I loved the early BJH, from the first through Everyone is Everybody Else, with the exception of "and Other Short Stories" which I think is just dreadful. Their second period, from Time Honoured Ghosts until Wooly left was OK, but a little too heavy on the religion for me. After Wooly left the band, there is very little to recommend.
Time Honoured Ghosts is a great one; I love Titles, All My Life, and Beyond The Gate. It was the first BJH cd I ever bought, so it is special to me for that reason. I also have Everyone Is Everybody Else and Octoberon. I listen to the other two more than Octoberon. I have the '02 remasters with the bonus tracks and liner notes. I like the story behind Song For You, where it talks about the band trying to record it live-in-studio. John made several attempts to go from his electric to acoustic guitar. This required several attempts, as he had to walk across the studio without the mics picking up his movement; he tried several times to do this. Apparently, the band wanted to use Elliot Mazer on the THG followup, but were unable to.
I saw BJH on their one and only US tour in '76, supporting Time Honoured Ghosts. They played at a small club which was still almost empty. I only got to go because my friend had just broken up with his girlfriend, and had an extra ticket. They were great, too bad more people weren't interested. Mel Pritchard(RIP)was especially exceptional.
I really only dig the first couple of LPs, Baby James is OK, but I faded at that point.
Props to Mel, RIP.....
Hell, they ain't even old-timey ! - Homer Stokes
I enjoy them all, to a degree, up to and including Eyes of the Universe. Except for Time Honoured Ghosts, which has an awful lot of cheesy, embarrassing stuff on it (“Titles,” “Jonathan,” “Sweet Jesus”). “Beyond the Grave” is good, though, a shame the tape ran out. Gone to Earth and XII are a couple of others that strike me as mostly mediocre but there’s both saving graces and skippable tracks on all of their albums. Other Short Stories has “Blue John’s Blues,” which I just find overlong and intolerable, but follows it with “The Poet” and “After the Day,” two of my favourite songs by them ever (ATD may be my favourite BJH song ever! So powerful!).
I agree that Eyes of the Universe is underrated. Overall, I actually felt it was an improvement over XII, with “The Song (They Love to Sing),” “Sperratus” and “Play to the World” being particular highlights. I’ll even tolerate “Alright Down Get Boogie,” since the silly lyrics are clearly meant in a sarcastic way, and the guitar playing is really strong on that song. Extra props must go to Kevin McLea, whose synth playing on this album is really innovative and juicy.
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MIKE (a.k.a. "Progbear")
‘“What blow, Goblin?” said Corinius.’ --E. R. Eddison
N.P.:“Histoire d’un pécheur”-Terpandre
I do not think it is question what is allowed it is question of what is the consequence. Variety is in general a good thing if it does not undermine the brand quality.Originally Posted by JeffCarney
Anyway I do not care much for mainstream, furthermore I am one of those who is convinced that the influence of the mainstream rock on the music of progressive band is in majority cases detrimental to the band creative development. IMHO just about every prog band adopting mainstream influence have ended up with the product that was artistically inferior compared to their prog output (Genesis, Yes, ELP... and BJH is not different). Although I admit the bands may have enjoyed more commercial success (maybe except ELP); but that relates IMHO to the fact that the mainstream music is more accessible to wider audience than prog music.
I'm inclined to agree with you, but there are no absolutes.
In addition, your original point seemed to even question a specific influence (The Eagles) on BJH even existing. I backed up my comments and even cited a reference. For some reason, you continued to find this difficult to accept.
Whether or not this influence was a positive one on BJH is another matter (I happen to think it worked in this case), but that there was some Eagles influence on a (perhaps small) portion of their mid 70s and beyond catalog would seem fairly indisputable.
Hi guys
heres the dates in Holland and germany below in April with John lees Barclay James Harvest. The guys havent played their on tour since 2009 , although they have done the odd few festivals. JLBJH go very much for the 70's kind of "proggier" end of the bands spectrum although they do cover a few tracks post this period. The band will also have a new studio album out in Early May .
Uk tour is in November and dates are on the bands website www.barclayjamesharvest.com
10.04.13 Zoetermeer Boerderij
11.04.13 Bochum Zeche
13.04.13 Aschaffenburg Colos-Saal
14.04.13 Stuttgart LKA
15.04.13 Pratteln, CH, Z7
16.04.13 Ravensburg Oberschwabenhalle
18.04.13 Leipzig Gewandhaus
19.04.13 Dresden Alter Schlachthof
20.04.13 Neuruppin Kulturkirche
21.04.13 Berlin Kesselhaus
I just found out there is a book about BJH's songwriting combined with a social history theme going to be published quite soon (thanks for Sally Collyer for posting it on the Tangent Facebook) which looks quite interesting for someone like me who is a both into history in its broadest sense and a BJH enthusiast: http://www.thefiftieschild.co.uk/
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