Roy Harper S/D C/D etc...

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Having heard 'When an old cricketer leaves the crease' for the first time last week and being, ahem bowled over should I check out his other work?

― Billy Dods (Billy Dods), Thursday, 4 November 2004 13:07 (twenty years ago)

Folkjokeopus
Flat Baroque and Beserk
Stormcock

are all belters..

― Jack Battery-Pack (Jack Battery-Pack), Thursday, 4 November 2004 13:31 (twenty years ago)

Roy Harper S/D?

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 4 November 2004 13:52 (twenty years ago)

Roy Harper C/D

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 4 November 2004 13:53 (twenty years ago)

*guilt*

I still haven't bought any Harper despite my promise to Roger F on the "C/D" thread above. (It's for financial reasons only, Roger! Stormcock and HQ are still on my "to buy" list.)

― Jeff W (zebedee), Thursday, 4 November 2004 15:56 (twenty years ago)

"Stormcock" basically ruined me for all of his other albums. it's just too brilliant and intense and overblown. liken it to wanting more "Hunky Dory" yet never finding 'em.

― Beta (abeta), Thursday, 4 November 2004 16:03 (twenty years ago)

Stormcock is a pretty great album. Four extended acoustic meditative type songs with Page on acoustic guitar sometimes. It's appropriate for the times, too, as its title implies. "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him think," etc.

― steve hise, Thursday, 4 November 2004 18:17 (twenty years ago)

The Green Man is nearly as good as Stormcock. don't overlook or dismiss post-"prime" Harper. you'll be missing out on some wonderful and heartfelt music.

― echoinggrove (echoinggrove), Thursday, 4 November 2004 18:45 (twenty years ago)

GREEN MAN's got the songs, but his singing's gone soft. Still, the acerbic *writing*(tunes as well as words) comes through, so the voice doesn't distract too much. I'd start with those earlier ones.

― don, Thursday, 4 November 2004 18:57 (twenty years ago)

Stormcock, Valentine, and Lifemask (yes, I think The Lords Prayer is brilliant).

― Salvador Saca (Mr. Xolotl), Thursday, 4 November 2004 23:47 (twenty years ago)

UNHINGED is the first I heard ("originally released in the UK as BORN IN CAPTIVITY"). Live, with great sound.Nick also plays on several tracks. A good selection, varied but cohesive enough, including some new or at least "previously unrecorded material." "Descendants of Smith" is like Bowie's best folkie science fiction songs, but without the Bowie bravura (okay by me). Also notes on each song and lyrics, fortunately, since sometimes I miss a line or five while brooding about an earlier line or image. Anybody heard his BBC TAPES series?

― don, Friday, 5 November 2004 05:28 (twenty years ago)

Never heard any of his records, other than the Pink Floyd and Tea Party guest vocal appearances.

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Friday, 5 November 2004 06:08 (twenty years ago)

Stormcock is a great album, I'd also get HQ and Bullinamingvase. The latter has one duff track but the rest of the record is quite lovely, pastoral but still quite cutting lyrically. HQ is a strong rock records, the first track, The Game, is a long tune a bit like Pink Floyd around Animals. And of course it's got When An Old Cricketer Leaves The Crease.

Oh yea, there's this track called Forget-Me-Not, a total hidden gem, really Led Zep 3 or Floyd's 'Grantchester Meadows' in style.

I've got three of the BBC CD's, all good especially the HQ era live session.

― mzui, Friday, 5 November 2004 06:43 (twenty years ago)

two months pass...

Just heard "When An Old Cricketer Leaves The Crease" for the first time tonight as well. Really stunning stuff. And yes, David Bedford helps make the song with that brass chorale.

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Thursday, 3 February 2005 05:26 (twenty years ago)

one month passes...

i'm not sure how hard it is to get Stormcock (i've never been able to find it), but http://www.aquariusrecords.org/ finally got copies of it and a few others on cd. i'm pretty fucking into it.

― The JaXoN 5 (JasonD), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 00:26 (twenty years ago)

Roy Harper wears scarves indoors and has a sweet or two in the middle of a show to prevent his throat from getting dry. I heard a fantastic live version of "She's the One" on KCRW once.

― youn, Wednesday, 30 March 2005 08:39 (twenty years ago)

Should pipe up and say that the first album, Sophisticated Beggar is excellent and I'd totally recommend it to people who enjoy Stormcock. Songs are a lot shorter, maybe a good point of comparison is someone like Meic Stevens, but there's plenty of that great meditative guitar playing that can sound like Harper is lobbing smooth stones into deep dark pools and watching the ripples expand before he strikes the next low note. For a first record it's pretty amazing. Hard to say what the best songs to check are, but personal favourites are the Jansch-like 'My Friend' and 'Blackpool', an instrumental that reminds me of Robbie Basho a little bit. Oh, and there's a spider-on-the-mic episode somewhere too that's funny to hear but ends (I think) rather poorly for our arachnoid friend.

― NickB (NickB), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 09:17 (twenty years ago)

one month passes...

OMG "Another Day" just might be the most beautiful song ever. I have it on an excellent Harper compilation called, uh, "Harper 1970-75". Quite good with many of the songs mentioned so far.

― sleeve (sleeve), Tuesday, 24 May 2005 04:24 (twenty years ago)

two years pass...

My lord, I'm listening to Roy Harper for the first time ever (other than, you know) and "One Of Those Days In England (parts 2-10)" is blowing my goddamned mind

― Davey D, Wednesday, 1 August 2007 04:37 (seventeen years ago)

two years pass...

Stormcock has been my discovery of the year. No excuse for ignoring him for so long - I've had friends push him on me for 30 years. But he really is extraordinary. Woebot's comment about this record " mature English folk. because in the end Nick Drake gets tiresome" is bang on, despite the malice. it's grown up music, but, weirdly, although it sounds like "folk' - acoustic guitars, no drums- it's really rock with different instruments.

― sonofstan, Wednesday, 30 December 2009 11:05 (fifteen years ago)

I always saw Roy Harper more from the rock tradition than the folk tradtion...

― Deluxe Merseybeat Wig (Jack Battery-Pack), Wednesday, 30 December 2009 11:44 (fifteen years ago)

When i caught j newsom at the royal albert hall last year, roy came out and played all of stormcock as it's apparently her favourite album. one of the nicest live surprises i've ever had.

― Jamie_ATP, Thursday, 31 December 2009 14:13 (fifteen years ago)

wow.

― figuratively, but in a very real way (amateurist), Thursday, 31 December 2009 15:34 (fifteen years ago)

six months pass...

The album is Valentine. The song is "12 Hours of Sunset." Like whoa.

― J. Sam, Sunday, 25 July 2010 20:05 (fourteen years ago)

two years pass...

http://www.mojo4music.com/blog/2013/07/track_of_the_day_roy_harper_-.html

^ a song off his new album

― if you lose your way tonight that's how you know the map's not right (NickB), Wednesday, 24 July 2013 11:31 (eleven years ago)

I was just listening to "Stormcock"!

― Tommy McTommy (Tom D.), Wednesday, 24 July 2013 13:57 (eleven years ago)

two months pass...

Show about Roy on sky arts tonight 9PM UK time

― Gouty_Ted, Wednesday, 25 September 2013 18:22 (eleven years ago)

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