A Harvest Playlist

Introduction

I recently joined this Facebook group because they were posting a lot of music that I love and still play, and also made me revisit some stuff as well. They are a wonderful bunch of people and all correspondence is interesting, fun and supportive

Then I thought maybe I could do a playlist of some of my favourite music that appeared on the label. The image is taken from a compilation "A Breath Of Fresh Air" but I will try and avoid the songs from that, although it is an excellent compilation.

I am also running a prompt/challenge on Vocal called "August Harvest" that you can visit here, which has nothing to do with the label apart from the name.

The artwork of Storm Thorgerson (sadly missed) and Hypgnosis were almost worth buying for the artwork alone, regardless of the music, but the music was usually excellent.

And so let's start that playlist, remember these are just some personal selections, not a best of or anything. The playlist is very short so you will realise that there are many that I have missed.

Edgar Broughton Band - "Things On My Mind" from "Oora"

When this came out in 1973 many of my friends thought it was called "Dora". I recently acquired a vinyl copy and am very glad I did as it has many great songs included, such as this one, and I love that cover with the printed plastic bag, which is difficult to find fifty years on.

Bakerloo - "Son Of Moonshine"

Although re-issued on Fly this was a Harvest release in 1969 and has an amazing guitar intro. The cover is fairly horrific but this song is heavy and has some great guitar work.

Terry Poole kindly informed us that his cover design features a mining accident in the transalpine tunnel during the 1880s.

I would say it doesn't look like an accident

Quatermass - "Good Lord Knows"

Another amazing cover that made you want the album, although the first song I heard from them was "Black Sheep Of The Family" but this is a gorgeous three minutes to spend.

The album cover was taken from this excellent site

Kevin Ayers - "Stranger In Blue Suede Shoes" from "WhateverSheBringsWeSing"

I always loved Kevin Ayers and this is both clever and funny, and I bought the single as soon as I heard it. I have a lot of his albums in my collection, so there is a lot I could have chosen. I particularly love the ascending piano sequence.

Be-Bop Deluxe - "Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape" from "Axe Victim"

Be=Bop Deleuxe were Bill Nelson's band and it had a fairly fluid line-up, but Nelson's guitar was almost always to the fore in the songs and this, from their debut, is no exception.

Third Ear Band - "Macbeth's Return/The Preparation/Fanfare/Duncan's Arrival" from "Macbeth (Soundtrack)"

Although the YouTube is from Cherry Red Records the soundtrack to Roman Polanski's film was originally released on the Harvest label. I always found their music fascinating, both magical and mystical. Julian Cope has a great in-depth review of the album on his Head Heritage site, which you can read here.

Roy Harper - "Commune" from "Valentine"

An absolute beauty from Roy, he was very good at producing songs like this. I don't really know what else to say about this, it gives me goosebumps every time I hear it.

Electric Light Orchestra - "Do Ya" from "A New World Record"

This kills a few birds with one stone. In my opinion, Jeff Lynne's best-ever song, block chords, and originally the "B" side of "California Man" by the Move re-recorded for their Paydirt album.

Ron Geesin and Roger Waters - "More Than Seven Dwarfs in Penis-Land" from "Music From The Body"

I wanted some Ron Geesin in here, his work on Pink Floyd's "Atom Heart Mother" was stunning. This is a cleverly amusing film soundtrack so the fact it was a collaboration with Waters is a little surprising but it is an excellent album, though nothing like anything you have heard before.

The search came up as "More Than Seven Dwarfs in Pen Island" which I thought was amusing.

Pink Floyd - "One Of These Days" from "Meddle"

I couldn't have a Harvest playlist without Pink Floyd, and I think this relentless monster is a perfect way to end this list. I remember bursting out laughing when The Australian Pink Floyd Show rolled out a giant inflatable foot-tapping kangaroo when they played this.

Thank you for reading, hope you have enjoyed this.