For those of us that followed Fusion Orchestra around the gigging circuit in the early seventies, the
Skeleton In Armour album stands as a great memento of what an incredibly cooking band they could be in concert, the teenage Jill Saward fronting them with stunning dynamism, mesmerising us with her vocal range, flute playing and grooving electric piano; bassist Dave Cowell with Union Jack cape, perspex Dan Armstrong bass and face make-up; Colin Dawson on stinging lead guitar: rhythm guitarist Stan Land resplendant in flasher mac, with his home-made synthesiser and Dave Bell powering it along on the drums - what a group!
Producer Jeff Jarrett (who engineered on the Beatles' White Album) deserves applause for capturing some of that live feel on their sole studio album, despite the absence of several killer live tracks like Hunchback and the band's extraordinary take on Gershwin's Summertime, the great live epics Sonata In Z and Talk To The Man In The Sky were thankfully captured for posterity. One spin of the album takes me back to those glorious gigs at St. Alban's City Hall, Upminster New Windmill Hall, North East London Poly in Stratford E15, the Marquee and beyond in 1973/1974 - I still have my purple-tinted Fusion Orchestra poster from those times, depicting the band in full flight - a mighty sight!
Any other F.O. fans out there care to tell us their favourite track from Skeleton In Armour?