Newsgroup: it.arti.musica.rock.progressive
Titolo: Informazioni sui live

Due sono le domande di cui abbisogno risposta: intorno al 1994 uscì in
edicola una serie di CD live dedicata ai gruppi più famosi degli anni
'60/'70/'80 edita dalla Fabbri Editori. Una delle uscite era dedicata ai
Soft Machine ed il titolo dato dalla Fabbri al concerto è "Moon in june". Io
l'ho trovato qualche anno fa su una bancarella di un mercatino delle pulci,
ma la copertina interna è rovinatissima, tanto da rendere illegibile la data
ed il luogo del concerto. Visto che sicuramente molti di voi avranno questo
CD c'è qualcuno così gentile da darmi questa informazione?
Sempre su un mercatino delle pulciazze, ma in differente luogo e,
soprattutto, in differente data (questo è successo un paio di settimane fa)
ho comprato "Live in London 1974" dei Barclay James Harvest, gruppo che
viene citato pochissimo anche su questo ng (non vi dico fuori).
Contrariamente alla raccolta "Mockingbird" che circola ultimamente a 5 euro
(li vale tutti) questo CD mi ha quasi entusiasmato. Il problema è che dei
BJH se ne parla pochissimo, e i loro dischi sono invece una quantità: chi mi
consiglia qualcosa? Chi replicherà ai consigli potrebbe essere, per una
volta, moderato nei suoi giudizi (quindi niente merda colante, purghe
irruenti, divinità svolazzanti, orgasmi multipli ed allaganti, ecc...)? E'
un piccolo favore che vi chiedo...
Roberto

 consiglia qualcosa?
Guarda, in effeti i BJH sono rock sinfonico piuttosto leggerino, quasi
annacquato, ma non si può negare un certo fascino a molte loro
composizioni. In questo periodo mi piacciono molto Octoberon , che e'
un disco sinfonico piu' riuscito di altri, e Once Again.
Poi vale quanto dice il Joynson:
The roots of this band lie in the Oldham-based mid-sixties R&B groups,
The Blues Keepers, and Heart and Soul and The Wickeds. These merged
into a six-piece Blues Keepers which in 1966 became a four-piece. Then
after John Crowther, a local businessman, became their manager they
were installed in an 18th century farmhouse in Saddleworth Moor,
adopting the new name of Barclay James Harvest.
Their first single, Early Morning, was crisp, clear and harmonious. It
got quite a lot of airplay from John Peel at the time but didn't sell
in any quantities and is now quite hard to find. The follow-up,
Brother Thrush, was similar but had a fuller sound and a wider appeal.
However, in terms of sales, it fared no better than its predecessor.
Shortly after its release they met Robert John Godfrey, who helped
them assemble The Barclay James Harvest Orchestra. This basically
consisted of a loose knit group of classical music students who
accompanied the band at live concerts and on recordings.
Now signed to EMI's new progressive Harvest label the band recorded
its first album at the famous Abbey Road Studios. Their earlier simple
harmonies were now augmented by complex orchestral arrangements and
rock which had more cutting edge. The result was a fine album whose
highlights included the finale, Dark Now My Sky, Taking Some Time On
and Mother Dear, which was more in the style of their first two 45s.
Their follow-up album, Once Again, made more impact and included the
classic Mocking Bird. This was another exquisitely beautiful song and
was their best known recording from their early years. Harvest later
released a quadrophonic version of this album, which first time around
had bolstered their cult following.
Unfortunately their next effort, Barclay James Harvest And Other Short
Stories, did not continue this progression. Indeed the band let it be
known that they were not happy with the final product. Nonetheless it
still had some fine tracks, particularly Medicine Man, Song With No
Meaning and After The Day. By now though, the band were beginning to
get into financial difficulties as a result of their lack of
commercial success, the high cost of keeping an orchestra on the road
and mismanagement. They even returned from an European tour with their
equipment impounded as a result of a border dispute and unpaid by one
of their concert promoters.
The Baby James Harvest album, which had been hastily recorded with no
producer, was a real low point in their career. It met with poor
reviews and sales and led to them being dropped by EMI, who a few
weeks before its release had released a budget-priced compilation,
Early Morning Onwards, which is a very good introduction to their
earlier recordings. They were also involved in a bitter split with
their management.
Eventually they secured new management, got a recording contract with
Polydor and unable to afford the cost of a touring orchestra
reproduced the orchestral arrangements on their own instruments,
giving them a unique sound even in the progressive era when many bands
had a strong classical influence on their music. Their first album for
Polydor, Everyone Is Everybody Else, was greeted to critical acclaim.
Indeed they built up a strong live following and capitalised on this
with the issue of a double live album in 1974. This effectively marked
the end of their orchestral period.
Their next album, Time Honored Ghosts, recorded in San Francisco, with
producer Elliott Maze, marked the start of a period of steady growth
in their popularity which continued well beyond the time frame of this
book. They never realised their full commercial potential in Britain
but went on to become enormously popular in Europe.
Robert John Godfrey issued a solo album in 1974 on the Charisma label
(CAS 1084) entitled Fall Of Hyperion which is becoming hard to find.
Recently there has been a falling out between Godfrey and the band
culminating in a court case from which neither side emerged
victorious.
--
Marco.
specchi...@virgilio.it
"I have my fears, but they do not have me"
Peter Gabriel 2002

 Thank you, Pierrot Lunaire.
Roberto

 Thank you, Pierrot Lunaire.
Sarei io? E perche'?


 Roberto
Io possiedo solo Gone Earth, e mi piace abbastanza; non so quanto valga il
mio consiglio, comunque. Ricordo però che Moroni inserì questo disco nei
listoni per niubbi, assieme a Other Short Stories e Everyone is everybody
else.
Spero di esserti stato utile.
ciao
wf

 Sarei io? E perche'?
E perchè no?! Io cito i Soft Machine, ti inserisco nella citazione,
trascendo la tua natura umana e ti inserisco nella storia del prog. Che
altro posso fare per dire che ti voglio bene?
Roberto

 wf
Caro ragazzo, sei la conferma che i niubbi sono il futuro del prog!
Beh, a dir la verità confermi quel poco che ho letto su di loro: in effetti
hai il loro meglio (o per lo meno ciò che viene considerato tale) , e poi
l'opinione niubbica mi interessa parecchio.
Roberto

 Il problema è che dei BJH se ne parla pochissimo, e i loro dischi sono
invece > una quantità
http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Stadium/6236/bjh-home.htm
qui c'è un bel sito sulla band in oggetto
wf

 Roberto
mi fa piacere, grazie
wf

 altro posso fare per dire che ti voglio bene?
*Omosessualita', cosa ci vuoi fare?* (cit. Elio ELST) ;-))

 wrote:
Vi consiglio *caldamente* un progetto legato ai BJH chiamato
Mandalaband.
http://www.knowledge.co.uk/xxx/cat/rohl/mandala.htm
M.
http://www.fromgenesis.net
http://gnosis2000.net/ratermatthias.htm
 

 *Omosessualita', cosa ci vuoi fare?* (cit. Elio ELST) ;-))
"Mi piace quel ragazzo perchиииииии, stт diventando forse ricchioneeeee!"
Roberto

Mi avete risparmiato la fatica di una ricerca, grazie! Comunque ero il
VOSTRO parere quello che mi interessava.
Roberto


 post-weberniani?
Sono una nuova variante dei Wurstel? ;-)
Scherzo, ma io in materia di classica moderna sono parecchio niubbo.
