Various Artists – Across The Great Divide: Getting It Together In The Country 1968-74 (Grapefruit Records, 2019) (3CD box set)

 

The three albums of "country-rock" music that were released in the late 60s serve as the main inspiration for this collection of country-flavored music from British bands during the 1968-74 period. Taking their cue from the albums, The Byrds - Sweetheart of the Rodeo, The Band - Music From The Big Pink, and the Crosby, Stills, and Nash album, many British bands traded in their psychedelic-leanings towards a more rootsy, acoustic guitar-based rock. However, in their transition, they kept their sense of 60's pop melodies.       

Some of the bands in this collection will be familiar to all. For example, there are songs by bands like Fairport Convention, Traffic, the Faces, the Hollies, and Procol Harum. Yet, as is true of all Grapefruit Records' box sets, it is the relatively "unknown" bands that make this box set worth buying. Among the highlights (for me) are songs by Cochise (Velvet Mountain), Unicorn (Sleep Song) , and Matthews Southern Comfort (Touch Her If You Can)