Paul Brett

Here’s an interesting case for Archives inclusion who has bounced around the Prog Folk team thread for quite a while now, so I thought I’d post a separate thread and get feedback from other members.

For those who are not familiar with Paul Brett’s work, he began his career appearing while still a teenager as an uncredited backing guitarist on Roy Harper’s 1966 debut ‘Sophisticated Beggar’ (filed under Prog Folk), which is generally acknowledged as contemporary British folk with rock trappings, although not particularly progressive especially compared to some of Harper’s later work into the mid-seventies. 

The same can be said of Al Stewart’s ‘Zero She Flies’ release, recorded in 1969 with Brett again appearing as a nameless studio musician while other studio players such as Trevor Lucas and Gerry Conway of Fotheringay (Prog Related) do appear in the liner notes. 

Brett also appeared on the Strawbs’ ‘Dragonfly’ (Prog Folk) studio album, which was also recorded in 1969, and cut a couple of singles with Arthur Brown (Proto-Prog).

That same year he played guitar on most of Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera’s second and final release ‘Ride a Hustler’s Dream’ (Psych/Space Rock), and closed out the decade as a member of the short-lived psych band Fire, largely leading the studio effort for the now-rare ‘The Magic Shoemaker’ LP.

I got interested after discovering his work after Dragonfly, when he first formed his own band (Paul Brett Sage) and released three studio albums between 1970-1972.  These would be the ones that would form the basis for considering him for inclusion in ProgArchives.  The group consisted at various times of Nicky Higginbottom (flute, saxophone), Mike Piggot (later of the Pentangle), bassist Dick Dufall (Strawbs, Fire) and percussionist Bob Voice (Fire).  The band’s sound ranges from contemporary to progressive folk to mildly heavy rock with occasional blues-rock and jazzy sounds. 

Brett would go on to a lengthy solo career as a mostly 12-string guitarist, recording contemporary rock albums, progressive works including the complex guitar instrumentals ‘Earth Birth’ and ‘Interlife’.  In later year he would release a number of modern folk, instructional and mainstream albums including several K-Tel records.  He also amassed a lengthy body of work as a session and touring musician, appearing with Steve Hillage, Jimi Hendrix, Van der Graff Generator, Mott the Hoople, Status Quo, Free and many others.

Discography:

as Paul Brett Sage

- Paul Brett Sage
- Jubilation Foundry
- Schizophrenia

as Brett & Joyce

- Acoustic Power

solo Paul Brett

- Paul Brett
- Clocks
- Phoenix  Future
- Earth Birth
- Interlife
- Eclipse
- Guitar Trek
- Romantic Guitar
- Themes
- Themes 2
- Great Themes
- Music Manifold
- Transmissions
- Songs from the Compleat Angler 

Also appears on:

Roy Harper - Sophisticated Beggar
Al Stewart - Zero She Flies
Tintern Abbey - Cavalcade
Velvet Opera - Ride a Hustler’s Dream
Fire - Magic Shoemaker
Strawbs - Dragonfly
Arthur Brown - Devil’s Grip (single)

Also played studio sessions and/or toured with:

- Mott the Hoople
- Steve Hillage
- Barclay James Harvest
- The Who
- Van der Graff Generator
- Quintessence
- Crazy World of Arthur Brown
- Jimi Hendrix
- John Renbourn
- Status Quo
- Gerard Jelsch (Ange)
- Jackie Graham
- Gordon Giltrap
- Motorhead
- Mungo Jerry
- Manfred Mann
- John Mayall
- The Overlanders
- Free
- Michele Breeze
- Rod Stewart & the Faces
…and many more…

More information about Paul Brett Sage here:

Paul Brett Sage (s/t)

Schizophrenia

Jubilation Foundry

IMHO there’s no question he belongs here somewhere, at least for his work with Paul Brett Sage and his solo albums.  The question is where. 

Would appreciate any feedback, observations or experiences anyone else has had with Paul Brett’s work.