Barclay James Harvest

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Barclay James Harvest
(BJH)
Barclay James Harvest, in the 1980s
Barclay James Harvest, in the 1980s
General information
Genre (s) Progressive rock , art rock
founding 1967
Website www.bjharvest.co.uk
Founding members
John Lees
Les Holroyd
Mel Pritchard († 2004)
Keyboard , mellotron , vocals
 Woolly Wolstenholme
(until 1979, † 2010)
Current occupation
Currently the band consists of two parts:
John Lees' Barclay James Harvest
(JLBJH),
Barclay James Harvest Featuring Les Holroyd
(BJHFLH)

Barclay James Harvest (BJH) is a British progressive rock group, best known for their orchestral style, which partly combines classical and rock. It was founded in 1967 by John Lees , Stuart Wolstenholme ("Woolly") , Les Holroyd and Mel Pritchard , who all come from the city of Oldham in Greater Manchester ( North West England ).

There have been two bands with this name since 1998, using the name of the lead member on the one hand as a prefix ( John Lees' Barclay James Harvest ; JLBJH) and on the other hand as a suffix ( Barclay James Harvest featuring Les Holroyd ; BJHFLH) to distinguish them.

history

Barclay James Harvest (BJH)

Prehistory and foundation

In 1964, John Lees and Woolly Wolstenholme , both students at Oldham Art School, founded the band The Sorcerers , which became the blues group The Keepers . At the same time, Les Holroyd and Mel Pritchard , who had known each other since preschool, founded the Oldham school band Heart And Soul And The Wickeds , also known as (The) Wickeds . After the lead guitarist of the Wickeds left, all four formed the band The Blues Keepers in 1966 , which gave a few smaller concerts and from which the professional group Barclay James Harvest emerged in 1967.

In the summer of 1967 it was decided to work full-time as a band and manager John Crowther followed to Lancashire to work on an old 18th century farm. After two of the then six members left the band, a new name was agreed: Barclay James Harvest . According to one (possibly) legend, this was found through an association game : Each member wrote names that sounded good for him on a card. Then the cards were collected and went through step by step. Barclay , James and Harvest stayed behind . In 2009, however, Les Holroyd said in an interview that this was “all nonsense”: “We just didn't want a short, typically English name like The Who , The Kinks or something like that. We found the longer American band names like Jefferson Airplane or Buffalo Springfield just nicer and wanted an English version of them. Since we were rehearsing on a farm in the country, 'Harvest' was already given and somehow it just became 'Barclay James Harvest' ”.

1968–1973: first years

In 1968, the first single of the band, appeared Early Morning (April 26) on which to EMI belonging Parlophone - label ; Both of her songs are from 1966. The relative success of this song led to a long-term contract with the prog rock label Harvest, newly founded by EMI . In 1969 the second single Brother Thrush (June 20) was able to build on the success of the debut single.

The band recorded their first studio album , Barclay James Harvest (June 5), at Abbey Road Studios in London in 1970 . For this she worked for the first time with a large orchestra, the Barclay James Harvest Symphony Orchestra (previously called The London Symphonia ; orchestra consisting of music students); Despite the huge financial outlay, she gave many concerts with these and other orchestras in the same year and in the following years. The album contains Mother Dear and the mammoth work Dark Now My Sky (12:05 min).

1971 saw the release of the second studio album, Once Again (February 5), which was also recorded at Abbey Road Studios with the Barclay James Harvest Symphony Orchestra. It contains, for example, the long She Said (8:21 min.) And also the songs Song For Dying , Galadriel , Mocking Bird and Ball And Chain . In that year the third studio album was released, which was recorded in the same place with the same orchestra: Barclay James Harvest and Other Short Stories (Nov. 5), includes the songs Medicine Man , The Poet and After The Day .

