Across three CDs and 79 tracks, Gathered From Coincidence examines every aspect of the British mid-Sixties folk-pop boom, incorporating Dylan-inspired singer/songwriters with a commercial pop sensibility, the more introverted beat groups, Marianne Faithfull-inspired female chanteuses and R&B hoodlums in newly-pensive mode, all bound together by the 6 or 12-string thrum or Rickenbacker clang.

Prior to the early Sixties, folk and pop musicians inhabited largely different worlds. There were folk records that had become crossover pop hits, but in essence there was little or no common ground in terms of instrumentation or ideologies.

But in the wake of the British beat/R&B boom (or, if you were in America, the British Invasion) and the emergence of Bob Dylan, such barriers were broken down for good. With British acts making music that, for the first time in nascent pop history, matched the quality of their American counterparts, suddenly everything was grist to the mill and musical cross-pollination was almost de rigueur. Dylan and The Beatles impacted heavily on each other, while The Byrds were pitched midway between the two – although their combination of jingle-jangle guitars and world-weary harmonies was heavily indebted to folk-pop pioneers The Searchers.

By 1965, the folk-pop nexus was at its glorious peak. That was particularly true in Britain, which saw many variations on the basic pop-meets-folk theme (in America, folk-rock had a relatively homogenised sound).

Across three CDs and 79 tracks, Gathered From Coincidence examines every aspect of the British mid-Sixties folk-pop boom, incorporating Dylan-inspired singer/songwriters with a commercial pop sensibility, the more introverted beat groups, Marianne Faithfull-inspired female chanteuses and R&B hoodlums in newly-pensive mode, all bound together by the 6 or 12-string thrum or Rickenbacker clang.

Ranging from massive chart hits to records that barely sold in double figures, Gathered From Coincidence includes the true believers, the musical dilettantes, the young wannabes, the cash-in merchants, the old guard looking to resuscitate a fading career and, of course, the earnest protest singers – and, just for good measure, we’ve also rounded up a handful of folksploitation discs from those positioning themselves for roughly three minutes as anti-protest protesters.

With a significant number of tracks making their CD debut and even a couple of previously unissued cuts, Gathered From Coincidence is a fascinating, even revelatory overview of a still largely-neglected stitch in pop’s unending tapestry: that curiously downbeat two-year period between the dying embers of the beat boom’s irresistible exuberance and the arrival of psychedelia’s swirling multi-coloured hues.

DISC ONE:

1. TAKE ME FOR WHAT I’M WORTH – The Searchers
2. MORNING’S CALLING - Peter & Gordon
3. COME AND STAY WITH ME – Marianne Faithfull
4. FOLLOW ME - The Tony Jackson Group
5. IT’S YOUR TURN TO CRY – Terry Kennedy & John Carter
6. REJECTED - The Fenmen
7. I LOVE HER STILL – The Poets
8. FROSTED PANES – The Kytes
9. GOLDEN LIGHTS - Twinkle
10. I WON’T BE ROUND YOU ANYMORE – The Chosen Few
11. ABSOLUTELY SWEET MARIE – The Factotums
12. HEY WOMAN - Kenny Bernard
13. HEY MAMA YOU’VE BEEN ON MY MIND - The Caravelles
14. DON’T GO AWAY – The Zombies
15. NOW THE SUN HAS GONE – The Beatmen
16. THINK ABOUT THE TIMES – The Times
17. PENNY ARCADE - Michael Leslie
18. BEYOND THE RISIN’ SUN – Marc Bolan
19. TILL YOU SAY YOU’LL BE MINE – Olivia Newton-John
20. GO AWAY - The Mirage featuring Graham Nash
21. IT’S ALL LEADING UP TO SATURDAY NIGHT – The Knack *
22. YOU’VE COOLED - Five Steps Beyond
23. THERE’S JUST NO PLEASING YOU – The Epics
24. SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS – Gullivers People
25. MR. SMITH - The Foresters
26. IT’S ALL OVER NOW BABY BLUE –
The Cops ‘N Robbers

* PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

DISC TWO:

1. LIKE A ROLLING STONE - The Other Side
2. WELL, HOW DOES IT FEEL? – Barbara Ruskin
3. LOVERS OF THE WORLD UNITE – David & Jonathan
4. CATCH THE WIND - Donovan
5. AGE OF CORRUPTION - Alan Klein
6. BLESSED – Guy Darrell
7. THAT MAN’S GOT NO LUCK – Gary Benson
8. IT’S GOOD NEWS WEEK – Hedgehoppers Anonymous
9. BELLS - Dave Helling
10. VERY LAST DAY – The Hollies
11. SOMETIME NEVER DAY – Bill Fay
12. DON’T YOU CRY OVER ME - The Slade Brothers
13. WHEN THE SHIP COMES IN - Folk Blues Incorporated
14. WAKE UP MY MIND – The Uglys
15. PLEASE DON’T SWITCH OFF THE MOON MR. SPACEMAN - Nicholas Hammond
16. THE PROTEST SINGER - Micha
17. SQUARE PEG - The Four Pennies
18. GOTTA MAKE THEIR FUTURE BRIGHT - First Gear
19. THE BELLS OF RHYMNEY - Murray Head
20. DON’T TALK TO ME OF PROTEST - Jonathan King
21. DEJECTION (DEMO VERSION) - Five’s Company
22. THAT’S NOT MY KIND OF LOVE - Mick Softley with The Summer Suns
23. DON’T SING NO SAD SONGS FOR ME – The Sorrows
24. RATTLE OF A TOY - Tommy Yates
25. TALKIN’ DENMARK STREET – John Cassidie *
26. THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN’ – The Ian Campbell Folk Group

* PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

DISC THREE:

1. YOU’VE GOT TO HIDE YOUR LOVE AWAY – The Silkie
2. WAIT TILL THE SUMMER COMES ALONG – The Kinks
3. DON’T MAKE PROMISES (YOU CAN’T KEEP) - Peter Nelson
4. CHERYL’S GOING HOME – Adam Faith
5. IF YOU GOTTA GO, GO NOW – Manfred Mann
6. I’M LOOKING THROUGH YOU – Davey Graham
7. NIGHT COMES DOWN - Jon-Mark
8. EARLY MORNING RAIN – The Settlers
9. SADNESS HIDES THE SUN - Greta Ann
10. THANK YOU BOY - Dana Gillespie
11. LOVE MINUS ZERO NO LIMIT – The Compromise
12. DAY MUST COME - Justin Hayward
13. THE CLOWN IN THE ALLEY - Meic Stevens
14. I’M ON YOUR SIDE - The Frugal Sound
15. LONDON TOWN - The Pretty Things
16. PICKING UP THE SUNSHINE (AKA BERT’S BLUES) - Beverley
17. CORRINA CORRINA - The Nightshift
18. LISTEN PEOPLE – Sarah Jane
19. FOUR STRONG WINDS - Chad & Jeremy
20. SO SAD (TO WATCH GOOD LOVE GO BAD) - The Greenbeats
21. DON’T THINK TWICE IT’S ALRIGHT – Heinz with the Wild Boys
22. TODAY IS THE HIGHWAY – The Ramblers
23. LOVE IS STRANGE - The Overlanders
24. SUBTERRANEAN HOMESICK BLUES – Chas McDevitt & Shirley Douglas
25. MARY ANNE – The Shadows
26. THE CARNIVAL IS OVER – The Seekers ​