Shide & Acorn - Princess of the Island (Reissue) (1968-78/1994)

British Folk group, late 1960s to early 1970s.

Originally known as FOEHAMMER and later PEPPERMINT SNUFF OF WIGHT (and later simply WIGHT) SHIDE & ACORN were, despite their bevy of names, a short-lived folk rock group from the Isle of Wight who formed, renamed several times and disbanded all in the space of about two years in the early seventies. The band released only one studio album, the 1971 independent label offering 'Under the Tree'.

The band's music is rather light fare, featuring female vocals courtesy of Joy Perkis, twangy and mellow psych guitar and rambling references to a Tolkienesque world of peace, love and fantasy.

SHIDE & ACORN's catalog grew in the late seventies thanks to the discovery and release by Kissing Spell of two CDs of various early, unreleased tracks, most of which were recorded prior to 'Under the Tree' while the band was still known as FOEHAMMER or WIGHT. Guitarist Mike Jolliffe, Mick Cuffe and Jerry Cahill would go on to form TRANS LOVE and later DANCER, another Isle of Wight band who recorded and quickly disappeared with their single offering being released nearly thirty years later, also on the Kissing Spell label. Jolliffe also appeared with the URBANITES and performs occasionally today as part of regional act the ACCELERATORS. Perkis left the music business altogether.

SHIDE & ACORN are an admittedly obscure example of early seventies acid folk whose reach was confined largely to the native island until the reissue of nearly all their old recordings in the late nineties.