keep On Knocking
The Chicken
Stagolee
Nearer My God To Thee

Tracks:

Poor Boy, Long Ways From Home
Boys You're Welcome
Joe Turner Blues
First Shot Missed Him
Farther Along
Funky Butt
Spider, Spider
Waiting For You
Shortnin' Bread
Trouble, I've Had It All My Days
Let the Mermaids Flirt With Me
Good Morning, Carrie
Nobody Cares For Me
All Night Long
Hey, Honey, Right Away
You've Got To Die
Goodnight Irene

Amazon.com

Gentle, graceful, subtle, sweet--these aren't descriptions generally applied to the blues, but they offer a sense of Mississippi John Hurt's uniqueness and enduring legacy. Rediscovered during the 1960s folk boom after last recording in the late 1920s, Hurt cut the three albums compiled here when he was in his early 70s. His conversational phrasing sounds as natural as breathing, while his ragtime-tinged fingerpicking on acoustic guitar reveals more complexity the closer you listen. Beyond blues classics like "Candy Man" (the sly sensualist wasn't referring to lollipops), Hurt's range encompasses everything from folkish narratives ("Talking Casey," "Spike Driver Blues") to Southern spirituals ("Nearer My God to Thee," "Farther Along"). Though Hurt died in 1966, shortly after the last of these sessions, the music still sounds so fresh, you can almost hear the twinkle in his eye. --Don McLeese

Customer Reviews:

One of the great American musicians.......2007-03-22

His singing and guitar playing is just as good as on the early recordings.

Chicken is one amazing song.......2006-11-11

C H I C K E N
That's how you spell chicken!

This won't be a particularly helpful review because I don't "know" music. All I can say that ever since seeing The Blues Brothers, I have enjoyed listening to blues without knowing much about it. Favorites include Howlin' Wolf and Robert Johnson... and John Hurt.

He had a great voice. Cool vocals + cool lyrics = really listenable music. I am so greatful to my Yahoo!Music player for introducing me to him. :)

Classic Blues.......2006-02-28

This compilation of Mississippi John Hurt's Vanguard recordings are classics. These albums were recorded in the 60's after he was re-discovered by a music industry full swing into folk, blues, and "old timey" music. The audio quality is superb, the songs are timeless, and the voice is amazing. A must have for any serious blues fan. Robert Johnson is not the end all, be all of delta blues. Check out Mississippi John Hurt.

A review and a question.......2005-12-27

First my review:

The recorded legacy of MJH falls into roughly five categories.

(1) his early 1928 recordings on the OKEH label which comprise around 20 tracks. Although they are quite listenable and of historical interest and importance they are not the most enjoyable of his recordings. (2) recordings from 1963 that are available on the Rounder label. The sound quality of these recordings is somewhat disappointing. For that reason alone I don't listen to them much except for the fact that they were heavily relied upon by people who transcribed his songs for instructional materials. (3) The Library of Congress recordings (also from 1963). These are perhaps the best. The sound quality is excellent and there is an informality to the sessions which makes it like having MJH as a house guest for the weekend determined to play you every song he knows. (4) The (these) Vanguard Recordings, which I think were recorded between 1967 and 1969. These rival and sometimes surpass the Library of Congress Recordings as far as the material goes. There is also a palpable sadness as you can detect a man near the end of his life aware of the fact that he may very well be making his final recordings. The audio engineers did a terrible job at Vanguard for a good deal of these recordings. How can you screw up recording just one guy with a guitar? If you try hard enough you can set the levels WAY off. That is how. (5) there is also a Live MJH CD from Vanguard. It's sound quality is pretty good and it is endearing to hear MJH talk to an audience, but I find it less compelling material wise than the studio recordings.

Listening to MJH makes you want to piick up the guitar and learn to play like him. The good thing about this is that if you really want to you probably can. Many of his songs have been transcribed and broken down in intructional books and DVDs. After going through a "beginning fingerpicking" DVD by Stefan Grossman you are probably ready to take on MJH.

Go for it!

And now for my question:

It's not obvious to me from the Vanguard website whether the boxed set is actually a newer digital remaster than the original digital re-masters from the mid 80s. As far as digital remasters go those ones were a bit of a disaster. When you put the disc into your player you would have to crank the volume on your stereo. As you might expect, the careless lack of attention to levels setting in the remastering process resulted in a mushy sounding guitar. I seem to remember that was also a problem with the vinyl Vanguard LPs, particularly the first one. Hopefully these CDs really are *new* remasters because most CDs re-mastered these days are remastered quite well.

My music management software for encoding MP3s has the capability of looking up CDs in an online database. Whenever I present it with copies of the old mid 1980s vanguard CDs it recognizes them as possibly being from the boxed set, so I hesitate to spring for the "new remasters" without really knowing if they are indeed recently remastered. Perhaps someone else could clear this up.

