VA - Harvest Festival [1999] (5 x CD's)

HARVEST FESTIVAL

VA - Harvest Festival [1999] (5 x CD's)

Harvest Festival is a genuinely comprehensive and thorough look at the one British major label venture into psychedelia and progressive rock that actually worked, commercially and artistically; it's a panoramic journey through a major part of British rock as it developed over a period of just under a decade. Over the five CDs and 119 songs, more than two dozen acts are featured, ranging from purely English phenomena like Michael Chapman, Quatermass, and Pete Brown to mega-arena acts like Pink Floyd, and the set comes complete with a built-in 120-page book that would be worth 35 dollars by itself. Beginning with the Edgar Broughton Band's Jimi Hendrix meets the Crazy World of Arthur Brown track "Evil," the programming goes a long way to explaining why Harvest worked while other attempts at forming psychedelic and progressive labels in England failed -- in contrast to the slick, commercial psychedelic ventures at rival Deram Records, Harvest always gave its artists the freedom to be louder (or softer) than the norm, and to be bold in their expressions. Moreover, the diversity of form was astonishing, from the acoustic instrumental chamber music rock of the Third Ear Band, to the lively acoustic psychedelia of Syd Barrett and Kevin Ayers, to the high-energy attack of Deep Purple, Quatermass, and Bakerloo -- it all sounds amazingly strong, well crafted, and exciting. Harvest had room for jugband music, traditional acoustic folk, progressive folk-rock, spoken word, and, full-circle commercially from Harvest's late-60's origins, psychedelic Beatles-influenced commercial rock by way of ELO. Harvest also grew to embrace sounds that would have been inconceivable for EMI to have signed when they started, including Be-Bop Deluxe (versions 1 and 2), Bill Nelson's Red Noise, the reggae outfit Matumbi, the Shirts with Annie Golden, and the punk band Wire. It's all fascinating stuff, told in great detail in the accompanying book, but ultimately, a set like this stands or falls on the music. The archivists have dug deeply enough to find material that makes Barrett's output look tame and conventional, specifically Tea & Symphony, whose "Maybe My Mind (With Egg)" is a truly dissonant and strange journey into thought processes bent by the prism of drugs and meditation. Not everything on this set will be to everyone's liking, but anyone inclined to enjoy Pink Floyd or Syd Barrett's solo stuff will be entranced by most of the content. The sound has been treated first-class, with new state-of-the-art 1999 remasterings. The other measure of success of this box is that there's a huge amount of material here that leaves the listener wanting more from a lot of the acts featured. (AllMusic Review by Bruce Eder)

Anyone looking to explore the early years of progressive music need look no farther then this fine 5CD box set. Representing the years 1969-1976 this set is one of the most well put together sets attempted by a major label to put into perspective it's own history, and it's evolving influence on future music, popular and otherwise.

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ALL

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ALL 

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Track lists

CD1

01    Edgar Broughton Band    Evil    2:37
02    Michael Chapman    It Didn't Work Out    3:43
03    Deep Purple    Wring That Neck    5:12
04    Pete Brown And His Battered Ornaments    Morning Call    2:50
05    Roy Harper    Tom Tiddler's Ground    6:12
06    Third Ear Band    Stone Circle    3:27
07    Greatest Show On Earth    Real Cool World    4:50
08    Syd Barrett    Octopus    3:46
09    Panama Limited Jug Band    Round And Round    3:17
10    Barclay James Harvest    Mother Dear    3:19
11    Tea & Symphony    Maybe My Mind (With Egg)    3:45
12    Michael Chapman    Postcards Of Scarborough    4:07
13    Forest    A Glade Somewhere    3:05
14    Edgar Broughton Band    Out Demons Out    4:50
15    Pete Brown & Piblokto    Living Life Backwards    2:04
16    Quatermass    Black Sheep Of The Family    3:13
17    Bakerloo    Big Bear Ffolly    3:58
18    Pretty Things    The Good Mr. Square    3:03
19    Kevin Ayers    The Lady Rachel    5:19
20    Shirley & Dolly Collins    A Foresaking - Our Captain Cried    2:53

