Accolade's one of those short-lived late-1960s/early-1970s English bands that attempted to expand musical boundaries, mixing traditional English folk with some rock influences.
Following a personnel shakeup that saw singer/guitarist Gordon Giltrap strike out on his own, the band returned with 1971's cleverly titled "Accolade 2". Again produced by Don Paul, Capitol executives apparently deciding the set had no commercial potential and passed on the opportunity to release the album domestically. That was unfortunate given the band's sophomore effort was actually far stronger than the debut.
With Partridge continuing to serve as chief writer (he's credited with six of the ten songs), his contributions were far more varied than on the first LP. Musically the set was pretty entertaining, mixing acoustic folk and jazzy touches with occasional slices of more pop and rock-oriented material. Highlights included the opener 'Transworld Blues', the surprisingly taunt rocker 'The Spider To the Spy' (sporting some of the year's most inept harmony vocals) and the bizarre 'Cross Continental Pandemonium Theatre Company'.
Admittedly it wasn't something that immediately grabbed my ears, but this is one of those albums that rewards patience. The first time around it doesn't sound like anything special, but with repeated spins, it grows on you revealing considerable charms.
Bad-Cat
Tracks
1. Transworld Blues - 3:22
2. The Spider to The Spy - 2:33
3. Baby, Take Your Rags Off - 3:17
4. Cross Continental Pandemonium Theatre Company (B. Cresswell, I. Hoyle, D. Partridge, M.Poole) - 11:02
5. Snakes In a Hole (Georg Wadnius, Tommy Borgudd) - 3:25
6. The Time I've Wasted - 2:37
7. Sector Five Nine - 2:20
8. If Only I'd Known (Wizz Jones) - 2:08
9. William Taplin (Gordon Giltrap) - 4:55
10.Long Way to Go - 5:07
All songs by Don Partridge except otherwise stated.
Accolade
*Don Partridge - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Vibraphone
*Malcolm Poole - Contrabass, Fiddle
*Ian Hoyle - Drums
*Brian Cresswell - Flute, Alto Saxophone
*Wizz Jones - Vocals
*Mike Moran - Piano
Free Text
the Free Text
The front album cover artwork is an original painting by David Steele and attracted me to this UK prog/psych record ,to me this is yet one another excellent slice of early 70's UK psych folk. The overall picture of this record is to be placed in a warm jazzy tune full of moisture. The system sounds lovers of traditional / folk British jazzy I recommend absolutely, flavor is strong! It's interesting, well crafted, and timeless album for me Originally released on the Regal Zonophone label in 1971.
ReplyDeleteMarios,thanks per share.
Thanks very much for this Marios - I'm looking forward to having a listen.
ReplyDeleteI was attracted to the post when I noticed the presence of Wizz Jones on the album. I have a couple of his albums and they're great, especially "Right Now".
But they're extremely hard to buy these days, most of them being long out of print.
Do you happen to have any which you could post up? Here's more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wizz_Jones#Solo_albums
Great post, Marios, as always!
Cheers.
Wizz jones attracted my attention too. Thanks
ReplyDeleteA very beautiful album. This is really enjoyable jazzy folk, any chance for the first album? Thanks Marios
ReplyDeletewow I loved so much the "Cross Continental Pandemonium Theatre Company", grazie Mario!
ReplyDeleteκαλημέρα Μάριε! μήπως έχεις και το πρώτο τους; ωραίες επιλογές και τα υπόλοιπα...
ReplyDeleteis it just me or song n.10 "Long Way To Go" is a little buggy from 2:47 to 2:50 ?
ReplyDelete