Track Listing

1. Hors D'oeuvres
2. One Man Rock 'n' Roll Band
3. Same Old Rock
4. Me And My Woman

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #91131 in Music
• Released on: 2004-09-05
• Number of discs: 1

CD Description
Widely considered Roy Harper's masterpiece, 1971's STORMCOCK downplays the mercurial quirkiness of Harper's earlier records in favour of a mature, sophisticated, but never stuffy or boring orchestrated folk-rock song cycle. Scored by DavidBedford, the four lengthy songs mix folk, rock, and jazz elements into a subtle and understated blend not at all unlikean earthier, less spiritually preoccupied Van Morrison.
The centrepiece is "The Same Old Rock", a bitter anti-religion diatribe supported by a blazing extended guitar solo by Jimmy Page. Elsewhere, the swaggering "One Man Rock and Roll Band", Harper's signature tune, and the tender, beautifully arranged "Me and My Woman" show the range of emotions Harperwas capable of successfully conveying. Somehow, Roy Harper was never an enormous star, but he's clearly an enormous talent.

From the Artist
The consensus of opinion regarding my recording career is that 'Stormcock' is my best record. Sometimes I disagree, mainly because in my own mind there would seem to be more mature things like HQ, Bullinamingvase, Jugula and Once, all recorded at later dates.

'One Man Rock and Roll Band' and 'The Same Old Rock' have been recorded live at later dates equally well.

Never-the-less, Stormcock is some kind of peak in the Harper range. It was made at EMI Abbey Road Studios and was the first record that I really spent time making. Attention to detail became important.

The record was made in the era when I still wasn't used to buying too many guitar strings and I can remember blagging at least three from Hank Marvin who was in studio three with Cliff and the boys. Bruce always used to say hello.

Pete Jenner on the steps and myself on the bike outside the Abbey Road Studios. Pete Jenner and I turned out a great record. Seems like a thousand years ago now. Though I very rarely listen to my own records I would definitely say that my personal highlight on the record is Jimmy Page's guitar solo on 'The Same Old Rock.' My opinion has not changed since the day he put it on there. Absolutely brilliant. The arrangement on 'Me And My Woman' is by David Bedford.

About the Artist
An idiosyncratic British singer/songwriter acclaimed for his deeply personal, poetic lyrics and unique guitar work, Roy Harper was born June 12, 1941, in Manchester, England. As a teen he tenured with De Boys, his brothers' skiffle band, before leaving home at the age of 15 to enter the Royal Air Force; he subsequently secured a discharge by claiming insanity, resulting in a long period marked by frequent stays in mental institutions (where he was the subject of ECT treatments) and prison. Harper later drifted throughout Europe, and by 1965 was a mainstay of London's Les Cousins folk club, performing alongside the likes of Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell and Nick Drake.

In 1966 the tiny indie label Strike issued Harper's debut LP The Sophisticated Beggar; the record brought him to the attention of Columbia, which released his sophomore effort Come Out Fighting Genghis Smith the following year. In 1968, Harper mounted a series of free concerts in London's Hyde Park which greatly expanded his fan base in preparation for the release of 1969's Folkjokeopus, which included the Prisoner-inspired "McGoohan's Blues," the first of his many extended compositions.

After meeting Pink Floyd manager Peter Jenner, Harper was signed to EMI's Harvest subsidiary, and in 1970 he issued Flat Baroque and Berserk, recorded with contributions from members of the Nice; that same year marked the appearance of Led Zeppelin III and its track "Hats Off to Harper," a tribute penned by longtime friend Jimmy Page. Upon relocating to the Big Sur area of California, Harper began writing 1971's Stormcock, regarded by many as his finest record; the following year he starred in the film Made, releasing the music he composed for the picture's soundtrack in 1973 under the title Lifemask.

Valentine, a collection of love songs, appeared in 1974, and was quickly followed by the live album Flashes From the Archives of Oblivion, featuring appearances by Page, Keith Moon, Ronnie Lane and Ian Anderson. In 1975, Harper formed Trigger, a backing group including guitarist Chris Spedding and drummer Bill Bruford; however, after releasing just one LP, HQ, the unit disbanded. In 1975 Harper also took lead vocals on "Have a Cigar," a track on Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here. Two years later he resurfaced with Bullinamingvase; the single "One of Those Days in England," with guest vocals from Paul and Linda McCartney, nearly even became a hit.

With the same group of musicians who recorded Bullinamingvase, Harper cut another LP, Commercial Break, but the album went unreleased. Due to financial problems, he did not issue another album until 1980's bleak The Unknown Soldier. Upon leaving EMI, Harper founded his own label, Public Records, releasing Work of Heart in 1982; despite the usual good press, the album failed to sell, and Public soon went under. After selling the limited edition 1984 set Born in Captivity at gigs, the next year he released the album Whatever Happened to Jugula with Page.

Harper re-signed to EMI in 1986, recording the double live LP In Between Every Line. Descendants of Smith appeared two years later, and when the record stiffed he moved to the Awareness label, issuing Once in 1990. By 1991 his son Nick was performing with him regularly; upon the release of 1992's Death or Glory?, Awareness folded, again leaving Harper without label support. He soon founded his own company, Science Friction.