The fourth studio album, Baby James Harvest (November 10) , was released in 1972 under enormous time pressure . While Lees, Holroyd and Pritchard recorded most of the songs in Stockport at Strawberry Studios , Wolstenholme worked alone in London's Abbey Road Studios on the quasi-symphonic piece Moonwater , which was recorded again with the Barclay James Harvest Symphony Orchestra . The songs on the album also include the mammoth work Summer Soldier (10:27 min). A recording of the concert the band gave on November 16 with the same orchestra at the Paris Theater in London was released in 2002 as Barclay James Harvest…  BBC in Concert 1972 (May 27).

After Baby James Harvest had mostly negative feedback, the band found themselves without a record deal in 1973. Although they enjoyed a good reputation as a live band, they had no success in the charts. In addition, the orchestra, which had around 60 people, was very expensive for the band as well as for the record company, which is why the decision was made to forego the orchestra in the future - both for studio work and for concerts.

1974–1978: Change of record company and first successes

In 1974 Barclay James Harvest signed with Polydor and in the same year released the fifth studio album, Everyone Is Everybody Else (June 14th), which immediately achieved better sales than its predecessors, although there were no great successes. It includes, for example: Child Of The Universe , Negative Earth , The Great 1974 Mining Disaster , Crazy City, and For No One . On June 19, the band performed in front of a small audience at Golders Green Hippodrome, nine of which were recorded for the series BBC Radio 1 in Concert , and also on August 1 in Maida Vale Studios in a peel session for Radio One and Bob Harris Show Session; In 2008, a total of 14 songs of these three London appearances were published on the compilation After the Day - The Radio Broadcasts - 1974-1976 (April 14). After the tour of the studio album Everyone Is Everybody Else , the band released their first live album, Live (November), in the same year , which was recorded at concerts in London on June 30th and in Liverpool on August 31st and their first ever chart success the band brought in: In the UK , it rose to 40th place on the album charts, and it received silver .

The band repeated their success with their sixth studio album, Time Honored Ghosts (October), which was released in 1975 and contains, for example, the ballad-like song Titles as a musical and lyrical homage to the Beatles , and toured Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands for the first time .

In 1976 the band went on tour for the first time in Canada and the USA (March and April). Also with the seventh studio album released this year, Octoberon (October 1), which includes the songs Ra ( Ra is the ancient Egyptian sun god) and Suicide? the four Englishmen were successful. On January 20th, the band performed at BBC TV Studios in Manchester for the show The Old Gray Whistle Test , and on October 14th they performed a concert at the Liverpool Empire that made up four songs as part of the BBC series Rock Around The World were recorded; During the two appearances she played a total of 6 songs, which were published in 2008 on the compilation After the Day - The Radio Broadcasts - 1974-1976 (April 14).

In commercial terms, 1977 was followed by the band's most successful year to date: In Germany in particular, they achieved high chart positions with their eighth studio album, Gone to Earth (September), and the single Hymn that was extracted from it . With humor, the band countered criticism on the album, which the band dubbed " The Moody Blues for the Poor" because of their lyrically exuberant music : They promptly wrote the song Poor Man's Moody Blues on the album , which clearly resembles the moody blues - Hit Nights in White Satin is modeled after. Like her biggest international hit Hymn (music and text by John Lees), the song is one of the most famous songs by Barclay James Harvest. That same year, John Lees released his solo album A Major Fancy (July), and BJH concerts sold out almost everywhere.

1978 followed with the double album Live Tapes (June 9th) the second live album of the band. The songs were recorded in several concerts in 1976 and 1977, including: Child Of The Universe , Rock 'N' Roll Star , Poor Man's Moody Blues , Mockingbird , Suicide? , For No One , Hymn . In the same year, the band's ninth studio album was released with XII (September 29). It is her last album with her founding member Woolly Wolstenholme and, in addition to his songs In Search Of England and Harbor , includes the well-known songs Loving Is Easy , Berlin and Sip Of Wine .

1979–1984: Wolstenholme leaves - successes continue

Woolly Wolstenholme left the band in the summer of 1979 because he no longer agreed with the changing music style of Barclay James Harvest and wanted to concentrate on his solo career. The rest of the band went on as a trio, releasing their tenth studio album, Eyes of the Universe (November 5th) that same year . It contains, for example, Love On The Line , The Song (They Love To Sing) , Sperratus , Rock And Roll Lady and Play To The World and was particularly successful in Germany (3rd place) and Austria (9th place).

