SHE SAID

Here's the first review for this great single, and some music memories of mine with it, mainly for my own pleasure. My favourite BJH album has "always" been their second one, Once Again (1971) which I bought on CD quite soon after finding the band in the early 2000's (with the aid of internet, but it must have been before ProgArchives). It was much later that I found that for example Everyone Is Everybody Else (1974) is also so good that it could have taken the merit instead. But most likely I would have preferred Once Again as a later discovery as well.

This single happens to contain, IMHO, the best tracks of Once Again, edited to a more single-friendly length from the album versions. Inevitably some of the charm of both the mighty, orchestral album opener 'She Said' (edited from 8:21 to 3:54) and the perennial classic 'Mockingbird' (from 6:39 to 5:20) are lost, but I sympathize the idea of giving these beautiful songs a chance on the singles market, and hopefully they also found their way to radio* at the time. I guess 'Mockingbird' is the best known BJH song, and probably still a concert favourite for John Lees' BJH. It's very romantic and nocturnal without being too sentimental. The edgier and more progressive 'She Said' is actually a brave choice for a single. Respect!

A nice cover drawing, by the way, quite suitable to the music's vintage atmosphere.

[ * A side-note: here in Finland I have sadly never heard any Barclay James Harvest on radio, as far as I remember -- not counting the time I myself played 'Hymn' in 2017, when I made a prog-oriented series on the local university station. ]