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"...Time To
Dream..."
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 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. This issue for their second platter originally issued late
1973 also comes with fab unreleased material – including rare visuals on Disc 2
now in the public domain at last. It's Time To Dream...here are the details…
UK released
Friday, 30 November 2018 (7 December 2018 in the USA) - "Bedside Manners
Are Extra" by GREENSLADE on Esoteric Recordings PECLEC 22654 (Barcode
5013929475441) is an 'Expanded Edition' 2-Disc Reissue (CD and DVD) offering a
new remaster of their 1973 Second Album with Previously Unreleased BBC Audio
and Video Bonuses on both discs and it plays out as follows:
Disc 1 CD (55:20
minutes):
1. Bedside
Manners Are Extra [Side 1]
2. Pilgrim's
Progress
3. Time To Dream
4. Drum Folk
[Side 2]
5. Sunkissed
You're Not
6. Chalk Hill
Tracks 1 to 6 are
their second studio album "Bedside Manners Are Extra" - released
November 1973 in the UK on Warner Brothers K 46259 (no US release). Produced by
the four members of GREENSLADE (Engineered by Mike Bobak and Trevor White) - it
didn’t chart USA.
BONUS TRACKS:
7. Time To Dream
8. Bedside
Manners Are Extra
9. Pilgrim's
Progress
BBC Radio One
"Sounds Of The Seventies" Session recorded 31Oct 1973 (first
broadcast 3 Dec 1973)
Disc 2 DVD (NTSC
All Regions, 28 minutes - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED material)
1. Drowning Man
2. Temple Song
3. Mélange
Tracks 1 to 3 are
a 1973 Warner Brothers Promotional Film called "Greenslade"
4. Pilgrim's
Progress
5. Bedside
Manners Are Extra
Tracks 4 and 5
recorded 20 November 1973 for the BBC TV program "The Old Grey Whistle
Test"
GREENSLADE was:
DAVE GREENSLADE –
Organ, Fender Piano, Mellotron, Clavinet, Harmonium, ARP Synths, Glockenspiel
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
A 90s issue out
of Germany on Warner Brothers with basic artwork, a 2006 Wounded Bird issue in the
USA with not much better and a 2009 better shot in Japan on Arcangelo that at
least had a Remaster and a SHM-CD in natty repro artwork have seen their second
studio album have a potted CD reissue history. But here in 2018 the UK finally
gives it a Deluxe Edition fans can enjoy and access easily.
The three-way
fold out digipak is the generic packaging for all three of these Esoteric
Recordings 2-Disc GREENSLADE reissues – each picture disc in this case
reflecting the original cover artwork by ROGER DEAN (front cover for both CD
and DVD). The inner flap has the fourhanded logo painting by Dean that became
an emblem for the band (reflecting two sets of keyboard players) and the
reproduction values of the gorgeous original gatefold artwork are seriously well
done (front and rear) - this is a handsome looking reissue.
The 20-page
booklet too (helmed by noted writer and musicologist MALCOLM DOME) comes with
new interviews involving Dave Greenslade, singer Dave Lawson and input too from
artist Roger Dean - whilst the whole thing is compiled, researched etc by
resident Prog expert and label head honcho MARK POWELL. All the colour snaps of
the four boys playing live that adorned the inner gatefold along with the
lyrics in Roger Dean script that came with the original Warner Brothers inner
gatefold are present and accounted for. There's discussion of the band’s
progress from the March 1973 self-titled debut to the 2pm to midnight recording
and mixing process in July with the LP hitting the shelves in November. On the
20th of that month Blighty got to see Greenslade on the taste-making Old Grey
Whistle Test (along with Man, Bees Make Honey and Kilburn and The High Roads)
and as DG explains they were still changing structures in the songs. In short
the booklet is beautifully laid out - both looking and feeling substantial.
As a firm fan
fave this Remaster of "Bedside Manners Are Extra" (a title apparently
suggested by the keyboard player’s then girlfriend and later wife) 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 King
Crimson in fact). To the music...
The debut and
second LPs both came in 1973 (February and November) and by the time the band
hit the studio in July – they had a Sympatico sound, a well-rehearsed
pre-recording routine (practice, practice) and a sophistication that comes
roaring off "Bedside Manners Are Extra" – a self-produced album. 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.
The all-regions
near 28-minutes DVD offers five tracks - first up is an amazing find in a three-song
promotional film made by Warner Brothers to promote the March 1973 self-titled
debut album. It lasts sixteen and a half minutes and is seriously grainy to
begin with but soon settles down (the boys playing in Pye Studios in London).
There they are, accomplished and Prog grooving alongside their Orange Amps with
their frizzy long hair and a 69 teeshirt. During "Mélange" Bassist
Tony Reeves gets to show what he can do mimicking almost exactly what he played
on the album track (great stuff). Second comes a twofer from November 1973
recorded for Bob Harris' taste-making show "The Old Grey Whistle
Test" (Man, Bees Make Honey and Kilburn and The High Roads were featured
that week). Immaculate looking and sounding great (restored footage), the
keyboard spreads have expanded to all sides of the two Daves and the entire
band’s playing is even more Sympatico that before – Greenslade sounding not
unlike ELP letting rip. Amazing stuff to see after all these years...
To sum up - I've
always loved the sophistication of "Bedside Manners…" and this
five-star 2-Disc reissue of that 2nd 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 footage, a no-filler winner. Cool.
No doubt the
fourth platter from 1975 "Time And Tide" will follow soon after -
possibly in 2019. Once again Esoteric Recordings have delivered big time. This
is the version of "Bedside Manners Are Extra" 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) – 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 In The Studio Warner Brothers
Promotional Film Recorded 1973 for the debut album along with a further
two-song slot on "The Old Grey Whistle Test" (November 1973) on the
Region Free DVD
3. "Spyglass
Guest" (August 1974 Third Album) – 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)
