COUNTER CULTURE [CD+DVD]

Drawing on over thirty years' worth of material, this collection has a lot of ground to cover, but songs have been intelligently selected to make sense of a career that can at times be difficult to understand or explain.

Roy's greatest album is usually taken to be 1971's "Stormcock", and we get half of that album in the shape of epic favourites "The Same Old Rock" and "Me & My Woman". Another monster of a track is "One of Those Days in England": a mythic celebration of Englishness that strays from folk toward prog rock but remains convincingly Harper's own. There are a number of other "suites" that could have been included (such as "Work of Heart", "The Game", "The Lord's Prayer", "McGoohan's Blues", "Burn The World" and his latest: "The Death of God") but that would have entailed a good deal more than two CDs!

The longer pieces are contextualised by some gorgeous ballads -such as "Another Day", "The Flycatcher", "I'll See You Again", and "Hallucinating Light" - but not all of Harper's most beautiful songs are love songs. "South Africa" is a sweet protest song, "Twelve Hours of Sunset" a meditation on travel by jet aircraft and "When An Old Cricketer Leaves The Crease" an affecting and autumnal celebration of England's national game. In these songs, Harper's lyrics place him in another league to many of the old folkies with whom he has tended to be compared.

Key to this collection is that there has been little attempt to bolster "classic" material with weaker material from some of Harper's thinner albums. "The Evening Star" is another striking ballad, sounding strong here out of the context of 1992's patchy "Death or Glory". "I Wanna Be In Love" is another track "rescued" from its incoherent position in "The Dream Society", but it's nice to be able to say that we could have had much more from "The Green Man" than its title track. With any luck those impressed by this near-flawless collection will move onto to that album.

It's easy to see on this collection of Roy's favourite songs from his back catalogue why he hasn't made anything like the impact (and sales) that he should have done...... especially as it's him that sings Pink Floyds' "Have A Cigar".

The lyrics and subject matter of each of these songs were too much for the public to comprehend and/or accept at the time they were released and they went back to their safe, familiar bands who made them feel cosy and fuzzy inside (it happens today too - why are Coldplay and Travis more popular than, for instance, Super Furry Animals or Bravecaptain?).

The fantastic series of albums Roy has released over the last 35 years are very well represented here, although as a fan I'd like to know where "Highway Blues" and "Descendents of Smith" are?

This is the perfect album to pull out at dinner parties when you get asked by the guests why you are so boring and if you have any records that aren't tepid and bland?

This is great stuff and I look forward to seeing Roy in concert again soon!!!

Prior to purchasing this on a whim all I knew about Roy Harper was that he sang magnificently on Pink Floyds “Have A Cigar” and that This Mortal Coil had covered “Another Day” on their “It’ll End In Tears” album. Suffice to say after listening this I feel a bit of an idiot. Roy where have I been all your life?
That said this compilation of 25 tracks selected from his career output of around 200 does not start well. The first two tracks “Sophisticated Beggar” from 1966 and “You Don’t Need Money “ from 1967 show a talent trying to find it’s feet .They have a jazzy feel , all dense coagulated chords and claustrophobic arrangements. There is no space for the songs to breathe or flow. Things improve with “Francesca “a brief but lovely acoustic number. Then the quality skyrockets. A truly stunning live track “I Hate the White Man” showcases Harpers wonderful voice while the original version of “Another Day” is if anything even more forlorn and wracked than This Mortal Coils. He truly sounds devastated; this song would not be out of place on “Sister Lovers” or “Berlin”. The epics “The Same Old Rock “ and “Me and My Woman “ from what is considered by those in the know his best album “Stormcock” are audacious in their scale and complexity. They may test the patience of some but they will reward that patience. As the listener progresses chronographically through Harpers work the songs incorporate added instrumentation. “I, ll See You Again” has orchestration while the poignant while wryly amusing in its use of Cricket lingo “When An Old Cricketer Leaves The Crease” uses The Grimethorpe Brass Band.
That song rounds off CD one .C.D. two opens with another epic , the nineteen minute “One Of Those Days In England” ( Pts 2-10)” which audaciously flips off at stylistic tangents but always returning to the lovely lilting chorus.. “These Last Days” is a spectral ballad with an ambience of spooky desolation. ”You” sounds like it could come from Pink Floyds “The Wall” which is no surprise as Dave Gilmour plays guitar on it. Kate Bush provides vocal backing in her usual idiosyncratic way. Jimmy Page guests on “Frozen Moment” with some lovely crystal acoustic guitar. “Miles Remains” is wonderfully evocative, with pristine notes of guitar and hollowed out bass. There is another exquisite ballad with another tremendous vocal performance from Harper on “Evening Star”. Lets just say it,s a tremendous song. “I Wanna Be In Love” yet another ballad, luxuriates in warm brush strokes of orchestration complimenting the velvet smooth vocals till the slightly portentous last third ushered in by grumbling percussion. The album finishes where it started in 1966 and the rather fussy acoustic strains of “Blackpool”.
With Best Ofs, Greatest Hits or retrospective collections which is what Counter Culture is there are usually two types of purchasers. Those who just want all the perceived good stuff on one CD. They are lazy musical dilettantes. Commercial vipers, who should be strapped to a wheel chair with no wheels, set on fire and then run over with a combine harvester. Occasionally I am one of these people. Then there are those who know little or nothing of the artist concerned and see it as an ideal way to investigate their output. In the case of Roy Harper this is me . I’ve overlooked the completists but they are a bit odd so that’s for the best. Whether i deserve public flogging is for others to decide but I look at it very simply. Better late then never. After years, nay decades of complete ignorance of how terrific Roy Harper was, i who pride myself on my musical taste and who spend lots of time researching and reading about music have filled in a glaring void in my musical education. An oversight has been remedied. Hopefully I’m not the only one.