Formerly Fat Harry are one the forgotten greats of late '60s British rock. The band was formed in London in 1969 by ex-Country Joe & the Fish bassist Bruce Barthol and two old friends from the Berkeley California folk music scene, Gary Petersen and Phil Greenberg. Fat Harry was soon signed up by the original Pink Floyd management company.
Playing a highly idiosyncratic brand of Americana that frequently experimented with jazz time signatures, the band played at two of the now legendary free concerts in Hyde Park, the 1970 Bath Festival, Phun City and many of the clubs of the era such as The Marquee in London.
A quartet of 'musician's musicians', admired by everyone from Ralph McTell to Edgar Broughton and Michael Chapman, the group made only one LP for Harvest Records before disbanding in 1972. Though reflecting their musical and song-writing abilities, that record failed to capture their true flavour.
Now, this previously unreleased collection of studio demos and live recordings (taken from the band's own archive) finally sets the record straight, delivering a heady mix of country, folk, blues and psychedelia, as well as including for the first time ever a version of their much-loved live favourite, 'Mariachi Riff'.
The accompanying 16 page CD booklet includes comprehensive liner notes, featuring interviews with the band, plus rare photographs from their own archive.
Tracks
1. Wild Side Of Life (Thompson) - 3:11
2. Funky 8 (Peterson) - 3:41
3. Corelia Correll (Peterson, Greenberg) - 8:39
4. Tell Me All About It When You See Me (Peterson) - 6:46
5. Girl On A Bicycle (McTell, Peterson) - 4:03
6. Zurich Blues (Barthol, Greenberg, Peterson) - 6:25
7. As The Rain Falls (Peterson) - 4:44
8. Goodbye For Good (Greenberg) - 7:04
9. Seulbe (Peterson) - 6:14
10.Time Slips By (Greenberg) - 7:24
11.I'd Rather Be A Newsboy (Kuhn, Kuhn, Branen) - 1:47
12 Mariachi Riff (Barthol, Greenberg, Peterson) - 16:50
Track 3, Demo tape, recorded at Sound Techniques studios, London.
Tracks 2, 5, 7, 9 and 10, London demo studio work tapes
Tracks 1, 4, 6, 8,11 and 12, Live recordings
Formerly Fat Harry
*Bruce Barthol - Bass, Vocals
*Phil Greenberg - Guitar, Vocals
*Gary Peterson - Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals
*Laurie Allan - Drums (Tracks 1, 3, 4, 8, 9, 11, 12)
*John Marshall - Drums (Tracks 2, 5, 7)
*Alan Jackson - Drums (Track 6)
Related Act
with Country Joe and the Fish
1965-71 The First Three E.P's
1967 Electric Music For The Mind And Body
1967 I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die
1968 Together
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This is my request before! I thought you forgot. You're one of the nicest guy I have ever met in the internet. Thank you, Marios.
ReplyDeleteNew to me. Thank You, Marios !!
ReplyDeleteTotally unknown to me,but is really amazing.Many thanks for rare diamonds like this...
ReplyDeleteI wasn't aware of this CD edition, and didn't knew this formation who made one album on EMI/Harvest. This is a really nice surprise for me, Many thanks for the discovery, Marios.
ReplyDeletePS: I think you have "jumped" the page 10-11 on the 16 pages booklet on your scans.
Hi Laurent,
ReplyDeleteyes you're right,
missing boobklet pages added.
Thanx.
Thank you very much friend. Always fantastic music in this site.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for this - I'd forgotten they existed, even though a quick search reveals they played at Pink Floyd's gig in Hyde Park in 1969, so I must have seen and heard them play!
ReplyDeleteSaw them live way back when with Edgar Broughton....if Im not mistaken at the memorial hall barry south wales.....anyways this is a gem...thanks once again....cheers.
ReplyDeleteYou don't by chance have their first album, do you?
ReplyDeleteCan you make new lossless links for this
ReplyDeleteI would be glad too when you refresh the links
ReplyDeleteMany thanks
herbertnalin
Thank you very much. Very much appreciated.
ReplyDeleteMkraemer, long time no see. Everything OK?
ReplyDeleteEverything is good. I will email you
ReplyDeleteF Fat Harry gone again...
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, "Formerly Fat Harry - Goodbye For Good, The Lost Recordings", ...returned
ReplyDelete