Notwithstanding one or two isolated exceptions, it wasn't until the mid-'60s that independent female voices really began to be heard within the music industry. Over the course of four hours and sixty tracks, Milk Of The Tree focuses on the music made in the late '60s and early '70s in both Britain and North America by either female solo artists or acts with featured female vocalists. Along the way, we encounter San Franciscan psychedelia, LA folk rock, Swinging London pop-folk, electric folk, progressive folk and even folk club folk as well as (of course) a plethora of singer- songwriters (including Various ladies of the Canyon) from the movement's golden age. As well as featuring most of the leading figures from both sides of the Atlantic, Milk Of The Tree includes many performers who received little attention at the time but who now have a cult reputation amongst collectors. A significant number of tracks were unreleased at the time, while the set also includes the first-ever appearance by pioneering female rock duo Emily Muff, two American girls who were based in England during the period in question but failed to land a recording contract. With a 44-page booklet crammed with rare photos and details of the Various acts featured, the clambox-housed Milk Of The Tree is not only a fascinating social document but, we hope, a hugely entertaining snapshot of a particular time, place and frame of mind that produced some enduring, spellbinding music.
Levy: 1
1. Do You Believe - Melanie
2. Blessed Are... - Joan Baez
3. Light Flight - the Pentangle
4. Foolish Seasons - Dana Gillespie
5. Someone to Talk My Troubles to - Judy Roderick
6. Auntie Aviator - John & Beverley Martyn
7. Flying Away - the Serpent Power
8. It Could Have Been Better - Joan Armatrading
9. Morning Morgantown - Jude
10. If Not By Fire - Mandy More
11. Upstairs By a Chinese Lamp - Laura Nyro
12. I Thought I Knew the Answers - Susan Pillsbury
13. Give Her the Day - Jaki Whitren
14. By the Sea - Wendy & Bonnie
15. Come and Stay with Me - Jackie Deshannon
16. Something Better - Marianne Faithfull
17. An Everyday Consumption Song - Spirogyra
18. The Milk of the Tree - Polly Niles
19. Chelsea Girls - Nico
20. Reverie for Roslyn - Mary-Anne
Levy: 2
1. Different Drum - Stone Poneys Featuring Linda Ronstadt
2. Please (MK. II) - Eclection
3. Five of Us - Jade
4. Who Has Seen the Wind? - the Simon Sisters
5. Jesus Was a Cross Maker - Judee Sill
6. January's Snows - the Woods Band
7. In My Loneliness - Trader Horne
8. Society's Child (Baby I've Been Thinking) - Janis Ian
9. I Was - Lily & Maria
10. Feeling High - Mellow Candle
11. Tomorrow Come Someday - Tomorrow Come Someday
12. My Silks and Fine Array - Julie Covington
13. Red Wine and Promises - Norma Waterson
14. Mr Fox - Mr Fox
15. The Dream Tree - Buffy Sainte-Marie
16. Munching the Candy - the Academy Featuring Polly Perkins
17. Late November - Sandy Denny
18. Tomorrow Your Sorrow - Hendrickson Road House
19. Mornings - Chuck & Mary Perrin
20. Mr Rubin - Lesley Duncan
Levy: 3
1. Come Into the Garden - Chimera
2. Early Morning Blues and Greens - Diane Hildebrand
3. Rainy Day - Susan Christie
4. Autumn Lullaby - Bridget St. John
5. Ballad (Of the Big Girl Now and a Mere Boy) - Principal Edwards Magic Theatre
6. Windy - Ruthann Friedman
7. The Lonely - Design
8. Mirage - Shelagh McDonald
9. Aderyn Llwyd (Sparrow) - Mary Hopkin
10. Love Song - Vashti Bunyan
11. Winter's Going - Bonnie Dobson
12. Sandman's Song - Anne Briggs
13. When Will I Be Loved - the Bunch
14. The Lady and the Well - Carolanne Pegg
15. Think of Rain - Margo Guryan
16. Story of Our Time/Beneath This Sky - Ithaca
17. Murdoch - Trees
18. Banquet on the Water - the Sallyangie
19. Pass the Night - Emily Muff
20. Morgan the Pirate - Mimi Fariña
