5 June : Barclay James Harvest

Barclay James Harvest is a band that I’ve often been told I ought to like, and, indeed, I do kind of like them, but not enough to invest much time or money in. I hadn’t heard their debut album though, so I was interested to find out what I’d make of it.

By the time this was recorded and released, the band had been together for four years. The material on the album is tight and very well played. The material is also varied, some of it with good poppy hooks, but always with ‘underground’ leanings. Mother Dear is almost MoR folk with a sub-Beatles arrangement. Their musical instincts are pretty much always towards melody, often with a strong sixties feel. Mel Pritchard’s drums stand out throughout.

You can hear their influences, though. When The World Was Woken has a hymnal quality and reminds me too, of Tim Hardin’s If I Were A Carpenter. The final song on the album, Woolly Wolstenholme’s Dark Now My Sky reminded me in parts of Sibelius teasing the intro of the Intermezzo of The Karelia Suite

It’s a pleasant album, and I’ve added the opening track Taking Some Time On to a 1970 playlist I’m slowly building on Spotify. I’m pleased I gave it a listen, even if, of itself, it isn’t enough to convert me to the Barclay James Harvest cause. You might think differently, and I wouldn’t blame you if you did.

I listened on Spotify and it is all on YouTube