Roy Harper

Coordinates	37°46′45.48″N122°25′9.12″N
Background	solo_singer
Born	June 12, 1941
Birth place	Rusholme, Manchester, England
Instrument	Vocals, guitar
Genre	Folk, progressive folk, folk rock, alternative rock
Occupation	Musician, songwriter, poet
Years active	1964–present
Label	Science Friction, Harvest
Url

Roy Harper (born 12 June 1941) is an English rock / folk singer-songwriter / guitarist who has been a professional musician since the mid 1960s. Harper has described American blues musician Leadbelly and folk singer Woody Guthrie as his biggest musical influences when he was growing up. As a musician, Harper is known for his distinctive fingerstyle playing and lengthy, complex compositions. He has released a large catalogue of albums as an artist, most of which are available on his own record label Science Friction.

His influence has been acknowledged by many musicians including Jimmy Page and Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin, Pete Townshend of The Who, Kate Bush, Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull and Pink Floyd, as well as more recently by Californian harpist Joanna Newsom and Seattle-based acoustic band Fleet Foxes. Harper also sang guest lead vocals on Pink Floyd's song "Have a Cigar", and inspired the title of the Led Zeppelin song "Hats Off to (Roy) Harper".

Biography

Early life

Harper was born in 1941 in Rusholme, a suburb of Manchester. After the death of his mother, Muriel, during childbirth, he was raised in Blackpool by his father and stepmother, with whom he became disillusioned because of her Jehovah's Witness beliefs. Harper's anti-religious views would later become a familiar theme within his music.

At the age of 10, he began playing skiffle music with his older brother David, ("Davey" on the album Flat Baroque and Berserk), as well as becoming influenced by blues music. Harper was educated at private school King Edward VII School, Lytham St Annes. He left school at the age of 15 and joined the Royal Air Force. This eventually resulted in his rejecting the rigid discipline, feigning madness in order to obtain a military discharge and receiving electroconvulsive therapy as a result. Upon his eventual discharge, he busked around Europe until 1964 when he returned to England, gaining a residency at London's famous Soho folk music club, Les Cousins.

The 1960s

Harper's first album, Sophisticated Beggar, was recorded in 1966 after he was spotted at Les Cousins, and signed to Peter Richards' Strike Records. The album consisted of Harper's poetry backed by acoustic guitar and recorded with a Revox tape machine by Pierre Tubbs. CBS Records recognised Harper's potential and hired producer Shel Talmy to arrange Harper's second album, Come Out Fighting Ghengis Smith, released in 1968. The 11 minute track "Circle" was notable for marking a widening of Harper's musical style away from the more traditional folk music heard at the time.

In May 1968, Harper began to make regular appearances at free concerts in London's Hyde Park, attracting a cult following of fans from the underground music scene. Harper also toured the UK, performing at numerous venues that would later become recognised for the variety and quality of their musical acts; Mothers in Birmingham was one venue to which Harper would frequently return.

1969's Folkjokeopus (Harper's third album), in a similar vein to his previous album, included an extended 17-minute track called "McGoohan's Blues", which Harper referred to as the "main statement" within the album. The track's title referred to actor Patrick McGoohan, who was at the time starring in the UK TV series The Prisoner.

The 1970s

Harper's first tour of the United States followed the release of his fourth studio album, Flat Baroque and Berserk, in 1969. The album also featured The Nice on the track "Hell's Angels". Its ethereal sound was achieved by a wah-wah pedal attached to Harper's acoustic guitar. This album also marked the beginning of Harper's long and sometimes confrontational association with EMI, whose subsidiary Harvest Records he was signed to.

After the Bath Festival of 1970, Led Zeppelin paid tribute to Harper with their version of the traditional song, "Shake 'Em On Down", the definitive version of which was originally recorded by blues artist Bukka White. Retitled "Hats Off to (Roy) Harper", it appeared on the album Led Zeppelin III. According to Jimmy Page, the band admired the way Harper stood by his principles and did not sell out to commercial pressures. In mutual appreciation of their work, Harper would often attend live performances by Led Zeppelin over the subsequent decade, contributed sleeve photography to the album Physical Graffiti and also appeared, uncredited, in the 1976 Led Zeppelin documentary film, The Song Remains the Same.

Harper's critically acclaimed 1971 album was a four-song epic, Stormcock. The album featured Jimmy Page on guitar (credited as "S. Flavius Mercurius" for contractual reasons) and David Bedford's orchestral arrangements (Bedford would also collaborate on future Harper releases). Johnny Marr, The Smiths' guitarist, said that Stormcock was "intense and beautiful and clever". In 1972, Harper made his acting debut playing Mike Preston alongside Carol White in the John Mackenzie film Made. The soundtrack for this film appeared the following year as the album Lifemask. At the time, Lifemask was created as Harper's final bow, as he had been diagnosed with the (then) little-known lung condition HHT, which caused polycythemia, incapacitating the singer. The cover art shows Harper's 'death mask'.

