The group was formed in September of 1966 in Oldham, Lancashire. Lees and Wolstenholme were classmates who played together in a band called the Blues Keepers; that group soon merged with a band called the Wickeds, which included Holroyd and Pritchard.
They became Barclay James Harvest in June of 1967 and began rehearsing at an 18th century farmhouse in Lancashire.
The psychedelic era was in full swing, and the era of progressive rock about to begin -- the Moody Blues, in particular, were beginning to cut an international swathe across the music world. BJH cut a series of demos
In April they issued their first single, a folky, faux-classical song called "Early Morning." The group got caught up a year later in a corporate change at EMI, and it was decided to move the more progressive-sounding groups on the label onto a new label, coincidentally named Harvest. Their first release on the new label was the single "Brother Thrush."
The band recorded two more albums for Harvest,"Short Stories" (1971) and 'Baby James Harvest" (1972), and spent much of 1972 on the road, including an unsuccessful tour of the U.S. They also released a pair of singles, "When the City Sleeps" and "Breathless," under the pseudonym "Bombadil" (a name taken from a J.R.R. Tolkien short story), all to no avail. 1973 saw them part company with EMI after one last single, "Rock and Roll Woman."
It seemed at first as though BJH was locked once again into a cycle of failure. Finally, in late 1974, their double-album "Barclay James Harvest Live" broke through to the public -- the group was rewarded with a Top 40 placement in England and more sales activity on the European continent than they'd previously seen. A year later, "Octoberon" reached the Top 20.
In 1977, they released "Gone to Earth", their most accomplished album to date, and by the end of the year the group found themselves playing to arena-sized audiences.
Their 1979 album "Eyes of the Universe" was a modest hit in England, but its release marked a flashpoint in Barclay James Harvest's career in continental Europe, especially Germany; on August 30, 1980, the band performed a free concert in front of nearly 200,000 people at the Reichstag in Berlin, which was filmed and recorded. A subsequent live album, Concert for the People, became the group's biggest-selling album in England, rising to number 15 in 1982.
"Turn of the Tide" (1981) and "Ring of Changes" (1983) were less successful, although the latter did spawn their last charting single, "Just a Day Away." Their subsequent Polydor albums, Victims of Circumstance, Face to Face, and Welcome to the Show, charted ever lower in England, even as the group's popularity grew in Europe. In 1988, they released a new live album, "Glasnost", cut at a concert in East Berlin.The group marked the 25th anniversary with a concert in Liverpool, and toured to support a British Polydor compilation, "The Best of Barclay James Harvest".
(all music)
TRACKS
01. Crazy Over (You)
Written-By – Les Holroyd 4:17
02. Delph Town Morn
Written-By – John Lee 4:48
03. Summer Soldier
Written-By – John Lees 10:27
04. Thank You
Written-By – John Lees 4:23
05. One Hundred Thousand Smiles Out
Written-By – Les Holroyd 6:04
06. Moonwater
Written-By – Woolly Wolstenholm 7:30
Bonus Tracks
07. Child Of Man
Written-By – John Lees 3:21
08. I'm Over You
Written-By – John Lees 3:52
09. When The City Sleeps
Written-By – Lester Forest 4:15
10. Breathless
Written-By – Terry Bull 3:08
11. Thank You (Alternative Version) - Previously Unreleased
Written-By – John Lees 4:27
12. Medicine Man (Single Version)
Written-By – John Lees 4:29
13. Rock And Roll Woman
Written-By – Les Holroyd 3:17
14. The Joker
Written-By – John Lees, Les Holroyd 3:32
15. Child Of Man (BBC Session 15th March 1972) - Previously Unreleased
Written-By – John Lees 3:36
16. Moonwater (2002 Remix) - Previously Unreleased
Written-By – Woolly Wolstenholme 7:20
SUMMER SOLDIER LYRICS
I feel sorry for the soldier who is shot and stoned in anger
I feel sorry for his wife and child at home
I feel sorry for the bomber who all life and limb dishonours
For the people that he's maimed and left alone
The Lord God said love thy neighbour
Though in human life he trades, he's still a man
I feel sorry for the children who with open mind are willing
To fight for ideals aged and past their time
I feel sorry for the children who will join the vicious circle
Of instinct fear bred from their parents' minds
The Lord God said love thy neighbour
Break the circle, free the hater, call him a friend
Wake up, wake up, there's a man by your side
With a knife and a gun in each hand
Wake up, wake up, you're one and the same
It's time to stop and decide
Label:Harvest – 07243 538408 2 2, EMI – 07243 538408 2 2
Format:CD,Remastered
Country:UK
Released:27 May 2002
Genre:Rock
Style:Prog Rock, Symphonic Rock
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