John Hurt recordings should be a Schedule One drug.......2005-07-08

John Hurt is without a doubt my favorite bluesman. His guitar work is seamless. If you'd like to buy some blues for easier listening, get these. Blues is to often absrasive, but all of that disolves in Hurt's world. This music is terminally infectious, and will most certainly carry me to my grave.

Average customer rating:

The Best from the the Best
Great Folk Singers
Great Anthology
For anyone with ears
Ian & Sylvia - The Real Deal

The Complete Vanguard Studio Recordings
Ian & Sylvia
Manufacturer: Vanguard Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Folk | Styles | Music

Traditional Folk | Folk | Styles | Music

Revival | Folk | Styles | Music

Canada | North America | International | Styles | Music

Folk Rock | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Folk | Box Sets | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Great Speckled Bird
Movin' On: 1967-68
The Beginning of The End
Ian & Sylvia - Greatest Hits
Cowboyography

ASIN: B00005NHNG
Release Date: 2001-09-11

Tracks:

Rocks And Gravel
Old Blue
C.C. Rider
Un Canadien Errant
Handsome Molly
Mary Anne
Pride Of Petrovar
Makes A Long Time Man Feel Bad
Rambler Gambler
Down By The Willow Garden
Got No More Home Than A Dog
When First Unto This Country
Live-A-Humble
Jesus Met The Woman At The Well
Tomorrow Is A Long Time
Katy Dear
Poor Lazarus
Four Strong Winds
Ella Speed
Long Lonesome Road
V'la L'bon Vent
Royal Canal
Lady Of Carlisle
Spanish Is A Loving Tongue
The Greenwood Sidie (The Cruel Mother)
Every Night When The Sun Goes Down

Tracks:

You Were On My Mind
Moonshine Can
The Jealous Lover
Four Rode By
Brave Wolf
Nova Scotia Farewell
Some Day Soon
Little Beggarman
Texas Rangers
The Ghost Lover
Captain Woodstock's Courtship
Green Valley
Swing Down, Chariot
Come In, Stranger
Early Morning Rain
Nancy Whiskey
Awake Ye Drowsy Sleepers
Marlborough Street Blues
Darcy Farrow
Travelling Drummer
Maude's Blues
Red Velvet
I'll Bid My Heart Be Still
For Lovin' Me
Song For Canada

Tracks:

Short Grass
The French Girl
When I Was A Cowboy
Changes
Gifts Are For Giving
Molly And Tenbrooks
Hey, What About Me
Lonely Girls
Satisfied Minds
Twenty Four Hours From Tulsa
Friends Of Mine
Play One More
Circle Game
So Much For Dreaming
Wild Geese
Child Apart
Summer Wages
Hold Tight
Cutty Wren
Si Les Bateaux
Catfish Blues
Come All Ye Fair And Tender Ladies
January Morning
Grey Morning

Tracks:

The Mighty Quinn
Wheels On Fire
Farewell To The North
Taking Care Of Business
Southern Comfort
Ballad Of The Ugly Man
90 Degrees x 90 Degrees
She'll Be Gone
London Life
The Renegade
House Of Cards
Every Time I Feel The Spirit
Keep On The Sunny Side
Rocks And Gravel
Je T'aime Marielle

Amazon.com

Of all the young lovers smitten by folk music in the '60s, Ian Tyson and Sylvia Fricker cut the most striking couple, and--as a couple--many of the most striking sides. Over seven Vanguard albums, recorded between 1963 and 1968, Ian & Sylvia lent their vibrato-heavy voices to traditional folk and country songs with strenuous and studied results. However, on indisputably classic Tyson tunes such as "Summer Wages" and "Four Strong Winds," and well-chosen (and, at the time, obscure) ballads by peers such as Bob Dylan ("Tomorrow Is a Long Time") and Steve Gillette ("Darcy Farrow"), their ethereal harmonies and uncluttered acoustic arrangements go a long way towards explaining the duo's popularity and influence. Hard-core fans may frown over the sole previously unreleased track (a toss off called "Je T'aime Marielle"), but they will also cherish Vanguard's sparkling remastering and packaging (a delightfully written appraisal by Colin Escott is included) of this much-needed collection. No better overview of Ian & Sylvia's art can be located. Although you won't find their best album (1970's country-rock gem Great Speckled Bird) here, you will find a cache brimming with the strengths and weaknesses of the folk revival. --Roy Kasten

Customer Reviews:

The Best from the the Best.......2007-05-13

Although I already owned all the albums from Vanguard that Ian and Sylvia have produced, I purchased this one as soon as I saw that it was available. Their music was without parallel and with the remastering and clearer cd sound it is well worth the cost to add it to your collection. I know that for many a cd just doesn't compare to the old LP's and to an extent I agree, but to have this much music on just four discs is irresistible. An awesome collection from an awesome pair of singers.

