Bumpers (album)

Infobox Album
Name = Bumpers
Type = compilation
Artist = Various Artists


Released = 1970
Recorded =
Genre = Rock
Length = 85:50
Label = Island Records IDP 1
Producer = Various
Reviews =
Chronology = Series
Last album = "Nice Enough To Eat"
(1969)
This album = "Bumpers"
(1970)
Next album = "El Pea" (1971)

"Bumpers" was a double sampler album from Island Records, released in Europe and Australasia in 1970; there were minor variations in track listings within Europe but the Australian release was fundamentally different. The title refers to the training shoes which can be seen on the front of the album cover but there may also be a less obvious reference to the meaning "unusually large, abundant or excellent" [Concise Oxford Dictionary, Seventh Ed., 1984 ISBN 0198611315] . The album is left to present itself; there are no sleeve notes, the gatefold interior consists of a photograph showing publicity shots of the featured acts attached to the bole of a tree, without any identification. This image is flanked by the track listings, but even there, the information given is unreliable ["Record Collector" magazine, UK, December 1996 edition] . Unlike its predecessors "You Can All Join In" and "Nice Enough To Eat", there are no credits for cover art, photography or design. The impression is left that the album's production was rushed, presumably to leave enough lead-time to promote the albums featured. The English version of the album came out in two pressings, one with the pink label and "i" logo, the other with the label displaying a palm motif on a white background and a pink rim, each version with some minor variations in the production of individual tracks.

UK Track Listing

ide One

#"Every Mother's Son" (S. Winwood) - Traffic (from "John Barleycorn Must Die" (ILPS 9116)) (7:06)
#"Love" (J. Roden) - Bronco (from "Bronco" (ILPS 9134)) [The album was actually titled "Country Home" and had the catalogue number ILPS 9124] (4:42)
#"I Am The Walrus" (Lennon/McCartney) - Spooky Tooth (from "The Last Puff" (ILPS 9117)) (6:20)
#"Jesus, Buddha, Moses, Gauranga" (Quintessence) - Quintessence (from "Quintessence" (ILPS 9128)) (5:15)

ide Two

#"Thunderbuck Ram" (Ralphs) - Mott the Hoople (from"Mad Shadows" (ILPS 9119) [this was a slightly different version of the same song] ) (4:50)
#"Nothing To Say" (Anderson) - Jethro Tull (from "Benefit" (ILPS 9123)) (5:10)
#"Going Back West" (Cliff) - Jimmy Cliff (from "Jimmy Cliff" (ILPS 9133)) [This catalogue number was actually issued to "The Road to Ruin" by John & Beverley Martyn. The track eventually appeared on the 1974 Album "Struggling Man" (ILPS 9235)] (5:32)
#"Send Your Son To Die" (M. Abrahams) - Blodwyn Pig (from "Getting To This" (ILPS 9122)) (4:35)
#"Little Woman" (Mason) - Dave Mason (no source listed) [This was the B-side of the 1968 single "Just For You" (WIP6032)] (2:30)

ide Three

#"Go Out And Get It" (J. Martyn) - John & Beverley Martyn (from "Stormbringer!" (ILPS 9113)) (3:15)
#"Cadence & Cascade" [This version is faded out earlier than the source track] (Fripp/Sinfield) - King Crimson (from "In the Wake of Poseidon" (ILPS 9127)) (4:30)
#"Reaching Out On All Sides" (Quincy/Fishman) - If (from "If" (ILPS 9129)) (5:35)
#"Oh I Wept" (Rodgers/Kossoff) - Free (from "Fire and Water" (ILSP 9120)) (4:25)
#"Hazey Jane" (Drake) - Nick Drake (from "his album to be released Autumn '70") [This was to be "Bryter Layter" (ILPS 9134)] (4:28)

ide Four

#"Walk Awhile" (Thompson/Swarbrick) - Fairport Convention (from Full House (ILPS 9130)) (4:00)
#"Maybe You're Right" (Stevens) - Cat Stevens (from "Mona Bone Jakon" (ILPS 9118)) (3:00)
#"Island" (Relf/McCarty) - Renaissance (from "Renaissance" (ILPS 9114)) (5:57)
#"The Sea" (Denny) - Fotheringay (from Fotheringay (ILPS 9125)) (5:25)
#"Take Me To Your Leader" (Ellis/Ritchie/Hughes) - Clouds (intended to be on their Chrysalis album to be released Autumn '70) [This was "Up Above Our Heads" which was not released in the UK; a single version was issued on the European mainland only] (2:55)

References

External links

* [http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=11440#reviews Prog Archives]
* [http://www.oatridge.co.uk/bumpers.htm Detailed description]