When psychedelia had run its course in Britain at the end of the 60s, the predominant trend was to get hairier and heavier and more long-winded. Many musicians, however, were still hung up on the trappings of psychedelia's home-grown strain, having found a musical home in its mournful evocations of Victoriana, its village green gentility and its nods to the pleasures of suburbia. They wanted to carry on using woodwinds, cellos and melancholic melodies. As the advent of the singer-songwriter offered another possible avenue for these refuseniks, a new brand of pop was discernible - the English Baroque sound. A definitive collection of English Baroque, this compilation includes familiar classics like Colin Blunstone's Say 'You Don't Mind' and Honeybus' 'I Can't Let Maggie Go', as well Vigrass and Osborne's original recording of the Justin Hayward hit 'Forever Autumn' and master of the observational, homespun pop Clifford T Ward's 'Coathanger'. In-demand rarities include Jon Plum's gothic tale 'Alice', Mike Batt's exquisite 'Fading Yellow' and Bombadil's 'When The City Sleeps', a rare Barclay James Harvest spin-off single. " Compiled and annotated by Bob Stanley.