Moths

Formed by students enrolled at Hull University in England, The Moths captured their performances during an impromptu session granted on June 23, 1970, inside the school’s theater building. Ten songs resulted, consisting chiefly of direct renditions drawn from leading and lesser-known folk and folk-rock songwriters active at the time, with Bert Jansch featured most prominently through four selections and further material supplied by Bob Dylan, Tim Buckley, Clive Palmer, and David Ackles. John Ellis, one of the group’s singer-guitarists, added two original pieces. The ensemble performed with adequate skill yet offered little that distinguished them from their sources, applying a measured British inflection even to the American compositions while flute and bongos augmented the guitars and bass. Roughly a dozen copies were pressed at the time, though Kissing Spell later included the recordings on the 1994 compact disc Heron's Daughter.