Happy the Man - 40th anniversary of Beginnings

[Firth]

I just bought the 1990 Kit Watkins produced CD of this live in the studio recording and I got a better recording than I expected.

[wilcox660]

lots of love for this one.

[eporter66]

It's been awhile since I have listened to this one, I need to revisit. I love their music

[Lithicdee]

Hi Firth!
I have a cassette of it that I've called "Pre D.C." made back then. And I remember Armone; was Ed Kinestrick's 'lil thin mongrel dog, thin and black, brown and tan. Thanks for putting that on. I recently put it on my MP3 mix for at work and it just plain sounds like, "happiness" to me. It symbolizes a warm time when things were right in the world and my ears were in such . . . luxury!

[happytheman]

Nice stuff on this release.. remember the day it arrived (bought it through Linden Music..) thought to myself..."why did they wait so long to let their fan base hear this? Think I bought 3rd Better Late at the same time.. Still think there's some gems in the vault somewhere... live recordings, unreleased tracks etc... perhaps a video or two from live shows?

[Firth]

Nice stuff on this release.. remember the day it arrived (bought it through Linden Music..) thought to myself..."why did they wait so long to let their fan base hear this? Think I bought 3rd Better Late at the same time.. Still think there's some gems in the vault somewhere... live recordings, unreleased tracks etc... perhaps a video or two from live shows?

Picked up 3rd and Death's Crown at Amazon, at the same time. Slacker radio got me interested in these releases. I wonder if Kit Watkins invented new age jazz rock, pre-dating Pat Metheny.

[GuitarGeek]

Nice stuff on this release.. remember the day it arrived (bought it through Linden Music..) thought to myself..."why did they wait so long to let their fan base hear this? Think I bought 3rd Better Late at the same time.. Still think there's some gems in the vault somewhere... live recordings, unreleased tracks etc... perhaps a video or two from live shows?

If I remember correctly, this is the only video footage in existence of 70's era Happy The Man:


As far as why they waited so long to release things like Beginnings, it's probably because that was a bunch of rough demos that were probably never meant to be heard by the public. Also, it's quite possible that the individual band members had no idea that there was a "Happy The Man following", until way after they disbanded. I think Stan Whittaker said somewhere he didn't even know anyone still cared about HTM until he got online in the mid 90's, and found some HTM fan websites. Hence, during the 80's, there was probably nobody saying "Gee, we should release those old demos that we recorded back in 74", because they probably didn't know anyone would care.

[Digital_Man]

I have this somewhere. Perhaps I should play it?

[Steve F.]

Chris is correct. That clip is the ONLY video clip of the orig. HTM that exists.

[Firth]

If I remember correctly, this is the only video footage in existence of 70's era Happy The Man

Thanks

[happytheman]

If I remember correctly, this is the only video footage in existence of 70's era Happy The Man:


As far as why they waited so long to release things like Beginnings, it's probably because that was a bunch of rough demos that were probably never meant to be heard by the public. Also, it's quite possible that the individual band members had no idea that there was a "Happy The Man following", until way after they disbanded. I think Stan Whittaker said somewhere he didn't even know anyone still cared about HTM until he got online in the mid 90's, and found some HTM fan websites. Hence, during the 80's, there was probably nobody saying "Gee, we should release those old demos that we recorded back in 74", because they probably didn't know anyone would care.

I guess where I was coming from was their first release (IMHO) was flawless and in hindsight it seemed odd that all of the songs from Beginnings didn't end up being used somewhere on their first 3 releases vs. an album coming out after they disbanded of material written before the self tilted... likewise with Deaths Crown...(of course some of Deaths Crown did end up on the first and second album).. there have been several HTM threads over the last year or so where unreleased material has been discussed... keep hoping Stan / Frank see that there is still a market for their music and continue to release music whether under the HTM or Oblivion Sun... they are certainly in my list of top 10 bands...

[Firth]

Watched the video. So much talent and promise at the time.

[Digital_Man]

Just listened to it last night for the first time ever. It's certainly quite a bit different from what they did later. It's much more of a rock album and less of a fusion album and has more singing(from someone apparently not in the band later on)and lacking the complexity of later albums. However, it's still not bad for what it is. The sound quality is not that good but other than that I found it to be an interesting listen. It's probably best for the hardcore HTM fans or completionists over all though.

[happytheman]

Watched the video. So much talent and promise at the time.

Great video for sure... Mike Beck was certainly one of the better percussionist out there... they certainly had a magic chemistry between the band members for sure..