My Harvest Vinyl Collection

Introduction

I can't remember for certain the first Harvest record that I bought. My brother bought "Black Night" by Deep Purple and I then bought "In Rock" because both records shared the song "Speed King" which I always wanted to sing live, but, so far, have not had the opportunity. "In Rock" is back in my vinyl collection along with the ones I have included in the lead photograph, and this is a playlist of songs from Harvest Label records that are in my vinyl collection.

I have many more on CD but I don't think I will touch them for this playlist, which ironically has to be digital rather than analogue in order to work in this form.

To create a real mixtape from vinyl you have to do it in real time rather than spend five minutes creating a S*o*i*y playlist.

So here are some of my Harvest Vinyl favourites:

Deep Purple - "Speed King" from "In Rock"

What a way to introduce an album and this playlist. Pure noise before Jon Lord's organ calms it then BANG the song starts lifting almost every word from the works of Richard Penniman (Little Richard) before plundering several other rock and roll classics.

Barclay James Harvest - "Medicine Man" -"The Best Of Volume Two"

I'd heard stories that the Harvest label was named after the band or vice versa but it's not. This is how the band came to be named, not sure about the label.

After signing with EMI's Parlophone label in the UK for one single in early 1968, they moved to the more progressively inclined Harvest label. The name of the band, according to The International Barclay James Harvest Fan Club, signifies nothing specifically. Having exhausted other possibilities, each of the band members wrote single words on pieces of paper which were drawn out of a hat one by one. All were rejected until only three were left: James, a man who used to sing with the band, Harvest because they were living in a farmhouse, and Barclay after Barclays bank, because they aspired to make money. These were then rearranged to get the best-sounding name of Barclay James Harvest.

Be Bop Deluxe - "Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape" from "Live! In The Air Age!

I picked up my copy of this from Action Records on one of my monthly visits to Preston. Bill Nelson's guitar is sublime.

Pink Floyd - "Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun" from "Ummagumma"

I don't know if this has been done before but this is a two-record set, the first live versions of songs from previous albums, the second, each band member given half a side (about ten minutes) to do their own thing, but I have chosen this beautifully ominous piece.

When I first went to buy this from a pseudo record shop at Lane Ends in Preston, they told me they didn't sell singles. I never went back.

Roy Harper - "Bank Of The Dead" from "Lifemask"

In the seventies, I bought this as a single, but recently bought "Lifemask" as the open-up cover is just a little different. I still love this song.

Incidentally, Roy took lead vocals on "Have A Cigar" by Pink Floyd on "Wish You Were Here" as the band couldn't sing it, and Roy was around.

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

I have loved the band since I heard "Apache Drop Out" and "Out, Demons, Out" but when "Oora" came out a lot of people thought it was called "Dora".

I bought a copy recently with the printed clear vinyl slip sleeve which is difficult to get hold of today.

The album is rather excellent as well, so we will use this song to complete this playlist.

Conclusion

Thank you for reading, I hope you have enjoyed this music.