Once Again (Barclay James Harvest album)

Once Again
Studio album by Barclay James Harvest
Released	5 February 1971
Recorded	9 October 1970 – 25 November 1970 (EMI Studios, London)
Genre	Progressive rock, Art rock, Symphonic rock
Length	40:21
Label	Harvest (UK) Sire (USA)
Producer	Norman Smith
Barclay James Harvest chronology
Barclay James Harvest (1970) Once Again (1971) Barclay James Harvest and Other Short Stories (1971)

Once Again was the second album released by Barclay James Harvest, in early 1971. It is generally regarded as one of their strongest efforts, featuring powerful, epic tracks such as "Song For Dying", "She Said", and "Mocking Bird", one of their best known songs. As was the case with their other early albums, it was recorded with a full orchestra.

On the track "Galadriel", Lees played John Lennon's Epiphone Casino guitar, an event later recounted in a song on the band's 1990 album Welcome To The Show titled "John Lennon's Guitar".

In an interview with Songfacts, Keith Domone (official biographer of Barclay James Harvest with his wife Monika) said John Lees wrote "Mocking Bird" back in 1968 while he was living with the parents of his future wife, Olwen. The song is based on a musical phrase from "Pools Of Blue", which he wrote around the same time.^[1]

In the Q & Mojo Classic Special Edition ‘’Pink Floyd & The Story of Prog Rock’’, the album came #39 in its list of "40 Cosmic Rock Albums".^[2]

Track listing

The credits on the original liner notes are incorrect, titles being attributed to the band as a whole. The credits shown here are the actual composers.^[3]

Side one

1. "She Said" (Barclay James Harvest) – 8:21
2. "Happy Old World" (Woolly Wolstenholme) – 4:40
3. "Song for Dying" (John Lees) – 5:02
4. "Galadriel" (John Lees) – 3:14

Side two

1. "Mocking Bird" (Lees) – 6:39
2. "Vanessa Simmons" (Lees) – 3:45
3. "Ball And Chain" (Wolstenholme) – 4:49
4. "Lady Loves" (Lees) – 4:07

Bonus tracks

Once Again was remastered and reissued by Harvest in 2002 with several bonus tracks:

1. "Introduction - White Sails (A Seascape)" (Wolstenholme) – 1:43 arranged by Robert Godfrey
2. "Too Much On Your Plate" (Lees, Holroyd, Wolstenholme, Mel Pritchard) – 5:28
3. "Happy Old World" (Wolstenholme) – 4:40 Quadrophonic mix
4. "Vanessa Simmons" (Lees) – 3:46 Quadrophonic mix
5. "Ball And Chain" (Wolstenholme) – 4:48 Quadrophonic mix

Personnel

Barclay James Harvest

• John Lees – vocals, guitars, recorder
• Les Holroyd – vocals, bass, guitars, keyboards
• Stuart "Woolly" Wolstenholme – vocals, mellotron, keyboards
• Mel Pritchard – drums, percussion

Additional personnel

• The Barclay James Harvest Symphony Orchestra

• Orchestra Leader: Gavin Wright
• Conductor and Musical Director: Robert John Godfrey

• Alan Parsons – jaw harp on "Lady Loves"^[4]
• Engineer: Peter Bown

Cover

Designed by Latimer Reeves and based on an enlarged section of the design for the debut album. The full effect can only be obtained by opening out the original gatefold sleeve, so later reissues such as the 'Fame' release which came in single sleeves rather defeated the object. The inside of the gatefold contains very little information and no lyrics, although the full lyrics are given after the description of each song on this page.

References