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| R E L E A S E D E T A I L S >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> |
| ----------------------------- <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< |
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| Circus-Circus-WEB-1969-SOUNDz |
| --------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| |
| Artist______________ Circus |
| Title_______________ Circus |
| Label_______________ Sanctuary Records |
| Genre_______________ Progressive Rock |
| Year________________ 1969 |
| Release Date________ 2021-05-20 |
| Street Date_________ 1969-00-00 |
| Source______________ WEB |
| Encoder_____________ MP3 / LAME |
| Quality_____________ CBR 320kbps 44.1kHz |
| Size________________ 92.5MiB |
| Playtime____________ 0:40:09 |
| URL_________________ https://amazon.com/dp/B07G45RHT5/ |
| |
| |
| 1. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) 07:20 |
| 2. Pleasures Of A Lifetime 08:19 |
| 3. St. Thomas 03:37 |
| 4. Goodnight John Morgan 01:50 |
| 5. Father Of My Daughter 03:21 |
| 6. II B.S. 06:34 |
| 7. Monday, Monday 04:23 |
| 8. Don't Make Promises 04:45 |
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| |
| R E L E A S E N O T E S >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> |
| ------------------------- <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< |
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| Amongst the earliest traces of progressive rock already fully |
| gestated in the 60s alongside the likes of Pink Floyd, Soft Machine |
| and King Crimson were a few smaller but similarly minded acts that |
| didn't quite end up in the history books the same way. One of these |
| short-lived bands was CIRCUS that spent most of the 60s as The Storm |
| Shakers part of the clumsily named Philip Goodhand-Tait and the |
| Stormsville Shakers before changing the moniker in 1967 when Philip |
| parted ways. These days the band is more famous as the first project |
| of saxophonist / flautist Mel Collins who would play on some of the |
| earliest King Crimson albums ("In The Wake of Poseidon," "Lizard," |
| "Islands," "Red"). |
| |
| CIRCUS was a tight jazz-rock band that crafted some high quality |
| musical workouts that mixed the heavier aspects of late 60s rock with |
| the nuances of jazz modulations, folk, pop and psychedelia. Add to |
| that a stellar Latin influenced percussive flair that added an |
| impassioned mix of jazz and ethnic drive to create an innovative |
| melting pot of juicy jazz-rock yumminess. Collins is the star of the |
| show here with sizzling hot sax and flute solos but with the addition |
| of the musical virtuosity of the rest, Kirk Riddle kills it on bass, |
| Ian David Jelfs delivers some excellent blues / jazz guitar workouts |
| while Chris Burrows creates his own tapestry of drumming diversity. |
| |
| After Goodhand-Tait left to write material for a band named Love |
| Affair, the newly named CIRCUS began to focus less on the pop side of |
| music and joined the ranks of the more experimental progressive bands |
| emerging such as The Nice, Soft Machine, Caravan, Colosseum and the |
| brand spanking new King Crimson. The band experienced some minor |
| success as The Stormshakers and as CIRCUS landed on the Transatlantic |
| record label which began in 1961 as an import label of American |
| blues, folk and jazz to the UK market before signing new talents. |
| CIRCUS found themselves debuting the one and only self-titled album |
| on Transatlantic in 1969 and joined the nascent progressive rock |
| scene. |
| |
| While CIRCUS crafted a brilliant mix of tracks with uplifting musical |
| performances, the choice of tracks was rather strange. It was |
| customary of the day to include covers but for a progressive band |
| trying to break free from pop influences, CIRCUS took the bold step |
| of including four with the most puzzling decision of beginning the |
| album with a cover of The Beatles' "Norwegian Wood." While this feat |
| that easily could've been an instant death sentence for most, the |
| band pulled it off so extremely well as they not only faithfully |
| nailed the melodic aspects of the song but augmented it with a |
| stealthy jazz improv performance and ample doses of art rock |
| creativity thus essentially making it their own in many ways. |
| |
| Of the eight tracks, only half were originals written by Mel Collins |
| whereas the other half were covers which included not only the The |
| Beatles but also "Monday, Monday" from The Mamas & The Papas, "Don't |
| Make Promises" from Tim Hardin and a feisty interpretation of "I I |
| B.S." from Charles Mingus. An odd combo effect for sure but somehow |
| saved by the sheer musical prowess of the musicians involved. The |
| album comes off as a rather bizarre mix of genre shifting with |
| jazzified pop rockers existing with calypso-tinged Latin rock, |
| progressive folk and more heavier rock sections. What sounds awkward |
| in writing actually works in practice which is utterly amazing. |
| |
| The name of the game in the music world is that for every band that |
| made it to the big time possibly 100 did not so while King Crimson |
| and Soft Machine have gone down as pioneers of the progressive rock |
| scene that burst onto the scene, CIRCUS on the other hand has been |
| relegated as a mere footnote in a more detailed study of the era. |
| It's quite unfortunate that despite the band having written material |
| for a second album couldn't make it all work out and soon disbanded |
| leaving their one and only musical artifact a desirable collector's |
| item for hardcore sleuths of vinyl obscurities. It's quite sad that |
| this band didn't experience more success because they clearly had the |
| talent. |
| |
| |
| Mel Collins - flute, tenor saxophone |
| Chris Burrows - drums |
| Kirk Riddle - bass, guitar |
| Ian Jelfs - guitar, vocals |
| |
| Produced by Ray Singer. |
| Recorded at Morgan Studios, Willesden, North London, UK. |
| |
| |
| YOU KNOW YOU HAVE TO BUY THIS SHIT IF YOU LIKE IT RIGHT?! |
| |
| |
| . . |
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