Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Barclay James Harvest
Label: Polydor Records
Released: 1975
Rating: 3.5/5
With “Time Honoured Ghosts,” Barclay James Harvest carried on with their tried-and-tested and, until then, successful recipe: building their own vision of melodic symphonic progressive rock, rooted in loads of pastoral and orchestral elements. Once again, the main author of the more complex sections and symphonic arrangements was Woolly Wolstenholme, the keyboardist and chief creative force of the band, while the two singer-guitarists did what they always did, each playing to his own strengths. John Lees poured his energy into his trademark socially awakening hymns and melodic rock anthems, while bassist Les Holroyd stuck mostly to his signature acoustic folk ballads. Drummer Mel Pritchard, meanwhile, kept the rhythm section steady and solid, and although he usually bowed to the creative whims of the three songwriters, as a player he often surprised with some witty and varied transitions. The album was recorded in San Francisco under the production baton of Eliot Mazer. Perfectionist Woolly was (again) unhappy with the American production of his solo contribution “Beyond The Grave,” complaining that the wrong production choices cost it some of its rocking juiciness. Despite his gripes, the album had a fully recognizable and well-guarded, if not downright crystal-clear, BJH sound. There were no creative breakthroughs compared with the band’s output up to then, and they didn’t step up to a new stage of their development, but the record still held a bunch of very solid pieces, and a few of them even earned cult status among the band’s fans.
Opener “In My Life” has all the recognizable BJH ingredients and makes for a strong start to the album. John’s melancholic guitar riff is threaded through the lush backdrops of Woolly’s keyboards, with an emphasis on mellotron and Hammond organ, while John’s vocals are accompanied by melodic vocal harmonies almost all the way through. John’s lyrics take aim at the music industry. Sadly, as was practically a tradition with this band, the album also contains one below-average, if not outright annoying, track, and with it a significant drop in atmosphere. That would be the dreadful “Sweet Jesus,” an incredibly mawkish acoustic folk ballad by Les with a heavy emphasis on Christian religious teachings. That was a pretty untypical move for Les and the band. Still, the main problem wasn’t just the cheesy lyrics about “sweet Jesus,” but also Les’s completely off-key vocal delivery, laid over otherwise solid and simple acoustic guitar chords and waves of mellotron. Definitely one of the weakest BJH tracks of the Woolly era.
Far better is John’s romantic symphonic epic “Titles,” a kind of symbolic tribute to their idols the Beatles (the lyrics are packed with allusions to Beatles classics, such as the line “All You Need Is Love” and the closing vocal harmonies, which include the line “Let It Be”). In my opinion, “Titles” is also the best piece on the album, where that unmistakable BJH epic symphonic-pastoral magic really comes alive. Everything in this track has the right ingredients of a BJH classic: Woolly’s majestic orchestral arrangements with a focus on mellotron, melodic vocal harmonies and tasteful acoustic guitar passages. An evergreen that remains one of their most beloved songs of all time even today. Les’s acoustic folk ballad “Jonathan,” inspired by the novella “Jonathan Livingston Seagull,” is also a solid piece, especially when it comes to its mystical mood. Les’s average acoustic guitar playing and his trademark falsetto get a major boost from Woolly’s excellent orchestral mellotron arrangements, which are, as usual, a treat for all the symphonic-prog fanatics.
The gloomy “Beyond The Grave” is Woolly’s creation, inspired by some horror comic. Considering it came from the band’s central musician, it’s also one of the stronger pieces on the album, even though, as mentioned before, he was unhappy with its production. Woolly also takes on the role of singer here, backed by mighty choral vocal harmonies. His Hammond and mellotron passages are, as usual, superb and the main source of this composition’s epic pomp and slightly spine-chilling air. “Song For You” is one of those typical BJH songs with two faces. Its first half is relatively punchy, almost heavy rock, while the second is dominated by lighter rhythms and Les’s trademark pathos-drenched vocals. You can clearly hear the seamless shifts from organ to piano and from electric to acoustic guitar. “Hymn For The Children” is yet another classic socially critical John hymn, the symbolic successor to their classic “Child Of The Universe.” This time the lyrics take on racism. The symphonic arrangements are nicely tucked into melodic acoustic passages and rich vocal harmonies here too.
Les’s romantically tinged ballad “Moon Girl” has lyrics that are pretty untypical for the band, about groupies, or rather Les’s “romantic” experience with one of them. That’s of course completely at odds with what he preached on “Sweet Jesus.” It’s a solid mix of Les’s lyrical and vocal pathos (this time not annoying), John’s weeping slide guitar passages and Woolly’s melancholic orchestral mellotron arrangements. The closing track, John’s solid melodic symphonic folk ballad “One Night,” also proves that BJH, contrary to the opinions of some graying music grumps who still claim today that their work was “ballless,” were by no means innocent little lambs with no blood under the skin, though still far from the status of typical rock-and-roll night owls. The lyrical theme revolves around ladies of the night, but the words neither praise nor condemn them, leaving it all up to the listener’s own interpretation. It’s a successful finale to the album, with gorgeous multi-part vocals, a great vocal performance from John and Woolly’s witty passages on Hammond and Mini Moog as the highlights. Spiced-up slide guitar solos and the mellotron waves in between add the final touch to the magic.
“Time Honoured Ghosts” was another very solid release from the band’s best creative period, when Wolstenholme’s ambition was key to providing the wide symphonic palette and all the progressive direction, while the two guitarists, through their always melodic songs, were responsible for the band’s ever-growing popularity. Though it has too many ups and downs for me to rank it among their masterpieces, the album offered enough variety of BJH’s trademark symphonic melodic prog rock to count among their most beloved records. Even today it definitely works best on headphones, amid assorted spring and summer idylls out in nature. And the excellent pastoral cover, with a mower at work in a field, certainly had something to do with that too; it was the first in a series of excellent pastoral covers that adorned their albums in the second half of the 70s.
Lineup
John Lees – vocals, guitar
Les Holroyd – vocals, bass guitar, acoustic guitar
Woolly Wolstenholme – keyboards, mellotron, electric guitar, vocals Mel Prichard – drums, percussion
Production
Elliot Mazer
Tracklist
1. In My Life (4:39)
2. Sweet Jesus (3:30)
3. Titles (3:49)
4. Jonathan 4:45
5. Beyond The Grave (4:08)
6. Song For You (5:20)
7. Hymn For The Children (3:39)
8. Moongirl (4:51)
9. One Night (5:21)
Album length: 39:52
Bonus track on the reissue (2003):
10. Child Of The Universe (2:49) (alternate version made for a planned US single; never released before)
