The Very Best of the Seekers

I was born in 1963, at the peak of the folk revival movement, and my very earliest memories of popular music include such folksy flourishes as tight vocal harmonies, ringing acoustic guitars, and lots of songs about love and justice.  So as soon as I popped this CD into the player I was transported back 50 years, becoming a little kid toddling around my mother’s kitchen hearing I’ll Never Find Another You on radio WSOO.

     

This CD includes other Seekers songs a late Baby Boomer is likely to recognize: A World of Our Own, Georgy Girl, and Red Rubber Ball.  But the special treat here is the folk and gospel standards that this Australian quartet made their own, ranging from Open up them Pearly Gates to We Shall not be Moved. 

 

Judith Durham does most of the lead vocal work on these tracks: deservedly so, because she has a warm mid-range voice that kicks into a lovely vibrato in the upper register.  Just listen to the wistful ache as she sings of lost love in The Carnival is Over.  Or check out her warbling vocal gymnastics singing backup on Sinner Man, which gives the already accusatory piece an edge of chilling menace. 

 

Enjoyable folk nostalgia for us oldsters; a recommendation for young fans of Adele seeking another distinctive female vocalist.