The Sweet Primeroses

An extraordinary and singular recording even 52 years after it first appeared, Shirley Collins' The Sweet Primeroses is one of three deluxe reissues to celebrate Topic's 80th birthday, augmented by four recordings from 1963's Heroes of Love EP (reissued on vinyl in 2014 for Topic's 75th). The release also includes extensive sleeve notes from Colin Irwin, an introductory note from Collins, and even Bert Lloyd's Janus-faced original introduction, demeaningly describing Collins as a ‘sweet Sussex singer’ and asking, of her sister Dolly's pipe organ arrangements, ‘is it effective? Judge for yourself.’

In the half-century since, we have judged, and The Sweet Primerosesremains fresh, distinctive and compelling. The song choices include Copper family favourites ‘Spencer the Rover’, ‘The Babes in the Wood’ and the title-track, as well as diadems from the world of traditional balladry such as ‘The Cruel Mother’ (with Collins accompanying herself on five-string banjo), ‘George Collins’ (more recently refashioned to great effect by Sam Lee) and ‘Brigg Fair’, the inspiration for Delius' orchestral fantasia. The two carols ‘Cambridgeshire May Carol’ and ‘Down in Yon Forest’ are still points of enduring wonder, and The Young Tradition's chorus on the likes of ‘The Rigs of the Time’ and ‘The Cruel Mother’ give just the right lift.