Mellow Candle (folk rock, prog folk / Ireland)

Mellow Candle was an Irish progressive folk rock band of the 70s. The members were also unusually young, Clodagh Simonds being only 15 and Alison Bools (later O'Donnell) and Maria White 16, and still at school, at the time of their first single, "Feelin' High", released in 1968 on Simon Napier-Bell's SNB Records. Though sometimes compared to Renaissance, Pentangle, and Fairport Convention, Mellow Candle had a distinctive sound driven by the interweaving harmonies of singers Clodagh Simonds and Alison Williams, the melodic bass playing of Frank Boylan, and original songwriting. 


By 1972, the lineup had expanded to include Dave Williams on guitar, Frank Boylan on bass, and William Murray on drums. 
With this lineup in place, the band released their only album, Swaddling Songs (Deram Records), which was commercially unsuccessful at the time. Over the years, however, the lone album by the band has received considerable critical acclaim and original vinyl copies are now very valuable. Boylan was later replaced by Steve Borrill (ex-Spirogyra), but shortly afterwards the band split up.



Years active 1965–1973


Personnel:

Clodagh Simonds – lead vocals, backing vocals, piano, harpsichord, mellotron
Alison Williams – lead vocals, backing vocals
David Williams – guitar, backing vocals
Frank Boylan – bass guitar, backing vocals
William Murray - drums, percussion



Silver Song:

The Poet and the Witch:

Discography:

Swaddling Songs (the only studio album released in December 1971):


Track listing:

"Heaven Heath" (Alison Williams) – 3:00
"Sheep Season" (Clodagh Simonds, A. Williams, David Williams) – 5:01
"Silversong" (Simonds) – 4:26
"The Poet and the Witch" (Simonds) – 2:51
"Messenger Birds" (A. Williams) – 3:38
"Dan the Wing" (Simonds) – 2:45
"Reverend Sisters" (Simonds) – 4:21
"Break Your Token" (Simonds) – 2:27
"Buy or Beware" (D. Williams) – 3:04
"Vile Excesses" (D. Williams, William Murray) – 3:14
"Lonely Man" (Simonds) – 4:30
"Boulders on My Grave" (Simonds) – 3:40

Bonus tracks:

The CD re-issue includes the following as bonus tracks: 
"Feeling High" (Simonds) – 2:23
"Tea with the Sun" (Simonds) – 3:18
(These tracks were the original single and B-side released by the young band in 1968.)






More info: http://www.janetrecords.com/mc/