On the subsequent tour, the band gave a free concert on August 30, 1980 on the Platz der Republik in front of the Reichstag building in West Berlin  - according to police estimates in front of around 175,000 spectators. The single Life Is for Living (October 10th) developed into a chart breaker in Germany (2nd place) and Switzerland (1st place) and founded the band's advancing rise.

Success was confirmed in 1981 thanks to the eleventh studio album, Turn of the Tide (May); it climbed to 2nd place in Germany. It includes the songs Highway For Fools , Echoes And Shadows , Life Is For Living and In Memory Of The Martyrs , among others . In 1982 the also successful third live album, Berlin - A Concert for the People (January), which contains excerpts from the concert in front of the Reichstag building in 1980 - among others the songs Sip of Wine , In Memory Of The Martyrs , Life Is For Living , Child Of The Universe , Berlin and Hymn ; it triumphed in 1st place in Germany and 9th in Austria.

1983 came out the twelfth studio album, Ring of Changes (May 16), for example with the songs Waiting For The Right Time and Paraiso Dos Cavalos ; it reached 4th place in Germany. In 1984 the 13th studio album, Victims of Circumstance (April) was released, including with Rebel Woman , For Your Love , Victims Of Circumstance and Watching You ; it reached 4th place in Germany and triumphed 1st in Switzerland. After the 1984 tour through Europe, the band members took a creative break.

1985–1992: further successes

The 1985 best-of album The Compact Story of Barclay James Harvest (November) achieved gold status in Germany. In 1987, BJH released their 14th studio album, Face to Face (January 30th), again with melody-accentuated songs, including Alone In The Night , Guitar Blues , African , Panic and Kiev ; it reached 9th place in Germany and 7th place in Switzerland. The following tour saw the next live highlight in the band's history: On July 14, 1987, BJH was given the honor of being the first western rock band to give an open-air concert in the GDR when they were in front of an estimated 130,000 to 170,000 spectators in the Treptower Park in East Berlin . The band's fourth live album was released in 1988 as a concert extract: Glasnost (April 5th); it contains, for example, the songs Poor Man's Moody Blues , African , Love On The Line , Berlin , Medicine Man , Kiev , Hymn and He Said Love ; the chart success did not materialize.

In 1990, the 15th studio album, Welcome to the Show (March 5), was released; it climbed to 10th place in Germany and 7th place in Switzerland. The album includes the songs Lady Macbeth , Cheap the Bullet , Halfway To Freedom , Psychedelic Child and If Love Is King as well as the song John Lennon's Guitar , the lyrics of which are based on this incident: In the fall of 1970, when the band in Abbey Road Studios worked on their LP Once Again , John Lees played a guitar that John Lennon had left there. With this album there was the last tour through England for a long time, which took place in 1990 and - after a year off - in 1992. In between, the compilation Best of Barclay James Harvest (October 3) was released in 1991 , which reached 9th place in Germany and 13th place in Switzerland.

1993–1997: decline in success

1993 came out the 16th studio album, Caught in the Light (June 14), which contains, for example, the songs Who Do We Think We Are , Cold War and Once More ; it reached the 5th place in Germany. In 1997 the 17th studio album, River of Dreams (May 26), was released, including the songs River Of Dreams , Yesterday's Heroes and Mr. E ; it reached the 3rd place in Germany. Both albums were rounded off by tours with many concerts.

1998: End of the original BJH

In March 1998 the band members announced a break from the band, but this was the final end of Barclay James Harvest in their original line-up (John Lees, Woolly Wolstenholme, Les Holroyd and Mel Pritchard). The band split into two halves, each of which is supplemented by other musicians, some of whom have accompanied BJH over the past few decades.

