John Boland 2006-07-31

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

I'm writing this mostly for younger people and other people who may not know about Ian and Sylvia. If you've found this page consider it a very fortunate event in that you are on the thresh-hold of a very musically satisfying experience for yourself! Ian and Sylvia are both 5 Star performers separately----and together, I suppose I'd have to give 'em 10 stars!

One day I was in my dorm room at college in the 60's. I was "showing off" one of my operatic recordings to a young lady. On one of my recordings a tenor hit a high "C" and I said to her with some arrogance, "See, your folk singers can't do that!" The young lady smiled and said, "Well, maybe not but here's my favorite group and I like them just as much or even better than your opera arias." With that, we changed the record from opera to Ian and Sylvia. After one song I was "hooked" as we clapped our hands to the rhythm and melody of these two soaring voices, one coming from the left channel speaker and the other the right channel speaker, singing their hearts out with sincerity, dignity, and beauty.

Luckily there are still many Ian and Sylvia Albums out there on CD so you can buy any one of the albums and take a listen. I think you will be "hooked" on them as I was when I first heard them. Give Ian and Sylvia a listen---you won't be sorry! Email:boland7214@aol.

Sheila Bloom 2006-03-03

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

I love their albums. I'm glad someone mentioned John "Daddy Bones" Herald who was a fantastic guitar player. He killed himself last year. And Sylvia wrote a very touching notice on John's website which I thought was special.

This group was one of the best of the sixties.

2003-05-29

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

A powerful and beautiful CD.

Especially their version of Sylvia's "You were on my mind." Ian, lead guitar; John Herald, 2nd guitar; Sylvia, autoharp; Eric Weissberg, bass. The guitar work and her autoharp come through very well.

I think that their powerful version of Ian's "Some Day Soon" is very good. Much better than the sappy, lugubrious versions by others.

Also like the great sea chanteys and the fun "Captain Woodstock's Courtship."

L. Platt 2002-09-30

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

Reviewer D. Elayne Warren must have gotten a bad copy of this CD, by far Ian & Sylvia's best acoustic work. Because I'm listening to it on iTunes through a Mac G4 and Sony headphones, and the quality is so good it's scary, just what we expected from the Solomon brothers in the 1960s. "Northern Journey" is worth buying just to hear Ian & Sylvia's soaring a capella harmonies on "Texas Rangers" and John Herald's virtuouso guitar accompaniment on "Moonshine Can" and "Little Beggarman," but especially on "Four Rode by." Many critics believe it to be Herald's finest work, and who am I to disagree? Buy it. You'll like it.

L. Platt 2002-09-29

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

This is, in my opinion, Ian & Sylvia's best album, recorded at the apogee of their musical career (I'd rate "Early Morning Rain" as their second best). It's worth buying just to hear the virtuouso guitar backup by John Herald (formerly with the Greenbriar Boys) on "Four Rode By" and "Moonshine Can." His runs on "Four Rode By," flat picked, are absolutely, positively spellbinding. I put in on with the headphones, and listen to it again and again. Buy it!