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| BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST-Early Morning/Mr. Sunshine US Sire 45-4105 1969 |
Seymour Stein's Sire label brought us Yanks a host of non American band's in the late 70's and early 80's, among them my personal faves like Secret Affair, The Undertones, Madness and The (English) Beat to name a few. But Sire had been around since the 60's and in their embryonic stages gave us loads of obscure releases from around the globe, like the untitled debut LP by Britain's psychedelic mavericks Tomorrow, and a host of odd ball singles like Sweden's Jackpots. It's debut release of a British artist however came in the form of being the American issue of Barclay James Harvest's first single "Early Morning" b/w "Mr. Sunshine" (originally issued in the U.K. as Parlophone R 5693). Stein managed a coup of sorts getting the single released in the U.S. a month BEFORE it's British release. This made little difference because no one noticed and indeed the band is not a household name in the United States.
"Early Morning" starts with some beautiful Mellotron that evokes The Stones "Santanic Majesties..." ot The Zombies "Odyssey And Oracle". It starts a bit uninspiring when the vocals come in but eventually it settles into a groove not unlike a Moody Blues '67-'68 album track. Not at all unlistenable!
The flip, "Mr. Sunshine" is far more mellow and sounds like a different band with sparse tabla and acoustic guitars with vocal harmonies on the top. A flash of cymbals and and a recorder solo and it reminds me of something U.K. folk psych on Island. At a first listen it's not that remarkable but eventually I found it's melody creeping into my brain!
Hear "Early Morning":
Hear "Mr. Sunshine":
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