EARLY MORNING ONWARDS

In the early 1970s 'bonus tracks' were often hard to come by, which is why EMI's budget label Starline filled a niche amongst fans. Early Morning Onwards is a good example of their philosophy - take a smattering of familiar album tracks, mix in some non-album material and release at a bargain-bin price. It was a successful formula and won BJH many new fans as six of its eleven tracks were from single A and B sides, including the first two [Early Morning/Mr Sunshine and Brother Thrush/Poor Wages] and a later one from 1972 [I'm Over You/Child Of Man], the remainder being album tracks from the first three studio albums, including the ubiquitous Mocking Bird and apocalyptic After The Day.

It was those singles which caused many fans to buy the album because it helped us to complete our BJH discography while at the same time offering an insight into the band's development. The songs are presented sequentially through time, thus tracing their career from the musical innocence of Early Morning through to what was then the standard BJH style of After The Day. Today, this album remains a charming time capsule of those years, fondly remembered by those who were there but no longer essential as all those non-album tracks are now available on a number of other compilations, and four are on the remastered edition of BJH's eponymous debut.