BJH Live / Live Tapes (Expanded)
Barclay James Harvest
Label:  Esoteric Records
Time: 11 Tracks / 75 mins
19 Tracks / 100 mins
 
Barclay James Harvest are almost a great band. I say ‘almost’ because BJH do not quite have the symphonic creativity of Yes or Genesis, the visceral soloing of Deep Purple, or the sheer weight of presence that ELP had, though they were contemporaries of all these and shared the same fans. But these live albums prove that greatness was not only within their reach, but sometimes held in their hands. 
 
Perhaps it was a matter of confidence. Barclay James Harvest were my first ever proper gig, shortly before Genesis toured Lamb Lies Down. Genesis had a 3-screen back projection throughout the show and Peter Gabriel dressed as a Slipperman (with expanding testicles); donned cape and bat wings for Watcher of the Skies; and became an old man for Musical Box.” Just before the encore, there were two Peter Gabriels on stage, one of which was a dummy. In contrast, BJH’s stage act featured a butterfly balloon that was supposed to inflate during the encore, and almost did. 
 
Of course, music is about more than stage gimmicks, but I mention this to compare the ambitions of these bands and highlight what BJH were up against. If it comes down purely to the quality of the songs, BJH come much closer to these genre-leaders, because they had an innate sense of melody that made their songs – including the integral instrumental passages – memorable and singable long after they had left the speakers. 
 
EMI’s progressive label, Harvest – home also to Purple and Floyd – reportedly took its name from BJH. If they were short of stage creativity, it was not lack of ambition, for they took an orchestra around with them at one point. However, this left them with huge debts, and EMI were happy to let the band go to Polydor, where they released the excellent Everyone is Everybody Else. It was touring to promote this disc that led to BJH Live. When agreeing to take on the band’s debts, Polydor also negotiated rights to the back catalogue, allowing them to include several superb songs, such as “She Said” and their classic “Mockingbird.”
 
So it is that BJH Live, their first chart album, is considered by some to be their best ever release. It starts with a 20-minute segue of “Summer Soldier / Medicine Man” that shows many of their strengths in one place. “Summer Soldier” is an earnest anti-war piece that builds its case as it develops musically. As with most of this disc, a somewhat thin-sounding studio version is beefed up to become urgent and emotionally intense. As it crashes into “Medicine Man” they ditch any subtlety for a relentless, tomahawk-waving riff; the sort of rhythm that old western movies played when Indians were on screen. It is unrecognizable from the limp original that had an orchestra behind it, and has a whole new life with new solos. The band rocks.
 
“Crazy City” follows, a piece that is to BJH what “Roundabout” is to Yes: more concise than most pieces, with a strong riff and powerful enough to close a set on a high. Another that could do that job is “She Said,” a song with a nod to the Beatles, which sits alongside other lyrical nods to Bowie, the Bee Gees and the unavoidable comparison, The Moody Blues – thanks to the ubiquitous mellotron, but also in the way their flowing tunes import touches of folk and symphonic prog. 
 
Choosing between these two live discs is not easy, but one advantage of BJH Live (which has all lyrics in the booklet) is that it retains much of the studio albums’ light and shade. “Galadriel” remains beautiful; there is a haunting delicacy about “Child of the Universe” and “She Said” includes a quiet recorder-led passage.
 
Live Tapes, by contrast, is a touch louder while sonically more polished, reflecting the band’s journey over the intervening four years. There is a swing away from its prog tendencies toward more commercial harmony-laden ballads, such as “Hard-Hearted Woman” and the Beatlesque “Jonathan,” that are a couple of minutes shorter.
 
While it may be slightly less powerful as a result, it has some unmissable songs. It blasts in with a powerful version of their gorgeous “Child of the Universe,” includes the fantastic “Poor Man’s Moody Blues” and ends with the irresistible “Hymn” – recorded before John Lees spoilt it by punctuating it with shouts of “Yeah!!” 
 
For a secular band, they have been remarkably open-minded about Christian things. Some tracks are specifically about Jesus (Holroyd’s “Sweet Jesus,” not on these collections, and the anthemic “Hymn,” which states its case more clearly than many Christian recordings). But BJH probably has a Christian following because they share similar underlying values, such as caring for life and having a deep concern for peace and for the losers in life. There are so many mentions of love gone wrong, depressives with suicidal tendencies, an astronaut spaceman away in space, the pain of war, and an Icarus-like doomed flight, that BJH could be seen as emo for hippies. (They do have an earthier side, though:”Polk Street Rag” is named after a porn theatre.)
 
If only picking one of these releases, which one to go for? They have four tracks in common, including the powerful “Child of the Universe” and their manifesto, “For No One”. Live Tapes now benefits from having three extra tracks. “The World Goes On” is of no consequence, but “Hymn for the Children” is the nearest that they come to the dreamy “Galadriel” and “Medicine Man” is a significant addition, if a little unfocussed at the end. I would go for BJH Live, a more intense experience with a bit more passion and variety of tone. That said, if volume of material, poppiness and polish are important to you, Live Tapes is probably your better bet. Both releases is the safest option.
 
If this band is not quite great, they are certainly one of the most under-rated acts that peaked in the ‘70s. As for their other tag, I would once have said that – if you take away “Question” and “Nights in White Satin” – the Moody Blues are a poor man’s Barclay James Harvest. Having now heard these collections again, if I could only hear one of the two bands from now on, I would miss off the caveat and go for Barclay James Harvest every time.
 
BJH Live:        
Live Tapes (Expanded)