Dando Shaft - Dando Shaft 1971

The major change on Dando Shaft's second album was the addition of singer Polly Bolton, whose lead and harmony singing added considerable color and appeal to the group's vocal blend. The band might have been edging just a bit closer to the folk-rock mainstream, too, with a more standard rhythmic and melodic base to some of the tunes. Generally, though, they remained in the same mindset as they were on their 1970 debut: just barely rock-influenced folk, similar to Pentangle but folkier, and given to a greater emphasis on mandolin, violin, and unusual tempos. While something like "Whispering Ned" sounded as traditional as British folk-rock got, other songs nodded a bit toward the more wistful romantic pop song tradition, like "Sometimes," "'Til the Morning Comes," and "Waves Upon the Ether." The nature imagery of the debut was still present, too, if not as prominent, in songs like "Riverboat" (one of the highlights, with its lovely Bolton vocal). AMG.

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Dando Shaft - An Evening With 1970

On their first album, Dando Shaft came off as something like a more folk-oriented, yet also more hippie-oriented Pentangle. The percussive pulse of Roger Bullen's bass in particular gave much of the material a rhythmic swing that helped it stand apart from traditional folk, as did original material based around images of nature: rain, wind, leaves, the dawn, flowers, the country, and so on. The singing and songwriting betrayed a notable debt to Bert Jansch, though with a more whimsical bent that Janschusually allowed. Their greatest assets, certainly in terms of putting their own stamp on a sound that bore close resemblance to aspects of Pentangle (and, more distantly, the Incredible String Band), were the colors added by multi-instrumentalist Martin Jenkins' mandolin, flute, and violin. As progressive folk that was pastoral in mood and not quite folk-rock, it was pleasant but ultimately not as distinguished or interesting as their unavoidable reference point, Pentangle. The Pentanglecomparisons would if anything multiply when they added a female vocalist, Polly Bolton, for their next two albums. AMG.

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