Top 7 Barclay James Harvest Songs
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Topic: Top 7 Barclay James Harvest Songs
Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Subject: Top 7 Barclay James Harvest Songs
Date Posted: July 01 2020 at 10:16
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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.  I've added a couple of extra songs onto the usual Top 5 list to hopefully make it a bit more interesting.  Simply list your Top 7 Barclay James Harvest songs in order of preference below and then I'll assign points to your listings as follows:-1st song - 12 points 2nd song - 8 points 3rd song - 6 points 4th song - 4 points 5th song - 3 points 6th song - 2 points 7th song - 1 point All of the points divide neatly into the number 24.  Here's my BJH Top 7 to get the poll underway:- 1. Suicide (12 points) 2. Mocking Bird (8 points) 3. Poor Man's Moody Blues (6 points) 4. Medicine Man (4 points) 5. She Said (3 points) 6. Hymn (2 points) 7. Titles (1 point)
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Replies:
Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: July 01 2020 at 10:59
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Ra Dark Now, My Sky She Said Crazy (over you) Rock n Roll Star Poor Man’s Moody Blues The Iron Maiden |
Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: July 01 2020 at 11:31
| ^^ Your #1 choice "Ra" is a BJH song I'm not familiar with. I'll have to give it a listen. |
Posted By: BaldFriede
Date Posted: July 01 2020 at 14:51
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i will keep out of this. There is a reason why I call them Barclay James Harmless. -------------  BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue. |
Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: July 01 2020 at 15:30
I guessed you weren't a big fan of BJH from one of your comments in a previous blog.
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BaldFriede wrote:Posted By: AFlowerKingCrimson
Date Posted: July 01 2020 at 15:59
| My mother has all my old vinyl in her attic. One of the albums in there somewhere is "everyone is everybody else." On cd the only thing I have is the double cd the live tapes or whatever it's called. I bought it when BJH played at Rosfest one year. That was a great performance but over all I'm not very familiar with them. I do like some of the songs I have heard but I don't really remember titles except for "mockingbird" and "child of the universe." Another band to add to my list I suppose. I hope more people comment though. Being a big Moody Blues fan they really are a band I should explore much more than I have. |
Posted By: dr wu23
Date Posted: July 01 2020 at 16:19
Well...they are often called a 'Poor Man's Moody Blues'.....  ------------- One does nothing yet nothing is left undone. Haquin |
Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: July 01 2020 at 22:52
She quite literally has some "Songs in the Attic", just like Billy Joel.
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Posted By: BaldFriede
Date Posted: July 02 2020 at 03:23
The reason I am not too fond of them is that they are never really challenging; they are always euphonious and dulcet. In other words: They are harmless. That's why I call them "Barclay James Harmless". ------------- BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue. |
Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: July 02 2020 at 03:47
I just happen to like euphonious and dulcet prog.
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Posted By: chopper
Date Posted: July 02 2020 at 04:59
| "Once Again" is one of my all-time favourite albums (let alone prog albums) but I've never been able to get into any of their others, they just don't really do anything for me, so I won't vote as my top 7 would be pretty much that album. |
Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: July 02 2020 at 05:31
You're perfectly welcome to choose a Top 7 all from the same album.
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Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: July 03 2020 at 05:39
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Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: July 03 2020 at 05:55
At the moment, "Ra" is in joint first place on 12 points with my #1 choice "Suicide", seeing as we're the only two PA members who have voted in the poll so far. When you mentioned "Ra" is on the Octoberon album, I realised that particular album is already in my collection, so I'll have to give "Ra" another listen. Thanks for the recommendation.
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Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: July 03 2020 at 06:49
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Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: July 03 2020 at 07:03
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^^ As far as I'm aware, there hasn't been a BJH Top 5, Top 7 or Top 10 songs poll prior to this one.
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Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: July 03 2020 at 07:53
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Posted By: Hrychu
Date Posted: July 03 2020 at 08:22
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1. Mockingbird 2. She Said 3. Mockingbird 4. She Said 5. Mockingbird 6. She Said 7. Mockingbird ------------- Bez pierdolenia sygnał zerwie, to w realia wychodź w hełmie! |
Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: July 03 2020 at 08:27
Are you a Mockingbird making a mockery of my poll?
