Tuesday 29 September 2020

(Dust in the air suspended marks the place where) A Story Ended, by Dick Heckstall-Smith (1972)

 





Like, wow.  First of all with a title like that you know you're in for a wonderful treat.  And the artwork on the cover, as I always point out!!  Gorgeous!

I'm sure he was happy with the photograph on the inside too-- good thing they kept it out of view of the record-purchasing customers.  Not too many units would have sold, I suspect.  Might have been some kids in that record store too...

You can see he collected together an all-star crew for this recording, I daresay, this masterpiece, which looks to be a one-off where everything came together perfectly for this most progressive of times.  Information here.

Since he worked with Jack Bruce, the unknown progressive genius that is, not the super-famous Cream bassist (yes I know it's the same guy), and his lyricist Pete Brown, obviously the prog/creative spirit lay strong in him.  This was the time when Jack Bruce was hitting it out of the ballpark in album after album, from the first solo Tailor to Harmony Row, his masterpiece (questionable?).

He played with The New Jazz Orchestra, who was just recently featured here in connection with Neil Ardley.  Wonderfully, you might notice that Dave Greenslade plays keys here.  Boy what a string of progressive gems Greenslade put out with his band!! Always worth relistening for that gorgeous mellotron mastery.

Musically, this is like Marsupilami, Gnidrolig toned down (less prog), may be the Sandoz posted on these pages before.  So it's quite electric / rocky, despite the jazz credentials behind him.  Oddly there is singing on all tracks and with 4 different vocalists, none of them Jack Bruce.

A Pirare's Dream is the prog masterpiece here, as you will recognize instantly, despite the 11 plus minutes, I sampled it in toto:




Album closes out with a blues song with Caleb Quaye playing gorgeous blues guitar licks.


Wonderful masterpiece.



12 comments:

  1. https://www120.zippyshare.com/v/4I8NVyxY/file.html

    https://www.sendspace.com/file/md55uj

    not my rip

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  2. One of my favorite albums ever!!!

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  3. Nice to see some appreciation of the genius of Jack Bruce. A bit strange though not to mention the band that most people associate with DHS: Colosseum. In fact all members of that band play here: Hiseman, Clarke, Farlowe, Greenslade.

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  4. thanks for the information, and I sure hope I'm not the only one to whom this album is new!

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  5. Also good to see some love for Greenslade, Julian. One of my favourite prog bands back in the day - not least because my best mate at school was vocalist and keyboard-player Dave Lawson's younger brother. If you've not heard them, the two albums that Lawson recorded before joining Greenslade (Web's 'I Spider' and Samurai's self-titled album) are very good indeed.

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    Replies
    1. The Samurai album with Lawson is great, fortunately I discovered it last year.

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  6. Nice appreciation of this album, one of my favourite creations from my father's catalogue - and of Jack, Dave Greenslade, et al.
    Cheers all, Arthur (Heckstall-Smith)

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    1. kudos to your father for making something so pricelessly brilliant!!
      & thanks for the comment

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    2. Dear Arthur,
      being a musician myself I was very much inspired by your father's playing. I always wondered if there are some unreleased gems that some of his fans might enjoy. "Jazz In Britain" recently released some archive stuff by Joe Harriot or Ray Warleigh (with Allan Holldsorth). I was wondering if they contacted you.
      All the best!

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  7. "You're late."
    "Bilbo Baggins, a Wizard is neither late nor early,
    he arrives exactly when he wishes to!"

    **GODHEAD ALERT***

    In the tradition of our esteemed mentors at Mutant Sounds,
    not lightly do we make this declaration;
    No sir - for here we are treated to that liminal headspace of high-vibrational meta-creation, rewarded by the wonderful generosity of unique beings sharing their tinsel of genius! Thank you friends!!! :)
    Like Wowie Zowie!!!
    I feel like a missing puzzle-piece has been found and fits perfectly,
    revealing larger vistas........ gazing past the planets, looking for total View
    And the line up!!
    Many of my favorite musical characters are here, and they are firing on all cylinders! Not always the case when many very talented individuals are brought together, but here they really gel and mesh wonderfully, like they'd been doing it for years :)
    Seeing the 1972 release date doesn't prepare one for the proto-prog fresh notes, sudden obscure chord changes, intriguing poly-rhythms that sound 5-7 years ahead of their time......
    Like the US midwest group October (again sadly overlooked - now I got the Lion cd reissue of 2nd short-but-super-sweet 1979 Lp 'After The Fall' but where's a cd release for that 1st Lp? Always loved that cover!)
    absconded with The Soft Parade & Colosseum, joined Magma circa Udu Wudu and snuck into the recording sessions for Bond & Brown's masterpiece 'Two Heads Are Better Than One' .... ;) .....rich & heady lebanese blond smoke rings rise...
    Thus did we sail into these rarified waters,
    seldom found in even an old Pirate's Dream........
    What The Morning Was After.......these lyrics stuck in my head the moment I heard them:
    'I filled up with hope for the better things,
    Ohh, it was in the past...
    Now all I need is some more streamlined wings,
    And the pieces of you that will last.'

    Fucking beautiful
    Thank you brother

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  8. amazing right? glad I'm not the only one stunned by this work!

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  9. Wow, thanks for posting this. I had forgotten this one from the old daze...

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