"...A Tear Of Truth..."
For most, their
introduction to the handsome Londoner Duncan Browne came with his fabulous
"Journey" 45 issued as a stand-alone UK single in early July 1972 on
Mickie Most's RAK Records (RAK 135) with "In A Mist" (another
non-album cut) on the B-side. Mademoiselle Most wanted a hit and DB provided
him with one – seeing the 7" single rise to No. 23 in the UK while the 28
September 1972 US issue on RAK Records ZS7 4511 was only ever a promo copy
(mono and stereo cuts of the track) - it did at least raise his profile in
America.
Unfortunately the
"Duncan Browne" album containing his most famous song wouldn't arrive
until February 1973 (SRAK 6754 is a rarity nowadays on both LP and CD) thereby
killing any of the genuine momentum the single had created (its B-side remained
non-album). But if you wanted to know where that acoustic Nick Drake-ish
Folk-Rock-feel Browne had to his early music originated – then this is the
place to alight on your DB-journey.
His 12-track
debut album "Give Me Take You" issued in August 1968 on Andrew Loog Oldham's
Immediate Records when he just 21 featured much of that same pastoral sound
(not whimsical, more refined than that) but again – sank without a trace and
has had a three-figure rarity value for decades ever since. Castle Music (then
part of Sanctuary) put out the first decent CD reissue of "Give Me Take
You" in October 2000 and there are further tracks from it on their superb
July 2004 2CD compilation "Journey: The Anthology 1967-1993". But
this inaugural CD by Cherry Red's much-revered cult label 'Grapefruit Records'
in 2009 - resplendent with rarities including five Previously Unreleased
Rehearsals - should now be your only call. There's a lot to get through, so
let's get our Ninepence worth…
UK released 13
April 2009 (Grapefruit’s inaugural CD release) - "Give Me Take You"
by DUNCAN BROWNE on Grapefruit Records CRSEG0001 (Barcode 5013929180123) is an
Expanded Edition CD Reissue and Remaster offering his 1968 Immediate Records
debut LP (in Stereo) with 10 Bonus Tracks and plays out as follows (76:01
minutes):
1. Give Me Take
You [Side 1]
2. Ninepence
Worth Of Walking
3. Dwarf In A
Tree (A Cautionary Tale)
4. The Ghost
Walks
5. Waking You
(Part 1)
6. Chloe In The
Garden
7. Waking You
(Part 2)
8. On The
Bombsite [Side 2]
9. I Was, You
Weren't
10. Gabilan
11. Alfred Bell
12. The Death Of
Neil
Tracks 1 to 12
are his debut album "Give Me Take You" - released August 1968 in the
UK on Immediate Records IMSP 018 in Stereo only and October 1968 in the USA on
Immediate Records Z12 52012 - Produced by ANDREW LOOG OLDHAM - it didn't chart
in either country.
BONUS TRACKS:
13. On The
Bombsite (Demo)
14. The Cherry
Blossom
15. Give Me, Take
You (Rehearsal)
16. Ninepence
Worth Of Walking (Rehearsal)
17. On The
Bombsite (Rehearsal)
18. I Was, You
Weren't (Rehearsal)
19. The Death Of
Neil (Rehearsal)
20. On The
Bombsite (Mono Single Version)
21. Alfred Bell
(Mono Single Version)
22. Here And Now
(Demo)
Tracks 13, 20 and
21 first issued as Bonuses on the 30 October 2000 UK reissue CD of "Give
Me Take You" on Castle Music CMRCD 057 (Barcode 5050159105724). Tracks 20
and 21 are the A&B-sides of a non-album UK 45 issued July 1968 on Immediate
IM 070.
Tracks 14 and 22
first issued 19 July 2004 on the UK 2CD compilation "Journey: The
Anthology 1967-1993" on Castle Music CMEDD 753 (Barcode 5050159175321);
Track 14 is an album outtake and Track 22 was recorded in 19657 as Lorel
Tracks 15, 16,
17, 18 and 19 are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED Rehearsal Versions and exclusive to
this 2009 reissue
Leading reissue
light at Esoteric and Grapefruit Records - DAVID WELLS penned the December 2008
liner notes in the 8-page booklet. Eight pages might not seem like a lot, but
he sure packs in the facts, provides cut-outs of trade paper reviews, an
Immediate Records advert for the rare 12 July 1989 single "On The
Bombsite" b/w "Alfred Bell" (both of these Mono single mixes are
in the Bonus Tracks) and even has a photo of Emidisc Acetate that the "On
The Bombsite" demo comes from.
