Flat Baroque and Berserk

Infobox Album |
Name = Flat Baroque and Berserk
Type = Album
Artist = Roy Harper


Released = 1970
Recorded = September 1969, Abbey Road Studios, London, England
Genre = Folk
Length = 55:06
Label = Harvest Records SHVL 766
Science Friction HUCD003
Producer = Peter Jenner
Reviews =
* Allmusic Rating|2.5|5 [http://www.allmusicguide.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:jzfwxq85ldte link]
Last album = "Folkjokeopus"
(1969)

This album = "Flat Baroque and Berserk"
(1970)

Next album = "Stormcock"
(1971)

"Flat Baroque and Berserk" is the fourth album by English rock / folk singer-songwriter / guitarist Roy Harper.

History

"Flat Baroque and Berserk" was the first of Harpers recordings to enter the charts, reaching number 20 in the UK album chart in January 1970. [UKChartHits|11123] Produced by Peter Jenner and recorded at Abbey Road Studios, "Flat Baroque..." was the first of a long line of albums recorded for EMI's Harvest label. Harper has said of the album, "for the first time in my recording career, proper care and attention was paid to the presentation of the song."cite web | url = http://www.royharper.co.uk/shop/product_info.php?products_id=6 | title = Flat Baroque And Berserk - CD | accessdate = 2008-05-12]

The album contains some of Harper's best-known songs. "I Hate the White Man", in particular, is noted for its uncompromising lyrics, and Allmusic described the song as quote|certainly one of his most notable (and notorious) compositions, a spew of lilting verbiage that's hard to peg. It could be irony, it could be ironic self-hatred, it could be muddled reflections on the chaos that is the modern world, or it could be a combination of all of them.cite web | url = http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:jzfwxq85ldte | title = Flat Baroque and Berserk | accessdate = 2008-05-12]

Harper described the song as quote|a testament to my lifelong devotion to espousing equal rights for all humans. I have long since wondered about the wisdom of stating that you have more than the capacity to hate your own race for it's misdemeanors, but as a polemic it has been both an effective tool and somewhere of a place to stand. The album also features "Another Day", a song of regret for lost love, which was covered as a duet by Kate Bush and Peter Gabriel in her 1979 television special, [ cite web | url = http://www.birmingham-alive.com/reviewpage.asp?reviewid=43 | title = Rock Cafe 2000, Stourbridge | accessdate = 2008-05-12] and later by This Mortal Coil on their 1984 album "It'll End in Tears". The cover by Bush led to collaboration in 1980, he singing backing vocals on her song "Breathing" and she on his album "The Unknown Soldier". cite web | url = http://www.royharper.co.uk/shop/display_page.php?page=biog | title = Roy Harper Biography | accessdate = 2008-05-12] "Flat Baroque..." closes with one of Harper's most rock-based tracks, "Hell's Angels", on which backing is provided by progressive rock band The Nice and features the unusual combination of acoustic guitar played through a wah-wah pedal.

Track listing

"All tracks credited to Roy Harper except where indicated"

ide One

# "Don't You Grieve" – 5:43
# "I Hate the White Man" – 8:03
# "Feeling All the Saturday" – 1:56
# "How Does It Feel?" – 6:29
# "Goodbye" – 5:42

ide Two

# "Another Day" – 2:57
# "Davey" – 1:30
# "East of the Sun" – 3:02
# "Tom Tiddler's Ground" – 6:48
# "Francesca" – 1:19
# "Song of the Ages" (H. Ash) [further details unknown] – 3:52
# "Hell's Angels" – 7:46

Personnel

* Phil McDonald – sound engineer
* Neil Richmond – sound engineer
* David Bedford – additional musician
* Brian Davison – additional musician
* Keith Emerson – additional musician
* Lee Jackson – additional musician
* Tony Visconti – additional musician

References