LIONEL BART-May A Man Be Merry?/Isn't This Where We Came In? US Deram 45-85046 1969
American's will always associate British performer Lionel Bart with his highly successful musical "Oliver". Though I knew he dabbled in a music career it was not until I stumbled upon this track on one of the "Piccadilly Sunshine" psych-pop compilations that I realized he recorded things outside the "showbiz" realm.
"May A Man Be Merry?" is a kitschy track that would not sound at all out of place on a Mike D'Abo era Manfred's record. It's heavy on the brass (arranged by the amazing John Cameron) which perfectly punctuates things with a nice full sound as some intricate ivory tinkling joins in and gives it a jaunty feel bringing to mind label mate Cat Steven's "good time" Deram tunes.
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| Lionel does the town with Julie Driscoll, 1967 |
"Isn't This Where We Came In?" is a trippy little baroque pop piece with strings, interesting key changes and weird effects that seem to anticipate Matt Berry! The heavy Cockney accent brings to mind first LP Bowie and the orchestration screams Scott Walker, what a truly strange kettle of fish!
Both tracks are available on Bart's 1969 Deram LP "Isn't This Where We Came In?" which was released here in the States. These two tracks are probably the most formed "songs" on the album. I say that because the LP is a weird mix of singing, music, spoken words etc that isn't exactly terribly listenable to my ears.
Hear "May A Man Be Merry?":
Hear "Isn't This Where We Came In?":
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