Rock wasn’t the only kind of music that was exploding in the 1960s: a major folk and blues revival was underway on both sides of the Atlantic.
In the States, many artists who championed these genres performed at famed clubs such as Greenwich Village’s Gaslight and Bitter End; Saratoga Springs, New York’s Caffe Lena; and Cambridge, Massachusetts’ Club 47. In England, meanwhile, one of the most important venues for folk and blues was Les Cousins, which opened in October 1964 in the basement of a Greek restaurant in Soho. It was known for all-night jams and for music that pushed the boundaries of traditional folk and blues. And it attracted an impressively long list of great performers—not only many leading and soon-to-be-famous British artists but lots of important American musicians as well.
Les Cousins: The Soundtrack of Soho’s Legendary Folk & Blues Club features quite a few of them. Undoubtedly due to licensing constraints, there are a handful of notable omissions, such as Bob Dylan. But the 72-track, three-disc set—which has a playing time of just under four hours—packs in contributions from many of the club’s most notable performers. The Jan. 19, 2024 release comes with an illustrated 36-page booklet that features an essay about the club’s history and significance plus notes about every song.
One caveat: though the anthology’s title could be taken to mean that it delivers live recordings from the club (where several acts did make albums), that’s not what you’ll find here. These tracks are taken from studio LPs by artists that performed at Les Cousins; a few of them were even recorded or released before the venue opened or after it closed in April 1972. Previously unreleased live performances would have made for a more exciting collection but, presumably, no such material was available from most or all of these musicians.
That said, this is a terrific anthology of mid-’60s and early-’70s folk and blues. Fans of those genres from that period might already own tracks from some of the better-known artists, such as the Incredible String Band (“No Sleep Blues”), Al Stewart (“Manuscript”), Nick Drake (“Northern Sky”), Donovan (“Sunny Goodge Street”), Cat Stevens (“The Tramp” and “Portobello Road”), Tom Rush (“Joshua Gone Barbados”), Tim Hardin (“If I Were a Carpenter”) and Paul Simon (the pre-Garfunkel solo version of “I Am a Rock” that appears on 1965’s The Paul Simon Songbook).
But material from lesser-known performers predominates, and it was well-chosen. Such tracks go a long way toward making this a must-hear collection for fans of folk and blues and offer plenty of opportunities for discovering overlooked gems. Among the dozens of standouts: American-born Julie Felix’s spirited “The Young Ones Move”; “Babe I’m Leaving You,” a folk-rocker from the Levee Breakers, a trio with jug-band leanings; Steve Tilston’s self-penned “I Really Wanted You,” a lovely acoustic guitar excursion; and “The Holmfirth Anthem,” by the Watersons, an acapella group that started out in skiffle.
The collection is available to order in the U.S. here and in the U.K. here.
Related: When Paul Simon made a surprise appearance at the Newport Folk Festival
