Simply… Parchment

Description

Simply… Parchment is a three-disc CD compilation by the British folk-rock group Parchment, released on Kingsway Music in August 2004.

I’d imagine that one of the curses of being a former member of Parchment is that people only remember you for the chart hit «Light Up The Fire» (No. 31 in 1972). Before Delirious?, After The Fire and all those other Christian artists trying to make a mainstream impact, there was Parchment who did it first including Top Of The Pops! John Paculabo, Keith Rycroft and Sue McClellan recorded four albums which combined folk, roots, pop, rock and psychedelic influences to create a style of music which seems a little twee today. Back then it propelled the band alongside the progressive folk rock of bands like Steeleye Span, Pentangle and Fairport Convention and sounded thoroughly contemporary. Musically, some of these songs have travelled the intervening years better than others. Highlights for me on this welcome compilation are the trippy vocals of «Hard Road» which brought a smile to my face, the pure nostalgia of «Light Up The Fire» and some of the adventurous tracks like «Death In Jerusalem» and «Light Of The World». I am sure there are plenty of other classic recordings from the ’70s and ’80s sitting in the vaults somewhere and I applaud Kingsway for honouring pioneers like Parchment with this series. [Mike Rimmer, Cross Rhythms, March 2005]

3CD Box Set tracklist:

Disc One

1-01. Vision
1-02. Hard Road
1-03. Lovely Touching
1-04. Where Can I Find You
1-05. You Were On My Mind
1-06. Love Is Come Again
1-07. People And Places
1-08. Denomination Blues
1-09. Do You Love Me
1-10. You Are My Morning
1-11. Getting Out Of This Town
1-12. Butterfly
1-13. Glory Shone Around
1-14. Better Than Yesterday
1-15. Pack Up Your Sorrows

Disc Two

2-01. Jesus On The Mainline
2-02. Dobbies Song
2-03. Changes
2-04. Ship Out On The Ocean
2-05. Let There Be Light
2-06. Don’t Let The Morning Come
2-07. Speakers Corner
2-08. Walk Beside Me
2-09. True Summer
2-10. Roundabout
2-11. Til The Morning Comes
2-12. My Man On Love
2-13. True Words
2-14. Get On The Road

Disc Three

3-01. Light Up The Fire (original single version)
3-02. Talking To You
3-03. I Want To Go Home
3-04. Hollywood Sunset
3-05. Light Of The World
3-06. Green Psalm
3-07. Angel Voices
3-08. Morning Sky
3-09. Gift
3-10. Death In Jerusalem
3-11. Son Of God
3-12. I’m A Man
3-13. Long As I Can See You
3-14. Corners Of My Life
3-15. Light Up The Fire