Few survivors from the golden age of British folk-rock have kept their reputations intact. Of the generation of troubadours who came of age in the folk clubs of London in the mid-1960s, there is one figure whose body of work, comprising 23 studio LPs and almost as many live and compilation releases, has come to stand for a particularly single-minded form of integrity. That man is Roy Harper.
On September 19th Union Square Music’s Salvo imprint releases the 2CD set ‘Songs of Love and Loss’ Volumes 1 & 2 – 23 songs of raw, uncompromising honesty and emotion spanning Harper’s work from 1966 to 1992. One of the most innovative song writers to come out of the mid 60’s folk boom, ‘Songs of Love and Loss’ displays his remarkable array of styles, from the early folk finger pickings of Black Clouds and mysterious All You Need Is, to the bluesy Little Lady, the resonating Frozen Moment and the lamenting Another Day.
We’ve always had a major soft spot for him because of our Best Man Pilchard and partner Debbie who love his work, and seeing him live in Cowley Working Men’s Club in Oxford in the 90s was a brilliant event.
2011 will see a great deal of Roy Harper activity; he celebrates his 70th birthday, ITV Home Studios are to release a live concert DVD newly recorded at Metropolis studios and he will also play a sell-out gig at the Royal Festival Hall. With the reissue of a number of his original albums in digital form, Roy Harper’s incredible, visionary catalogue of work enters the digital domain in time for his music to take on a new, urgent and timely appeal, in an age in which the hypocrisies and injustices he railed against are more present than ever before. It’s been a damned good innings and he’s still not out.
So have a listen to a couple of tracks from the album.
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