WHEN YOU'RE DEAD - ONE SECOND

Not to be confused with the new Japanese band this Birmingham collective recorded their only album in 1970, which displays a lot of influences. West Coast US acid rock, early progressive music and folk all rub shoulders on this polished album, originals of which are now highly sought after by collectors. Great Airplane like male/female vocals..

This is one of those albums where the one mistake costs nearly the whole of the record to fall into the mildly entertaining/laughable category. That mistake is that former Velvet Fog guitarist Paul Eastment was a brilliant guitar player, but a truly awful and obnoxious singer. The progressive tinged folk tracks where Shirley Kent sings lead are excellent examples of post Fairport dark folky progressive, with the unrepresentatively upbeat "Hearts and Flowers" the best. The tracks that utilize harmonies are interesting if somewhat derivative, but with over half of the album handed over to Eastment everything becomes a joke. His guitar style might be called unique and brilliant, but his voice is the worst of Rob Halford, King Diamond, and David Coverdale all rammed down your throat. On "For One Second" he is particularly annoying, and the great music is ruined completely by screaming vocals at the end. "Night Of The Warlock" features more screaming quavering unintentional hilarity, and the band's attempt to market themselves as a folky Black Sabbath who actually did worship the devil is very unwise. Even with some good tracks on this album the self righteousness of the Jefferson Airplane comes into play too often along with a directionless brew of everything they could think of to be "offensive." Here is the biggest mistake. Why would a band want to make you believe they are horrible people? Who made them this angry? Even though I get even angrier and more depressed on a regular basis than this album I can't understand why anyone would purposefully make something hard to listen to. Some songs here are good, very good, but unfortunately the bad tracks are terrible. However, if you want to hear an interesting relic of early 70s occult folkrock get a reissue and see what you think. I find The Ghost to be "lost." When something goes right at least 3 things are bound to go wrong and those three things are (A) Paul Eastment is a horrible singer (B) A lack of direction (C) really, really pompous lyrics that are badly dated. If Shirley Kent had sung more tracks or if the majority of the album was like the great "My Castle Has Fallen" and "Too Late To Cry" this would be a rave write up, instead all I can say is this is alright for a few spins and then forget it. The organ sound and guitar sound are another mystery, why such an interesting instrumental approach has to be thrown out the window for bad vocals and lyrics is beyond me. This album isn't bad, but it's only a lukewarm good that isn't worth keeping.

I’d like to say that this is one of those hidden gems from the early progressive music days that have finally surfaced on an off-label prog CD reissue. But that would be only half true. This is available on CD (Wahalla), but I can’t say this is a hidden masterpiece or anything. It is a decent enough album, but there’s not really anything to make it stand out from any number of other similar and just as forgotten bands from the same era.

The nucleus of The Ghost formed around former Velvet Fogg guitarist Paul Eastment, accompanied by multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Shirley Kent who would go on to a solo career as a British folk and jazz singer. I have one of her solo jazz albums from just a few years ago and can testify that she is the real-deal as far as being a professional and talented musician.

But this is from the very early days. This is a pleasant album to listen to, but it is remarkably uneven, especially the first half of the tracks. “Hearts and Flowers” and “Time is My Enemy” have an almost Fairport Convention kind of thing going on for example, including the very dated but pleasant hippie-harmonizing vocals of Kent and Eastment. But “When You’re Dead” and “In Heaven” are fully developed and guitar- driven psychedelic works in the finest tradition of The United States of America, Jefferson Airplane, and all the rest of the west-coast flower-power kids. So it seems like the band is really trying to find a sound that works for them, rather than taking a sound and direction they already shared and trying to develop it. Just seems a bit contrived, which I suppose it was.

By the second half of the album the band settles into a very folk-influenced sound with farfisa organ, simple vocal harmonies, acoustic guitar, and tambourine. I loved this kind of music back when I was a little kid, but it hasn’t aged all that well with time, much like many of the old earth-mom types from that era. Most of them are either dead, or feeble and slightly shell-shocked today. That was a fascinating time to be alive, but survival comes through adaptation, and this stuff didn’t survive for a reason. That said, “Indian Maid” has some nice psychedelic guitar on it (I believe this was also the band’s only single); “The Storm” is the best showcase of Kent’s very Grace Slick-like vocals; and “For One Second” showcases how well the farfisa could complement psychedelic guitar in the hands of capable musicians.