1998 until today: the band consists of two parts

John Lees' Barclay James Harvest
(JLBJH)
General information
Genre (s) Progressive rock , art rock
founding 1998
Website www.barclayjamesharvest.com
Founding members
John Lees
Keyboard , vocals
 Woolly Wolstenholme († 2010)

John Lees' Barclay James Harvest (JLBJH)

John Lees and Woolly Wolstenholme formed the first duo reinforced by other musicians since 1998, which was initially called Barclay James Harvest Through the Eyes of John Lees (BJHTTEOJL); even after Wolstenholme's death (2010) the band continued to exist.

In 1999 the remake and studio album Nexus was released (February 22), which contains newly arranged songs from the BJH period from 1970 to 1978 and new BJHTTEOJL songs (1999), including Star Bright , the latter being written jointly by Lees and Wolstenholme were. With such a mix of songs, the band went on tour successfully from 1999 to 2001. There were concerts in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Greece and for the first time in Great Britain again in a long time. In 2000, these tours resulted in the live albums Revival - Live 1999 (March 27; single CD ) and Revival - Live, Limited European Tour Edition (November 27; double CD), which were recorded in 1999 during several concerts.

In 2001 the duo began recording their second studio album, the working title North, at John's Friarmere Studios . The work on it was stopped after a few days, because after the death of David Walker (1944-2001), the manager of Barclay James Harvest, John Lees' Barclay James Harvest, The Sweet , Status Quo , Pepsi & Shirlie and Adrian Gurvitz were unable to complete the album and work on the album was suspended for many years.

The band, which has been called John Lees' Barclay James Harvest (JLBJH) since 2005 , toured England and Greece in autumn 2006 after a five-year hiatus and gave four unplugged gigs in Italy. In particular, she presented songs from the early phase of Barclay James Harvest. The performance on November 5th at London's Shepherds Bush Empire was filmed and this live recording was released on CD and DVD in 2007 under the title Legacy - Live at the Shepherds Bush Empire, London 2006 (November 5th) .

In 2009 and 2010 the band toured England and Europe and this time again played particularly old songs. On 10 July 2010, the band joined in Gaia (Portugal) on what was the last concert of Wolstenholme, the 2010 December 13 suicide committed. The other JLBJH musicians decided to continue without Wolstenholme. After a few more shows in autumn 2010, where they presented the new song Ancient Waves for the first time, the band also gave a few concerts in 2011 - again especially with old songs. She performed on December 4, 2010 in London's Metropolis Studios , which was filmed and was released on DVD in 2011 under the title Classic Rock Legends - Filmed Live at Metropolis Studios (May 23). In addition, the concert was recorded on July 23, 2011 at the High Voltage Festival in London's Victoria Park and released in the same year as (Live at) High Voltage (July 23).

The band also gave concerts in 2012, with a new song called On Leave under the name John Lees and Friends being presented at the end of April, alongside other (BJH) songs , and JLBJH made their first appearance in Japan in August. In April 2013 she toured Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. In the same year, North (October 7th), which the band was working on in 2001 and especially in 2012 and 2013, was the second JLBJH studio album. It was released in three versions: single CD (studio album; 9 songs), double CD (studio and as a bonus with live album; 17 songs) and LP (studio album; 8 songs); the live CD called Live at Buxton Opera House ... (2011) contains excerpts from the concert at the Opera House, Buxton . In November 2013 the band gave a mini tour in England. There were also concerts from 2014 to 2018. On November 23, 2018, the live double CD / single DVD set The 50th Anniversary Concert was released , which was recorded on May 6, 2018 at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. In 2019 the band gave no concerts; instead, she is working on a new studio album, which is expected to be released in 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , some of the shows announced for 2020 have already been postponed to 2021; for others this is still pending.

Barclay James Harvest
Featuring Les Holroyd
(BJHFLH)
Les Holroyd at the BJHFLH concert at Moyland Castle (2003)
Les Holroyd at the BJHFLH concert
at Moyland Castle (2003)
General information
Genre (s) Progressive rock , art rock
founding 1998
Website www.barclayjamesharvest.co.uk
Founding members
Les Holroyd
Mel Pritchard († 2004)

Barclay James Harvest Featuring Les Holroyd (BJHFLH)

Les Holroyd and Mel Pritchard formed the second duo, which was reinforced by other musicians, since 1998, Barclay James Harvest Featuring Les Holroyd (BJHFLH); even after Pritchard's death (2004) the band continued to exist.