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Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: July 03 2020 at 08:32
No, it's not you. Maybe BJH are just too Barclay James Harmless (as BaldFriede calls them) for many prog fans, or it could be because they're regarded as a Poor Man's Moody Blues.
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Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: July 03 2020 at 11:01
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Hi, Sadly, I do not listen to songs ... I listen to MUSIC and in this case ... ALBUMS ... and BJH holds a special spot in my heart all the way back to the original Mockingbird! It was one of the very first HARVEST albums I ever got. I can not help feel that their complete history and canon of music is magnificent, and how sad it was that some folks think they are a "poor man's Moody Blues", when that band started poetic and ended up being a farcical copy of its supposed poetic notions ... which were dropped because the record company wanted more hits! I'll buy more BHJ albums before any of MB's albums ... in fact I only have one ... the only album of theirs that matters. The rest is crap! And over rated and smelly crap! ------------- Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told! www.pedrosena.com |
Posted By: Cosmiclawnmower
Date Posted: July 03 2020 at 16:11
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Medicine Man (7'' B side 72 version or version on 'Live' or 'Rock n Roll star live EP, not the orchestrated version on 'Other short stories') Dark now my sky (BJH S/T ) Negative Earth/ She Said (BJH Live two tracks as one) Summer Soldier (BJH Live version) One Night (Time Honoured Ghosts) Beyond the Grave ( THG) Ra (Octoberon) Suicide Child of the universe (Live tapes version) I know that's 9 (well 10) rather than 7 but its off the top of my head; could be different tomorrow- there's some great early demo, B side and non lp tracks I love.. ------------- |
Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: July 04 2020 at 10:45
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This is how the Top 7 looks so far after the first three sets of votes:- 1. Medicine Man (16 points) 1. Dark Now, My Sky (16 points) 3. Ra (13 points) 4. Suicide (12 points) 5. She Said (9 points) 6. Mocking Bird (8 points) 6. Poor Man's Moody Blues (8 points)
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Posted By: kenethlevine
Date Posted: July 04 2020 at 13:00
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Back in the 1970s BJH were considered prog where I came from, and that makes it all the sadder that progheads today look down their noses at them, especially when they idolize the likes of Supertramp But I digress. BJH are partly to blame for their being regarded as harmless today because after 1979 they didn't do much of note, but then that's true for a lot of prog bands. And BJH was huge in Germany in the 1980s so they were playing to their audience. It's very hard to pick 7 tracks let alone the order, not to mention that some live versions blow the studio versions sky high. But I'll leave out the odd great track post 1979 and focus on the 2 Golden Eras, Harvest and Polygram, until Woolly Wolstenholme left, and at most 1 track per album 1. Mayday 2. Child of the Universe 3. Hymn 4. Mockingbird 5. Nova Lepidoptera 6. Medicine Man 7. Hymn for the Children honourable mention to their very first single "Early Morning"
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Posted By: kenethlevine
Date Posted: July 04 2020 at 13:05
\ I'm with you on the Live Tapes version of "Child". It's interesting that the song wasn't even included on "Live", which was an indication of how popular it became in the ensuing years. Just curious what you think of the live version of "One Night". Lees performs a magnificent solo the last few minutes
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Posted By: Cosmiclawnmower
Date Posted: July 04 2020 at 13:50
I love the Live Tapes version of One Night but was, a bit like you, trying to pick one track per album.. but I got rather side-tracked  . I have a very special attachment to BJH (for all sorts of reasons I wont go into now) and specifically the Woolly Era (1979 & before- I saw them on the last tour with Woolly) and find it very, very hard to pick specific tracks. I do tend to enjoy their lps as an entity even though there are a few duffers on just about every album..Its funny, when I was at secondary school in the mid 70's studying German, my pen-pal was mad on BJH!! ------------- |
Posted By: Cosmiclawnmower
Date Posted: July 04 2020 at 14:02
Its an odd one with 'Child'.. I know BJH had a bit of a problem at the end of the Harvest era where they played in South Africa.. I think they were duped by their management and were not in a financial position to do much about it.. I know the college and polytechnic circuit turned their back on them for a while due to it. I think they were genuinely innocent and at most just made a poorly informed decision to go. Anyway, I think it haunted them for a bit and 'Child' (with its references to South Africa) was in part a reaction to that.. John Lees also did a version on his Solo lp 'A Major fancy' and a more stripped down version was released as a single in the States. I think that, slightly later on, it re-invigorated them as a band that could & did write lyrics with a social conscience... I wont make any comment about 'Barclay James Harmless'.... obviously not seen or heard what 70's BJH could do Live!!! The fact that Polydor got Rodger Bain (of Black Sabbath production fame) to produce 'Everyone' and 'BJH Live' indicates the sort of Fire-power that the band could and did generate!! ------------- |
Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: July 04 2020 at 14:09
Barclay James Harvest have always been a great band Live for me and their Concert for Berlin in 1982 (mentioned in the intro) is one of their best.  |
Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: July 04 2020 at 14:11
I suspect you may be playing the part of the Mocking Bird in mocking Barclay James Harvest.
