La confusion

"They started out as a West African blues duo, moved into some sock-it-to-'em Afro soul, gave it a bit of Manu Chao enhanced global grooviness and now Amadou and Mariam have gone all disco-funky. For the most part French producer Adrien Durand has kept it light and supple, matching the funk rhythms with an impressive instrumental ensemble (there's some fine brass and keyboards work here), adding call-and-response vocals and insinuating melodies to top things off. Amadou and Mariam just do their thing. You know, singing their hearts out and in Amadou's case, delivering some sneaky blues guitar lines. But what they do seems to adapt well to any setting thrown at them and sounds right at home here ... I'd urge folkies everywhere to overcome any funk-o-phobia they might harbour and dive right on in".

"This brilliant 22-track compilation starts with a UK record released a full eleven months before the Byrds' Mr Tambourine Man invented folk-rock - with Essex hopefuls The (not-yet-Pink) Fairies snarling their way through Don't Think Twice It's Alright with beat group electric guitars and R&B harmonica. It's followed by Marianne Faithfull's endearingly home counties voice backed by folk-pop orchestrations and finger cymbals on Blowin' In The Wind and an earnest, banjo-led Oxford Town by The Three City Four (with young masters Carthy and Rosselson in their ranks). And so it continues - on through "the swinging sixties", with a good balance of well-known names (...) and the less-familiar ... Expertly compiled by Stuart Batsford and Mich Houghton, with extensive booklet notes by the latter, this is, in a word, groovy!".