In 2002 it brought out the studio album (as part of a song also a remake album) Revolution Days (February 25), for example with That was Then ... This is Now , Totally and Marlene (from the Berlin Suite) , the latter song being dedicated to Marlene Dietrich ; it also contains a new version of Life Is For Living and, as part of the 2003 re-edition of the album, one of Love on the Line . The band went on tour mainly in Germany, France and Switzerland, playing a mixture of old and new songs. Recordings of the concert on October 30th in Bad Godesberg ( Bonn ) were made and released in 2003 as a live CD Live in Bonn (October 13th).

The band toured in 2003 and 2004 as well, performing on four evenings in January 2004 at the Swiss figure skating gala Art on Ice ; there they met, among others, John Helliwell and Bob Siebenberg (from Supertramp ), who appeared with their former band member Roger Hodgson , Fleetwood Mac and The Moody Blues .

Three days later, on January 28, 2004, Pritchard died of a heart attack. The other BJHFLH musicians continued anyway and gave two more concerts in Switzerland in the same year. In 2005 the live DVD On the Road was released (January 24th), the film of which was recorded in several concerts in 2002 and the sound material comes from the aforementioned show in Bad Godesberg. It is the last published film document with Pritchard. In 2005 the band toured in these countries: Belgium, Germany, England, Italy, Luxembourg, Austria and Switzerland.

In the spring of 2006 a tour through Germany, France and Belgium took place, during which one played with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and thus appeared again with an orchestra for the first time since 1973. The live CD and DVD Classic Meets Rock - Live with Prague Philharmonic Orchestra were released (April 6), which was recorded on the same day at a concert in Amnéville , France , and was immediately available as a limited first edition. After a few appearances at summer festivals without the orchestra, the band gave further concerts with him in December 2006 in Germany.

In 2007 the band toured Europe again and introduced two new songs: Fly Away and Tonight Is Gonna Be the Night . There were also numerous concerts from 2008 to 2013. In between, in 2009, the band gave a few shows with the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra . She also gave concerts from 2014 to 2018. The live CD Retrospective was released in 2016 . There were also shows in 2019. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a few concerts have been postponed from summer 2020 to summer 2021; more are announced for autumn 2020.

Members and guest musicians

Barclay James Harvest (BJH)

Founding members

The founders of BJH, who were also founders of the six-member BJH forerunner band The Blues Keepers , are or were:

Guest musicians (selection)

John Lees' Barclay James Harvest (JLBJH)

[called Barclay James Harvest Through the Eyes of John Lees (BJHTTEOJL) until 2005 ]

Today:

Earlier:

  • Woolly Wolstenholme († 2010) - Mellotron, keyboard, guitar, vocals (1998-2010)
  • Jeff Leach - keyboard (1998-2006)
  • Mike Bramwell - keyboard (2006-2009)

Guest musicians:

Barclay James Harvest Featuring Les Holroyd (BJHFLH)

today
  • Les Holroyd - bass, guitar, keyboard, vocals (since 2002)
  • Michael "Mike" Byron-Hehir (Sad Café) - guitar, vocals (since 2002)
  • Colin Browne - keyboard, guitar, vocals (since 2002)
  • Steve Butler - guitar, bass, keyboard, vocals, percussion (since 2002)
  • Ralf Gustke - drums, percussion (since?)
Earlier
  • Mel Pritchard († 2004) - drums, percussion (2002-2004)
  • Chris Jago - drums, percussion (2002-2003, 2004-2005)
  • Roy Martin - drums, percussion (2003-2004, 2006-2007)
  • Paul Walsham - drums, percussion (2005-2006, 2007-2010)
  • Louie Palmer - drums, percussion (2011-?)
  • Ian Wilson - guitar (2002-2009)
Guest musician

Discography

(including singles, compilations and solo works not listed here)

Barclay James Harvest (BJH)

Studio albums:

