Rare Bird - Epic Forest (Polydor 1972) 24-bit/96kHz Vinyl Rip

Though it made little impact on its original release in 1972, Rare Bird’s “Epic Forest” has since been widely acclaimed as a classic of the pre-punk era: a unique album that fuses the emotional reach of classical music with the harmonies of Sixties pop, yet without ever succumbing to the excesses of the period. In the whole history of rock, only two bands have ever achieved any degree of prominence with a line-up that included two keyboards players and no guitarist, Rare Bird and Greenslade. The original Rare Bird, formed in 1969 comprised of organist (and principal composer) Graham Field, electric pianist Dave Kaffinettti, vocalist Steve Gould and drummer Mark Ashton and it was this line-up that made an immediate impression with their eponymous debut, which was also the debut of Charisma records. Its successor ‘As Your Mind Flies By’ was equally a success, with the band also making Billboard magazines Top Ten New Bands of The Year while ‘Sympathy’ reached the UK Top 30. It was an ever bigger hit over in Europe. Yet with Rare Bird’s course for greater things seemingly well set, it came as a something of a shock to fans when Field upped and left to form the short lived Fields. This would result in a change of direction that would surprise all! Much of the classical tendencies went with Field, alongside the addition of second lead vocalist/guitarist Andy ‘Ced’ Curtis and Gold’s decision to take up the axe resulted in a sound that owed more to the lush harmonies of Harmony Grass and the duelling guitars of Wishbone Ash than ELP or Yes. Those who had claimed them for the Prog-Rock movement felt especially betrayed by the shift. Yet to anyone without such narrowly defined loyalties, ‘Epic Forest’ has clearly weathered the decades better than either of its two predecessors. In purely commercial terms it failed to capitalise on the success of Rare Bird’s first two albums yet ‘Epic Forest’ stands as one of the most inspired and individual albums of an oft-derided period, while Rare Bird are remembered as one of the handful of bands who found a genuinely distinctive way of fusing the harmonic languages of Sixties pop and classical music without ever resorting to the empty flourishes and pointless virtuosity that so discredited Prog-Rock and finally brought the whole edifice crashing down in 1976. Cherry Red Records.

Many thanks to The Purple Parrot for kindly loaning this LP.

Track listing:

01. Baby Listen
02. Hey Man
03. House In The City
04. Epic Forest

05. Turning The Lights Out
06. Her Darkest Hour
07. Fears of The Night
08. Turn It All Around
09. Title No. 1 Again (Birdman)

Bonus Record (included with the LP):

10. Roadside Welcome
11. Four Grey Walls
12. You’re Lost

Personnel:

Steve Gould: electric guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals, percussion
Ced Curtis: electric guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals, percussion
Dave Kaffinetti: electric piano, Hammond organ, Farfisa organ, piano, percussion
Paul Karas: bass guitar, vocals, percussion
Fred Kelly: drums, congas, percussion
All songs written by Kaffinetti/Karas/Curtis/Kelly/Gould
Produced by Rare Bird & Paul Holland
Recorded at Polydor and Lansdowne Studios, June & July 1972