BJH FEATURING LES HOLROYD: REVOLUTION DAYS

When I was doing my degree I spent a lot of my time in record shops, and was intrigued by a double cassette of a band named Barclay James Harvest. I bought the tape, and 'Time Honoured Ghosts' and 'Octoberon' could often be heard blasting out from my room. I quickly purchased a lot of BJH albums and I was particularly taken by the fact that there were two songwriters who didn't write together, but produced songs that were complimentary. John Lees played guitar and provided lead vocals on his songs, while Les Holroyd played bass and sang lead on his songs. It wasn't until I received this album that I realised that all has not been well in the BJH camp as this album has been released by Barclay James Harvest (Featuring Les Holroyd). Apparently there has been a major split and Les and Mel Pritchard (drums) are in one version of the band while John Lees and Stuart "Woolly" Wolstenholme (keyboards, who had actually retired from the band some years before) are in another.

There is a stylised butterfly on the front cover (all BJH covers have a butterfly on them somewhere), but a bit like the record it isn't the real thing. Les always provided the softer material, and while this is a good album it misses out by not having John's songs to play against. It is an album that obviously all BJH fans have to buy but it is a bit like yin without the yang. I enjoyed it, but it is definitely missing something, and that something is John. They have been together for many years and I sincerely hope that they will patch up their differences and yet again delight concert goers the world over. It isn't bad, but if you want an introduction to the band then pick up 'Concert For The People' or 'Live Tapes'.

Originally appeared in Feedback #67, Apr 02