After he recovered, Harper's next album, Valentine, was released on Valentine's Day, 14 February 1974, and featured contributions from Jimmy Page. A concert to mark its release was held on the same day, at London's Rainbow Theatre, with Page, Bedford, Max Middleton (of The Jeff Beck Group) on keyboards, Ronnie Lane on bass and Keith Moon on drums. The live album Flashes from the Archives of Oblivion, recorded at that concert, soon followed.

Pink Floyd's 1975 release Wish You Were Here saw Harper sing lead vocals on the song "Have a Cigar". David Gilmour returned the favour by appearing on Harper's next album, HQ, along with Harper's occasional backing band, Trigger (Chris Spedding on guitar, Dave Cochran on bass guitar, Bill Bruford on drums), and Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones. The single "When an Old Cricketer Leaves the Crease", taken from the album, is Harper's biggest-selling song to date. Harper also co-wrote the song "Short and Sweet" with Gilmour for Gilmour's first solo record, David Gilmour, released in 1978.

Controversy followed the release of 1977's Bullinamingvase. The owners of Watford Gap service station objected to criticism of their food ("Watford Gap, Watford Gap / A plate of grease and a load of crap…") in the lyrics of the song "Watford Gap". Harper was forced to drop it from future UK copies of the album, though it reappeared on a later CD reissue and remained on the U.S. LP. The album also featured the song "One of Those Days in England", with backing vocals by Paul McCartney and his wife Linda, an edited version of which became a Top 40 hit. In April 1978, Harper began writing lyrics for the next Led Zeppelin album with Jimmy Page, but the project was shelved when Robert Plant returned from a sabbatical after the death of his son.

Between 1975 and 1978, Harper spent considerable time in the United States. During this period Harper signed with the US division of Chrysalis Records, who released HQ with a different title (When an Old Cricketer Leaves the Crease) and cover. Chrysalis considered the original UK sleeve photo of Harper walking on water to be too offensive for an American release. Harper disagreed, but was given no choice by the label. Chrysalis also changed the title of Harper's next album, Bullinamingvase, to One of Those Days in England. In 1978, US Chrysalis reissued Harper's first five Harvest albums, only one of which (Flat, Baroque and Berserk) had been previously released in America.

For much of the 1970s, Harper was managed and produced by British manager and record producer Peter Jenner, initially acting for Blackhill Enterprises. According to Jenner, "Harper is a terrific songwriter, but a bit crazy".

The 1980s

Harper began the decade with the release of The Unknown Soldier, which was to be his final Harvest release. The album contains a duet with Kate Bush on the track, "You". (Harper reciprocated by singing backing vocals on "Breathing", on the Kate Bush album Never For Ever). Of Bush, Harper later stated, A decade later, Harper and Bush would collaborate again on his album Once.

Harper's 1982 album, Work of Heart, marked the formation of Harper's own record label with Mark Thompson (son of English historian, socialist and peace campaigner E.P. Thompson), entitled Public Records. The album itself was chosen by Derek Jewell of The Sunday Times as "Album of the Year" in 1982. The original demo version of this album was later released (in 1984) on a limited edition (830 copies) vinyl release entitled Born in Captivity.

Of this period, Harper stated,

Throughout 1984, Harper toured the United Kingdom with Jimmy Page, performing a predominantly acoustic set at folk festivals under various guises such as The MacGregors, and Themselves. In 1985, they released an album called Whatever Happened to Jugula?. This album caused a resurgence of interest in Harper and his music. (Tony Franklin, bass player in Harper's group at this time, would later join Page in The Firm). In April 1984, Harper and Gilmour performed "Short and Sweet" (the song they co-wrote) during Gilmour's three-night run at The Hammersmith Odeon. This version later appeared on the David Gilmour Live 1984 concert film. Harper also provided backing vocals on Gilmour's newly released album, About Face.

Perhaps due to the popularity of Whatever Happened to Jugula?, Harper re-signed to EMI and in 1986 released a live album, In Between Every Line, containing recordings from his performances at the Cambridge Folk Festival, and in 1988 the studio album, Descendants of Smith. The renewed relationship between Harper and EMI did not last, and from 1985 more of his earlier albums became available on the Awareness Records label. 1988 also saw the release of Loony on the Bus, a collection of tracks intended for release in 1977 as Commercial Breaks but held back because of disputes between Harper and EMI.

The 1990s

Harper was very productive in the 1990s, releasing four studio albums: Once (1990), Death or Glory? (1992), Commercial Breaks (1994), The Dream Society (1998); and eight live albums: Unhinged (1993), Live At Les Cousins (1996), and six individual CDs of concerts recorded by the BBC (1997).

