Gene And Francesca

Husband and wife Gene and Francesca Raskin sing quietly in harmony to the sound of a small guitar (and occasional Fred Hellerman's accordian). This, the sleeve notes tell us, they used to do on the deck of their yacht 'Raven' when anchored offshore. It's unashamedly 'coffee lounge' folk rather than the trad stuff, much as Nina and Frederik made popular in Europe at about the same time: but it's beautifully crafted and - as with the opening track - often great fun. Gene's sleeve notes comment: '...we must express our gratitude to Elektra, whose chief, Jac Holzman, follows the most delightful principle of patting the artists heads, bringing them coffee, and letting them do as they please'. A stereo version was supposed to have been issued as EKL 144-X according to the sleeve of the 'Around the World in Stereo' sampler, which includes a stereo version of 'Il est Petit', but I haven't come across any trace of it. Gene was the writer of 'Those Were the Days', which was a hit for Mary Hopkin in the early days of Apple Records.