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"...Tear Down The Wall..."
Featuring albums by Stray, Jody Grind, Marsupilami,
Peter Bardens of Camel and Mick Farren of The Deviants from 1970
Featuring albums by Stray, Jody Grind, Marsupilami,
Peter Bardens of Camel and Mick Farren of The Deviants from 1970
For those of us who wouldn't know a Belgian 'Marsupilami' from a Mushrump 'Gryphon' or indeed a Marxist 'Humblebum' - thank God there's Cherry Red Records of the UK and their Satanically loony as a Buckled-Pentangle label offshoot – Esoteric Recordings.
Men of twisty beards and impeccable taste, ladies of dangerously short skirts and Laura Ashley Saleswoman of the Year Awards and paisley-trousered accountants who really should stop doing Peruvian dancing dust in the bijou toilet area - have put together the 3CD Mini Box Set that is "Let The Electric Children Play: The Underground Story Of Transatlantic Records 1968-1976".
It's the kind of barmy musical journey that will have your partner wondering why she married you - and as she listens over Sunday's Brisket to The Deviants rabbiting on about a "Metamorphosis Explosion" or CMU waffling omnipotent about a "Song From The 4th Era" (what happened to the other three you ask) worry that maybe the mercury that's been in your teeth all these years really does need to finally come out. It's all a bit mad and very eccentric and fantastically tear-down-the-barriers adventurous stuff - if you feel my planetary drift man. Let's get to the English Underground before the Eurocrats in Brussels tell us it’s the wrong shape and colour...
UK released Friday, 25 August 2017 - "Let The Electric Children Play: The Underground Story Of Transatlantic Records 1968-1976" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 32600 (Barcode 5013929470040) is a 39-Track 3CD Clamshell Box Set of Remasters that plays out as follows:
Disc 1 (77:31 minutes):
1. We Can Swing Together - ALAN HULL (non-album A-side of a December 1969 UK 7" single on Big Tree Records BIG 129, B-side is Track 8)
2. 11 B.S. - CIRCUS (from their 1969 UK debut LP "Circus" on Transatlantic Records TRA 207)
3. Midsummer Nights Happening - THE SALLYANGIE [with Mike & Sally Oldfield] (from their 1968 UK debut LP "Children Of The Sun" on Transatlantic Records TRA 176)
4. Light Flight - PENTANGLE (from their 1969 third UK LP "Basket Of Light" on Transatlantic Records TRA 205)
5. Billy The Monster - THE DEVIANTS (from their 1969 UK debut LP "The Deviants" on Transatlantic Records TRA 204)
6. Paint It Black - JODY GRIND (from their 1969 UK debut LP "One Step On" on Transatlantic Records TRA 210, a Rolling Stones cover)
7. Norwegian Wood - CIRCUS (from their 1969 UK debut LP "Circus" on Transatlantic Records TRA 207, a Beatles cover)
8. Obadiah's Grave - ALAN HULL (non-album B-side of a December 1969 UK 7" single on Big Tree Records BIG 129, A-side is Track 1)
9. Lucifer's Cage - GORDON GILTRAP (from his 1969 UK LP "Portrait" on Transatlantic Records TRA 202)
10. Once I Had A Sweetheart - PENTANGLE (from their 1969 third UK LP "Basket Of Light" on Transatlantic Records TRA 205)
11. Metamorphosis Explosion - THE DEVIANTS (from their 1969 UK debut LP "The Deviants" on Transatlantic Records TRA 204)
12. Saturday Roundabout Sunday - THE HUMBLEBUMS [Billy Connolly and Gerry Rafferty] (non-album A-side to a 1969 UK 7" single on BIG T Records BIG 122 (B-side was "Bed Of Mossy Green")
13. Makin' Time - LITTLE FREE ROCK (from their 1969 UK debut LP "Little Free Rock" on Transatlantic Records TRA 208)
14. Mona (A Fragment) - MICK FARREN [of The Deviants] (from his 1970 UK debut solo LP "Mona - The Carnivorous Circus" on Transatlantic Records TRA 212, a Bo Diddley cover)
15. Plastic Shit - JODY GRIND (from their 1970 UK 2nd LP "Far Canal" on Transatlantic Records TRA 221)
Disc 2 (78:34 minutes):
1. All In Your Mind - STRAY (from their 1970 UK debut LP "Stray" on Transatlantic Records TRA 216)
2. Born To Be Free - MARSUPILAMI (from their 1970 UK debut LP "Marsupilami" on Transatlantic Records TRA 213)
3. We've Had It - JODY GRIND (from their 1970 UK album "Far Canal" on Transatlantic Records TRA 221)
4. Mice And Rats In The Loft - JAN DUKES DE GREY (from their 1971 UK album "Mice And Rats In The Loft" on Transatlantic Records TRA 234)
5. Homage To The God Of Light - PETER BARDENS (from his 1970 UK album "The Answer" on Transatlantic Records TRA 222)
6. Around The World In 80 Days - STRAY (from their 1970 UK debut album "Stray" on Transatlantic Records TRA 216)
7. Mendle - MR. FOX (from their 1971 UK album "The Gypsy" on Transatlantic Records TRA 236)
8. Prelude To The Arena - MARSUPiLAMI (from their 1971 UK album "Arena" on Transatlantic Records TRA 230)