As you can see
from the track lists provided above, five of the ten bonus have appeared on
previous CD compilations, but the five 'Rehearsals' are new and exclusive- and
for my money, make the CD worth the price of purchase alone. But toppermost of
the poppermost is the new Audio - remastered by a Tape Engineer hero of mine -
ANDY PEARCE. Pearce has been at the acclaimed transfer helm of huge catalogues
for Universal/UMC - Budgie, Free, Rory Gallagher, Spooky Tooth, ELP, Wishbone
Ash and wads of the very cool Doctor Bird reissues that require a deft hand at
transferring ancient Reggae and Ska recordings. In fact - if his name is on a
disc - I will want to own it. He gets a naturality to his remaster than doesn't
push the treble but at the same doesn't compromise the bottom end – a sweet
balance without compromising the air and life. And here it's the same. These Stereo
recordings are just lovely to listen to…to the music…
Browne wrote the
music and collaborated with an aspiring poet of the day, DAVID BRETTON on the
lyrics. We learn that "Ninepence Worth Of Walking" was the cost of
the bus-fare to a girlfriend's house - but because of an end to the affair - he
walked. When you hear the opening title track "Give Me Take You" -
the plucked harp, his Spanish acoustic guitar, subtle arrangements and his soft
voice immediately remind you of Nick Drake's September 1969 debut on Island
Records "Five Leaves Left". He then layers on some harmony vocals
that make it feel like a Cat Stevens vs. Beach Boys Folk-Rock mash up. And the
audio is gorgeous.
The deft Royal
Academy of Music acoustic playing continues with "Dwarf In A Tree (A
Cautionary Tale)" - the words melting into Simon & Garfunkel
harpsichord moments as it progresses. "The Ghost Walks" clocks in a
5:33 minutes and with sparse instrumentation, at times feels like Leonard Cohen
putting poetry to music in order to woo another hopelessly lovelorn beauty
("...women would wait in the rain for a lock of his hair..." go the
lyrics). Part One of "Waking You" is one-minute fifty-seconds of
layered vocals and viola notes - waking you and not knowing why - so damn
pretty and just a tad hippyish. The take-a-flower "Chloe In The
Garden" pours on the Spanish Guitar and pastoral strings only to end Side
1 with one-minute of Part 2 of "Waking You".
Side 2 opens with
the layered "On The Bombsite" – a sort of Beach Boys happy poppy tune
that feels at odds with most of Side 1. Those were days of dragons and swords
and cardboard shields – an idyllic childhood explained that someone thought
might make a poignant single. Church-like organ opens "I Was, You
Weren’t" which feels like a lyric-fest about truth put to Harpsichord and
voices, voices, voices… "Gabilan" is one of the prettiest tunes on
the LP- starting out with rolling acoustic plucking but soon layers on
beautiful vocals – his playing at time feeling like water gurgling in a stream.
His way with a grown-up song comes shining through in the excellent
sticks-of-chalk greying schoolteacher "Alfred Bell" (close the book,
dismiss the class, thank the Lord). It ends on "The Death Of Neil" –
a dreamer who wanted to fly on manmade wings, have the keys to the kingdom,
ridiculed by doubters for his soaring ambitions. The 10cc layers of voices
imbibe the Da Vinci backwards-writing story with a tad too much melodrama for
sure – but you also realize why this album has such cult status – so few artists
made music like this.
The Demo of
"On The Bombsite" is a finished studio cut and not some home strum on
a guitar - and you can hear why it was singled out as the album's lone 45 (I
actually prefer those sudden guitar flicks towards the end on this version).
Actually better is the outtake "The Cherry Blossom Fool" – another
Spanish Acoustic strummer that could easily have been on the LP. The 'go again'
Rehearsal of "Give Me Take You" has crude drums and a vocal that is
too far back in the mix – but it's utterly fascinating as they build the bricks
of the songs' complicated arrangements. Second of the Previously Unreleased is
a lone acoustic guitar take of "Ninepence Worth Of Walking" – a
gorgeously recorded voice, joined momentarily by handclaps and small percussive
moments, doubled guitars towards the end – it's a gem. Studio Dialogue precedes
Takes 1 and 2 of "I Was, You Weren't" – again very clean audio – but
the drums feel clumsily intrusive even when the vocals and keyboards are excellent.
Ending on his first recording as Lorel – 1967's "Here And Now" feels
like a lost 45 gem that should have received better support first time out of
the stocks.
Born in March
1947, Duncan Browne tragically died of cancer in May 1993 aged only forty-six
and has been a cult hero to many ever since – his songwriting reputation
growing more and more as newcomers look back and dig deeper. I know "Give
Me Take You" is not a masterpiece (his "Duncan Browne" LP on RAK
is far more accomplished) – but at times it is magical - and in many ways out on a
limb of its own.
Fans I suspect
will already own this lovely hippy-folkish CD reissue and hold it precious. And
still available in certain places for under a ten-spot brand new - I would
advise that you do yourself a wee favour and investigate why...
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