COLD CUTS

Thanks to my buddy Gildas, I am finally able to enjoy this album that was one of the Isles' rarest, but has become rather common (all things considered) in the new millennium. Greenwood was an ex-Crazy World, and will also be the bassist on the great and sole album of Khan in the same year of release of his only solo album. This album came after Space Shanty, but sonically speaking, Cold Cuts is more related to the Crazy World than Khan, although it almost stands halfway between the two. Hillage leaving Khan for GonG, Steward heading for Hatfield, this left Greenwood (and drummer Peachy) to record his only solo effort, but he wrote the tracks with keyboardman Dick Heningway. Graced with an absolutely disgusting artwork, which only Krautrockers could surpass in terms of bad taste, this album is a very joyful explosion of Hammond-driven hard rock, with touches of brass jazz-rock, and a whole ton of wavy gravy psychedelic.

Starting off with the absolutely delightful and pastoral (at least at first) Sea Of Holy Pleasure (divided into three segments), where Heninghem's organ parts are definitely reminiscent of Crane, Stewart and even Emerson, and Bunk Gardner's (ex-Zappa and just having done some of the most incredible wind instrument playing on Tim Buckley's Starsailor) interventions on various brass instruments add incredible depth to an enormously progressive track. Throughout the album, you'll get bits of pure soulful brass- rock, some early influences of Egg, Arzachel, Khan (obviously), a touch of reedy blues-rock, and some more alert Oblivion Express and Affinity. Although the organ dominates, there is a good balance between brasses, flutes, guitars, piano and the odd string section and

Greenwood's voice is particularly well suited to this kind of music, which also uses the help of an inventive string section in Tudor- era music and an orgasmic flute of Hope/Ambitions. The succession of short organ-driven tracks is particularly enjoyable, because each develops its own ambiances: hear the flute making love to the organ in Corruption or Images or the superb backing vocals upping the ante over an Auger-like Hammond part in Big Machine. The aptly-titled Melancholy track even give the guitars a chance to dominate the underlying organ. The album closes on another superb track, Realisation And Death with plenty of dramatics and excellent interplay.

Over the last two decades many forgotten albums have been unearthed and called gems, but not many carry the same amounts of carats as this one. Actually this album is just as good as its closest two cousins (Crazy World of and Space Shanty), but it might lack a bit the historical importance of these two and therefore might not be so essential.

Aaaah, Greenwood, Greenwood, Greenwood........this album has long been a sought after relic for Prog-Heads and 70's music lovers of fine taste - it is worth an absolute fortune in its original press, but has since been re-issued on both CD and vinyl in recent years. That said, the Akarma vinyl pressing actually cuts the last track of side 1 by about one and a half minutes for some reason (??). Still, a very nice record. Being part of the phenomenal psychedelic ensemble 'Crazy World of Arthur Brown' as Bass- Player (I've always known the bassist of the Crazy World as going by the name of Sean Nicholas....) I speculate whether he joined Canterbury band KHAN *before* cutting this album, the production just isn't as 'lively' as Space Shanty.... Anyways, Nicholas recorded this one and only solo album full of highly inspired and quality tunes. As P.A.'s Guru reviewer Hugues points out, the sound is closer with the Crazy World than to Khan, but sometimes falls in between. Recruiting a great selection of musicians, the album opens with the magnificent, extended track 'A Sea Of Holy Pleasure - Parts 1-3', a beautifully composed and arranged piece show-casing the talents of the group - Dick Henningham on some heavy Hammond Organ (very Vincent Crane-like), luscious Flutes from Bunk Gardener, Nick's busy and effective Bass-lines and gorgeous vocals - sometimes he really lets loose), and a great Drummer in Eric Peachy (also of Steve Hillage's KHAN - Space Shanty being one of, if not THE best album this Prog-lover has the honour of owning and listening to). The overall sound is augmented by fine String and Brass arrangements, giving the music a more diverse flavour. Elsewhere the album offers some Bluesy moments (Big Machine, Melancholy), definate psychedelic passages (Hopes/Ambitions, in particular), some accessible and extremely catchy songs (if they were 'covered' these days, they could well be hits - Lead Me On, Close The Doors and Promised Land), and deep and introspective pieces in Corruption (with lyrics Ozzy Osbourne would be proud of), Mirror Images and Realisation/Death. In all cases, the sound is shared freely and evenly between all the performers (the Organ playing couldn't be better), and I can give my 100 % recommendation by saying this album is a solid 4 stars. Treasure the moments.

