(2022) Spirogyra – The Future Won’t Be Long: The Albums 1971-1973  


Review:
Spirogyra was formed by duo Martin Cockerham and Mark Francis in Bolton in 1968, but the band expanded when Cockerham was a student in Canterbury at the end of 1969. The expanded line-up featured Cockerham (guitar, vocals), Barbara Gaskin (lead vocals), Steve Borrill (bass) and Julian Cusack (violin, keyboards) and secured a contract with B&C Records in 1970. The band’s impressive debut album, St. Radigunds was issued in 1971 and featured guest drummer Dave Mattacks and Tony Cox on VCS3 Synthesiser. In 1972 the band’s second album, Old Boot Wine, was released on the Pegasus label, a “progressive” imprint established by B&C. Prior to the recording of the album Mark Francis re- joined the group, and the sessions also saw contributions from guest musicians Dave Mattacks (drums), Julian Cusack (violin, keyboards), Rick Biddulph (mandolin), Alan Laing (cello). With the demise of the Pegasus label, Spirogyra recorded their third album for Polydor. By this time Spirogyra had become a core of Martin Cockerham (guitar, vocals) and Barbara Gaskin (lead vocals) with Steve Borrill (bass) and guest musicians Dave Mattacks (drums), Julian Cusack (violin, keyboards), Henry Lowther (trumpet), John Boyce (cello), Stan Sulzman (flute) and Steve Ashley (whistle). Despite achieving critical praise, Spirogyra failed to enjoy commercial success which ultimately led to their demise. The trio of albums the band recorded between 1971 and 1973 featured music of innovation and originality and are arguably beyond classification. They remain highly regarded and are sought after by collectors and aficionados of the Progressive era. This collection features four bonus tracks recorded during sessions for ‘Old Boot Wine’ and the 1973 single release ‘I Hear You’re Going Somewhere (Joe Really)’. — cherryred.co.uk


   


Track List:

Disc 1 -  St Radigunds
01 - The Future Wont Be Long
02 - Island
03 - Magical Mary
04 - Captains Log
05 - At Home In The World
06 - Cogwheels Crutches And Cyanide
07 - Time Will Tell
08 - We Were A Happy Crew
09 - Love Is A Funny Thing
10 - The Duke Of Beaufoot

Disc 2 -   Old Boot Wine
01 - Dangerous Dave
02 - Van Allens Belt
03 - Runaway
04 - Grandad
05 - Wings Of Thunder
06 - Worlds Eyes
07 - Dont Let It Get You
08 - Disraelis Problems
09 - A Canterbury Tale
10 - Counting The Cars (Bonus Track)
11 - Window (Bonus Track)
12 - Turn Again Lane (Bonus Track)
13 - Melody Maker Man (Bonus Track)

Disc 3 -   Bells Boots and Shambles
01 - The Furthest Point
02 - Old Boot Wine
03 - Parallel Lines Never Separate
04 - Spiggly
05 - An Everyday Consumption Song
06 - The Sergeant Says
07 - In The Western World
08 - I Hear Youre Going Somewhere (Bonus Track)


Media Report:
Genre: folk-rock, prog-rock
Country: Canterbury, England, UK
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits
Compression mode: Lossless
Writing library: libFLAC 1.2.1 (UTC 2007-09-17)


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