CD2

01    Deep Purple    Speed King    5:50
02    Pete Brown and Piblokto    Things May Come...    5:03
03    Edgar Broughton Band    Apache Dropout    3:12
04    Chicago Climax Blues Band    Everyday    2:26
05    Kevin Ayers    Butterfly Dance    3:45
06    Barclay James Harvest    Mockingbird    6:38
07    Michael Chapman    Kodak Ghosts    3:21
08    Move    The Words Of Aaron    5:29
09    Deep Purple    Fireball    3:24
10    Electric Light Orchestra    10538 Overture    5:32
11    Ron Geesin & Roger Waters    Breathe    2:57
12    Barclay James Harvest    Medicine Man    3:55
13    Kevin Ayers & The Whole World    Stranger In Blue Suede Shoes    3:25
14    Michael Chapman    Fennario    7:06
15    Roy Harper    The Same Old Rock    4:47
16    Edgar Broughton Band    Hotel Room    4:07
17    Syd Barrett    Evervescing Elephant    1:53
18    Kevin Ayers    Song From The Bottom Of A Well    4:34

CD3

01    Pink Floyd    Money    6:39
02    Roy Harper    South Africa    4:04
03    Kevin Ayers    Interview; International Anthem    5:27
04    Babe Ruth    The Mexican    5:47
05    Move    Do Ya    4:05
06    Southern Comfort    Something Said    4:34
07    Be-Bop Deluxe    Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape    3:53
08    Roy Wood    Dear Elaine    4:09
09    Kevin Ayers    Take Me To Tahiti    3:35
10    Edgar Broughton Band    Things On My Mind    3:41
11    Babe Ruth    Hombre De La Guitarre    4:44
12    Roy Harper    Another Day    3:59
13    Electric Light Orchestra    Roll Over Beethoven    4:34
14    Be Bop Deluxe    Maid in Heaven    2:27
15    Climax Chicago    You Make Me Sick    3:51
16    Wizzard    Ball Park Incident    3:40
17    Electric Light Orchestra    Showdown    4:10
18    Roy Harper    I'll See You Again    4:58

CD4

01    Albion Band    Poor Old Horse    6:16
02    Martin Carthy    Old Hog Or None    1:15
03    Albion Dance Band    Hopping Down In Kent    2:47
04    Albion Dance Band    Postmans Knock    2:39
05    Gryphon    Spring Song    3:40
06    Unicorn    Have You Ever Seen The Rain    3:11
07    Be Bop Deluxe    Fair Exchange    4:49
08    Kevin Ayers    Ballad Of A Salesman    4:48
09    Be-Bop Deluxe    Electrical Language    3:34
10    David Gilmour    Short And Sweet    5:32
11    Roy Harper    When An Old Cricketer Leaves The Crease    7:13
12    Saints    Erotic Neurotic    4:08
13    Wire    Reuters    3:02
14    Saints    This Perfect Day    2:10
15    Shirts    Lonely Android    3:53
16    Banned    Little Girl    2:21
17    Wire    I Am The Fly    3:08
18    Saints    Swing For Crime    3:39
19    Bill Nelson's Red Noise    Revolt Into Style    3:24
20    Wire    A Touching Display    6:56

CD5

01    Deep Purple    Black Night    3:27
02    Pete Brown and Piblokto    Flying Hero Sandwich    3:20
03    Move    California Man    3:38
04    Greatest Show On Earth    Magic Woman Touch    5:13
05    Kevin Ayres    Caribbean Moon    3:03
06    Trinidad Oil Company    The Calendar Song    2:52
07    Matumbi    Rock ( Part 1 )    3:39
08    Wire    I Should Have Known Better    3:53
09    Ivor Cutler    Life In A Scotch Sitting Room Vol.2 (excerpt)    4:02
10    Vivian Stanshall and Kilgarron    The Young Ones    3:16
11    Spontaneous Combustion    Sabre Dance    3:00
12    Be Bop Delux    Ships In The Night    4:09
13    Bombadil    Breathless    3:06
14    Marshall Hain    Dancing In The City    3:49
15    Bill Nelson's Red Noise    Radar In My Heart    1:39
16    Strapps    Child Of The City    3:45
17    Deep Purple    Hallelujab    3:43
18    Babe Ruth    Wells Fargo    6:16
19    Professor Longhair    Mess Around    3:56
20    Syd Barrett    Golden Hair    1:58
21    Edgar Broughton Band    Up Yours    3:01

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