"Spyglass Guest" by GREENSLADE - August 1974 UK Third Studio Album on Warner Brothers (26 October 2018 UK Esoteric Recordings 2CD Reissue with Ben Wiseman Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Joie De Vivre..."

Whilst Thin Lizzy had its duel-guitar onslaught out front from 1974 onwards – British Prog Rockers GREENSLADE (who shared the musical landscape with the Lizzies around the same time) decided to forego guitars altogether and concentrate on two Keyboardists out front with a Bass Player/Singer and Drummer bringing up the rear.

The band had a huge musical history and pedigree that's worth elaborating on – leader and namesake Dave Greenslade cut his teeth with Chris Farlowe and The Fabulous Thunderbirds on their two Columbia Records albums in 1964 and 1966 only to then join up towards the end of that mercurial decade with Jon Hiseman and his fusion-art-rock outfit Colosseum. Greenslade contributed to their Vertigo Records debut "Valentyne Suite" (the label's November 1969 first LP on Vertigo VO 1), their second album "Those Who Are About To Die Salute You" on Fontana Records (also from 1969 - the band featuring Tony Reeves at this point) and their third record "Daughter Of Time" also on Vertigo Records in 1970 (Reeves had left but Chris Farlowe guested on some vocals). 

Dave is also on a final hurrah before the band disbanded with the 1971 live double "Colosseum Live". Second keyboardist Dave Lawson had done stints with Geno Washington and The Ram Jam Band, Avant Garde jazzers The Web for their third album "I Spider" in 1970 (issued on Polydor Records – the first two LPs were on Deram) who then morphed into the uber-cultish Samurai that issued a self-titled rarity in 1971 on the obscure Greenwich Gramophone Company Records label. Drummer Andrew McCulloch had bashed his kit for no less than King Crimson on their 1970 LP "Lizard" and later hit the tom toms for the revered CBS act Fields on their self-titled debut in 1971.

Formed in 1972 from the ashes/exits of/from all these other bands – the foursome supergroup GREENSLADE were also riding on the wave of Progressive Rock's growing popularity - a complicated musical force that had been storming both the UK and USA in those formative years of 1970, 1971 and 1972. After signing to the prestigious Warner Brothers label – their self-titled debut was released February 1973 complete with deriguere Roger Dean logo and suitably flashy gatefold artwork (script writing akin to the inner sleeve on Yes' "Close To The Edge"). The Greenslade four-handed-man logo was in fact thought up by Dave Greenslade (drawn by Dean) to reflect the two sets of hands playing the music out front.

The stage seemed set for success too. Those other Proggy giants Emerson, Lake & Palmer (also heavily leaning towards keyboards over guitars) had put their third platter "Trilogy" up at No. 2 in August 1972 on the UK LP charts and would do the same to "Brain Salad Surgery" in December 1973 on their own record label - Manticore Records. YES would put their triple-live "Yessongs" on the No. 7 spot in May of 1973 only to replace that with the four-sided double-album studio beastie that was "Tales From Topographic Oceans" in December - both hugely ambitious and highly unlikely Top Ten entries ("Tales From Topographic Oceans" went all the way to No. 1). In other words - 1973 was a massive year for Prog Rock both artistically and commercially.

I say all of this because despite the press giving our fine-feathered newcomers loads of coverage (six clippings from Melody Maker and NME adorn the 24-page booklet of their debut "Greenslade") and despite their obvious Progressive Rock appeal and backdrop - Greenslade weren't the commercial success they should have been. Of the four albums they did in their classic period between 1973 and 1975 - it was only this - their third and most sophisticated work "Spyglass Guest" from August 1974 that charted - and even then at a lowly No. 34 for three weeks.

In many ways, Greenslade are a footnote in chart history now. That doesn't mean they aren't remembered with huge affection (they are) and on evidence of this exemplary and comprehensive reissue series from Cherry Red's 'Esoteric Recordings' - it's easy to hear why. Let's get to the Joie De Vivre...