This really is a special album, but I must admit though that it is surprising how much more it sounds like Proto-Prog or Heavy-Prog(as Tom Ozric told me it would) than it does Canterbury. Greenwood was involved in two significant releases that year(1972), besides this his solo album, he was also the bass player for KHAN's "Space Shanty" album that I love so much. For "Cold Cuts" he enlisted a string quartet,fellow KHAN member and drummer Eric Peachey, and ex MOTHERS OF INVENTION woodwind player Bunk Gardiner. On keyboards we have Dick Heninghem, who would also share in composing all of the songs along with Greenwood.

"A Sea Of Holy Pleasure Parts I, II, III" is my favourite track on here. It opens with water sounds as piano and flute take over. More water running can be heard before powerful organ runs takes over and a full sound 1 1/2 minutes in. The tempo picks up. Great sound. Some nice bass 3 minutes in but the organ play is killer. A calm after 5 minutes as the flute leads the way and vocals arrive for the first time after 5 1/2 minutes. "Hope / Ambitions" opens with strings as a catchy beat comes in. This is great ! Vocals arrive as flute and drums stand out. Organ after 2 1/2 minutes. "Corruption" opens with piano but is quickly replaced by organ, drums and bass. Vocals and strings follow. This is a mid-paced tune with the strings coming and going. "Lead Me On" is a fairly straight forward track with prominant vocals.

"Big Machine" has a nice rhythm to it. It actually reminds me of THE DOORS a little. Probably the organ play. Guitar comes in at 2 minutes to end it. "Close The Doors" is a piano / drum / vocal led tune. The vocals are quite passionate on this one. The guitar that comes in late is a highlight as well as the organ. "Melancholy" is led by the piano, drums and vocals, but it's the emotional guitar playing that comes and goes that stirs me. "Images" opens with drums, vocals and organ. Flute 2 minutes in. "Promised Land" features some dramatic vocals at times. "Realisation And Death" features reserved vocals with organ, bass and drums. Strings after 2 minutes. Emotional vocals 4 minutes in as he cries out "Bring out your dead !" Some fantastic organ follows.

So a hidden gem from 1972 that I really liked from the first time I heard it. Like I said, I really believe this is a special record although the album cover is a little weird with the cold cuts shaped like a person piled on a chair(haha).

Nick Greenwood's main claim to fame is being part of the Crazy World of Arthur Brown, and fans of the Canterbury scene also know him as a member of Steve Hillage's short-lived group Khan, but his sole solo effort - Cold Cuts - hasn't remotely received the attention that either of the other two has enjoyed over the years. It's an interesting blend of the dramatic psychedelia of the Crazy World and the trippier brand of Canterbury that Khan specialised in, and whilst it isn't a classic on the level of the Crazy World's debut, or even the sole Khan album, for those who are into psychedelic/Canterbury obscurities it isn't a complete waste of time.

At the same time, Greenwood still seems to be finding his musical voice here and the album is a little hit-and-miss; it's a shame his solo career ended here, since it would have been interested to see what he came up with had he persisted and boiled down the influences here into a cohesive sound of his own.

A solo effort from a sidekick, who never got out of shadow.

Nick Greenwood was a bass player who played alongside Arthur Brown or Steve Hillage in Khan. He released only one solo album throughout his career - "Cold Cuts". He recruited his fellow Khan drummer Eric Peachey, Frank Zappa's saxophone player Bunk Gardner, Chris Pritchard from a folk group Silly Wizard, Bryn Howarth, a guitarist who would later be known for his religious projects and a few other musicians, who were only to be known through this project. The main wonder of this album is the incredible keyboardist Dick Henningham, who made his only appearance on this album.

