No Roses

No Roses is an album by Shirley Collins and the Albion Country Band. It was recorded at Sound Techniques, and Air Studios in London, in the summer of 1971. It was produced by Sandy Roberton and Ashley Hutchings (Shirley Collins' husband at the time). It was released in October 1971 on the Pegasus label. It is very unusual to have 27 musicians and singers on an album of traditional folk songs. It happened because people simply dropped in during recording sessions and were asked to join in. At the time, the most unusual sound was the hurdy-gurdy, now heard much more frequently. "The Murder of Maria Marten" is broken into segments, with a heavy-rock alternating with Shirley's voice accompanied by a simple drone. Shirley had used a similar...