OFF: Roy Harper query

[Z E Itgeist]

Bear in mind my comments re Roy are in context of a huuuuuuuuuge Roy fan,
and that everything he has done is of merit.  Every home should have at
leat half a dozen Roy albums, and those who don't should be up against the
wall come the revolution.

On Mon, 12 Nov 2001 10:55:52 +0000, iain ferguson <iainferguson at AOL.COM>
wrote:

>Born in Captivity is simply one of the most wonderful albums ever. I
trudged 6
>miles through the snow to a small folk club attached to a pub near weston
super
>mare to see Roy play.
>Found out the gig was sold out so went into the pub for a pint and warm up
next
>to the fire before trudging home again. I was chatting to my fellow walker
>about being so close yet so far from seeing the man. When squadron leader
Roy
>Harper ( dressed in flying jacket and white scarf) steps in in and says
>"we'll if you;ve walked 6 miles to come and see me, you can walk in with
me,
>you are my roadcrew for the night, you'll not pay, you can sit down  the
front,
>the only thing I ask is that you build the joints good and strong when I
giv e
>you the nod".
>We walked in and sat at the front ( crosslegged ) and a lump the size of
>jupiter landed on my lap to the words " i think its going to be a good
night,
>pass it round !", and nodded in my direction.....
>
>Later after the gig i bought a copy of Born in Captivity and got the man
to put
>his name to it... its still played in Ferguson Towers to this day....
simply
>stunning.
>
>iain
>
>
>
>Z E Itgeist wrote:
>
>> Agreed, not one of his best, but Work of Heart, the suite, is still a
>> marvellous piece.  And "Elizabeth" is an understated classic  Roy sez;
>>
>> "'Born in Captivity' and 'Work of Heart' used to be two separate albums.
I
>> can remember having cause one time to ask my good minder, Darren Crisp,
>> which record of mine he would recommend to someone who had never heard me
>> at all. I was expecting to hear something like 'Stormcock'
or 'Valentine',
>> or half a dozen others, but he came straight back with 'Born in
Captivity'.
>> I was very surprised.
>>
>> I had the chance of listening to the record again some time later. I
>> brought some new ears with me into the experience. What I heard was what
>> I'd last heard. An almost quaint little album made entirely by Roy and
>> entirely at home. No other musicians involved.
>>
>> It brought back all the fonder memories of the period. A period when my
son
>> Ben was a little boy playing in the farmyard. Getting snowed in for the
>> best part of a week one year. Green Woodpeckers in the garden. If you
are a
>> musician you will know the story well: it was the demo for 'Work of
Heart'
>> that eventually everyone liked just as well if not more. It's gentler,
>> less 'produced' and quite obviously made at home.
>>
>> So; I was still finding my feet after the EMI years when 'Work of Heart'
>> was made. Perhaps I don't have the right attitude to the album because of
>> the trauma of losing the above house to Barclays Bank at the time. But
>> never mind, I can proudly say that I was one of the first casualties of
the
>> eighties recession! It was a chaotic period and one that I don't care to
>> remember that often.
>>
>> I have not until recently paid much attention to video, and I guess had I
>> done so then my career would have been more visible. In that context it
is
>> worth remarking here that my performance at Glastonbury was video taped
in
>> 1982.
>>
>> Tony Franklin, who played bass with me at the time made a comment to me
>> recently to the effect that the only visual recording of the most complex
>> piece of music that I ever wrote was recorded by a sound crew who
obviously
>> couldn't hear a thing! Mike Mansfield has shown it on 'Q the Music'
>> recently, (again). I think that I managed to find myself a suitable place
>> to hide and cringe that night. C'est la vie. One day I'll re-dub it.
There
>> is no doubt in my own mind that the early eighties were the nadir of my
>> life in music."
>>
>> >>>>
>> OFF: Roy Harper query
>>
>> In message <200111112137.QAA23973 at listserv.spc.edu>, Z E Itgeist
>> <stuart.hamilton at SCOTTISH.PARLIAMENT.UK> writes
>>
>> >NP Roy Harper - Born In Captivity 2CD
>>
>> 2CD eh? I have the original vinyl LP, but what else is on the CD? Is the
>> second CD the "Work of Heart" album? (BiC largely being the demos for
>> that- and personally I much prefer the demos, WoH is easily Harper's
worst
>> album I've always thought) Or is it something else?
>>
>> thanks in advance
>> --
>> Nick Medford