Great Folk Singers.......2006-11-06

2 GREAT voices together in the best 2 part harmony ever. Saw them in person at The Bear in Hunington Beach in 19??. Either solo or together
is great music.

Great Anthology.......2006-10-18

This is a wonderful collection of one of the really great folk groups of the 60s.
Fantastic baritone singing from Ian with soaring harmonies from Sylvia.
In working through the collection one is offered a rather poignant reflection of the separation of their relationship and their music. The latter recordings are sad but subtract nothing from their early achievements.

For anyone with ears.......2006-04-24

What distinguished Ian and Sylvia was a driving respect for music, and Ian strong roots in real Western music, and a musical integrity and ingenuity that surpassed that of most "folksingers" of their period. They never drifted off into the direction of smooth pop oriented singing. There might have been the usual attempt to take them in a "folk rock" direction in the last years they were together, something they did take seriously and made fun of from the stage of their performances in the late 1960s.

However, these recordings have a strength of their commiment to music that has the bite, the twang, the strength, and the snap of real folk music and of folk originated blues and country music. The standards of production particularly their work with the great guitarists Johnny Herald and Monte Dunn, not to mention Ian Tyson's own developing skill with the guitar, and the tastefulness of the ensembles has not been matched since in acoustic music.

Ian and Sylvia's music works now even when the pop folk sensibility that surrounded them has deservedly withered away. I spend a lot of time talking with, playing with, hanging out with people who treasure completely traditional folk music which is not at all what Ian and Sylvia ever pretended to play, although especially at the beginning it was one of their most important sources. I have found even three or four decades after the duo ended, that a tremendous respect and a lot of listening goes on to Ian and Sylvia which is not true for other folkies like Joan Baez or Bob Dylan.

Of course, Ian Tyson continued a great career of his own, longer and actually larger than what happened with Ian and Sylvia as a writer of songs rooted in his Canadian Western origins. The skills unveiled in songs like "You were on my mind" and "Four strong winds" have won Ian a bunch of Grammies and Junos (the Canadian equivalent). He is still out there performing, making great albums and being who he has always been, a straight shooter, a no bs artist.

Sometime in the 1980s, an urban legend appeared that is still strong that Sylvia Fricker had died, killed herself, or otherwise left this life. She is very much alive, still singing, and over the years has done great folk oriented shows for the CBC.

Oh, one thing I forgot.

Aside from all this analysis, Ian and Sylvia are just so darned good that anyone with ears desperately needs to have as much of their music as they can either afford or steal!

Ian & Sylvia - The Real Deal.......2004-03-20

Folk music has been attracting more interest from both ends of the critical spectrum. Vanguard had good reason to reissue this 4 CD set of one of the greatest folk duos of all time. On the other hand some critics have reacted to the recent interest in the period (as indicated by the movie, A Mighty Wind) to poke gentle fun at or write off folk music and its key players as out of date (f ex the Sunday Times of London, which referred to the music of the era as "better left dead and buried" and Ian & Sylvia as "an obscure Canadian folk singing group" ).There's no better way to decide where you are on the divide than to buy this terrific collection and give it the many hours of listening that are due. To be clear, Ian & Sylvia were never part of the Burle Ives, Kingston Trio faux folk scene. They were and always have been, all apologies to the Kerry campaign, the Real Deal. Here's why : the music - a collection of originals from their best albums by both Ian and Sylvia, who continue their excellent songwriting today, traditional songs, covers of Dylan and other artists, and progressive expansions into folk rock and country music, has lasted and it endures. The quality, uniqueness and professionalism of Ian & Sylvia were compelling in its time and continue to captivate listeners globally ; and indeed there are very few duos out there today which have this range or depth in vocals and energy. Since the music itself is primarily traditional, what separates Ian & Sylvia from the rest is their distinctive combination of voices, their sublime harmonies, and their studio work, which was flawless. You can hear a number of these songs by other folk artists, but few of them stick to the mind and soul as these versions do, and their own classics such as "Some Day Soon" and "Four Strong Winds" continue to resonate through their own recordings and those of artists who covered them. This set succeeds in preserving and promoting for the future a powerful legacy of remarkable music which the group's many fans (as can be seen on numerous web sites on the group)and newcomers will appreciate. And if you are interested in what happened since their break up, take a look at Ian Tyson's remarkable career as a country and cowboy song artist starting with his Canadian platinum "Cowboyography" album throuhg the latest "Live at Longview" and Sylvia's work as leader of the all women Canadian group 'Quartet'. The combined work over 40 years including this seminal collection is simple awesome.

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