The Albion Dance Band's 1976 record "The Prospect Before Us"

[Mindwarper]

Hi all,
   This one sounds interesting. I love the ced called "the bones of all men". Is the Pickett material something like that?  Anyone have any reviews of it?  Or does anyone know of material like bones or early gryphon?

[Pat Helms]

PROSPECT is composed of much of the same line-up that did RISE UP LIKE THE SUN (Tams, Taylor, Pickett), although it doesn't 'rock' like that album.  Its relies mostly on English traditional material, with Shirley Collins handling the bulk of the vocal chores.  I wouldn't claim it to be an excellent match for BONES, which is entirely Renaissance music.

However, if its the way the music was played on BONES that has you aching for more, I recommend Swarbrick's SMIDDYBURN.  You have the same backBONE of musicians (Thompson, Peggy, Simon and DM) playing with the same FULL HOUSE intensity that made BONES so successful. 

[Jim]

!prospect " was if i remember right the follow up to "rise up like the sun"
Phil Pickett was a mamber of the albions then, along with Simon,DM and Ric(although off hand i cant remember if ric was on this)
it also had John Tams,Graeme Taylor on guitar and Michael whatshisname on drums , the line up that became the home service
i didnt think it quite got up to the heights of "rise up" but its amust if you like your folk rock albions mid to late 70's variety
ive always thought of rise up, prospect and son of morris on as a trilogy of sorts

its a bit skechy i know but it is early morning here in blighty 

[Paul]

The prospect before us is a great album. Favourite track is a guitar solo by Simon. I'm at work so havn't got it in front of me, but it is something about the merry sherwood rangers or something.

Paul

[David W]

Is Prospect Before Us the one with two drummers on some tracks, DM and Mike Gregory?

I always feel those Prospect and Rise Up are two of the very bst folk-rock albums ever, very different from each other but wioth a real sense of passion for the job in hand.

Well worth buying.

Jackdaw

[DavidG]

!prospect " was if i remember right the follow up to "rise up like the sun"
Phil Pickett was a mamber of the albions then, along with Simon,DM and Ric(although off hand i cant remember if ric was on this)
it also had John Tams,Graeme Taylor on guitar and Michael whatshisname on drums , the line up that became the home service

In fact, "Rise Up" was the follow-up to "Prospect" rather than the other way round. However "follow-up" is a bit of a misnomer really as the two albums have rather different styles.

"The Prospect Before Us" is actually a record of the Albion Dance Band in transition - recording started with one line-up and finished with another! The earlier line-up is represented by recordings taped "live" at a dance. These recordings were made at Olympic Studios in Barnes with an invited audience drawn from people who had danced to the Albions at previous public gigs. Although there were some overdubs, these tracks are essentially live recordings with Simon on guitar.

Before the album was completed, Simon rejoined Fairport and since he clearly couldn't guarantee to be available for the Albions on a full-time basis anymore, Graeme Taylor was recruited. John Tams was also drafted in and this "second" line-up contributed to the later tracks.

Ric Sanders was not on "Prospect" ... only on "Rise Up".

[DavidG]

Is Prospect Before Us the one with two drummers on some tracks, DM and Mike Gregory?

Yes, indeed ... both "Prospect" and "Rise Up" feature DM and MG playing alongside each other. Mike had started to dep when DM's other commitments prevented him playing gigs with the Albions and I guess it was just natural to have them both playing together on occasions. A mighty sound!

[PLW (Peter)]

Both albums feature the core of musicians who played in the famous National Theatre productions of Lark Rise and Candleford, and who metamorphosed into the Home Service, who did the music for The Mysteries at the NT. The latter is still one of the most powerful folk-rock albums of all time, not least because of Linda Thompson's contribution.

[Shane (Skirky)]

The prospect before us is a great album. Favourite track is a guitar solo by Simon. I'm at work so havn't got it in front of me, but it is something about the merry sherwood rangers or something.
Paul

I have that on a single, believe it or not. Re-recorded on Before Your Time.

[AndyCarter]

I love The Prospect Before Us, after my initial foray into folk via Steeleye and Fairport it was the Prospect Before Us and the people involved that lead me on into the wider folk world. A few years later when I joined Blackheath Morris Men I became a team mate of Bill Dudley, NT set designer extraordinaire and the artist for the marvellous Ley Line inspired picture on the back cover of the album. Bill is a really nice bloke and really accomplished concertina player and singer of music hall songs and taught Andy Lamb and myself "A Little Bit of Cucumber" about 20 years before we dusted it off for use in The Yukons.

