North Country Maid

Marianne released two folk albums in the 60’s and it is not generally understood that they were conceived as a pair; where Come My Way, had been largely compiled from music of the American folk revival, her second, released in April 1966 was built around songs from the British Isles. Rightly hailed as her finest LP of the 60s, North Country Maid’s contribution to the folk revival has never been fully recognised, as many of its songs were not yet the established folk standards they would soon become. Featuring emotive interpretations of Cyril Tawney’s ‘Sally Free And Easy’ and Ewan MacColl’s ‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face’, the album also included the traditional ‘She Moved Thru’ The Fair’, which is one of the few songs Marianne performed throughout her life. Having first sung it on the local folk circuit in Reading before her pop career began, it remained a favourite encore and also appears on her final E.P. Burning Moonlight.