June Tabor – Freedom and Rain

The folk boom of the sixties carried on into the seventies, but became a lot more commercial in the process.  The three big female folk stars in the UK were Sandy Denny, Maddy Prior and June Tabor.  Of the three I think most people would agree that the one with the best voice was June Tabor.  She also had a seriousness of purpose and a sort of honesty.  Whereas Sandy Denny worked with Fairport Convention and  Maddy Prior fronted Steel Eye Span, June Tabor always seemed more concerned with expressing herself and never really went in for the compromises attendant on being part of a group.  Consequently she was the darling of the critics and didn’t sell that many records.