Robin & Barry Dransfield – The Rout Of The Blues (1970)

Robin Dransfield and Barry Dransfield were a brother duo, both born in Harrogate, Yorkshire, who were folk enthusiasts from their childhoods in the 1950's. Barry Dransfield was the violinist (doubling on guitar later), trained in folk fiddle style by Irish musicians in the area around Leeds, while Robin played acoustic guitar. Both of them sang, Barry Dransfield keeping his voice in the mix by holding the violin across his chest as he played. Their first collaborations were in a distinctly bluegrass vein, under the guise of the Crimple Mountain Boys, and became a major guitar/fiddle ensemble of the first half of the 1970's -- their duo sound was heavily influenced by the music that Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick had recorded together beginning in the mid-1960's. Recording for producer Bill Leader, their first album, The Rout Of The Blues, was released on ther Trailer label in 1970 and was followed a year later by Lord Of All I Behold. Later known as the Dransfields, they added Brian Harrison on drums and Charlie Smith on bass, keyboards, and vocals recorded for Transatlantic Records. The Dransfields' recordings have all been reissued on CD, most notably the elusive Barry Dransfield solo album.