UK released Friday, 26 October 2018 - "Spyglass Guest" by GREENSLADE on Esoteric Recordings PECLEC 22647 (Barcode 5013929474741) is an 'Expanded Edition' 2CD Reissue and new remaster of their 1974 Third Album with a Bonus CD of Eight Previously Unreleased 1974 BBC Recordings and it plays out as follows:

Disc 1 (38:54 minutes):

1. Spirit Of The Dance [Side 1]

2. Little Red Fry-Up

3. Rainbow

4. Siam Seesaw

5. Joie De Vivre [Side 2]

6. Red Light

7. Melancholic Race

8. Theme For An Imaginary Western

Tracks 1 to 8 are their third album "Spyglass Guest" - released August 1974 in the UK on Warner Brothers K 56055 and November 1974 in the USA on Mercury SRM 1-1015. Produced by GREENSLADE and JEREMY ENSOR (Ensor former Bassist with Principal Edwards Magic Theatre) - it peaked at No. 34 on the UK LP charts (didn’t chart USA).

Disc 2 (52:32 minutes, all PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)

1. Joie De Vivre

2. Beside Manners Are Extra

3. Sundance

4. Red Light

5. Song Of The Dance

Tracks 1 to 5 recorded live 7 November 1974 for BBC Radio One's "In Concert" Series at the BBC Paris Theatre in London – Announcer ALAN BLACK - Producer JEFF GRIFFIN and CHRIS LYCETT

6. Mélange

7. Melancholic Race

8. Red Light

Tracks 6 to 8 recorded 6 November 1974 for BBC Radio One's "Bob Harris" Session

GREENSLADE was:

DAVE GREENSLADE – Organ, Fender Piano, Mellotron, Clavinet, Harmonium, ARP Synths, Glockenspiel and Tubular Bells

DAVE LAWSON – Acoustic Piano, Fender Piano, Clavinet, ARP Synths, Soprano Saxophones. Gong, Bell Tree and Lead Vocals

TONY REEVES – Bass Guitars

ANDREW McCULLOCH - Drums and Percussion

Guests:

DAVE 'CLEM' CLEMPSON [Bakerloo, Champion, Colosseum and Humble Pie] – Electric Guitar on "Little Red Fry-Up" and "Siam Seesaw"

ANDY ROBERTS [Everyone, Plainsong and Grimms] – Acoustic Guitars on "Siam Seesaw"

GRAHAM SMITH [String Driven Thing] – Violin on "Joie De Vivre"

(Engineer) GREGG JACKMAN – Recorded Church Noises on "Joie De Vivre"

(Producer) JEREMY ENSOR – Recorded Rain on "Rainbow"

The three-way fold out digipak is the generic packaging for all three of Esoteric's 2CD GREENSLADE reissues – each picture disc reflecting the original artwork cover – CD1 the gong and black panther front cover by Marcus Keef and CD2 one of the photos from inside the LP gatefold (Lawson penning lyrics). The 16-page booklet too (helmed by noted writer and musicologist MALCOLM DOME) comes with new interviews from Dave Greenslade and Dave Lawson and the whole thing is compiled, researched etc by resident Prog expert and label head honcho MARK POWELL. All colour snaps of the four boys in the studio (along with Engineers Gregg Jackman and Lindsay Kidd) that came with the original Warner Brothers inner gatefold are here (nothing new unfortunately) and the lyrics (missing from the debut reissue in this series) are thankfully present and accounted for too. There's discussion of the band’s career – the inclusion for the first time of a cover version (Jack Bruce's "Theme For An Imaginary Western") – the three-week recording process (15 May to 6 June) – guests guitarists and friends Andy Roberts and Clem Clempson both upping the aural ante hugely on songs like "Little Red Fry-Up" and especially the prize-winning instrumental "Siam Seesaw" – a change in sound Greenslade unfortunately never took on the road. In short the booklet is beautifully laid out - both looking and feeling substantial.

As one of my fave Prog albums of that year - soundwise this is a HUGE improvement over what has gone before – another fabulously clean and substantive Remaster from BEN WISEMAN who along with Paschal Byrne is Esoteric's go-to tape guy. Like most I've had the two Rhino/Edsel reissues these last few years that covered their first four albums (I reviewed the "Spyglass Guest/Time And Tide" twofer they put out in May 2011) – and whilst they were good – the audio here is a morning mist lifted off a muddied lake. Rehearsed and prepared in advance (the band’s motto) – you can hear the tight rhythm section so clearly – especially Andrew McCulloch whose drums seem to hover just beside the duelling keyboard whizzes as if they were an integral part of the overall soundscape and not just a rhythmic backdrop (very Crimson in fact). The rain effects on "Rainbow", the vocal interplay on "Little Red Fry-Up" and the gorgeous Roberts and Clempson guitars vs. Greenslade's keyboards of "Siam Seesaw" are now leaping and hopping through those creative time signatures – a triumph. To the album...