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Posted By: kenethlevine
Date Posted: July 04 2020 at 16:37
| The only time I've seen them live (I believe they never made it to North America until the 2000s) was as headliner for a prog festival in PA, USA some years ago. It was not that long before Wolstenholme took his own life. While Lees' was sick as a dog at the show, he was a class act all the way, and they did their name proud. I'm sure they had more hp in the 1970s but so did most of us! Woolly was the main MC and was VERY funny. One of his sadly prescient remarks concerned the average reaction that people get to saying that they are going to see BJH, that being "Barclay James Harvest? Aren't they dead? " Woolly said something to the effect of "Give it Time. We're working on it" |
Posted By: kenethlevine
Date Posted: July 04 2020 at 16:43
they were definitely an album band. Look at the choices people are making re their top 7. Some commonality but also a lot of outliers. And some of their best songs are better because of how they fit on their albums. Yes most albums even from the 1970s had a duff track or two, but a few of them were pretty close to perfect - Once Again, Everyone is Everybody Else, and Octoberon come to mind in particular. And the others all have great songs. I'm really fond of XII where Lees had a certain idea in mind for the theme and Holroyd wasn't playing along. But it somehow worked quite well.
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Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: July 05 2020 at 01:19
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Top 7 update, with Keneth Levine's votes added:- 1. Medicine Man (18 points) 2. Dark Now, My Sky (16 points) 3. Ra (13 points) 4. Suicide (12 points) 4. Mayday (12 points) 4. Mocking Bird (12 points) 7. She Said (9 points) 8. Poor Man's Moody Blues (8 points) 8. Hymn (8 points) 8. Child of the Universe (8 points)
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Posted By: Cosmiclawnmower
Date Posted: July 05 2020 at 13:51
Woolly was a VERY funny man when he was on form, very dry, lots of stories and anecdotes; with his clogs, 'Woolly-back' (Lancashire, particularly around Saddleworth area where the band originated from) accent and warm intelligence, he was someone I think endeared himself to many.. yet he suffered from severe depressions throughout his life in a quiet and dignified manner until he couldn't take it any more. Its very sad and still makes me very upset  to think he's gone. His Maestoso albums are excellent, the Uneasy listening compilation is a good place to start.------------- |
Posted By: Cosmiclawnmower
Date Posted: July 05 2020 at 13:58
XII is a great lp (better than Gone to Earth in my opinion) and I saw them on that tour (one of my first concerts, I was about 16) and it was great but i'm sure there was tension there. I think Les Holroyd always wanted more of a 'Rock star' lifestyle and was more interested in American (particularly West Coast) music and lifestyle whereas the rest found the experience of recording 'Time honoured ghosts' in San Francisco a rather harrowing and alienating experience and all they wanted to do was go back to blighty and hide in their favourite pub in Saddleworth! ------------- |
Posted By: kenethlevine
Date Posted: July 05 2020 at 14:35
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^ Thanks for the Woolly information. Only after he passed had I learned of his lifelong depression. The song "On Leave" from "North" is dedicated to him and is truly beautiful, with a haunting middle section. I also think XII better than "Gone to Earth". The first side of GTE is incredible - even Holroyd's Eagles ish tune somehow works. But they seem to run out of steam on side 2. XII has a couple of weak numbers - "Tale of Two Sixties" and "Turning in Circles" - but programming them out still leaves a great full length LP Yes Holroyd liked the rock and roll style more than Lees but sometimes he would really hit the spot, particularly when combining that style with tron, as in "Rock n Roll Star", "Giving it Up", or "Believe in Me". Interestingly, there was a DJ on the Carleton University station in Ottawa in 1978/79 who began every show with "Song for me" (which now that I think of it is right up there as a favourite from BJH). When they did a feature on XII at the time of release, they commented on how, even then, BJH seemed to be the subject of undue hatred by critics and indifference by the North American audience. At this point one of them piped up and said something to the effect that he always loves to listen to and talk about BJH because they are a great progressive rock band. Prog rock does not have to be complex, dissonant, unstructured, and edgy to be great. I also remember in college in the early 1980s, meeting a guy who was a British new wave fan through and through, and he knew and loved "Hymn". I suppose if he had spent any time in Germany in the late 70s he would have known it.
