AMG Review of Complete Vanguard Studio Recordings

Richie Unterberger
All Music Guide

It's good to have this four-CD box set of everything Ian & Sylvia did in the studio for Vanguard, as their valuable contributions to folk and folk-rock are (several decades later, anyway) underrated. There are a few things that could have been added to the package to make it more definitive, though. The set includes all of their first six albums, their 1968 album Nashville (which followed a short sojourn with MGM), and three additional rarities. So far so good. But the absence of the two albums they did for MGM does make this less than a complete overview of their '60s work, particularly as their seventh album, Lovin' Sound, actually preceded Nashville, yet is absent. No details are given as to the three additional songs not on the original Vanguard albums, of which "Keep on the Sunny Side" and an alternate take of "Rocks and Gravel" previously appeared on the Best of the Vanguard Years CD. The one previously unissued track, "Je T'aime Marielle," sounds (like the other two non-LP cuts) like an outtake from their early years. The Live at Newport compilation of 1960's appearance at ~the Newport Folk Festival would have been nice to include, though of course that's not studio, and all of these missing '60s albums would have pushed the set to a five- or six-CD length that might have made it economically unfeasible to release. Of course what's here is important, beautifully sung and often creatively executed traditional and contemporary folk music (sometimes edging into rock on the later sides), and the large booklet with a long essay by Colin Escott adds to its value.