Golden Vanity is a 1976 folk album by Martin Simpson

Martin Simpson

Martin Simpson is an English folk singer, guitarist and songwriter. His music reflects a wide variety of influences and styles, rooted in the British Isles, America and beyond.-Biography:...

. It was recorded and produced at Leader Sound by Bill Leader

Bill Leader

Bill Leader is an English recording engineer and record producer. He is particularly associated with the British folk music revival of the 1960s and 1970s, producing records by Davey Graham, Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, Frank Harte and others....

, and was originally issued by Trailer Records in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, catalogue number LER 2099. The sleeve includes notes by Martin Simpson

Martin Simpson

Martin Simpson is an English folk singer, guitarist and songwriter. His music reflects a wide variety of influences and styles, rooted in the British Isles, America and beyond.-Biography:...

 and Barbara Dickson

Barbara Dickson

Barbara Ruth Dickson, OBE is a Scottish singer whose hits include "I Know Him So Well" and "January February"...

. Golden Vanity was Simpson's first album. It includes British and American songs and tunes, mostly traditional in origin. The title track is the traditional ballad "Golden Vanity

The Sweet Trinity

"The Sweet Trinity", also known as "The Golden Vanity" or "The Golden Willow Tree", is Child Ballad 286. The first surviving version, about 1635, was "Sir Walter Raleigh Sailing In The Lowlands "The Sweet Trinity", also known as "The Golden Vanity" or "The Golden Willow Tree", is Child Ballad 286....

".

Track listing

All tracks Traditional; arranged by Martin Simpson; except where indicated

1. "Beaulampkin"
2. "Snowdrop" (Kirk McGhee)
3. "Bitter Withy
   The Bitter Withy
   The Bitter Withy is an English folk song reflecting an unusual and apocryphal vernacular idea of Jesus Christ. The withy of the title is the Willow and song gives an explanation as to why the willow tree rots from the centre out, rather than the outside in...
   
   "
4. "Cindy"
5. "Golden Vanity
   The Sweet Trinity
   "The Sweet Trinity", also known as "The Golden Vanity" or "The Golden Willow Tree", is Child Ballad 286. The first surviving version, about 1635, was "Sir Walter Raleigh Sailing In The Lowlands "The Sweet Trinity", also known as "The Golden Vanity" or "The Golden Willow Tree", is Child Ballad 286....
   
   "
6. "Soldier's Joy"
7. "Pretty Polly
   Pretty Polly (ballad)
   "Pretty Polly", "The Gosport Tragedy" or "The Cruel Ship's Carpenter" is a traditional English-language folk song found in the British Isles, Canada, and the Appalachian region of North America, among other places....
   
   "
8. "Love Minus Zero/No Limit
   Love Minus Zero/No Limit
   "Love Minus Zero/No Limit" is a song written by Bob Dylan for his fifth studio album Bringing It All Back Home, released in 1965 . The song was originally written as a tribute to Dylan's future wife Sara Lowndes...
   
   " (Bob Dylan
   Bob Dylan
   Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
   
   )
9. "George Campbell"
10. "Gotta Little Home To Go To"
11. "Louisiana 1927" (Randy Newman
    Randy Newman
    Randall Stuart "Randy" Newman is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist who is known for his mordant pop songs and for film scores....
    
    )

Personnel

• Martin Simpson
  Martin Simpson
  Martin Simpson is an English folk singer, guitarist and songwriter. His music reflects a wide variety of influences and styles, rooted in the British Isles, America and beyond.-Biography:...
  
  - Banjo, guitar, vocals

with

• Al Schmidt - Harmonicas
• Peter Thompson - Bass guitar