Barclay James Harvest : Baby James Harvest 1972

 

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

FLAC Part 1 : Size 250 MB

FLAC Part 2 : Size 235 MB