Singer/songwriter Roy Harper came upon the mid-1960s London folk scene alongside the likes of Jackson C. Frank, Sandy Denny, et al., and his 1970 album, FLAT BAROQUE & BERSERK, was the final installment of his initial folkie phase. With his next release, the rapturously received STORMCOCK, he would incorporate expansive prog-rock flavoring into his style, but FLAT BAROQUE is a sparse, acoustic-based effort that focuses squarely on Harper's poetic lyrics and (at that point) Dylanesque tunes. He's backed here by Keith Emerson's pre-ELP outfit, the Nice, offering a slight foreshadowing of things to come, but progressive epics were not yet a part of Harper's approach.
Reissue of 1970 album for Harvest, one of his most successful. 12 tracks including 'Don't You Grieve', 'How Does It Feel ' and 'East of the Sun'. 1999.
Recorded principally at Abbey Road Studios, London, England in September 1969.
Personnel: Roy Harper (vocals, guitar, electric guitar, saxophone, keyboards); Tony Visconti (recorder); Keith Emerson (keyboards); Brian Davison (drums).
Personnel includes: Roy Harper, Tony Visconti, The Nice.
Magnet (p.108) - "[The album] is great; Harper sings vivid and erudite lyrics with winning understatement and sets them to music that weds Dylanesque talking blues to an updated British Isles melodicism..." Down Beat (p.71) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "FLAT BAROQUE AND BERSERK was Harper's fourth album, originally released in 1970, and it still exudes the power and confidence of a daunting young talent spreading his wings." Dirty Linen (p.53) - "On 'I Hate the White Man' and 'Don't You Grieve,' Harper sounds like folk-era Bob Dylan, with strident vocals accompanied only by guitar and harmonica." Signal To Noise (magazine) (p.58) - "On songs such as 'Tom Tiddler's Ground,' Harper sounds like a traditional English folkie, where other tracks show him moving toward a folk-rock style reminiscent of Led Zeppelin's acoustic tracks."
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