In addition, Harper released a live video Once (1990), an EP Burn the World (1990), a CD single The Methane Zone (1992), a limited edition live cassette Born in Captivity II (1992), a compilation album An Introduction to ..... (1994), a collection of poetry and spoken word tracks Poems, Speeches, Thoughts and Doodles (1997), and a reissue of Descendants of Smith (his 1988 release) renamed Garden of Uranium (1994). In 1994 much of Harper's back catalogue became available on CD through his own record label Science Friction.

Once featured contributions from David Gilmour, Kate Bush, Nigel Mazlyn Jones. In 1992, his marriage to his wife Jacqui ended. Death or Glory? contains a number of songs and spoken word pieces that reference his loss and pain.

Throughout the decade, Harper's musical influence began to be recognised by a younger generation of musicians, some of whom covered his songs or invited him to make guest appearances on their albums. In 1995 Harper contributed spoken words on The Tea Party's 1995 album The Edges of Twilight and appeared on stage for their New Year concert in Montreal. In 1996 Roy recited "Bad Speech" from the album Whatever Happened to Jugula? on the album Eternity by Anathema (the album also contains a cover version of "Hope" from the same album). The track "Time" from The Tea Party's 1996 multimedia CD, Alhambra, was sung and co-written by Harper.

Harper contributed his version of Jethro Tull's song, "Up the 'Pool" (from Living in the Past) for the 1996 tribute album, To Cry You A Song - A Collection Of Tull Tales. In 1998, Jethro Tull singer Ian Anderson contributed flute to the song, "These Fifty Years" on Harper's The Dream Society, an album based on Harper's life, particularly his youth. Reportedly, Anderson said that the only reason he originally left Blackpool was because Harper did. Other artists who covered Harper's songs (or songs on his albums) throughout the decade include Dean Carter, Ava Cherry & The Astronettes, Green Crown, The Kitchen Cynics, The Levellers, Roydan Styles and Pete Townshend.

Harper also undertook a small tour of the USA, where some performances were supported by Daevid Allen, former Soft Machine and Gong band member.

The 2000s

In 2000, Harper released an almost entirely acoustic album, The Green Man, accompanied by The Tea Party's Jeff Martin on guitar, hurdy gurdy and numerous other instruments. The following year (2001) Harper celebrated his 60th birthday with a concert at London's Royal Festival Hall. Harper was joined by numerous guest artists, including David Bedford, Jeff Martin and John Renbourn. A recording of the concert Royal Festival Hall Live - June 10th 2001 was released as a double CD shortly afterwards.

In 2003, Harper published The Passions of Great Fortune, a large format book containing all the lyrics to his albums (and singles) to date, which also included a wealth of photographs and commentary on his songs.

In April 2005, Harper released a lengthy CD single, The Death of God. The 13 minute song, a critique of the war in Iraq, featured guest guitarist Matt Churchill, who has also joined Harper on stage at his live performances. A video of this song, intermixing animation with a live performance, is available in four parts on YouTube. The same year saw the release of Harper's latest album, Counter Culture, a double compilation album featuring songs from a 35-year songwriting period. Counter Culture received a five-star review from UNCUT magazine. Harper also contributed a recital of "Jabberwocky" for The Wildlife Album, an 18-track compilation CD to benefit the World Wide Fund For Nature and the Ulster Wildlife Trust.

2006 saw Harper release his first DVD, Beyond the Door. Composed of live footage recorded in 2004 at Irish folk club "De Barra's" in Clonakilty, Cork, the package includes an additional 10-track audio CD and received a 4-star review from both Mojo and UNCUT, as well as from Classic Rock magazine, who made it their "DVD of the month".

In September 2007, Harper supported Californian harpist Joanna Newsom at her Royal Albert Hall performance. Newsom had been impressed by Harper's 1971 album Stormcock and it served as an inspiration for her second album, Ys.

Harper has dedicated the last few years to collecting and compiling his life's work in various formats. One of his future projects is likely to be the making of a documentary DVD to round off this process.

In 2010, Newsom once again invited Harper to be Special Guest for her on several of her European Tour Dates. Plans for Harper to star in the film Rebel City Rumble were also announced. Shooting is planned to take place in Cork in Spring 2011.

Awards

HQ was awarded Record of the Year in Portugal in 1975. That year Harper also received a similar award in Finland for the same record.

Work of Heart was awarded The Sunday Times Album of the Year in 1982.

Harper was awarded the MOJO Hero Award by the staff of Mojo magazine on 16 June 2005 at the Porchester Hall, Central London. The award itself was presented by long time collaborator and friend, Jimmy Page and now hangs upon the wall at De Barras Folk Club in Clonakilty, Ireland.

