Octoberon

Some of our readers may be curious about the name of this blog. It is a "blogging" variation of Polk Street Rag, the title of one of the songs in the album Octoberon, by Barclay James Harvest (BJH), released in 1976.

BJH is an excelent, although unfortunate, British progressive rock band. They did their first record in 1968 (it is said that they gave its tame to the EMI Harvest label). In the middle of the 70's left EMI and went to Polydor, being their first years in Polydor perhaps the more creative and successful. But, unlike other bands such as Genesis, Yes or ELP, they didn't make it in the USA. Perhaps that's the reason why they are relatively unknown by prog rock fans today. In spite of the passing of the drummer Mel Pritchard in 2004, the band's members are still active today, although they went separate ways (more information about this here).

But let's go back to Octoberon. It's a wonderful album, where all the members of the band show their best in playing and songwriting. We can find here the poignant (Suicide?) and ironical (Polk Street Rag) sides by John Lees (guitars and vocals), Les Holroyd (bass and vocals) instructing us about the dark side of stardom (Rock and Roll Star) and the magnificent, Mahlerian Wooly Wolstenholme (Ra) on keyboards and vocals. All of this seasoned by Mel Pritchard, one of the few people able to play melodic lines with his drumkit. All the genuine BJH is here: the vocal harmonies, the mellotrons in the background, the guitar solos, Mel's drumming, and even orchestra and choirs (in May Day).

And, believe me, they are much better than the Moody Blues!