Various Artists – Down by the River: The Greenhouse Album

Description

Down by the River: The Greenhouse Album is a multi-artist sampler cassette featuring 21 tracks by various American and British folk-oriented artists, released in the UK on Edge Records in 1991, licenced and distributed in Europe by Kingsway Music.

“You can’t please all the people all the time” tends to be the way I view compilations. Do the good tracks outweigh the bad? Consequently I wasn’t over enthusiastic about a compilation compiled to promote the Greenbelt Festival. “Still” I thought, “It’s all in a good cause.” I was in for a surprise! This 21-song collection has grown out of the Greenbelt venue “The River” which caters for “righteous roots” music. It aims to document the Christian state of the art in “folk, country, jazz, gospel, skiffle etc.” The styles range from the footstomping Famous Potatoes and Sam Hill to the quiet of Lies Damned Lies or the indomitable Mr Hewitt. The lyrics too are varied from the slightly frivolous «Senator’s Daughter» (Fat And Frantic) to the gospel message of «Satisfied» and the dark brooding of Billy Penn’s Brother’s «O Danny Boy». Messrs. Cockburn and Stonehill’s contributions enhance but do not dominate, so with two great African contributions and a Flying Pickets-style acappella number this collection certainly has variety and quality. [Dickon Faux, Cross Rhythms, November 1990]

This is a compilation album that features “folk, country, jazz, gospel, skiffle, etc” artists from The River stage venue at the Greenbelt Festival. Some of the artists are more in the alternative rock realm as well, but this comp features songs of theirs that fit more in the folk realm. This comp was also released on a label and on CD as well. Many of these songs were released on labels before this compilation, but there are a few underground artists and unreleased songs that would be of interest to readers of this blog:

Machanic Manyeruke – world folk from Zimbabwe with layered vocals over a unique sounding instrument that I assume is the four wire bajo mentioned in the liner notes.
Gary Hall and the Stormkeepers – Country folk with a heavy presence of a fiddle. But more of a UK flavor than a deep south of the U.S.
Martyn Joseph – This is listed as an unreleased song recorded specifically for this compilation, and as far as I can tell, it wasn’t later released on any other albums.
Sublime – This is not the ska punk band from California, but a London based acoustic Celtic duo.
Maldwyn Pope – This song is from his first self-released album. It’s an acapella tune with finger snaps for percussion.
The Famous Potatoes – This is labeled as roots rock, but it is a bit more rollicking and skiffle than that description would imply.
Jimmy Kemp – He was one half of the 80s pop due Jimy Jimmy, and from what I can tell this song was not released anywhere else. I don’t know if he even recorded any full solo albums. Acoustic rock.
Fat and Frantic – This is the version off of Quirk rather than Waxing a Hottie, just FYI.
Sam Hill – This song is listed as previously unreleased, but it looks like it was later released on Thunder and Rain in 1991. This version is a bit folkier than the one on that tape, which sounds like it was recorded live.
Cole Moreton – I can’t find much on Cole, other than he was a writer that also put out a couple folk rock demos around this time. This song is a folk rock with a saxophone solo that is pretty cool.
The Woebegones – This is The Woebegone Brothers, off of their second demo tape Satisfied. [Christian Tape Underground, May 12, 2025]

Cassette tracklist:

Side One
A1. Mark Heard – “Rise From the Ruins” (Dry Bone Dance, 1990)
A2. Machanic Manyeruke – “Petro Anoramba (The Denial of Peter)” (Machanic Manyeruke and the Puritans, 1986)
A3. Gary Hall and the Stormkeepers – “Burning Bright” (Garage Heart, 1989)
A4. Bruce Cockburn – “After the Rain” (Bruce Cockburn Live, 1990)
A5. Lies Damned Lies – “I’d Rather Go to Heaven” (B-side of the 12-inch single Love Among the Ruins, 1989)
A6. Martyn Joseph – “Come on Down” (previously unreleased – recorded especially for this album)
A7. Sublime – “Have You Ever Tasted Wine” (Honey and Wine, 1988)
A8. Ben Okafor – “Oke Na Ngwele (The Rat and the Lizard)” (Nkiru, 1989)
A9. Maldwyn Pope – “Everybody Needs Somebody” (Love Will Find a Way, 1990)
A10. Billy Penn’s Brother – “Danny Boy” (Power Blocs and Mustard Seeds, 1990)
A11. Julie Miller – “How Could You Say No” (Meet Julie Miller, 1990)

Side Two
B1. The Famous Potatoes – “Famous Potatoes” (The Sound of the Ground, 1986)
B2. Jimmy Kemp – “Say Lady” (previously unreleased)
B3. Fat and Frantic – “The Senator’s Daughter” (I Don’t Want to Say Goodbye, 1990)
B4. Garth Hewitt – “Peace Like a Phoenix” (Scars, 1988)
B5. Charlie Peacock – “Drowning Man” (The Secret of Time, 1990)
B6. Sam Hill – “I Don’t See No Good Times” (previously unreleased, later released on Thunder and Rain in 1991)
B7. Phil & John – “The Day the North Left Town” (Phil & John Live, 1990)
B8. Randy Stonehill – “Strong Hand of Love” (Return to Paradise, 1989)
B9. Cole Moreton – “The Undying Flame” (Cole Moreton, 1988)
B10. The Woebegones – “Satisfied” (Satisfied, 1990)

Note: Released on both cassette and CD by Edge Records.