The debut and second LPs both came in 1973 (February and November) and by the time the band hit the studio for that difficult third platter – they had a Sympatico sound, a well-rehearsed pre-recording routine (practice, practice) and a sophistication that comes roaring off "Spyglass Guest" with aplomb (the title of thee album comes from lyrics in "Joie De Vivre" – a phrase no one seems to know the meaning of!). Side 1 opens with dancing synths, a Fender Rhodes and a Mellotron – like a steeplechase on keyboards. But it's the audio that thrills – those delicate Andrew McCulloch taps on the high hats now so clear. "Little Red Fry Up" has the guitar of former Colosseum axeman Dave "Clem" Clempson, while Andy Roberts of Liverpool Scene, Plainsong and Grimms did acoustic guitar on the lovely "Siam Seesaw". "Joie De Vivre" is excellent (lyrics above) – featuring Violin work from Graham Smith (String Driven Thing) trading off keyboard codas with Greenslade.

"Red Light" is the nearest they ever got to a single track – clever lyrics with the keys aping the melody. "Rainbow" opens with rainfall and a sinister piano lead-in – it's then added to by treated drum and cymbal patterns, which fades into a prettier piano passage halfway through that is beautifully produced by Jeremy Ensor (man does the Remaster really lift this). It’s very Prog and very good. The LP ends on a rather slow and plodding cover version of Jack Bruce's "Theme For An Imaginary Western" - a song Bruce co-wrote with Pete Brown of Battered Ornaments in 1969 for his debut solo album from Cream - "Songs For A Tailor" on Polydor Records. But if I'm truthful – I'm returning to "Siam Seesaw" all the time and playing that sucker into the ground over the others – something about it eliciting deep memories within me of a past listening on my trusty Garrard SP25 – a Dustbuster arm keeping that gathered grimly grime at bay. Fantastic stuff...

I can vividly recall tuning in as an eager teen Progster to Radio One on a Saturday afternoon only to hear Greenslade give a concert for the BBC – and here it is at last from November 1974 - sounding amazing. These eight Previously Unavailable recordings (along with the Remaster on CD1) are what put this reissue into the must own territory. The band sound amazing, are super rehearsed and feel like a more keyboard orientated Prog-rocking Supertramp (they’re introduced by the Beeb’s resident MC Alan Black to an obviously enthusiastic audience). Like the unreleased stuff on the debut 2CD reissue "Greenslade" – these recordings are shockingly good - clean - present - and if anything - there's an air around the sound that seems to free their playing from the slightly po-faced stuffiness of the album versions.

To sum up - I've always loved the sophistication of "Spyglass Guest" and this five-star 2CD reissue of that 3rd album obscurity should make sure it gets the musical reappraisal it deserves. The packaging is great, the booklet informative and cool looking, the audio a big improvement on what went before and that second disc of unreleased, a no-filler winner. Cool.

The second album "Bedside Manners Are Extra" is due November 2018 as a twofer also - but with rare video footage on a DVD - whilst this and the first album make their rare British catalogue available in great audio once more. No doubt the fourth platter from 1975 "Time And Tide" will follow soon after (possibly December 2018). Once again Esoteric Recordings have delivered big time. This is the version of "Spyglass Guest" to buy - nicely done boys...

GREENSLADE - 2-Disc 2018 Reissues from Esoteric Recordings of the UK

1. "Greenslade" (February 1973 UK Debut) – reissue released 28 September 2018 on Esoteric Recordings PECLEC 22645 (Barcode 5013929474543) – 2CD Remaster with Seven Previously Unreleased BBC ‘In Concert’ performances on Disc 2 (recorded January and April 1973)

2. "Bedside Manners Are Extra" (November 1973 Second Album) – reissue released 30 November 2018 on Esoteric Recordings PECLEC 22654 (Barcode 5013929475441) – CD & DVD Remaster with Three Previously Unreleased BBC Sessions after the album on CD1 (recorded October 1973) and a Three-Song Warner Brothers Promotional Film Recorded 1973 along with Two Old Grey Whistle Test Appearances (November 1973) on the Region Free DVD

3. "Spyglass Guest" (August 1974 Third Album) – reissue released 26 October 2018 on Esoteric Recordings PECLEC 22647 (Barcode 5013929474741) – 2CD Remaster with Eight Previously Unreleased BBC Radio Sessions on Disc 2 (recorded November 1974)