Customer Reviews

Harper's finest
Donovan's mad elder brother gave us a whole bunch of essential albums, of which this is the pick of the crop. Sadly, few of them are available right now, but those who dive into Stormcock should then hunt out (beg, steal or borrow) Lifemask and HQ straight away.

What makes Stormcock the best of the lot? Well, for one thing it stands right on the division of the two Harpers of the 1960s and 1970s.

Before Stormcock, the work had been hallucinogenic folk with random laughter, muttering, general chemical-heavy lunacy and the odd embarrassing moment (often involving bodily functions) among the razor-sharp songwriting. Of the early albums, "Come Out Fighting Ghengis Smith" is a must for fans of psychedelia - acid folk never sounded so great - whereas "Folkjokeopus" is the masterpiece-that-should-have-been (we'd be talking about it in the hushed terms we reserve for Stormcock, had Stormcock not happened), containing at least two of his best songs - "She's The One" and "McGoohan's Blues".

After Stormcock, the work moved more toward mainstream rock, beginning tentatively with "Lifemask" which only really kicks into overdrive for the acoustic guitar frippertronics of "South Africa" and the monumental "The Lord's Prayer" which fills all of side two. By 1975's HQ the change was complete, much of the lunacy having turned into straight-ahead (well, almost!) rock tracks full of Harper's extraordinary venom. Don't get me wrong -- it's all great, but for the unwary the first time Harper starts giggling uncontrollably or babbling inanely you may switch off. Nobody would blame you. You learn to live with it.

"Stormcock", on the contrary, is so revered because there's none of that. You can play it to your granny. You can play it in respectable company. You can hold it up as an ENTIRELY successful acoustic confessional album without a hint of embarrassment (except the odd line like "and our saggy tits no longer hold a full house of hearts" -- that's about as bad as it gets).

So, four tracks, each about ten minutes long, each almost entirely acoustic, mainly just Harper on vocals and guitar. On "The Same Old Rock" he's joined by Jimmy Page on acoustic guitar for a transcendent guitar duet. On the closer, "Me and My Woman" (the absolute masterpiece here) David Bedford adds a surprisingly restrained and effective orchestral accompaniment (no, it's not as bad as it sounds).

These are confessionals. The first, the stream-of-consciousness "Hors D'Ouevres" you'll find in an earlier incarnation on the "Live at Les Cousins" album. Here Roy builds up a whole courtroom drama over some critic's bad review. The way the tableau reveals itself, line by line, is pure poetry. "Me and My Woman" is even more searching, in which the poet's relationship with the women in his life twists back to the trauma of his birth -- "dead on arrival" never sounded so chilling as the anguished way Roy cries it, again and again.

This is not a happy album. This is a slow, uneasy, insightful, difficult album. It's not psychedelic in the least, but like all Roy's work it opens up under a smoke. Live, Roy is an extraordinary performer though his hands-on, laid-back approach and relationship with his audience (and his reputation as the loony on the bus) means that I've never once been to a Harper concert -- out of many -- that wasn't disrupted by heckling. Ah well. If you're a Harper virgin, welcome to one of the strangest, most thought-provoking and most life-affirming artists you'll ever experience. I envy you, discovering this all for the first time. This is clearly the place to start.

A true original's best work
It's easy to dismiss Roy Harper as, using his own phrase, "the loony on the bus". If you've never heard anything he's recorded, though, be prepared for a shock. Listen to "Stormcock", and discover why his contemporaries (Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, Dave Gilmour, Ian Anderson, Kate Bush et al) queued up to guest on his albums. The man has a wonderful talent for writing interesting, heartfelt (and heartbreaking), and sometimes aggressively beautiful songs. There are only the four on this, roughly 10 minutes each. Considering that, apart from Mr Page appearing on "Same Old Rock", it's just Roy and an acoustic guitar, these are four of the most powerful songs I've ever heard. "Hors D'Oevres" disects the critic who gave a bad review with languid efficiency; "Same Old Rock" is a savagely played flaying of organised religion; "One Man Rock'n'Roll Band" is as relevant and powerful in the age of Gulf War II as it was to Vietnam; and "Me and My Woman" is the man's journey through the women of his life, and for my money is the single finest thing he's recorded. At the time of writing (Sept 03) he is still playing these songs live, and they've lost nothing in the 30-odd years since they were written. He's made folk albums, rock albums, even dabbled in psychedelia, but has never made a better album than this. It's the sound of a man at peak performance on the guitar, on his vocals, on his songwriting. Enhance your life - buy this album.

My favourite!
I love many varieties of music, but when people ask me who my favourite musician is, they look at me blankly when I say Roy Harper. I went to Harper gigs during the 1980s and years later still find myself wanting to play his timeless music. Acoustic fans will find this music mesmerising, especially when you realise that it is mainly just one man playing what appears to be several guitars at once. 'Stormcock' includes 2 of my very favourite all-time tracks, including the sublime 'Me and my woman'. Harper pours his soul into this amazing song. 'Same old rock' is acoustic rock at its best. The other 2 tracks are also beautiful and I truly urge you to listen to this album.