Svart Records reissuing 1969 Circus album (UK)

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   I was recently contacted by the Finnish label Svart Records regarding using my review for the UK band Circus' 1969 album.

I was honored and expanded the review to be included in the liner notes. 

Place your pre-orders now! Album should be out in March sometime 

https://svartrecords.com/product/circus/

Liner notes by yours truly: 

Amongst the earliest traces of progressive rock already fully 
gestated in the 60s alongside the likes of Pink Floyd, Soft Machine and 
King Crimson were a few smaller but similarly minded acts that didn’t 
quite end up in the history books the same way (if at all). One of these
 short-lived bands was a band that called itself Circus but spent most 
of the 60s as The Storm Shakers part of the clumsily named Philip 
Goodhand-Tait and the Stormsville Shakers (formed in 1961) before 
changing the moniker in 1967 when Philip parted ways after being wooed 
by the prospects of another pop group The Love Affair who were impressed
 with the quality of the pop writing skills of Goodhand-Tait. 

These
 days the band is more famous as the first project of saxophonist / 
flautist Mel Collins who would play on some of the earliest King Crimson
 albums (“In The Wake of Poseidon,” “Lizard,” “Islands,” “Red”), however
 beyond mere name recognition from Collins, very few have experienced 
the unique sounds that Circus was creating at the time. Once the band 
settled into its new form, Circus began a residency at The Marquee in 
April 1969 organized by that venue’s manager John Gee. Coming from a 
diverse palette of inspiration which included everything from 
contemporary pop and folk to jazz and the early explorations of 
progressive rock. Like many bands Circus too had an unstable lineup at 
the beginning with original drummer Alan Bunn jumping ship and then 
replaced by Chris Burrows from another group called Rey Anton and The 
Pro Form.

After Goodhand-Tait left to write material for The Love
 Affair, the newly named Circus began to focus less on the pop side of 
music and joined the ranks of the more experimental progressive bands 
emerging such as The Nice, Soft Machine, Caravan, Colosseum and the 
brand spanking new King Crimson although the pop connections were still a
 major part of the band’s sound. The band experienced some minor success
 as The Stormshakers and as Circus attracted enough attention that their
 growing popularity landed it on the Transatlantic record label which 
began in 1961 as an import label of American blues, folk and jazz to the
 UK market before signing new talents (home of popular artists such as 
Bert Jansch). Circus found themselves debuting the one and only 
self-titled album on Transatlantic in 1969 and joined the nascent 
progressive rock scene although the prog aspects were only part of its 
overall diverse sound.

Circus was a tight knit jazz-rock band 
that crafted some high quality musical workouts which mixed the heavier 
aspects of late 60s rock with the nuances of jazz modulations, folk, pop
 and even traces of psychedelia. Add to that a stellar Latin influenced 
percussive flair that added an impassioned mix of jazz and ethnic drive 
to create an innovative melting pot of juicy jazz-rock yumminess. 
Collins was the star of the show here with sizzling hot sax and flute 
solos but with the addition of the musical virtuosity of the rest, Kirk 
Riddle killed it on bass, Ian David Jelfs delivered some excellent blues
 / jazz guitar workouts and provided the vocals while Chris Burrows 
created his own tapestry of drumming diversity. Producer Ray Singer who 
had been the guitarist of the early UK band Nirvana and had success with
 the #1 hit “Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)” took up the role as 
producer and added his “fifth member” touches to make the music 
coalesce. 

While Circus crafted a brilliant mix of tracks with 
uplifting musical performances, the choice of tracks was rather strange.
 It was customary of the day for pop bands to include covers from other 
artists but for a progressive band trying to break free from pop 
influences, Circus took the bold step of including four with the most 
puzzling decision of beginning the album with a cover of The Beatles’ 
“Norwegian Wood.” This feat that easily could’ve been an instant death 
sentence for most, was pulled off by the musicians so extremely well as 
they not only faithfully nailed the melodic aspects of the song but 
augmented it with a stealthy jazz improv performance and ample doses of 
art rock creativity thus essentially making it their own in many ways. 

Of
 the eight tracks, only half were originals written by Mel Collins 
whereas the other half were covers which included not only the The 
Beatles but also “Monday, Monday” from The Mamas & The Papas, “Don’t
 Make Promises” from Tim Hardin and a feisty interpretation of “I I 
B.S.” from Charles Mingus. An odd combo effect for sure but somehow 
saved by the sheer musical prowess of the musicians involved and 
production wizardry. The album comes off as a rather bizarre mix of 
genre shifting with jazzified pop rockers existing with calypso-tinged 
Latin rock, progressive folk and heavier rock sections. What sounds 
awkward in writing actually works in practice which is utterly amazing 
and when all is said and done makes you wish that the band that provided
 this Circus show and then packed up and left town would’ve stuck around
 for a second performance.

The name of the game in the music 
world is that for every band that made it to the big time possibly 100 
did not, so while King Crimson, Caravan and Soft Machine have gone down 
as pioneers of the progressive rock that burst onto the scene, Circus on
 the other hand has been relegated as a mere footnote in a more detailed
 study of the era. It’s quite unfortunate that despite the band having 
written material for a second album couldn’t make it all work out and 
soon disbanded leaving their one and only musical artifact a desirable 
collector’s item for hardcore sleuths of vinyl obscurities. It’s quite 
sad that this band didn’t experience the greater success because they 
clearly had the talent. While covers from other bands can be a risky 
endeavor, Circus took four disparately styled tracks and reinvented them
 remarkably well.

We can only speculate what could have been if 
the band had stuck it out to evolve its unique stylistic approach into 
the ever greater depths of prog complexity. Despite the band 
experiencing decent sales for its album, the temptation was too great 
when Mel Collins was invited to join King Crimson whose debut album “In 
The Court Of The Crimson King” single-handedly started the prog 
revolution as well as creating one of the most beloved prog acts in 
history. Collins joined the Crimson team in 1970 in time for its second 
album “In The Wake Of Poseidon” which effectively ended any prospect of 
Circus evolving into its own despite a second album already in the works
 with the plan of all original material. Despite it all, Circus still 
left an interesting musical gem that sounds like no other. This album 
was an unexpected surprise and one that really needs more attention.

With
 the interest in musical obscurities from the past continuing to grow 
some 50 years after the original release of Circus’ one and only album 
that came out in the experimental year of 1969, Svart Records is proud 
to have the opportunity to take part in reissuing this excellent band’s 
sole contribution that was instrumental to the worlds of both the 
developing progressive rock and jazz-fusion scenes that were emerging in
 the late 60s. Completely remastered, this new edition of the 
self-titled Circus album is continuing to find new life which sheds 
light on the forgotten gems of the past but are deservingly finding a 
new audience over a half century after the initial release date. From 
the jazzy improvised sounds of The Beatles’ classic “Norwegian Wood” to 
the folk, pop and heavier jazz-rock workouts that put the 
progressiveness in the nascent world of prog rock, not only is Circus’ 
1969 sole contribution an essential listening experience for musical 
sleuths who long to understand the evolution of one of rock’s more 
demanding subsets but in the end is really just a beautiful album to get
 lost in.