EARLY MORNING / MR. SUNSHINE

B.J.H. released their eponymous debut album in 1970 at which point they already had a few years' history, and a bunch of singles that were not to be included on original albums. The four-piece group were founded in September 1966 in Oldham, and the name was invented in a haphazard way: "Each of the band members wrote single words on pieces of paper which were drawn out of a hat one by one. All were rejected until only three were left: James, a man who used to sing with the band, Harvest because they were living in a farmhouse, and Barclay after Barclays bank, because they aspired to make money. These were then rearranged to get the best-sounding name - Barclay James Harvest." (Wikipedia). In February 1968 they went into London's Chappell Studios to record their first single 'Early Morning'.

According to B.J.H.'s internet page and the particular page written on the single's 40th anniversary, "the band had been much impressed with Procol Harum's 'A Whiter Shade of Pale', and aspired to produce something comparable in feeling". The song however turned out to be quite different, and "thank God we didn't use a Hammond!", Woolly Wolstenholme states. Seemingly he co-wrote the song with John Lees, a rare occasion for a group whose members practically always wrote their songs individually.

Beginning with a frail flute sound of Mellotron -- reminiscent of the one in Uriah Heep's 'Come Away Melinda' -- 'Early Morning' is a peaceful and highly melodic little song of its time. The early mellow hits of Aphrodite's Child are slightly similar in the romantic atmosphere. The Mellotron dominates the sound the same way as in the late sixties songs of The Moody Blues to whom B.J.H. were constantly compared, for an obvious reason. Again citing the mentioned web page, "Whilst 'Early Morning' wasn't a hit, the response was encouraging and the reviews good. Most importantly, though, it laid down a marker for the English pastoral sound which would become one of the band's trademarks."

The B-side song 'Mr. Sunshine' has a serene hippie-folk feel to it, mostly because of the light hand percussion and the recorder. Sounds like Woolly is the lead vocalist, backed with some vocal harmonies. Both of these songs are pretty charming in their naiive innocence, but frankly after the chain of non-album singles the band would mature a lot, most of all as songwriters, for their debut album -- despite the fact that the debut (1970) is still basically the late sixties orchestral pop when compared to the magnificent second album Once Again (1971).