It can never be said that head Decemberist Colin Meloy doesn't have fantastic taste in music -- especially when it comes to the things that really influenced him. On his latest solo EP -- limited to 2000 copies, most of which I imagine are gone now, even though he just set out on his latest solo tour -- Colin pays tribute to one of the most important figures in the English folk revival of the '60's, Shirley Collins. In addition to having a fantastic career as a performer (with her sister Dolly), Collins is a champion of the preservation of the English folk song tradition and has pretty much devoted her life to gathering, cataloging, and arranging those songs, much in the same way that Martin Carthy and Nic Jones did as well. (She also accompanied Alan Lomax on his song collection foray into the Appalachians -- and whatever you may think of that, its importance in preserving the folk tradition cannot be denied.)

But I digress. Matt on You Ain't No Picasso scooped me here by posting Colin and Shirley's versions of "Charlie." I just listened to the entirety of Colin's EP and came to the conclusion that it's not nearly as interesting as his first solo EP, a tribute to Morrissey, which is unfortunate as Shirley Collins certainly deserves more exposure, especially to fans of The Decemberists who may not otherwise know about her work. I was particularly disappointed with his version of one of my favorite folk songs, "Barbara Allen," but that makes me feel very crumudgeonly -- it's electric! Unfortunately, I don't have an mp3 of Collins' version to post for comparison, so instead of a repeat of yesterday's crabby posting of a sub-par cover and its inspiration, I'll instead post one of the tracks from Colin's EP I did like!

Colin Meloy -- Dance to Your Daddy
Shirley Collins -- Dance to Your Daddy

bonus:
Shirley Collins -- Just As the Tide Was Flowing
10,000 Maniacs -- Just As the Tide Was A Flowing

(Highly recommended, the Shirley Collins box set, Within Sound.)