Just Another Diamond Day

Released

As an album of songs written during times of travel and change, Just Another Diamond Day couldn’t be more unprepossessing. Having roamed across Britain, to Scotland, in horse and carriage, to get to folk singer Donovan’s proposed musical commune, Bunyan and companions arrived to discover he’d abandoned the idea. But Bunyan had been writing songs on the way – gentle, muted songs, sitting somewhere between everyday folk melodies, and lullabies for children – that, when recorded by Joe Boyd across three days, achieved a kind of hymnal purity. It’s partly in Bunyan’s voice, a whispery hum that’s as graceful as it is shy; the album’s other musicians, including members of Fairport Convention and Incredible String Band, support Bunyan’s finger-web guitar figures playfully, but without whimsy. The album disappeared when released in 1970, but slowly accrued legend. It’s now a classic of its time – deservedly so.

Jon Dale

Suggestions
Astronauts cover

Astronauts

The Lilac Time
Designer cover

Designer

Aldous Harding
Willis Alan Ramsey cover

Willis Alan Ramsey

Willis Alan Ramsey
A Sky Record cover

A Sky Record

Damon & Naomi, Michio Kurihara
Ask Me No Questions cover

Ask Me No Questions

Bridget St. John
Ship to Shore cover

Ship to Shore

Richard Thompson
Midnight Cowboy cover

Midnight Cowboy

Various Artists
Scott 4 cover

Scott 4

Scott Walker