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Barclay James Harvest

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Poll Question: What do you think of Barclay James Harvest?
Poll Choice Votes Poll Statistics
11 [26.19%]
10 [23.81%]
8 [19.05%]
1 [2.38%]
2 [4.76%]
1 [2.38%]
0 [0.00%]
7 [16.67%]
0 [0.00%]
2 [4.76%]
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AFlowerKingCrimson View Drop Down
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    Posted: November 30 2020 at 15:05
I'm not an expert on this band but I've seen them live and they seem alright to me. They almost seem to have a love em or hate reaction from fans though. What is your opinion?

Edited by AFlowerKingCrimson - December 04 2020 at 18:28
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote kenethlevine Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 30 2020 at 15:17
I said love but that only pertains to the 1971-1978 period.  XII was the last great album IMO.  They were pretty good live and I did finally see them in person at NEARFEST maybe around 2009.  John Lees looked 10 years older than other artists of that vintage.  Apparently he was quite sick but was very professional.  Woolly was the MC and very funny.  Sad that he took his own life not long after.  The group's artistic decline in the 80s may have just been a product of the times but losing Woolly seemed to coincide with that precisely
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Cristi Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 30 2020 at 15:33
third option
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Psychedelic Paul Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 30 2020 at 15:50
They're great! I love Barclay James Harvest and I listened to all of their albums recently, including their later incarnations: Barclay James Harvest featuring Les Holroyd and Barclay James Harvest Through the Eyes of John Lees. They've never made a bad album in my opinion. I wrote this albums tribute to Barclay James Harvest some time ago for a Top 7 BJH songs thread:-
 
BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST are the featured artist this time around, as we ONCE AGAIN list our favourite songs and delve into the history of BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST & OTHER SHORT STORIES. Who can forget the cute picture of  BABY JAMES HARVEST poking his head out of a plant pot on their fourth album cover. Here at ProgArchives, EVERYONE IS EVERYBODY ELSE in the progosphere, where the classic albums of BJH appear like TIME HONOURED GHOSTS from time to time. The eighth month of the year was OCTOBER ON the ancient Roman calendar, making it the perfect name for the eighth Barclay James Harvest album. The band took a short break, but weren't GONE TO EARTH for long though before returning  with their best-selling album of all time in 1977. In the XII Kingdoms of Prog, Barclay James Harvest reigned supreme and the EYES OF THE UNIVERSE were upon them in 1982 for their CONCERT FOR THE PEOPLE IN BERLIN. This landmark gig for BJH preceded a TURN OF THE TIDE in the Cold War when a RING OF CHANGES were on the way and the old Soviet leaders became VICTIMS OF CIRCUMSTANCE, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The world became a safer place with no more FACE TO FACE Cold War confrontations between East and West with the ever-present threat of nuclear Armageddon hanging over the world. History didn't end in 1991 though, and in the prophetic words of Messrs Emerson, Lake & Palmer, WELCOME TO THE SHOW that never ends, because there were new threats on the way in a new century. CAUGHT IN THE LIGHT of a beautifully clear morning on 11th September 2001, an airliner flew low over New York City..... The RIVER OF DREAMS would soon be shattered forever!
 
All Barclay James Harvest albums in BLOCK CAPITALS in chronological order of release.


Edited by Psychedelic Paul - November 30 2020 at 15:53
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Man With Hat Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 30 2020 at 15:59
option 3 
Dig me...But don't...Bury me
I'm running still, I shall until, one day, I hope that I'll arrive
Warning: Listening to jazz excessively can cause a laxative effect.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote kenethlevine Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 30 2020 at 16:00
I should mention that "North" from the John Lees' version of BJH from a few years ago was quite good, particularly the longer tracks and one called "On Leave" written about the loss of Woolly
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote AFlowerKingCrimson Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 30 2020 at 16:12
Originally posted by kenethlevine kenethlevine wrote:

I said love but that only pertains to the 1971-1978 period.  XII was the last great album IMO.  They were pretty good live and I did finally see them in person at NEARFEST maybe around 2009.  John Lees looked 10 years older than other artists of that vintage.  Apparently he was quite sick but was very professional.  Woolly was the MC and very funny.  Sad that he took his own life not long after.  The group's artistic decline in the 80s may have just been a product of the times but losing Woolly seemed to coincide with that precisely

The only problem with your statement is that Barclay James Harvest never played at Nearfest. They did play at Rosfest around 08 or 09 though. I'll have to double check on that.
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AFlowerKingCrimson View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote AFlowerKingCrimson Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 30 2020 at 16:14
^Yep. Rosfest in 09 along with Nektar, Lazuli, Moon Safari, Touchstone, Frost*, Iluvatar and others. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote SteveG Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 30 2020 at 16:20
There are similar to the Moody Blues in their early albums and got some flak for that. Very trippy Mellotron drenched stuff. A very good if not great band.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Progosopher Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 30 2020 at 17:03
I voted "They're good. I like them quite a bit," but I only have two of their albums - Octoberon and Gone to Earth.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Lewian Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 30 2020 at 17:14
I loved them as a teenager but their music didn't age that well (with me). I'd still go for the third option, they have some good stuff, you have to look a bit for it though.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote kenethlevine Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 30 2020 at 17:32
Originally posted by AFlowerKingCrimson AFlowerKingCrimson wrote:

^Yep. Rosfest in 09 along with Nektar, Lazuli, Moon Safari, Touchstone, Frost*, Iluvatar and others. 

