Sally Free & Easy

JON-MARK's enviable skills as a musician are familiar to many due to his leadership of the much-loved Mark-Almond band during the 1970s. Less familiar is his early work as an itinerant folk guitarist and session player in the mid-1960s, the recorded evidence of which expertly showcases a natural and prescient talent. Top producer Shel Talmy signed the guitarist in 1964 whilst he was making a name as Marianne Faithfull's accompanist, and prepared a full-length acoustic album, scheduled for release in the autumn of 1965. It remained unreleased until now. Firmly in the mould of contemporary progressive folk acts like Davy Graham and Bert Jansch, the playlist not only demonstrates Mark's dexterity as an instrumentalist, writer and interpreter, it also features one of the earliest uses of sitar on a British production, upon the title cut.