“If you were Black, you played blues or soul music … I wanted to play folk music.”

Cleveland Francis’ ’70s folk recordings have been released in a new anthology, called Beyond The Willow Tree, by Forager Records.

Whilst studying at Virginia’s College Of William & Mary, Francis became enamoured with folk music, exploring the work of musicians like Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan.

“If you were Black, you played blues or soul music … I wanted to play folk music,” he recalls.

Beyond The Willow Tree features his 1970 self-released debut album, as well as previously unreleased demos and covers.

It follows the label’s release of Roberta Vandervort & Sally Townes — one of our favourite records from February.

Purchase a copy of Beyond The Willow Tree from Bandcamp, and check out the artwork and tracklist below.

Tracklist:

2. Little Green Apples

3. Early Morning Rain

4. When I’m Sixty Four

5. Hot Sun

6. Hey Jude

7. Just Think About It For A While

8. Both Sides Now

9. Rain

10. Time

11. Getting Ready For Tomorrow

12. With God On Our Side

13. What’s Wrong With The World

14. Ballad of Martin Luther King

15. Change

16. It’s Got To Get Better

17. Hot Sun (demo)

18. Early Morning Rain (demo)

19. Summertime

20. Just Think About It For A While (demo)

21. The Willow Tree (demo)