Barclay James Harvest Album Portfolio

Once Again

LP: Harvest SHVL 788, 5th February 1971, gatefold sleeve
LP reissue: Fame FA 3073, July 1983, single sleeve
MC: Harvest TC-SHVL 788, 1973
8-Track: 8X-SHVL 788, 1973
Quadraphonic LP: Q4SHVL 788, July 1973
MC reissue: TC-FA 3073, July 1983
CD: Part of Four BJH Originals 4CD set, EMI BARCLAY 1, February 1996
CD: Issued as a single CD in Germany, Japan and Korea
Quadraphonic CD: Brimstone BRIM 002, 25th September, 1998 (as UK quad LP except "Vanessa Simmons", from Brazilian quad LP!).
CD: Remaster with 5 bonus tracks, EMI UK, 27th May, 2002

Side 1
She Said (John Lees)
Happy Old World (Woolly Wolstenholme)
Song for Dying (Barclay James Harvest)
Galadriel (John Lees)

Side 2
Mocking Bird (Barclay James Harvest)
Vanessa Simmons (John Lees)
Ball And Chain (Barclay James Harvest)
Lady Loves (Barclay James Harvest)

Bonus tracks on remastered CD:
Introduction - White Sails (A Seascape) (Woolly Wolstenhome, arr. Robert Godfrey)
Too Much On Your Plate (Barclay James Harvest)
Happy Old World (quadraphonic mix) (Woolly Wolstenholme)
Vanessa Simmons (quadraphonic mix) (John Lees)
Ball And Chain (quadraphonic mix) (Barclay James Harvest)

Recording Details

Recording Studio:
Abbey Road Studios, St.John's Wood, London

Recording Dates:
9th October, 1970 to 25th November, 1970

Producer:
Norman Smith

Engineer:
Peter Bown

Additional Personnel

The Barclay James Harvest Symphony Orchestra
Orchestra Leader: Gavin Wright
Conductor and Musical Director: Robert Godfrey

Norman Smith

As the more recent "John Lennon's Guitar" puts it, "the producer was Norman Smith, who'd engineered with the Beatles and John...", but Smith also had a short-lived career as a solo recording artist, under the name Hurricane Smith, and scored two Top Ten hits with "Don't Let It Die" and "Oh Babe, What Would You Say". His other production credits include Pink Floyd and The Pretty Things.

Sleeve

Designed by Latimer Reeves and based on an enlarged section of the design for the debut album. The full effect can only be obtained by opening out the original gatefold sleeve, so later reissues such as the 'Fame' release which came in single sleeves rather defeat the object. The inside of the gatefold contains very little information and no lyrics, although the full lyrics are given after the description of each song on this page.

She Said

The writing credits on this album bear very little relation to the actual composers, in this case crediting John in error. The song was originally two completely separate songs from Les Holroyd, one called "Miss Bailey" with the "She Said" verse and the other one being "And I Will Always Love Her". At Woolly's instigation, the two were combined to produce an early BJH classic, with Woolly writing much of the arrangement and the link parts. It is still Woolly's favourite song from the album - "it has that wonderfully evocative centre section" (the Elizabethan-style recorder solo).

Lyrics:

She said, "Why don't you come and stay with me
Far away from people we know?
We could live our lives together
Happiness wherever we go"

And I will always love her
And I will always care
And I will always love her

Wasn't long before she grew tired of me
And the life she thought would redeem
All the love she'd thrown away as a child
All the things she thought she had seen

And I will always love her
And I will always care
And I will always love her

[Barclay James Harvest, © RAK Publishing Ltd]

Happy Old World

Woolly's environmental protest song, written, as he puts it, "before there was greenness"! The additional line towards the end of the quad mix on The Harvest Years, "as we travel through space", was spoken by Woolly as a jokey aside about the atmospheric coda to the song, and was not intended to appear on the finished recording! In fact, the 'extra' parts on the quad album were not overdubs, but parts of the original recording which had been removed or mixed well down for the normal stereo release. In some cases, it's obvious why they were removed!

Lyrics:

Looking like something from out of space we came
Nothing much to look at, but did he complain?
He didn't mind us being here to live in peace and grace
What we're doing to him now could put us back in space
We're thinking like some creatures off the ocean floor
Losing sight of what we've really come here for
Can I be heard above the sounds of prejudice and hate?
Take time to look around before it gets too late

It's a happy old world
Give and take a bit
That's what you make of it
A happy old world
But I'm sorry to be leaving it
It's a happy old world
Give and take a bit
That's what you make of it
A happy old world
But I guess I still, I still believe in it
It's a happy old world

We're tearing up the rivers and a thousand streams
And highways, they're in places where they've never been
We're building towers in the sky and racing for the sun
Oh Lord, any eye can see what harm we've done
I need some help to get myself out of this maze
We can both just say goodbye and go our separate ways
My mind's not on this song I sing, my heart's not in the lines
Guess I'll go and kill myself, so would you kindly close the blinds

Oh a happy old world
Give and take a bit
That's what you make of it
A happy old world
But I'm sorry to be leaving it
It's a happy old world
Give and take a bit
That's what you make of it
A happy old world
But I guess, guess I still believe in it
It's a happy old world

[S.J.Wolstenholme, © RAK Publishing Ltd]

Song For Dying

An anti-war song from John, which according to one reviewer, may well owe its inspiration to the famous "Battle Hymn Of the American Republic".

