North Country Maid

Description

Marianne's second folk album, North Country Maid, has been remastered from the original tapes by Grammy-nominated Andrew Batt, who also provided detailed liner notes that Marianne contributed to before her passing in January 2025. While Marianne's first folk album, Come My Way, was largely compiled from the music of the American folk revival, her second album, released in April 1966, was built around songs from the British Isles. Rightfully considered Marianne's best album of the 60s, North Country Maid firmly established her as an artist with a unique stylistic approach, and many of her songs (such as Scarborough Fair) were not yet the established folk/pop standards they would soon become. With moving interpretations of songs by contemporary folk songwriters like Cyril Tawney's Sally Free And Easy, Bert Jansch's Green Are Your Eyes, and Ewan MacColl's The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, the album also includes traditional pieces like the title track and She Moved Thru The Fair, which is one of the few songs Marianne performed throughout her life; it even appears on her final album, the E.P. Burning Moonlight, released in 2025. The album was produced by Mike Leander and arranged by Jon Mark, who also played acoustic guitar. He was joined by newcomer Michael John Taylor on second acoustic guitar, Big Jim Sullivan on 12-string and various Indian traditional instruments, Danny Thompson on bass, and Alec Hutchison on harmonica.