Acid-folk act coming from Scotland, this time Edinburgh, BREAD LOVE AND DREAM was a trio
lead by Glaswegian David McNiven, joining in with a two-women act: Carolyn Davis on guitar and Angie Rew on flute and lead vocals. They toured around Scotland for a while and started a loyal local following, but they sounded much influenced by another Scot act THE INCREDIBLE STRING BAND, which was not surprising since they ruled acid folk and it was not the first band inspired by ISB: indeed the Irish Dr STRANGELY STRANGE sounds much like BL&D.
Spotted by Decca staff Ray Horricks at the Edinburgh Festival in 68, they were brought down to
London by him to record their first album and it was released in early 69. This self-titled album contained some acid folk with some string arrangements, but the market being flooded by such albums, it sold poorly, enticing guitarist Carolyn Davis to quit. Their 1969 debut album, on Decca Records, included mainly self-penned material.
Decca wanted to cut the band from its roster, but Horricks held good and the group was grudgingly allowed a second chance. Aware of this BL&D first went on the road (sharing stages with MAGNA
CARTA and TYRANOSAURUS REX) and wrote new material for their upcoming album. It was during this time that BL&D developed a working project with the Traverse Theatre Group in Edinburgh. Their director Max Stafford wanted McNiven to adapt one of his pieces Mother Earth to the stage actors. It eventually became Amaryllis, given a twist of name. This piece was then performed in Edinburgh, then London, than on a European tour (Scandinavia, Benelux, France & Spain) to apparently great acclaim.
Strange Tales Of Captain Shannon was therefore released fall of 70 to critical acclaim, and it contained
the lengthy title track that was again in the ISB mould. As their second album failed to sell, Decca quickly released (botched-up marketing and too few copies pressed) in early 71, Amaryllis, which is arguably their best works, but it fail to sell, or even match the sales of the preceding two albums. Decca dropped the band after an Edinburgh's Royal Court Theatre's presentation and wrote the whole thing down as a tax write-off.
Rew and McNiven married, and the latter went on to write for the BBC comedy unit, as well as film
scores. Rew later ran a touring children’s theatre company called Hullaballoo, working as writer, composer, actor and director. In 1990 McNiven toured with Tracy Nelson. Davis became a full-time student of media studies.
LINE - UP
David McNiven (4 November 1945 - 18 December 2015, Glasgow, Scotland) - Guitar, Vocals, Piano, Flute
Angie Rew (25 September 1946, Edinburgh, Scotland) - Guitar, Vocals, Organ, African Drums
Carolyn Davis (15 August 1946, Edinburgh, Scotland) - Guitar, Vocals, Bass, Tambourine, Buzz Horn
DISCOGRAPHY
Bread, Love and Dreams (London Records, 1969)
The Strange Tale of Captain Shannon and the Hunchback from Gigha (Decca Records, 1970)
Amaryllis (Decca Records, 1971)
BREAD, LOVE AND DREAMS - BREAD, LOVE AND DREAMS 1969
Some of their songsare fragile, beautiful: like the wings on a butterfly. Although-again like the
butterfly-they impose little flash-points of colour upon the eneryday world surrounding them. Other songs they have written are soaked in the world'srealism, acutely abservant and disturbing as the dab of a styptic pencil.
Bread Love And Dreams – Bread Love And Dreams
Label: Hugo-Montes Production – HMP CD-006
Format: CD, Album, Reissue, Unofficial Release, Stereo 2012
Country: UK
Released: 1969
Genre: Rock
Style: Acid - Folk
TRACKS
01. Switch Out The Sun 3:19
02. Virgin Kiss 3:43
03. The Least Said 3:44
04. Falling Over Backwards 5:45
05. Lady Of The Night 3:13
06. Main Street 2:14
07. Artificial Light (Of All The Living Lies) 3:40
08. Until She Needs You 3:42
09. Mirrors 5:33
10. Poet's Song 2:53
11. The Yellow-Bellied Redback 2:16
12. 95 Octane Gravy 3:17
Flac Size: 281 MB
BREAD, LOVE AND DREAMS - THE STRANGE TALE OF CAPTAIN SHANNON AND THE HUNCHBACK FRON GIGHA 1970
This is their second album released, but it was recorded at the same time as Amaryllis, as the original
idea was to release a double album as their idols Incredible String Band had with WEE Tam & The Big Huge. But there was no way that their label would as they simply didn't believe in this group, only producer Horrick forcing the three albums deal to conclude.
Bread Love And Dreams – The Strange Tale Of Captain Shannon And The Hunchback From Gigha
Label: Sunbeam Records – SBRCD5047
Format: CD, Album, Reissue 2008
Country: UK
Released: 1970
Genre: Rock
Style: Acid - Folk
TRACKS
01. Hymn For Sylvi 5:46
Written-By – McNiven
02. Masquerade 4:56
Written-By – McNiven
03. Sucking On A Cigarette 3:35
Written-By – McNiven
04. He Who Knows All 4:52
Written-By – McNiven
05. The Lobster Quadrille 2:46
Written-By – McNiven, Carroll
06. Butterflyland 5:10
Written-By – Rew
07. Purple Haze Melancholy 3:52
Orchestrated By – Robert Cornford
Written-By – Davis
08. Sing Me A Song 2:15
Written-By – Rew
09. The Strange Tale Of Captain Shannon And The Hunchback From Gigha
Written-By – McNiven 6:59
LINE - UP
David McNiven - vocals, guitar, flute, harmonica
Angie Rew - vocals, guitar, percussion
WITH
Carolyn Davis - vocals & guitar (tracks: 7)
Allan Trajan - organ, piano
Danny Thompson - double bass
Dave Richmond - bass
Terry Cox - drums
Robert Cornford - conductor, orchestration
Graeme Robertson - orchestration (tracks: 1 to 6, 8, 9)
Flac Size: 230 MB
BREAD, LOVE AND DREAMS - AMARYLLIS 1971
Bread Love & Dreams recorded their most memorable album ‘Amaryllis’ for Decca at the same time
they put together ‘Strange Tale of Captain Shannon and the Hunchback from Gigha’, and with the same lineup that included Danny Thompson and Terry Cox of the Pentangle, but without the lovely voice of Carolyn Davis who had left after the group’s debut release. A hyper rare psych/folk album on the mighty Decca label, this is a beautiful piece of psych/folk music from the Golden Era.
Bread, Love And Dreams – Amaryllis
Label: Sunbeam Records – SBRCD5027
Format: CD, Album, Reissue 2006
Country: UK
Released: 1971
Genre: Rock, Folk, World, & Country
Style: Acid - Folk
TRACKS
01. Amaryllis 21:46
1. Part 1: Out Of The Darkness And Into The Night
2. Part 2: Zoroaster's Prophecy
3. Part 3: Light
04. Time's The Thief 4:46
05. My Stair-Cupboard At 3 A.M. 3:34
06. Brother John 4:03
07. Circle Of Night 3:18
LINE - UP
David McNiven - vocals, guitar
Angie Rew - vocals, guitar, percussion
WITH
Allan Trajan - organ, piano
Phil Grieve - jaw harp
Danny Thompson - double bass
Dave Richmond - bass
Terry Cox - drums
Of course i have, very good !!
ReplyDeleteThis time without a doubt.