Lyrics:

Two of them watched in the dawn's early light
And two of them died in the morning
Search not your soul if you want to be right
But two of them died in the morning

It's not for you we cry
No, not for those who die
It is only for their sons
Forget the lives of others who are gone

Two and by two in the dawn's early light
All went to die in the morning
Search not your souls for the truth and the right
For all went to die in the morning light

It's not for you we cry
No, not for those who die
It is only for their sons
Forget the lives of others who are gone

It's not for you we cry
No, not for those who die
It is only for their sons
Forget the lives of others who are gone
Forget the lives of others who are gone
Forget the lives of others
Forget your wives and mothers
Forget the lives of others who are gone

[Barclay James Harvest, © Ardmore & Beechwood/EMI]

Galadriel

The title comes from a character in Tolkien's The Lord Of The Rings, a recurring theme in BJH's early work (see also 'Bombadil' and "Long Ships"). This is the song on which John played "John Lennon's Guitar", and John Lennon himself can be seen playing that very same Blond Epiphone guitar on the famous film of The Beatles performing "Let It Be" on the roof of the Abbey Road studios. According to a snippet in the music press in 1972, Françoise Hardy recorded a cover version of it, but we haven't managed to track a copy down as yet.

Lyrics:

She comes up with the morning sun
And tells me life has just begun
Oh what it is to be young

And in the early evening light
She brings me flowers from the sun
Oh what it is to be young

And if you see her you will know
She's like a shadow
Falling softly on the snow

And in the early evening light
She brings me flowers for the night
Oh what it is to be young

[John Lees, © RAK Publishing Ltd]

Mocking Bird

There's not a great deal that I can add to the volumes already written about this hardy perennial - as Woolly says, "it's hard to evaluate now", taking into account all the different live versions over the years and its status as a BJH standard. Suffice to say that the original song was written by John in 1968 when he first met his future wife, Olwen, and the orchestration was added later by Robert Godfrey.

Lyrics:

Rain, sea, surf, sand, clouds and sky
Hush now baby, don't you cry
There's a mocking bird
Singing songs in the trees
There's a mocking bird
Singing songs
Just for you and me

Rain, sea, surf, sand, clouds and sky
Time will see your tears run dry
There's a mocking bird
Singing songs in the trees
There's a mocking bird
Singing songs
Just for you and me

Rain, sea, surf, sand, clouds and sun
Bless the tears of love now gone
There's a mocking bird
Singing songs in the trees
There's a mocking bird
Singing songs
Singing just for me...

[Barclay James Harvest, © Ardmore & Beechwood/EMI]

Vanessa Simmons

A poignant love song from John. Going back to the quadraphonic version of the album, the 'extra' parts were not always an unqualified success, and this song is a classic example of why some harmonies were left off the original album!

Lyrics:

Vanessa Simmons, funny kind of name
Young and yet wise, only a child
Wake up in the morning, frown across your face
I know your name, but not your place
Wish I could show you how to live your life
But I'm not sure which one of us is right
God only knows the tears I've cried

Vanessa Simmons, funny kind of name
Have you got life wrong, is it just a game?
Wake up in the morning, find a friend at night
Friends are hard to find, especially at night
Wish I could show you how to live your life
But I'm not sure which one of us is right
God only knows, and He's the one that shows, the tears I've cried

And if I asked you for the sun, would you not say
"Light's not the only way to be"?
And if I asked you for your love, would you not say
"Love is not what you want from me"?
And would I not be right
To sit alone and wonder every night?

Vanessa Simmons, funny kind of name
Young and yet wise, only a child
Wish I could show you how to live your life
But I'm not sure which one of us is right
God only knows, and He's the one that shows, the tears I've cried

Ball And Chain

A late contender for the album, owing its place to the fact that Woolly's "White Sails" was rejected as not fitting in with the rest of the material. "White Sails" was reminiscent of a sea-shanty, and apparently recording of the orchestral arrangement for it began, but the band didn't like the arrangement and never recorded their own parts. To fill the gap, Woolly came up with this angst-ridden rocker instead, and a fine song it is, too. It was never performed live because Woolly's vocal contortions, achieved with the aid of special effects (singing through a paper cup!), would have rapidly destroyed his voice if recreated live night after night!

Lyrics:

If I had my way I would not be here
Not for one day, my leaving is clear

I've had my share of heartache and pain
For happiness I'm searching in vain
I've got to get rid of my ball and chain

For all of my life, the times they've been bad
And hard luck and strife, they're all I've ever had

I've had my share of heartache and pain
For happiness I'm searching in vain
I've got to get rid of my ball and chain

I've just got to be free
God in heaven, help me

If I had my way I would not, would not be here
No, not for one day, my leaving, my leaving is clear

I've had my share of heartache and pain
For happiness I'm searching in vain
I've got to get rid of my ball and chain
Help me!
I've had my share of heartache and pain
For happiness I'm searching in vain
I've got to get rid of my ball and CHAIN!

Lady Loves

John's closer includes a special guest appearance - the Jaws Harp was played by Alan Parsons, who was a tape operator at Abbey Road at the time; flushed with success, he went on to engineer Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon, produce hit albums for the likes of Al Stewart (Year Of The Cat), Cockney Rebel (The Psychomodo) and John Miles (Rebel), and record a string of highly successful concept albums with his own Alan Parsons Project.

Lyrics:

The lady loves, while she may
The lady loves, while she may
In the pale moonlight, or a sunny day
The lady loves, mmm she loves

The lady dreams, while she may
The lady dreams, while she may
In the pale moonlight, or a sunny day
The lady dreams, oh she dreams

She'll take your children by the hand
She'll lead them to the promised land
Holding hands and singing songs
In the smile on her face you just know she can't be wrong

The lady sleeps, while she may
The lady sleeps, while she may
In the pale moonlight, or a sunny day
The lady sleeps, oh she sleeps

She'll take your children by the hand
And lead them to the promised land
Holding hands and singing songs
In the smile on her face you just know she can't be wrong

She'll take your children by the hand
And lead them to the promised land
Holding hands and singing songs
In the smile on her face you just know she can't be wrong
She just can't be wrong

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