It has to be one of the most popular folk albums of all time and if you’re going to own one Nic Jones album then it has to be Penguin Eggs. Penguin Eggs is Vinyl180‘s first release from the Topic Records archives on lovely 180g vinyl with a newly designed inner bag with the initial 500 copies pressed on WHITE vinyl.
Penguin Eggs was released in 1980 on Topic Records and a glance through the Topic catalogue around this time reveals some diamond releases including Dick Gaughan‘s Handful of Earth (1981) as well as Martin Simpson‘s (currently our Artist of the Month) first solo album for Topic: Grinning in Your Face (1983).
Penguin Eggs was named Folk Album Of The Year by both Melody Maker and Folk Roots and voted in 2001 by BBC Folk Show Mike Harding listeners as the 2nd ‘Best Folk Album Of All Time’.
Nic’s first studio album was Ballads and Songs (1970), before which he played in The Halliard. In JP Bean’s ‘Singing from the Floor – A History of British Folk Clubs‘ folk singer John Tams recalls how Nic went from being a shadowy figure at the back who ‘got on with it’ to one of the best folk singer guitarists of the time. It wasn’t until he left the Halliard that others became aware of his great solo work. Tam’s says “Martin Carthy was an icon and now it was like The War of The Worlds, Carthy and Jones, and their approaches were completely different.”
Nic was also a big fan of Bert Jansch, Bean interviewed Nic for his book in which he told him “Bert Jansch, he was God to me”, going on to explain how he loved the space he left between the notes. He wasn’t a lover of flashy guitarists, a sentiment I know I’m not alone in sharing.
While Nic Jones may have Jansch at the top of his list, I don’t place a separation between Jones, Carthy, Gaughan, Jansch… My first exposure to their music was something of an epiphany and I guess one of the main reasons I’m sat here running Folk Radio UK.
Penguin Eggs is an album that has endured and influenced many artists over the last 37 years, both in and outside the folk world. The growth in vinyl sales suggests to me that many people want to cherish the music they listen to, something the digital world continues to fall short on. So now here’s an opportunity to own a real folk gem.
Order Penguin Eggs now via Vinyl180
Penguin Eggs Vinyl Giveaway*
To celebrate the release (there are more folk classics to come from Vinyl 180) we have two vinyl albums to Giveaway.
To enter simply email us here: info@klofmag.com. In your email include “Vinyl180” in the subject along with your name and address in the body of the message. Last entries by 10 am on 22 September 2017.
*Terms & conditions apply:
- Only one entry per household.
- Winners will be chosen by random on 22 Sept. 2017.
- The winners will be informed soon thereafter.
- Your information will not be shared with any other parties other than the two winner’s address details which will be passed on to Vinyl180 for delivery of the album.
Folk Radio UK’s full terms can be found here.