COME OUT FIGHTING GHENGIS SMITH [AKA: THE EARLY YEARS]

Roy Harper

•

Prog Folk

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Roy Harper Come Out Fighting Ghengis Smith [Aka: The Early Years] album cover

2.80 | 29 ratings | 3 reviews | 3% 5 stars

Good, but non-essential

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Studio Album, released in 1967

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Freak Street (2:59)
2. You Don't Need Money (2:23)
3. Ageing Raver (4:05)
4. In A Beautiful Rambling Mess (2:45)
5. All You Need Is (5:42)
6. What You Have (5:07)
7. Circle (10:34)
8. Highgate Cemetry (2:16)
9. Come Out Fighting Ghengis Smith (8:50)

Total time 44:41

Bonus tracks on 1991 CD release:
10. Zaney Janey (from the US release of Folkjokeopus)
11. Ballad Of Songwriter (from the US release of Folkjokeopus)
12. Midspring Dithering (A-side from the 1967 single)
13. Zengem (B-side from the 1967 single)
14. It's Tomorrow And Today Is Yesterday 4:11 (John Peel BBC Radio Show 1970)
15. Francesca 1:32 (recorded for 'Top Gear' at the BBC, 3 June 1969)
16. She's The One 4:45 (recorded for 'Top Gear' at the BBC, 3 June 1969)

Line-up / Musicians

- Roy Harper / vocals, acoustic guitar

With:
- Laurie Allan / drums
- Keith Mansfield / orchestral arrangements
- Shel Talmy / producer

Releases information

LP CBS ‎- BPG 63184 (1967, UK) Mono version
LP CBS ‎- S BPG 63184 (1967, UK)
LP CBS ‎- S CBS 31544 (1977, UK) Re-entitled "The Early Years" with new cover art

CD Science Friction ‎- HUCD006 (1991, UK) With 7 bonus tracks and again new cover art

Thanks to NotAProghead for the addition
and to Quinino for the last updates
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ROY HARPER Come Out Fighting Ghengis Smith [Aka: The Early Years] ratings distribution

2.80
(29 ratings)

Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music (3%)
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection (28%)
Good, but non-essential (48%)
Collectors/fans only (21%)
Poor. Only for completionists (0%)

ROY HARPER Come Out Fighting Ghengis Smith [Aka: The Early Years] reviews

Showing all collaborators reviews and last reviews preview | Show all reviews/ratings

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by Chris S
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator

Tongue in cheek cover, always brings a smile to my face. A pretty much pedestrian release IMHO from Roy Harper. He was still sharpening his creative skills to be shown on future releases but the essence of his sound is very apparent. Highlight tracks would be the opener ' Freak Sweet', ' Ageing Raver' and the self titled closer ' Come Out Fighting ghengis Smith'. Completionists or collectors will get this release but nothing significant to report.

Review by kenethlevine
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Prog-Folk Team

This sophomore album from ROY HARPER does not seem to have the enduring popularity of his debut, but it does take a few bold steps...in some direction. The concept of using spoken word in music already had a long history, but less so in popular music until the 1960s, with Harper being one of those to experiment with a mixture of sung and spoken messages.

On "Come out Fighting..", the two longest cuts evolve in this way, the better of the two being "Circle", which also tosses in music hall references,. KINKs-like narratives and the highly quotable "The worst thing about the system is the system". For the rest, the Gothic "Highgate Cemetery" is brief and hauntingly heavy on the wails, perhaps my favorite piece of his up to that point. Several more "conventional" numbers also excel in melody and meter, particularly "In Beautiful Rambling Mess" and "All You Need is". On one of the weaker songs, "Ageing Raver", Harper resembles AL STEWART for not the first or last time.

Contrary to the opinions of fans, the breadth of this release marks a notable improvement over his debut, though still not eclipsing 3.5 stars. It does confirm that Harper plans to battle for his art even at this embryonic stage.

Latest members reviews

3 stars Roy Harper refers to Come Out Fighting Ghengis Smith, his second studio album, as a skeleton in his closet and rarely, if ever, played any of these songs live in concert. On the whole, it's not quite the disastrous album that Harper would have us believe. Sure, it's his first of album of social ... (read more)

Report this review (#2414033) | Posted by SteveG | Friday, June 19, 2020 | Review Permanlink

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