[red max]

"does anyone know of material like bones or early gryphon"

I'd recommend the self-titled 1973 album Giles Farnaby's Dream Band. It's an 'electric-folk' album, mostly instrumentals, with an emphasis on early music. It's Trevor Crozier's Broken Consort plus The Druids. Very good stuff.

And yes, The Prospect Before Us is bloody great, as was virtually everything Ashley did in the 70s. Unfortunately he was kidnapped by aliens at the end of the decade and replaced with a clone whose mission was to transform The Albion Band into a rather dull band who rarely played any trad material

ho ho

[davidmjs]

I'd recommend the self-titled 1973 album Giles Farnaby's Dream Band. It's an 'electric-folk' album, mostly instrumentals, with an emphasis on early music. It's Trevor Crozier's Broken Consort plus The Druids. Very good stuff.


ho ho

C'mon now - you just made that lot up didn't you?!    Ho ho indeed...  

[Barry]

Apparently in stock at Amazon.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Giles-Farnabys-Dream-Band-Farnaby/dp/B000RP2L8W

My interest is piqued ..... I may well investigate!

But not from here!!!!

http://vinyltap.co.uk/shop/artist/Giles+Farnaby's+Dream+Band.aspx

[rolyh]

Just to confuse the issue, the Albion "Country" Band's album "Battle of the Field" was released in 1976, although it was recorded in 1973. The band was Martin Carthy/Sue Harris/John Kirkpatrick/Ashley Hutchings/Roger Swallow/Simon Nicol.
I think this line up split up shortly after recording and the record company delayed it's release.

It's more of a folksong orientated album, although it does contain a few dance tunes.

[Angela]

Another good 'rocky' album by the Albion Dance Band is Shuffle Off, though I'm not sure if it was ever released on CD. Band members on this were, Ashley H, Dave M, Simon N, Jean-Pierre Rasle, Dave Whetstone.

[SJN]

Both albums feature the core of musicians who played in the famous National Theatre productions of Lark Rise and Candleford, and who metamorphosed into the Home Service, who did the music for The Mysteries at the NT. The latter is still one of the most powerful folk-rock albums of all time, not least because of Linda Thompson's contribution.

I saw The Mysteries an absolutely embarrassing number of times, from its very first outdoor premiere on the South Bank (late 70s) to its last NT revival (late 90s?).  I could almost quote every line along with the actors.  I was absolutely hooked on it!  Singers I saw in the show during the period included Shirley Collins, Peta Webb, June Tabor, Maddy Prior, Melanie Harrold, Alison McMorland, Linda Thompson...  Wonderful, wonderful stuff.

I remember seeing the Albions for the first time - at the Royalty Theatre in Kingsway (or, as I think it was being called at the time, the Rock Circus).  It was 1976, and it was essentially the 'Prospect' line-up; I was absolutely blown away - especially by John Tams' voice.

Another memorable moment was hearing 'Gresford Disaster' (later to appear on 'Rise Up Like The Sun') for the first time - during a soundcheck at Cambridge Folk Festival (1977, if I'm not mistaken).

... and as for the Home Service - ooh, magic!

[rolyh]

The Scarecow by Home Service is a wonderful song. Saw tham do it at Cambridge a few (a lot!) years ago.

[SJN]

The Scarecow by Home Service is a wonderful song. Saw tham do it at Cambridge a few (a lot!) years ago.

Spine-chillingly good.  Marvellous words...

[Polly Oxford (Andie)]

I can hardly stop myself delving in my bag for the 'pod - mmm Scarecrow!

Siobhan - I must have stood next to you on at least one occasion... How many Lark Rise s?
THE BEST was the latest Doomsday final performance at the National, squashed next to Linda Thompson, the atmosphere positively electric!

Anyone know the tour schedule for the Lark Rise Band? There's nothing much on the Albions site and I'm desperate to see them again.

[PaulT]

Shuffle Off is the 2nd CD in the recently released Albions "Dancing at the RAH" (or something like that... Talking Elephant, anyway).