9. Don't Ever Give Up Trying - UNICORN (from their 1971 debut album "Uphill All The Way" on Transatlantic Records TRA 238)
10. Reflection - PENTANGLE (from their 1971 UK album "Reflection" on Transatlantic Records TRA 240)
11. Skin Valley Serenade - SKIN ALLEY (from their 1972 UK album "Two Quid Deal" on Transatlantic Records TRA 260)
Disc 3 (73:33 minutes):
1. Tear Down The Wall - PETER BARDENS (from his 1971 UK debut LP "Peter Bardens" on Transatlantic Records TRA 243)
2. Son Of The Father - STRAY (from their 1971 UK LP "Suicide" on Transatlantic Records TRA 233)
3. Don't Count Me Out - GERRY RAFFERTY (from his 1971 UK debut solo LP "Can I Have My Money Back" on Transatlantic Records TRA 241)
4. Rick's Seven - SKIN ALLEY (from their 1972 UK LP "Two Quid Deal" on Transatlantic Records TRA 260)
5. Song From The 4th Era - CMU
6. A Distant Thought, A Point Of Light - CMU (tracks 15 and 16 from their 1973 UK LP "Space Cabaret" on Transatlantic Records TRA 259)
7. The Ungodly - DECAMERON (from their 1975 UK LP "Third Light" on Transatlantic Records TRA 304)
8. Fair Fortune's Star - CAROLANNE PEGG [of Mr. Fox] (from her 1973 UK debut LP "Carolanne Pegg" on Transatlantic Records TRA 266)
9. Move It - STRAY (non-album version on the A-side of a 1973 UK 7" single on Transatlantic/Big T BIG 516 - B-side was "Crazy People")
10. Shelter - RENIA (from the 1973 UK LP "First Offenders" on Transatlantic Records TRA 261)
11. Opening Move - GRYPHON (from their 1974 3rd UK LP "Red Queen To Gryphon Three" on Transatlantic Records TRA 287)
12. Journey's End - DECAMERON (from their 1975 UK LP "Third Light" on Transatlantic Records TRA 304)
13. Criminal World - METRO [featuring Duncan Browne] (from their 1976 UK LP "Metro" on Transatlantic Records TRA 340)
The Mini LP Sized Clamshell Box contains a jam-packed 48-page booklet where compiler, co-ordinator and researcher MARK POWELL deals with each artist and band in alphabetical order (taking a leaf from the booklets within the Decca. Deram and Vertigo box sets from Universal). Paragraph after paragraph provides deep insider detail and all of it sided by stacks of repro'd memorabilia- album covers, UK, US and European Trade Adverts, concert tickets and even hand-written bills on headed Transatlantic Records paper. It's beautifully done and must have involved serious amounts of research hours (well done to all involved). Long-time label associate and Audio Engineer BEN WISEMAN has done the transfers - each Remaster full of air and muscle. The sources as you can imagine vary, but little of it feels underwhelming - stuff like the Hard Rock of Stray vs. the delicacy of Unicorn by way of the full-on Prog of Peter Bardens - it's all strong and most times belies the labels limited Production budgets. To the mixed-up confusion...
Disc 1 opens with Lindisfarne's Alan Hull issuing a solo 45 in 1969 on Transatlantic's 'Big T Records' - "We Can Swing Together" (the B-side is Track 8 on Disc 1 "Obadiah's Grave"). The lyrics are angry - the law breaking down doors, county judge sending the boys to jail, laughing as they walk towards the cell - all of it acting as a defiant-attitude opener. Just as you were about to get comfortable with all that witty Newcastle swinging from the rafters in natty pubs - in creeps Circus with six and a half minutes of the challenging "11 B.S." - a very Prog-Jazz instrumental featuring Mel Collins on Saxophone (he would shortly after depart for King Crimson). English countryside prettiness come sin the shape of the dreadfully twee yet sweet "Midsummer Right's Happening" by The Sallyangie - famous for housing Sally and Mike Oldfield - one of them dreaming of bells and ridges etc. Far better is the sexy swing of "Light Flight" from Pentangle followed neatly by two wild covers - Jody Grind going hell for leather at the Stones' "Paint It Black" - a version mad enough that surely Jagger would approve of it - and then Circus giving us seven minutes of Rubber Soul's "Norwegian Wood" like you've never heard it (fuzzed-up guitars ala Crimson saxophone) - nice. Other Disc 1 goodies include Gordon Giltrap's wonderful acoustic slasher "Lucifer's Cage" where he lays into what sounds like a twelve-string - virtuosity and Bert Jansch flourishes coming at you from every angle. Tim Hinkley of Jody Grind guests on "Makin' Time" by Little Free Rock - easily one of the weakest cuts here. Better is Mick Farren of The Deviants going at Bo Diddley's "Mona" in a suitable grungy shimmering guitar manner accompanied by clever Cello slashes ("hey Mona, let me run away and lie with you..."). It ends on the very Punky "Plastic Sh**" from Jody Grind where our boy goes all Stooges-angry on environmental destruction (wicked raw guitar).
