Ian & Sylvia: Ian Tyson, Sylvia Fricker (vocals, guitar, autoharp).
Additional personnel: Monte Dunn (guitar); Russ Savakus (bass).
Includes original release liner notes by Lee Hays.
The Canadian duo Ian & Sylvia had one of the most distinctive sounds of the early '60s folk scene, his voice deep and smooth, hers a piercing Appalachian-tinged alto. Here they draw upon a wide range of material. Traditional North American folk ballads, country music, traditional British Isles folk, blues, bluegrass, and gospel are all performed in earnest and heartfelt style, and they do some fine originals as well.
Ian & Sylvia called attention to then-unknown Canadian songwriter Gordon Lightfoot by performing his beautifully melancholy "Early Morning Rain." The duo were also among the first folk artists to cover Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, and Phil Ochs, long before it became fashionable. They make Johnny Cash's "Come In, Stranger" their own, and their original "Marlborough Street Blues" points towards the way varied folk and blues styles would be personalized in novel ways.