Tuesday 21 July 2020

Edgar Broughton Band - Behind the Dusty Doors



Bio:
Formed in 1968 in Warwick, England, the Edgar Broughton Band were part of the late 60s British underground blues boom. Led by the Broughton brothers, vocalist/guitarist Edgar Broughton and drummer Steve Broughton, and fleshed out by bassist Arthur Grant and on 3 of their albums guitarist Victor Unitt (who also briefly served with The Pretty Things), they were contemporaries of Groundhogs, Hawkwind, and The Pink Fairies, but were unique within the movement due to their radical political consciousness (which is highly pertinent). Their political aim was said to be 'subverting what's above'. Their bluesy and psychedelic hard rock, combined with their politics, led to their frequent inclusion in the bracket of protopunk..

The band was clearly strongly influenced by Captain Beefheart , as evidenced, for example, by "Apache Dropout. This is a clear tribute to, and endorsement of, "Dropout Boogie" from Beefheart's first album (Safe as Milk), as well as a somewhat more tongue in cheek allusion to "Apache" (a big '60's hit for the Shadows). Perhaps best known for their chant: "Out Demons, Out!" which was always played at length, with variations for political leaders on both sides of the 'pond'. Performing this at Keele University they handed out spray cans and the union bulding was covered in graphiti police arrived and a riot ensued. In May 1971 they released possibly their finest work: their eponymous third album, which contained the classic "Evening Over Rooftops" (again with strings by David Bedford which Edgar Broughton called "stunning"). Mike Oldfield also featured on "Thinking Of You".

For me, one of the most underrated bands of the 1970s, but I always found their albums somewhat frustrating. You'd be guaranteed several excellent tracks on each album, but for me there were always a few tracks I either didn't care for or really disliked. On some occasions they'd have tracks split into 2, 3 or 4 parts where I'd like one part and not the rest. 2 examples from the album "Oora" are on this collection. "Exhibits from a New Museum" segued into "Green Lights", the latter of which I have removed. I noticed on one of their compilations they did the reverse! "Pretty" was originally part of 4 tracks, "Face from a Window/Pretty/Hi-Jack Boogie/Slow Down", of which I only liked the 2nd part so I edited accordingly. 

There have been compilations of this band before, but again they featured tracks I really had no time for, so I decided to make my own compilation comprising of tracks from their debut "Wasa Wasa" released in 1969 up until 1976's "Bandages". This collection also deviates slightly from my previous ones, there was at least one more track from each album I wanted to include, but keeping each compilation at under 80 minutes I just didn't have room. So, for one time only, I've included a "bonus" disc containing those tracks. One other thing, is there an uncensored version out there of the track "There's No Vibrations But Wait!"? I've yet to find one. The alternate version is uncensored so I decided to add it as the final track on the bonus disc.

As per usual, info containing track origin & year of release is tagged in the music files and in the download file. Stay safe, and I hope you enjoy this slightly expanded collection!


Disc 1:
  1. Get Out of Bed/There's Nobody There/Side by Side (3:42)
  2. Crying (5:12)
  3. Mr. Crosby (2:07)
  4. Aphrodite (4:03)
  5. Madhatter (6:14)
  6. John Wayne (3:11)
  7. Roccococooler (3:08)
  8. Why Can't Somebody Love Me (4:44)
  9. Sister Angela (0:39)
10. Apache Dropout (Peter Jenner version) (3:02)
11. Evening Over Rooftops (4:58)
12. Double Agent (2:53)
13. It's Falling Away (4:49)
14. Hotel Room (4:03)
15. There's No Vibrations But Wait! (4:09)
16. Thinking of You (2:03)
17. I Want to Lie (4:34)
18. Exhibits from a New Museum (4:06)
19. Totin' This Guitar (1:40)
20. House of Turnabout (3:08)
21. Love in the Rain (3:43)
22. Up Yours! (2:59)


Disc 2:
  1. Death of an Electric Citizen (6:04)
  2. Psychopath: a) The Psychopath b) is for Butterflies (6:45)
  3. Out Demons Out (4:46)
  4. Pretty (2:57)
  5. Love Gang (2:58)
  6. Don't Even Know Which Day It Is (4:19)
  7. Chilly Morning Mama (4:31)
  8. There's No Vibrations But Wait (alternate version) (4:13)


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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Youve said it so well here. One of my favorite bands but could never get through any of the albums. I always think I like them but dont like listening?? Looking forward to this