FOREGROUND - CLOSING PRICES...

FEBRUARY 2012

I cannot quite believe what has happened to us in the past year. A band we all thought was long dead and cremated attempts a reunion after 25 years (could well have been ill-advised, after a glance at the then-and-now photo gallery!), rises from the ashes, becomes the buzz of the major summer festivals, outsells all others with an album of live performances of its old repertoire, and is suddenly more popular and more in demand than it ever was in its heyday. Hang on, I may have got that wrong – this could be its heyday – starting right now…with our BBC Radio 2 award for BEST LIVE ACT!!!

And just to prove I’m not exaggerating, take a look at a selection of the reviews…

Financial Times

FRoots

Net Rhythms

We began rather apprehensively with a couple of warm-up gigs at one of our favourite haunts of old, the atmospheric Half Moon pub, tucked away close to the Thames in Putney, South London.

We filled the place twice over, though with no justification for complacency at that point, as it was pretty obvious that the familiarly hot sweaty room was entirely packed with all the chums and colleagues we’d ever known.

The real test was to come when we hit the masses at Cambridge, Cropredy, Sidmouth, Towersey, Broadstairs and Shrewsbury.

We needn’t have worried. With each show we gained confidence, personally and collectively, as a tremendous new team spirit emerged - We kicked up a storm to monumentous response from the audiences, and most certainly made just tribute to the memory of the late great Howard Evans.

The band met at the beginning of October to discuss future plans, which will include more touring, both in this country and Europe – the US is a huge challenge but remains on the wish list also. Work will commence on new material for a brand new album, and all those of you who have so enthusiastically posted on FaceBook begging us to carry on with the work need not fear – we plan to take it a little more seriously this time around and give Home Service our very best shot.

Home Service - Live 1986 (Fledg'ling)

The Home Service, considered by many the greatest ever folk-rock ensemble, was formed in the early 1980s by a core of musicians who had been part of the influential lineup of the Albion Band in the previous decade (John Tams, Graeme Taylor, Bill Caddick, Howard Evans, Michael Gregory and Roger Williams). After undergoing a degree of slimming-down of the initial unwieldy lineup due to logistical difficulties, the outfit released a single and three albums; by the time of the last of these, Alright Jack, the band was at the height of its powers, and live Home Service shows had attained genuine legendary status.

All the more cause for celebration, then, alongside news of an impending band reunion for a series of high-profile festival performances later this year, is the release of this album taken from a recently-discovered live tape recorded at 1986's Cambridge Folk Festival, an occasion which unquestionably represents Home Service at its absolute peak. Even though Bill Caddick had left the group by then, Home Service live was still the very mightiest of sounds that could grace any stage, with nothing remotely comparable in the folk-rock arena in terms of maximum visceral and emotional impact. The solid-state original songwriting (and of course John Tams' supreme singing voice), the unmistakable, signature magisterial brass section, Graeme's searingly majestic electric guitar lines soaring aloft, Michael's punchy yet quirkily sensitive percussion, all augmented by Andy Findon's saxes/flute, Steve King's keyboards and Jonathan Davie's bass – all adding up to a truly glorious noise.

Material for this 1986 live set is principally drawn from the Alright Jack album, released the previous year (including parts of its Lincolnshire Posy suite), and (naturally) contains the "big favourites": its title song, the iconic Scarecrow, the rousing Sorrow/Babylon, Lewk Up and Rose Of Allendale. Added in for good measure are especially neck-prickling performances of Peat Bog Soldiers (incorporating the stirring Battle Pavanne) and the shanty Walk My Way (both from the band's eponymous debut LP), as well as the gorgeous Albion number Snow Falls.

Graeme's restoration of the music from the original ¼-inch analogue cassette tape source is nothing short of miraculous, and the sheer force and immediacy of the occasion really is so close to being there! My only question is whether the actual concert running order has been altered during the restoration process (for listener consideration); and OK, so the digipack's photo was taken not at the festival itself but at a gig at the Half Moon, Putney around six weeks earlier, but I'm sure this is the closest available visual counterpart that could be found to illustrate the stunning audio soundtrack.

This incandescent, incendiary, and absolutely magnificent performance is a totally essential purchase: no argument.

www.homeserviceband.co.uk
www.thebeesknees.com

David Kidman June 2011

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