But that’s about it. The rest of the album is pretty forgettable stuff, and a couple tracks are just plain weak and boring. I won’t point out which ones because it would be disrespectful of the work as a whole and there’s no point. In all this is a little better than collectors-only, not quite really good. But three stars is okay, with a disclaimer that if you don’t have a taste for dated-sounding psychedelic and/or late 60’s west- coast American folk, you probably won’t like this one much.

peace

The most noticeable thing from this record is the omnipresence of psychedelic organ. The rock and hard rock dimensions are also really present, as reveal the numerous visceral electric guitar solos. The nervous lead & backing vocals are borderline hysterical, a typical characteristic of those early seventies. The male lead singer has a slightly irritating permanent tremolo in his voice. The female lead singer, Shirley Kent, amazingly sounds like Annie Lennox of Eurythmics. The tracks, despite some rhythm changes, are moderately progressive. The tracks are not really catchy and memorable, so that this record, although quite good, sounds a bit deja vu: maybe an addition of one or two less usual instruments would have created more originality. Nevertheless, this music is above average considering the release date: 1970.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Having read 3*** reviews on this record forced me to join 'Progarchives' as a member, just attempting to show another view on this extrordinary and amazing album. Among the greatest ever recorded albums to my point of view. - Great lyrics, great songwriting, great instrumentals, great musicianship, Paul Eastments voice is as good as the one of Shirley Kent, even if in other terms. - 'Indian Maid', 'When you're dead', 'Hearts and flowers' in the top category of songs from this album, if there should be at all any to choose among this very high standard of music. Hasn't to do so much with West Coast or simply Progressive or Folk, being something quite special, extra, unique - as Fresh Maggots or Tea & Symphony, but as these in its very own, original and individual sense. 'Top early 70s British Progressive Music' maybe the best fitting category. Could deserve 6 stars - if this rating would exist. Similar to 'Velvett Fogg' (a former group of Paul Eastment) - another aspirant for hypothetical 6 stars, but 'The Ghost' I estimate even higher ... - I know this sounds much enthusiastic, but there would be only about 10 records that I'd appreciate so high me being a listener to Prog music for over 30 years ......

THE GHOST briefly appeared like a spectral vision in Birmingham, England in the late-1960's. Their hauntingly-titled one and only album "When You're Dead - One Second" rose from the grave in 1970 before the band just as quickly disappeared in a wisp of hazy smoke like a phantom apparition. The spooky album cover showed a ghostly translucent image of the five-piece band gathered around a large tombstone, headed by a Celtic Cross.

Right from the first few opening bars of "When You're Dead", you can tell we're going to be in for a weird and wonderful wild psychedelic ride here. This acid-drenched music is very reminiscent of the American band H.P. Lovecraft. In fact, The Ghost have such a strong resemblance to the American West Coast sixties sound that it's hard to believe they could be from the gloomy backstreets of Birmingham in England. This "phantasmic" bunch of Brummies really know how to Rock! The Ghost are listed as Prog Folk on ProgArchives, but make no mistake, this opening number sounds like a wild Psychedelic Rock trip back in time to the flower-power freeway of love in San Francisco in the swinging sixties. In complete contrast, the second song "Hearts and Flowers" is a gorgeous Folk Pop refrain that could quite easily have been recorded by Peter, Paul & Mary or The Seekers. It's a truly beautiful melody floating along on a gentle wave of gorgeous guitar strings and uplifting harmonies. This stunning song - featuring Shirley Kent on lead vocals - is a real gem that shines like a sparkling diamond and would have had tremendous hit potential if it had ever been released as a single. We're back on the magic bus again for "In Heaven", and if you love the sound of H.P. Lovecraft, then you'll be "In Heaven" too when you hear this absolutely fabulous psychedelic sixties song. It's groovy, baby! There's a return to gentler Folk Rock territory for "Time is My Enemy", a poignant song about the passing of the years which conjures up fond memories of the classic years of Sandy Denny and Fairport Convention, although this is more of an unconventional slice of Psych-Folk. Shirley Kent sounds in magnificent voice on this hauntingly- beautiful song. It's a compelling blend of Sandy Denny's "Fotheringay" and "Who Knows Where the Time Goes", given a liberal psychedelic sprinkling of glowing rainbow colours. This is turning out to be a very good album indeed! Continuing with the intoxicating blend of storming Hard Rock songs and gentle Folk Rock refrains comes "Too Late To Cry", a rousing rip-roaring rocker, featuring an extended psychedelic wah-wah guitar trip back to the Streets of San Francisco in the hippy sixties, or the wild and untamed streets of Chicago in the case of H.P. Lovecraft.