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Posted By: iluvmarillion
Date Posted: July 05 2020 at 23:36
Am I the only one who likes Galadriel?
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Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: July 05 2020 at 23:50
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I like Galadriel too, but it didn't make it into my Top 7. If you vote for Galadriel as your #1 song though, that'll place it straight into the overall Top 7.
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Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: July 06 2020 at 07:29
| I’m currently spinning Birth Control - Operation (which has nothing to do with anything in this thread) but after this awesome platter, I have the BJH Live dbl LP ready to indulge in. So much to enjoy on this one, I can’t wait. |
Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: July 06 2020 at 15:23
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Well, I listened to BJH Live - outstanding for sure. Woolly’s Mellotron work really put me in the zone. So many tremendous tracks performed here. Thanks, Paul, for creating this thread and rekindling my interest in BJH - the handful of albums I have just don’t get the attention they need here (much of my time spent on Tech /Extreme bands mostly). Ye olde faithfuls never fail to deliver ! Oh, After the Day and Medicine Man are just 2 more classics to add....... |
Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: July 06 2020 at 16:07
Thanks for your kind words, Tom. This is the classic BJH anthology concert, celebrating 25 years of Barclay James Harvest, and demonstrating why they've always been a great live act. |
Posted By: iluvmarillion
Date Posted: July 08 2020 at 06:12
OK, 1) Galadriel 2) Mocking Bird 3) Medicine Man 4) For No one 5) The World Goes On 6) She Said 7) Song For You 8) Child Of the Universe 9) Hymn 10) Ancient Waves
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Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: July 08 2020 at 06:39
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Top 7 update, with ILuvMarillion's votes added:- 1. Medicine Man (24 points) 2. Mocking Bird (20 points) 3. Dark Now, My Sky (16 points) 4. Ra (13 points) 5. Galadriel (12 points) 5. Suicide (12 points) 5. Mayday (12 points) 8. She Said (11 points) 9. Poor Man's Moody Blues (8 points) 9. Hymn (8 points) 9. Child of the Universe (8 points) A new entry in the poll for Galadriel
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Posted By: chopper
Date Posted: July 08 2020 at 08:22
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Ok so here's my list, all from the same album - 1) Song for Dying 2) Galadriel 3) She Said 4) Mocking Bird 5) Happy Old World 6) Lady Loves 7) Ball and Chain
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Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: July 08 2020 at 10:09
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Top 7 update, with Chopper's votes added:- 1. Medicine Man (24 points) 1. Mocking Bird (24 points) 3. Galadriel (20 points) 4. She Said (17 points) 5. Dark Now, My Sky (16 points) 6. Ra (13 points) 7. Suicide (12 points) 7. Mayday (12 points) 7. Song for Dying (12 points) 10. Poor Man's Moody Blues (8 points) 10. Hymn (8 points) 10. Child of the Universe (8 points) Galadriel is now right up there in the #3 slot after just two votes. |
Posted By: Cosmiclawnmower
Date Posted: July 08 2020 at 14:54
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I don't know if anyone has heard the single BJH made in 1972 under the pseudonym of 'Bombadil'? the A side was called 'Breathless' which is a poppy instrumental in a sort of.. er.. Glitter band (yes as in Gary Glitter) multi-tracked hand clap foot stomp beat sort of thing. Listen to the guitar, its very obvious who it is! its credited to 'Terry Bull' (John Lees). The B side is a beautiful little Woolly Wolstenholme song called 'When the city sleeps'.. its a real proper early BJH classic.. credited to 'Lester Forest' (Woolly W). I think they were persuaded to do it thinking it might make the charts as a novelty and earn them back a bit of cash after disastrous tours with an orchestra left them near bankruptcy. It didn't work, the single sank without trace... I'm rubbish at trying to put links to youtube on here but it is out there and also on various BJH Harvest era compilations. https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.45cat.com%2Frecord%2Fhar5095&psig=AOvVaw3n6UTnba3chd7uG9DyExpB&ust=1594328022754000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCIihuvDEvuoCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAJ" rel="nofollow">  https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vinylnet.co.uk%2Fbombadil%2F10259162-bombadil-breathless-7inch&psig=AOvVaw3n6UTnba3chd7uG9DyExpB&ust=1594328022754000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCIihuvDEvuoCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAO" rel="nofollow">
