Galleries / No Relation

Galleries was the final Young Tradition album, and decidedly adventurous, where Peter Bellamy mixes some bluesy guitar work (a cover of Robert Johnson's "Stones In My Passageway," replete with clicks and hiss at 78 r.p.m) with a Medieval consort, and Dolly Collins adds some arrangements — even Sandy Denny has a tiny guest spot. For 1969 it was far ahead of its time as a folk album, with a strong early music influence to many of the pieces, like "The Agincourt Carol" and "The Banks of the Nile." They even manage to weave in some Sacred Harp shape note singing. And "Medieval Mystery Tour" is a delight, pairing two early pieces with one by Bert Jansch and John Renbourn, then leaving the listener to figure out which is which. Interestingly, it was that early music direction that made Bellamy break away from Heather and Royston Wood (who weren't related to each other). In 1977 the two Woods issued what might be called a follow-up, No Relation, which explored the early music idea further, on some excellently researched material like "A Shepherd Of The Downs" — and the wounds had healed enough for Bellamy to contribute to a few songs like "Come Ye Who Fear The Lord," whose ineffable harmonies make them sound remarkably like... the Young Tradition. Add in the very rare Chicken On a Raft EP that came between the two records, and you have the complete latter days of the Young Tradition.