Released in 1973 on the
Folk-Legacy
label,
Frae My Ain Countrie
found Scottish folk singer
Jean Redpath
tackling 16 songs with minimal accompaniment (an acoustic guitar appears on about half of the tracks). Born in Edinburgh and specializing in a cappella renditions of traditional folk music,
Redpath
's immaculate voice, which blends pitch-perfect intonation with the kind of emotional richness that can only come from a true daughter of Scotland, lends added weight to already powerful ballads like "Gairdner Child," "Kilbogie," and "Wars O' High Germanie," and her measured yet occasionally feisty demeanor helps bring out the subtle humor in tracks like the "Gairdner and the Plooman" and "Rantin' Dog, the Daddie O'T." Remastered and reissued in 2010 on compact disc, but lacking the extensive liner notes found on the original vinyl release,
is as simple as it is mesmerizing, providing the perfect entry point to one of folk music's most enduring, prolific and inspiring practitioners. ~ James Christopher Monger