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Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: July 08 2020 at 16:09
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Posted By: kenethlevine
Date Posted: July 08 2020 at 18:15
| It's interesting how, on the first couple of albums, it seems like Woolly was the lead vocalist on most songs, and most songs were credited to the whole group. By Short Stories there was more participation from Lees and Holroyd on lead vocal but Woolly still sang quite a bit of lead. By Baby James it was pretty much, you write it, you sing it. Woolly's vocals were limited to 0,1, or 2 songs per album until he left. They were also on very Woolly type songs, bombastic, keyboard oriented epics or mini epics. Once big exception is one of my very favourite BJH songs, "Harbour" from XII. It is such a wonderful throwback to the Harvest years IMO. Yeah it lost out in the poll to the fantastic "Nova Lepidoptera", a great Lees tune |
Posted By: iluvmarillion
Date Posted: July 08 2020 at 19:08
No complaint there. Great album.
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Posted By: chopper
Date Posted: July 09 2020 at 04:07
To be honest I had very little to choose between either of them, it could have been a tie.
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Posted By: Cosmiclawnmower
Date Posted: July 09 2020 at 13:49
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[QUOTE=kenethlevine]It's interesting how, on the first couple of albums, it seems like Woolly was the lead vocalist on most songs, and most songs were credited to the whole group. By Short Stories there was more participation from Lees and Holroyd on lead vocal but Woolly still sang quite a bit of lead. By Baby James it was pretty much, you write it, you sing it. Woolly's vocals were limited to 0,1, or 2 songs per album until he left. They were also on very Woolly type songs, bombastic, keyboard oriented epics or mini epics. Once big exception is one of my very favourite BJH songs, "Harbour" from XII. It is such a wonderful throwback to the Harvest years IMO. Yeah it lost out in the poll to the fantastic "Nova Lepidoptera", a great Lees tune[/QUOTE Woolly did a lot of lead vocals and also played (acoustic) guitar (which he did sporadically, particularly live, right up till he left). Ive just been playing 'Someone there you know' from 'Other short stories' which is a very typical, rather melancholic, Woolly song, sang by himself but credited to the whole band. And of course the gorgeous 'The Poet' from the same lp. Because "Baby James' had been conceived as a double lp, Woolly was off in London working on 'Moonwater' whilst the other three recorded the rest at Strawberry in Manchester.. I think the band and Woolly in particular felt very distant from each other at that point as the funding (and interest) from Harvest evaporated and 'Baby James' was hurriedly mixed and released as a single lp.
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Posted By: kenethlevine
Date Posted: July 11 2020 at 22:07
very interesting background. Perhaps that's why they didn't even include "Maestoso" on the first Polygram album. So it was really 2 straight albums with Woolly not singing on any group tracks. Moonwater is just him on voice and keys and an orchestra. It's actually not bad, but certainly not as lyrical and impactful as "The Poet/After the Day"
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Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: July 11 2020 at 23:48
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They could all write a killer song, no doubt. Judging by Live ‘74, they SHOULD be up there with the best. They are certainly more typically ‘Prog’ than the Moody’s. Perhaps BJH picked up where the most progressive of Moodys left off ? Very overlooked band. Even I’ve overlooked them (I do have several LP’s of theirs that had gathered dust until this poll !) |
Posted By: iluvmarillion
Date Posted: July 12 2020 at 01:26
Just recently returned to play Time Honoured Ghosts again after a long interval. Highly underrated record. Better than I remember it. Very Beatles-esque without being too imitative.
