Peacock Lady

"Peacock Lady" was written by Shelagh McDonald and first released on her debut, the album titled simply Album (B&C Records CAS 1019, 1970), where Mainly Norfolk lists it as side two, track eight, 3:29; Toppermost calls it the opening track, which is unresolved, and we prefer the fuller Mainly Norfolk tracklist. It was not a single. Mainly Norfolk dates it to a recording on June 27, 1970 in London, at the same session as the first "Ophelia's Song", though its header says the album was recorded in three sessions between February and March 1970; the studio is not named. Sandy Roberton produced for September Productions, with Roger Quested and Vic Gamm as engineers, and Robert Kirby arranged it, with the oboe to the fore.

McDonald sang and played guitar on the album, and the players were Keith Christmas, Andy Roberts, Gerry Conway, Roger Powell, Pat Donaldson, Mike Evans, Tristan Fry, Gordon Huntley, Keith Tippett and Ian Whiteman; which of them play on this song is not recorded, and Toppermost also names Richard Thompson, Dave Mattacks and Danny Thompson among the album's players. The Toppermost author calls her vocals and timing absolutely gorgeous and says Kirby's arrangements are first class. We found no word from McDonald on what the song is about.

The studio take is the 3:29 recording on the 2000 Mooncrest CD, the 2005 Sanctuary compilation Let No Man Steal Your Thyme and the compilation Early Morning Hush. A separate 3:16 live recording from London in February 1971 exists on MusicBrainz; our Topic channel upload matches the studio length, not the live one. We found no chart history, video or covers.