  • Barclay James Harvest , 1970
  • Once Again , 1971
  • Barclay James Harvest and Other Short Stories , 1971
  • Baby James Harvest , 1972
  • Everyone Is Everybody Else , 1974
  • Time Honored Ghosts , 1975
  • Octoberon , 1976
  • Gone to Earth , 1977
  • XII , 1978
  • Eyes of the Universe , 1979
  • Turn of the Tide , 1981
  • Ring of Changes , 1983
  • Victims of Circumstance , 1984
  • Face to Face , 1987
  • Welcome to the Show , 1990
  • Caught in the Light , 1993
  • River of Dreams , 1997

Live albums:

  • Live , 1974
  • Live Tapes , 1978
  • Berlin - A Concert for the People , 1982
  • Glasnost , 1988
  • ... BBC in Concert 1972 , 2002

Videos:

  • A Concert for the People - Berlin (VHS) , 1983
  • Victims of Circumstance (VHS) , 1985
  • Glasnost (VHS) , 1988
  • Glasnost - Victims of Circumstance (DVD) , 2005
  • Berlin - A Concert for the People (DVD) , 2010

John Lees' Barclay James Harvest (JLBJH)

[called Barclay James Harvest Through the Eyes of John Lees (BJHTTEOJL) until 2005 ]

  • Nexus (remake and studio album) , 1999
  • Revival ... (live single and live double album) , 2000
  • Legacy ... (live album and live DVD) , 2007
  • Classic Rock Legends ... (Live DVD) , 2011
  • High Voltage (live albums) , 2011
  • North (studio and live album) , 2013
  • The 50th Anniversary Concert (live double CD / single DVD set) , 2018

Barclay James Harvest featuring Les Holroyd (BJHFLH)

  • Revolution Days (studio albums) , 2002 and 2003
  • Live in Bonn (live album) , 2003
  • On the Road (Live DVD) , 2005
  • Classic Meets Rock (live album and live DVD) , 2006/2007
  • Retrospective (live album) , 2016

References and comments

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Band biography , according to the website of the International Barclay James Harvest Fan Club , on bjharvest.co.uk
  2. ↑ Portrait - Les Holroyd . IKZ-Online. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
  3. ↑ a b Booklet of the BJH remaster album Barclay James Harves - Their First Album , 2002
  4. ↑ Song of the day. Barclay James Harvest - Poor Man's Moody Blues ( Memento from April 19, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), January 19, 2011, accessed on September 13, 2015, from Seite3.ch
  5. ↑ Number of spectators at the West Berlin Concert (1980) , according to the booklet on the Live DVD Berlin - A Concert for the People (2010)
  6. ↑ In Concert: Barclay James Harvest. In: Deutschlandfunk Kultur , January 31, 2007; Hans Michael Kloth: Wall Concerts: Wummer Basses for the East. In: Spiegel Online , November 5, 2009.
  7. ↑ Number of spectators at the East Berlin concert (1987) , according to the booklet of the live album Glasnost (1988)
  8. ↑ Woolly Wolstenholme and Maestoso - News , December 14, 2010, on woollywolstenholme.co.uk
  9. ↑ The JLBJH concert in Buxton did not take place on February 13th, but on February 19th, 2011 , contrary to what was mentioned on the North double CD .
  10. ↑ a b Concert Listings , according to John Lees' Barclay James Harvest , on bjharvest.co.uk
  11. ↑ a b c Barclay James Harvest - News , September 14, 2018, bjharvest.co.uk
  12. ^ Biography and memorial page , about Mel Pritchard , accessed January 21, 2010, at bjharvest.co.uk
  13. ↑ a b Concert Listings , according to Barclay James Harvest Featuring Les Holroyd , on bjharvest.co.uk

literature

  • Wieland Harms: The Unplugged Guitar Book. 20 of the most beautiful songs for acoustic guitar. Gerig Music, 1994, ISBN 3-87252-249-3 , pp. 5-7 ( Hymn ).

Web links

Official websites of the international fan club, two BJH successor bands and band members:

Other websites: