Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Eventually you come face to face with what you have achieved, and you see the greatness that others have known for a long time, that the selfless act of promotion in others leads to a far great spiritual richness than can ever be realised; and after 42 years at the helm of Fellside Recordings it would be perhaps considered time for the company and artists to look back on all that has accomplished and smile at the triumph of the endeavour.
After 42 years and over 600 albums released, the Destination is arguably clear, the thought of the journey being one of every onward, always one step forward in the direction you see fit, perhaps becomes one of purpose and the target found, anything after this point is to be looked as being a bonus, to have a measure of light come forth from the outstanding duo of Paul and Linda Adams.
To take stock of this theoretical but always ever onward Destination search, there is only one way to celebrate such a feat and in Fellside Recordings 1976-2018, the three C.D.s mark the end of an era, and yet with so much beauty having been given a home for so long, and with the weight of Folk music being written in absolute abundance, this perhaps is a temporary slow-down, the Folk bus after all never stops travelling and even for Fellside the Destination is never one to finally reach.
Across the decades, so many artists, so much music and pleasure, and even if the time has come to flag down the bus in this part of the world, what Fellside have given to Folk is nothing short of impressive and in over 60 tracks to weave through, to live in the memory and the grandeur of the aural spectacle, this is indeed an impressive collection to have in any Folk lover’s collection.
With artists such as Terry Docherty, Jolly Jack, Ian Bruce, Ian Walker, Marilyn Middleton-Pollock, Bram Taylor, The Hut People, Ewan McLennan, Elbow Jane and Greg Russell and Ciaran Algar all being promoted and celebrated within the three C.D. set, this is one journey that if the Destination be truly final, then the journey was marvellously consuming, the miles driven worth every moment.
A great reminder of what has been, for British Folk music, there really can have been none finer than Fellside Records.
Ian D. Hall