Dust Bin Roy Harper - Another Day
posted by on February 15 at 12:17 PM
I first heard the song Another Day in my goth years, while listening to This Mortal Coil’s album, It’ll End In Tears. Elizabeth Fraser sings vocals on the track, and she makes it so, so sad.
I had never heard the original version by British folk artist Roy Harper on his album Flat Baroque And Berzerk. I finally found a copy of this album on CD this week. And I have to say, I don’t know which version I think is more beautiful.
Roy Harper led a sorrowful childhood. Born in Manchester, his mother died in childbirth, leaving him to be raised in a house run by his father and, soon, his stepmother who was a devout Jehovah’s Witness. He left school and family at the age of 15 to join the Royal Air Force, but because he didn’t like the regimented life he feigned mental illness to get out. That didn’t do him much good, as the Royal Air Force thought they could cure him with electro shock therapy. Upon his discharge he started playing music on the streets and in the burgeoning folk club scene.
With the release of his fourth album Flat Baroque… he created a truly unique sound by attaching a wah wah distortion pedal to his acoustic guitar. This leaves the album feeling a little spacey and psychadelic, which put him right in with the whole “British Acid Folk” movement of the time. Unfortunately, it cost him his relationship with his record company, which is the reason this and most future albums by him are so hard to come by.
Harper has a huge amount of fans in the music industry however, who have helped shepherd through many of his projects. Paul and Linda McCartney have sung back up for him. Led Zeppelin have recorded a song about him. He sang the song Have A Cigar on Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here album. And Kate Bush has lent her voice to a duet with him on his album, The Unknown Soldier.
Kate Bush and Peter Gabriel were such big fans of Harper that they also performed the song, Another Day on a TV special they put together in the early ‘80’s. Here is video from YouTube.
Why didn’t they ever release that version together!
It’s a beautiful song, sung in very different ways, beautifully each time.
Give it up for Roy Harper. Fantastic, if barely known, singer/songwriter.
You can find samples of Roy, This Mortal Coil and Zeppelin at my blog, here..
Wow Terry, that's really odd; I just unearthed all my old This Mortal Coil albums and was going to post something myself about how the group got me into Tim Buckley. For years, I think I purposely stowed those 3 albums away for fear of having to relive all that teenage angst again. But listening to them now, I think I can better connect with the music, rather than the nostalgia. Not bad stuff. Thanks.
Wow, pretty surprised to see a Roy Harper article anywhere outside of the UK.
"If barely known?" I guess. He's like the Tom Waits of England.
Just stopping in to say that if you haven't heard Royal Festival Hall Live, you haven't heard him at all.
I don't know where to even begin looking for it in the States, but if you can find a copy you won't regret shelling out for it... Seriously amazing.
Saw him in SF in 1997 and he was absolutely amazing live, the weird psychedelic energy coming from the man's head and guitar had to be experienced to be understood. I have had a bunch of his records since college a loooong time ago and they still sound good.
I highly recommend his album "Stormcock." Four brilliant songs with just him and Jimmy Page on 12-String acoustic.
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