Disc 2 is the longest playing time of all three so Stray's "All In Your Mind" may run to over eight minutes - but don't let that fool you into thinking its some Prog-tastic minuet - it's a straight-up rawk tune with more than a few elements of Stooges Punk in its effected guitar solos - very impressive stuff. Things return to trippy on the excellent "Born To Be Free" by Marsupilami - great musical ideas abounding. Acoustic Guitars and English madrigal melody greet us on "We've Had It" - Holland's melodious instrumental beginning then becoming a sort of early Gryphon meets Genesis Prog Rock moment. "...Moonbeams danced on the night..." we're informed in a high-pitched voice during "Mice And Rats In The Loft" - Jan Dukes De Grey giving it some nine-minute guitar-and-drums wig out. Camel's Peter Bardens gets to show his inner doom on "Homage To The God Of Light" - another fast-paced Prog number where guitars vs. keyboards battle it out for thirteen and half minutes (Van Der Graaf Generator fans will eat this up). Things calm with Stray's mellow "Around The World In 80 Days" - together on our magic carpet ride. Other highlights include the melodic acoustic Folk-Rock of "Don’t You Ever Give Up Trying" by Unicorn – a proper-tunes band (like say Badfinger) admired by Pink Floyd’s Dave Gilmour who would go on to produce Unicorn’s next three albums - "Blue Pine Trees" in 1974 on Charisma and two on Harvest - 1976's "Too Many Crooks" and 1977's "One More Tomorrow". And don’t get me started on the genius of "Reflection" – the title track to their fifth and last album for Transatlantic Records where Pentangle use violins and Danny Thompson’s Double Bass in what could be described as a Prog Rock ethereal drifter (all eleven minutes-plus of it). Skin Alley tidy up Disc 2 with the very Jethro Tull flute-driven "Skin Valley Serenade".
Disc 3 brings us from 1973 onwards and the production values increase even though Peter Barden's opener "Tear Down The Walls" flanges your speakers to a point where it grates the listen. Better is Stray's "Son Of The Father" which starts out like an anti-war chant but soon becomes enveloped in Mellotron and Guitars (yeah baby). Stepping out of his Humblebums duo - Gerry Rafferty shows an early sign of melody-writing brilliance in his "Don't Count Me Out" - a cut off his debut LP. Skin Alley gives us "Rick's Seven" sounding not unlike early Rush with a restrained Steve Marriott at the microphone. Contemporary Music Unit (CMU to you and I) are probably the most 'out there' melodic Prog outfit on here (which is saying something) and their brilliant and imaginative twofer "Song From The 4th Area" and "A Distant Thought, A Point Of Light" are full of bodies changing, astral travelling through the Universe and generally becoming one with galactic consciousness (as you do at the cosmetics counter in Boots on a Saturday). Folkies Decameron follow with "The Ungodly" – questioning authority types and ‘may God forgive them’ unholy decision-making. Carolanne Pegg of Mr. Fox gives us ten minutes of "Fair Fortune’s Star" – a master in the woods tale of woe and warning that feels like Fairport Convention giving it some "Tam Lyn". Another ten-minute extravaganza of playing virtuosity screams of out your speakers in gorgeous remastered form in the shape of Gryphon and one part of their four-piece Chess Suite "Red Queen To Gryphon Three" – very Greenslade meets Genesis meets – well Gryphon. It all ends on the odd Folk-Pop of Metro – a Duncan Browne band that is held in affection to this day – their Brian Protheroe Eighties sounding music defying its 1976 recording date.
What a ride – even though I'm fairly sure some will say of bands on here - what a pile of indulgent tut. But isn't that the point. "Let The Electric Children Play: The Underground Story Of Transatlantic Records 1968-1976" is aimed at those who want to explore – remember days when music like this could be recorded – when we actually did tear down the walls - when we reached for it and sometimes got 'there'.
"...Flowers...coming into bloom again...as lovers and as friends...there’s no reason now to be afraid..." – Decameron sing on the lovely "Journey's End". This stuff should be remembered and I for one will welcome Electric Play 2...
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