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Product Description
Album Description
Roy Harper's fourth album found him in an acoustic folkie mode more often than not, though as usual (for circa late-'60s Harper) there were detours into pretty rocky items on occasion. It's not much of either a progression or a slide from the lyrically convoluted, somewhat but not incredibly melodic path he had established with his prior work. "I Hate the White Man," however, is certainly one of his most notable (and notorious) compositions, a spew of lilting verbiage that's hard to peg. It could be irony, it could be ironic self-hatred, it could be muddled reflections on the chaos that is the modern world, or it could be a combination of all of them. There are gentler items, sometimes with subdued harmony vocals and orchestration, that sound rather like Harper's most acerbic side sanded off with edges of Al Stewart, Donovan, or Tim Hardin; "Another Day" is the prettiest of those. The atypical "Hell's Angels," on the other hand, has a twisted, chunky rock feel rather like the solo work of another of producer Peter Jenner's clients, Syd Barrett.
From the Artist
'Flat Baroque and Berserk' was the first record of mine to go into the charts. For the first time in my recording career, proper care and attention was paid to the presentation of the song. Peter Jenner was assigned by EMI Records to produce the recording. Peter and I got on really well and he was a better overseer of my work than anyone I have been involved with before or since. I had also had a Studio upgrade. EMI Studios, Abbey Road was at that time the most advanced studio in Europe, and over the next ten years I was to record in near-perfect conditions.
Over those years, the studio buzzed with four separate Beatles, some Stones, The Pink Floyd, Cliff and the Shadows, Gracie Fields, three of four musical knights, Kate Bush, Olivier Newton-John, The Hollies, Yehudi Menuin, Stefan Grapelli, The Plastic Ono Band, Eric Clapton; you name them, they were all there. Jimmy Page and I were in there three or four times together.
It was a creative hotbed where the technical staff, headed by Ken Townsend, were second to none.
The poster for the original release of Flat Baroque and Berserk.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I was very pleased with my first record made in such elevated surroundings. The song that I was best known for in those days, 'I Hate the White Man,' was recorded live for this album, and still stands as a testament to my lifelong devotion to espousing equal rights for all humans. I have long since wondered about the wisdom of stating that you have more than the capacity to hate your own race for it's misdemeanors, but as a polemic it has been both an effective tool and somewhere of a place to stand.
Much of the rect of the record is on a gentler level, although 'Hells Angels,' recorded with 'The Nice,' is just as raw and was very eventful.
'Another Day' is one of the best love songs I ever wrote and the overall balance of the record is very good.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A genuine ground breaking album in its day and still is!,
By PNL "peternl1_99" (South Yorks) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Flat Baroque & Berserk (Audio CD)
It is hard to remember how far ahead of his time Harper was. I remember seeing him just as this album was ready for release and he said that they had had to reduce the gaps between the tracks to fit it on an LP! That was the problem he did not have the appropriate technology to support him then. "Flashes From The Archives of Oblivion" captures some of his live power. When stoned he rambled between songs but (usually)when he sang live, no matter his mental state, his voice and songs were powerful, unnerving and sublimely beautiful. Something that was never really caught in the studio - he worked by his mood/feeling/the gifts he was given/consumed that evening, hence the fact he could also be awful at times. You didn't meet on his ledge you were on it with him!All his albums are sketch pads for the ideas he would develop live. When I first saw him he did 'Hells Angels' live and alone but no one missed the band (the record wasn't out), he more than made up for them, as Nice as they were on the LP!
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Roy Harper's Breakthrough Album,
By
This review is from: Flat Baroque & Berserk (Audio CD)
Less idiosyncratic than its predecessors, this is a stunning album of mainly acoustic songs (Hell's Angels is the head-banging exception) which propelled Roy into the forefront of the "slightly mad singer-songwriter" genre. It kicks off in robust style with a kind of cowboy lament by Judas Iscariot no less ("Don't You Grieve") then we have one of Roy's famous semi-stoned rambles leading up to his epic cry of outrage "I Hate the White Man", one of the bravest songs ever recorded. After that titanic piece the album wanders around in a relaxed manner through some very pretty, reflective songs ("Another Day" is a total heartbreaker and "Song of the Ages" has some beautiful harp playing) before Roy straps on his Les Paul and joins up with The Nice for the crunching, screaming, demented work-out that is "Hell's Angels". Great stuff; one of Roy's best. "Stormcock" is THE best.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Roy Harper finally gets it right,
By
This review is from: Flat Baroque & Berserk (Audio CD)
After a brilliant start with Sophisticated Beggar, it took a while for Roy Harper to get it right. Ghengis Smith was a messy affair and although things started shifting with Folkjokeopus, it was with Flat Baroque and Berserk that Roy cleared the table and nailed an album that proved the amazing songwriter that he was. For the first time Roy forgot about pop psychedelia or trying to get his songs played on the radio and focused his music within the folk framework where it always worked better. Not only we get more focused (and better) songs but, thanks to the striped to essential arrangements and production, there is more room for Roy's voice and guitar playing to breath. If Roy could be an excellent guitarist with a quite distinctive style, it is his singing that really shines throughout this album.
The album has two obligatory songs in the Roy Harper songbook. The album's centrepiece is "I Hate The White Man" and the title says it all - this is not the average hippy throw at capitalism, society or whatever. The song works on the thematic palette Roy had developed on "McGoogan's Blues" but with more effective results. The intro speech is a must, with a semi-stoned Roy giving a small lecture to his audience and saying how much better it is in the poor countries "with the dogs in the sun and the kids in the dirt". Personally, I find the song a bit boring but "White Man" became one of Roy's most well-known songs and its importance in his body of work is undeniable. The other classic on the album is "Another Day" which is simply one of the most beautiful love songs ever written. It's also a requiem for an old failed relationship. Roy sings the characters' love, angst, tenderness and resignation with an outstanding, subtle performance. The self-contained emotion in Roy's singing gives the song a false calm that doesn't overshadow its drama and tension. It's a sad song but in the end it leaves you with a peaceful feeling. Along with "White Man" the album has a number of long semi-epic songs that I find more rewarding than the former, such as "Tom Tiddler's Ground", "Goodbye" and, specially "How Does It Feel" which I would rate as the best song of the album. With lyrics that could cut through the bone of the most cold-blooded yuppie and another dramatic vocal performance, this is the kind of song that leaves you thinking. "How does it feel to be completely unreal?" he asks - "You can feel bona fide if you ride with the tide, but it's not real." Like someone wrote, Dylan was never so brutally honest. Along the bigger tunes Flat Baroque and Berserk has a handful of lovely little songs like "Francesca" and "East Of The Sun" that balance the album toward perfection. The only flaw on the album is the final "Hell's Angels". Not that it is a bad song. It just doesn't have anything to do with the rest. After this string of beautiful, intense songs, something I don't need is 7 minutes of psychedelic wah-wah. In spite of the awkward final, Flat Baroque and Berserk is a masterpiece in its own right, only surpassed in Roy's catalogue by its follower Stormcock. One last thought: the crazy sleeve photo would make a very nice double gatefold special edition. So I hope Roy finds the money to continue the work he has done with Stormcock and HQ. He certainly deserves it.
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