We Can Swing Together

by Bruce EderLindisfarne are rapidly becoming successors to the Who as the most overly anthologized of all British groups, which is pretty amazing, since the group's success was limited mostly to England, and pretty much to a handful of singles. Although they don't make it all that clear here, the contents of this 16-song CD are confined to sides that Lindisfarne owns itself, meaning that "Fog on the Tyne," and "Meet Me on the Corner," are all later recordings, not the original Charisma Records sides from the early 1970s -- not that this is too important, as the various reformed/re-organized versions of the group knew how to do those songs perfectly well. "Meet Me on the Corner," "Lady Eleanor," "All Fall Down," and "Fog on the Tyne," are live performances from the late 1970s, while "Run for Home" is the original studio recording that came close to being a hit in America. Of course, since this is "the best of Lindisfarne" from that standpoint, it starts with "When Friday Comes" and "Run for Home," and arrives ten songs later on "Meet Me on the Corner" and "Fog on the Tyne," the reverse of the history. The notes are thorough, delving into the group's convoluted history and its survival of the death of co-founder and principal songwriter Alan Hull. The sound is excellent throughout, though the live ambience on some of the songs doesn't necessarily translate perfectly to the audio format. It is a nicely comprehensive collection, covering all the bases in a manner blissfully dismissive of their actual place in history, and at a surprisingly low price.