Music of "Cold Cuts" does have strains of early Canterbury scene acts, however what comes to mind as soon as you put on the record is the influence of Colosseum. The opening track "A Sea Of Holy Pleasure", which I consider the best and most representative of the album, could very well be recorded by Colosseum. Following tunes are kept in a similar mood with soul-jazz elements being put on the first plan. Brass instruments appear here an there and even some strings (track "Hope Ambitions"). "Cold Cuts" doesn't quite have a feel of being a strict progressive rock record, but rather psychedelic rock with sparkling jazz and blues-rock passages. The musicianship throughout the whole work is amazing and Greenwood's voice is qutie unique with an interesting color, perfectly suited for the music.

It's a shame that Nick Greenwood's only solo effort has been lost in time. "Cold Cuts" has a very strong potential and it would be great to see a follow-up of this one. Albeit lacking in places, this is a very solid release made by phenomenal musicians, who have not had a lot of luck. Highly recommended!

NICHOLAS GREENWOOD ( born Sean Nicholas Greenwood ) is a British musician who had his day in the late 1960s and early 1970s during the heyday of the early evolution of the English progressive rock scene. As Sean Nicholas he was the bassist for The Crazy World of Arthur Brown and appeared on that band's hit album of 1968 and stuck around until the next year when the band broke up but quickly moved on to join ranks with Steve Hillage and the crew in Khan in time to release that band's lauded prog classic "Space Shanty" in 1972 while the same year also contributed bass and vocals to the newly formed Jonesy which released its debut "No Alternative the same year.

The year 1972 was a busy one as GREENWOOD also found the time to recruit an interesting group of musicians and record his one and only album COLD CUTS which also came out in the year. Some of the recruits from GREENWOOD's past included members from Khan: drummer Eric Peachy and keyboardist DIck Henninghem as well as woodwind maestro Bunk Gardner who played with Frank Zappa and Tim Buckley. Henninghem also played with GREENWOOD along with Atomic Rooster founder Vincent Crane with Arthur Brown. All in all GREENWOOD had a very productive late 60s and early 70s but after this album he completely disappeared from the music scene altogether but as far as i know he is alive and well in his native UK.

COLD CUTS featured GREENWOOD on vocals and bass but also hosted eleven extra musicians who contributed two guitar parts, keyboards, woodwinds, violins, viola, cello, percussion and harmonic vocal additions. While many of these musicians had played together many times in the past, COLD CUTS sounded nothing like any of the bands that any of these guys had played in. While lumped into the British Canterbury Scene due to GREENWOOD's involvement in Khan, this album does not come off as an immediate candidate for that quirky subgenre that mostly focuses on off-kilter jazz-rock however many artists such as Steve Hillage himself, Khan and others somehow got lumped into the Canterbury crowd by mere association rather than musical stylistic approaches.

This is one of those albums that has a varied approach ranging from proto-prog bluesy rock to orchestrated prog with heavy emphasis on keyboards sounding something like a mix of Atomic Rooster, Hillage's first band Arzachel and well, the brass rock style of bands like Blood, Sweat and Tears. This is a Hammond organ dominated album mostly with strong rock guitar and bass led grooves along with heavy psych keyboard heft. A careful listen though will reveal moments of Canterbury stitched into the overall tapestry of the musical flow albeit subtle and fleeting but then again i would never associate Steve Hillage's "Fish Rising" or even Robert Wyatt's "Rock Bottom" as Canterbury jazz-rock either and yet they sit comfortable in that pigeon-holed subgenre.

For all the sophisticated arrangements and instrumentation this album has a lot of soul as there are lots of funky grooves and best of all GREENWOOD himself delivers excellent vocal performances with a wide range which is a surprise considering his career was as a bassist. His singing style is actually better than many supposedly "real" singers in various prog bands! While the album sounds a tad retro in some ways especially following in the footsteps of the cutting edge Khan project, COLD CUTS is chock filled with excellent musicianship with tight knit playing that delivers a beautiful mix of prog rock, blues and jazzy brass rock. Add to that the atmospheres are impeccable. They excel at creating a certain mood without ever sounding cheesy, forced or insincere. Perhaps not the top of the heap of what the Canterbury artists had to offer, COLD CUTS is a fascinating and unique contribution to the world of prog where several stylistic approaches intersect.