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Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: July 12 2020 at 03:06
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Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: July 12 2020 at 06:38
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The current nine winning songs in the Top 7..... 1. Medicine Man (24 points) 1. Mocking Bird (24 points) 3. Galadriel (20 points) 4. She Said (17 points) 5. Dark Now, My Sky (16 points) 6. Ra (13 points) 7. Suicide (12 points) 7. Mayday (12 points) 7. Song for Dying (12 points) |
Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: July 13 2020 at 02:50
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The videos for the three joint runner-up songs..... 10. Poor Man's Moody Blues (8 points) 10. Hymn (8 points) 10. Child of the Universe (8 points) |
Posted By: Steve Wyzard
Date Posted: July 15 2020 at 12:32
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Couldn't limit myself to just 7, even though they've released VAST swaths of material (i.e. early stuff) that leaves me ice cold. 1) "In Memory of the Martyrs" (by far the best thing they've ever done) 2) "The Great Unknown" 3) "Ballad of Denshaw Mill" 4) "I'm Like a Train" 5) "Paraiso dos Cavalos" 6) "Ring of Changes" 7) "The Song (They Love to Sing)" 8) "Sea of Tranquility" 9) "Spirit on the Water" 10) "A Matter of Time"
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Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: July 15 2020 at 12:58
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Top 7 update, with Steve Wyzard's votes added:- 1. Medicine Man (24 points) 1. Mocking Bird (24 points) 3. Galadriel (20 points) 4. She Said (17 points) 5. Dark Now, My Sky (16 points) 6. Ra (13 points) 7. Suicide (12 points) 7. Mayday (12 points) 7. Song for Dying (12 points) 7. In Memory of the Martyrs (12 points) |
Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: July 15 2020 at 13:00
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7. In Memory of the Martyrs (12 points) |
Posted By: kenethlevine
Date Posted: July 15 2020 at 14:35
| There seems to be a marked preference for the Harvest years, though several tracks from Octoberon seem to be favourites. Not surprising since that is probably the proggiest of the Polydor years. I actually think that the Harvest period was very uneven apart from "Once Again", but it did have a number of monster tracks that became live staples and got expanded out in concert |
Posted By: Cosmiclawnmower
Date Posted: July 15 2020 at 14:58
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In Memory of the Martyrs is a great song; possibly the last real BJH 'Classic'? In all honesty I stopped listening to their output after the 'Turn of the Tide' lp (saw them on that tour, supposedly Twelfth Night were supposed to be the support as they (briefly) had the same management but it never happened). The 'Turn..' lp brought a slight renaissance in the UK for the band (instrumental part of one of the tracks (Death of a city I think..) was used on the satirical TV show 'Not the Nine o clock news'.. but all in all was only marginally better than 'Eyes of the Universe'... without Woolly in the mix it was just sliding off into the soft rock zone. The next time I saw them was 2002 as 'BJH through the eyes of John Lees and Woolly Wolstenholme'.. ------------- |
Posted By: Steve Wyzard
Date Posted: July 15 2020 at 15:57
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Agree about the "very uneven". At one time I owned a majority of their albums, but have since whittled my collection down to a "core 7": 1. Everyone is Everybody Else (1974) 2. Gone to Earth (1977) 3. Eyes of the Universe (1979) 4. Turn of the Tide (1981) - my personal favorite 5. Ring of Changes (1983) 6. Welcome to the Show (1990) 7. Caught in the Light (1993).
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Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: July 15 2020 at 16:18
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The only BJH album I have on your list is Everyone is Everybody Else. I also have:- Barclay James Harvest & Other Stories; Time Honoured Ghosts; Octoberon; XII; and also a compilation titled "Mocking Bird".
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Posted By: Kingsnake
Date Posted: January 22 2021 at 13:44
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1. The Poet / After the Day 2. Summer Soldier 3. Ra 4. She Said 5. For No One 6. Medicine Man 7. The World Goes On For me one of the best symphonic progrockbands out there. |
Posted By: Cosmiclawnmower
Date Posted: January 22 2021 at 15:03
Good to see you! A great list of BJH tracks- i'd be very very happy with that list as a playlist!  ------------- |