We're onto Side Two now "For One Second", which opens as a gently laid-back country-tinged melody, but wait one second because there's a surprise in store when the song metamorphosises from a caterpillar into a bright and beautiful psychedelic butterfly for the storming crescendo of acid-soaked guitar reverb in the fabulous finale. And now we come to The Ghost's magnificent magnum opus, "Night of the Warlock", a spirited Demons and Wizards song that barrels along at pell-mell speed, taking the listener on a crazy helter-skelter ride in a headlong rush towards psychedelic nirvana. This is like a maniacal harum scarum version of "Season of the Witch", wound up to 99 and given an energetic burst of adrenalin and raw power. We're off to meet the "Indian Maid" next, so you can expect to hear some exotic far-eastern vibes from the Indian sub-continent, although the song is still firmly rooted in western psychedelia. Either way, it's another great song wherever you are in the world. It's time now to mount the battlements for "My Castle Has Fallen", a storming medieval ballista firing a relentless percussive artillery barrage of pummelling Psychedelic Rock! There's no let-up in the incredible pace either because "The Storm" is on the way, a thunder and lightning display of sonic energy to rattle the windows and light up the sky. It's not all Crash! Bang! Wallop! though, because there's a return to gentler climes for "Me and My Loved Ones", a bright rainbow sunburst of groovy psychedelic colours to close the album in magnificent style. Wait a minute though, we're not quite through yet, because there's the groovy sixties number "I've Got To Get To Know You" added as a bonus track.

The Ghost has risen from the grave of the psychedelic sixties era and reappeared as an awesome apparition fifty years later on ProgArchives. "When You're Dead - One Second" is an album full of haunting Folk refrains and spirited psychedelic acid trips. All in all, it's a heavenly album full of devilishly good songs.

THE GHOST were a five piece band out of Birmingham, England releasing this one album in 1970. We get male and female lead vocals but the male are more common. The female Shirley Kent would leave after this record and while the band tried to go on using a different name they ended up folding the tent. Shirley adds acoustic guitar and tambourine. The male lead singer is Paul Eastment who also plays lead guitar and what a talented guitar player he is.

It's important to note that Paul is the cousin of Tony Iommi of BLACK SABBATH fame who also were from Birmingham, England. Noteworthy because THE GHOST released this one album in 1970 while BLACK SABBATH released two studio albums that year and I have to believe that Paul tried to follow his cousin's lead into making music that was dark and scary. I was just reading the liner notes of that "Heresie" album by UNIVERS ZERO and how people would actually leave the concerts out of fear. No need to worry about that with THE GHOST and that's my lament. Positive, upbeat music played with dark lyrics and titles shows they just didn't get it. I mean read the lyrics to "Night Of The Warlock" but then listen to the catchy music, they just don't match.

I'm not big on either vocalist but yes they can sing. Besides the electric guitar the organ certainly solos quite often. So while I like some of these tracks this is inconsistent, up and down and far from a 4 star record in my world. The one track that stands out for me is "Too Late To Cry" an energetic piece with some excellent guitar. Those repeated guitar melodies really hit the spot. The opener "When Your Dead" is similar but more organ. I'm not into "Indian Maid" for the lyrics and female vocals. "Hearts And Flowers" also is one I don't like, kind of folky and ballad-like with female vocals but dual vocals more.

A lot of catchy music here with a lot of vocals but come on you make your album cover look haunting with your band name in blood dripping down from the letters and then we get this catchy, upbeat music? 3 stars is all I got.

The Ghost sound like they were trying for something like...maybe not exactly Black Sabbath, but somewhere between Black Widow and Lucifer's Friend...and instead came out sounding like a more malevolent version of Country Joe & The Fish, with someone resembling Judith Durham on co-lead vocals. It's let down by the rather cheesy organ sound (that's the part that most reminded me of Country Joe & The Fish), and the limited imagination of their lead guitarist who plays the same blues cliches over and over again - meaning tracks like "When You're Dead" and "Night of the Warlock" don't achieve the sense of menace they clearly wanted to portray. The best aspect of this record is Shirley Kent's vocals. There's an obvious folk quality to her sound, which is given full rein in a couple of tracks, eg "Hearts And Flowers" or "The Storm" - but otherwise, I'm slightly perplexed as to why this group have been classed as prog folk.