Oh yes you're right.  One PA locale is much like another...but NEARFEST had folded by 2009.  I saw Strawbs at Nearfest in 2004 I believe
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote SteveG Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 30 2020 at 17:41
I was there in 2004 too, to see the Strawbs Hero and Heroine line up. They were excellent, as usual. It surprised me that they were so much older looking. I'm not sure why I expected them to look the same. Rod Coombes with no beard and short combed back hair! At first I thought it wasn't him until he started playing. Immediatly I said to my wife, that's them! Get ready for some greatness!

Edited by SteveG - November 30 2020 at 18:01
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote AFlowerKingCrimson Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 30 2020 at 18:02
Originally posted by kenethlevine kenethlevine wrote:

Originally posted by AFlowerKingCrimson AFlowerKingCrimson wrote:

^Yep. Rosfest in 09 along with Nektar, Lazuli, Moon Safari, Touchstone, Frost*, Iluvatar and others. 

Oh yes you're right.  One PA locale is much like another...but NEARFEST had folded by 2009.  I saw Strawbs at Nearfest in 2004 I believe

Well no, not quite. Nearfest only had the original guys hand it over around that time to the guys who did the NJ proghouse. NF actually went from 1999 to 2010 and then one more year for Nearfest apocalypse(in 2012) to wrap it up. In 2011 they apparently didn't sell enough tickets for them to justify having it. They were in limbo with it for a while until they (the original two guys Rob and Chad) decided to go out with a bang instead of a wimper. I went to about half of them including the first and last. 


Edited by AFlowerKingCrimson - November 30 2020 at 18:06
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote grantman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 30 2020 at 18:30
Berlin best live album
Their debut flawless
john lees version great
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote kenethlevine Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 30 2020 at 19:27
Originally posted by grantman grantman wrote:

Berlin best live album
Their debut flawless
john lees version great

while they were superstars in Germany in the late 70s/early 80s, they were never much more than a popular "cult" band in their native UK.  yet somehow "Berlin" managed to be their biggest chart success in the UK at the late date of 1982, 12 years after their debut.  While I prefer the first 2 live albums, that has mostly to do with the non stop tron attack of the first and the better material and cleaner production of the 2nd.  That Berlin is as good as it is given the weaker early 80s material is so impressive that I think I gave it the same 4 star rating I gave the previous 2  Embarrassed


Edited by kenethlevine - November 30 2020 at 19:28
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote moshkito Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 30 2020 at 19:47
Originally posted by SteveG SteveG wrote:

There are similar to the Moody Blues in their early albums and got some flak for that. Very trippy Mellotron drenched stuff. A very good if not great band.

Hi,

I think they had a song called something like poor man's moody blues ... but I have to look.

All in all, a GREAT band for me, and I have like 9 or 10 albums (from the start), and one or two DVD's.

I, originally, got the first album because the band was one of the "ingredients" in the inner sleeve breakfast box side for HIPGNOSIS ... you'll have to get the book to see it ... I'm too lazy to scan it, and I think I lost that sleeve a long time ago, as I have not seen it for years, but I remember it fondly ... specially, as I ended up going after almost everything that was listed in those "ingredients", and I don't think that there was a bad band listed in it at all ... right off the bat I recall Kevin Ayers, Roy Harper, Edgar Broughton Band, The Third Ear Band, Capability Brown, Pete Brown and his Battered Ornaments, Tea and Symphony, Quatermass, Lol Coxhill, and East of Eden ... I'm sure I missed some of them ...

Pete Brown, of course, was the writer for many of Cream's songs. Sadly he never really lived up to it on his own. Tea and Symphony is the only one I do not have at all for some reason. Lol Coxhill did not click with me then, and I never got anything else.

The amazing thing is how many of these bands survived a long time ... BJH, EBB, Kevin, Roy, TEB lived on quite far.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote SteveG Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 30 2020 at 19:53
So we're vacillating in this poll between great and ok. Interesting from a band that's rarely mentioned in these threads. I believe that Dr. Wu is a big fan so that should give them a boost.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote dr wu23 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 30 2020 at 20:46
^They're good but I wouldn't call them 'great'...I reserve that adjective  for bands like Crimson.  ;)
btw...I accidentally hit option 3 so the 2nd option should have another vote.
Embarrassed 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote AFlowerKingCrimson Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 30 2020 at 21:36
Originally posted by dr wu23 dr wu23 wrote:

^They're good but I wouldn't call them 'great'...I reserve that adjective  for bands like Crimson.  ;)
btw...I accidentally hit option 3 so the 2nd option should have another vote.
Embarrassed 

Maybe someone who thinks they are ok will hit the good button. Wink
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