Nick Harper

One of Roy's sons, Nick Harper, is a successful singer / songwriter in his own right. In the past, Nick occasionally toured and recorded with Roy, and has appeared (as guitarist) on a number of his albums since 1985.

Discography

Studio albums

1967 – Sophisticated Beggar

1968 – Come Out Fighting Ghengis Smith

1969 – Folkjokeopus

1970 – Flat Baroque and Berserk

1971 – Stormcock

1973 – Lifemask

1974 – Valentine

1975 – HQ (US title: When an Old Cricketer Leaves the Crease)

1977 – Bullinamingvase (US title: One of Those Days in England)

1980 – The Unknown Soldier

1982 – Work of Heart

1984 – Born in Captivity

1985 – Whatever Happened to Jugula? (with Jimmy Page)

1988 – Descendants of Smith

1988 – Loony on the Bus

1990 – Once

1992 – Death or Glory?

1994 – Commercial Breaks (previously unreleased album from 1977; 9 of its 11 tracks are available on Loony on the Bus)

1994 – Garden of Uranium (re-issue of Descendants of Smith)

1998 – The Dream Society

2000 – The Green Man

Live albums

1974 – Flashes from the Archives of Oblivion

1984 – Live at the Red Lion, Birmingham (Volume I & II Limited edition cassette)

1985 – Live at the Red Lion, Birmingham (Volume III Limited edition cassette)

1986 – In Between Every Line

1992 – Born in Captivity II (Limited edition cassette)

1993 – Unhinged (Edited version of Born in Captivity II)

1996 – Live At Les Cousins

1997 – The BBC Tapes — Volume I (1969–1973)

1997 – The BBC Tapes — Volume II (In Concert 1974)

1997 – The BBC Tapes — Volume III (BBC Sessions 1974)

1999 – The BBC Tapes — Volume IV (In Concert 1975)

1997 – The BBC Tapes — Volume V (BBC Sessions 1975 - 1978)

1997 – The BBC Tapes — Volume VI (In Concert 1978 with Andy Roberts)

2001 – Royal Festival Hall Live – June 10th 2001

Compilations, remixes, etc.

1977 – The Early Years

1978 – Harper 1970-1975

1994 – Death or Glory? (tracks 1 & 9 remixed)

1994 – An Introduction to .....

1997 – Song of the Ages (3-CD collection of Roy Harper interviews)

1997 – Poems, Speeches, Thoughts and Doodles (collection of spoken tracks with occasional instrumentation)

2001 – Hats Off (compilation of collaborative tracks)

2001 – East of the Sun (compilation of love songs)

2002 – Today Is Yesterday (compilation of demo, unreleased and rare material from 1964–1967)

2005 – Counter Culture

2007 – From Occident to Orient (compilation; initially a Japanese-only release)

Collaborations

1971 – "Ravneferd" (co-written with Lillebjørn Nilsen for the album Tilbake)

1975 – "Have a Cigar" (guest lead vocals for Pink Floyd)

1978 – "Short and Sweet" (co-written with David Gilmour. (Appears on David Gilmour and The Unknown Soldier)

1995 – The Edges of Twilight (spoken word on hidden track for The Tea Party)

1995 – "Time" (lead vocals for The Tea Party's Alhambra multimedia CD)

1996 – "Hope" (spoken word on Anathema's album, Eternity)

Singles / 12" Singles / EPs

1966 – Take Me Into Your Eyes / Pretty Baby

1967 – Midspring Dithering / Zengem

1968 – Life Goes By / Nobody's Got Any Money in the Summer

1972 – Bank of the Dead / Little Lady

1974 – (Don't You Think We're) Forever / Male Chauvinist Pig Blues (live)

1974 – Home (live) / Home (studio)

1975 – When an Old Cricketer Leaves the Crease / Hallucinating Light (live)

1975 – Grown-Ups Are Just Silly Children / Referendum (Legend)

1977 – One of Those Days in England / Watford Gap

1977 – One of Those Days in England / Watford Gap (Germany)

1977 – Sail Away / Cherishing the Lonesome

1978 – When an Old Cricketer Leaves the Crease / Home (studio)

1980 – Playing Games / First Thing in the Morning

1980 – Short and Sweet / Water Sports / The Unknown Soldier

1982 – No-One Ever Gets Out Alive / Casualty (live at Glastonbury 1982)

1983 – I Still Care / Goodbye Ladybird (acoustic)

1985 – Elizabeth / Advertisement / I Hate the White Man (live) (12" single)

1988 – Laughing Inside (acoustic)

1990 – Burn the World (2 track CD / EP)

1992 – The Methane Zone (4-track CD / single)

2005 – The Death of God (2-track CD / single)

Downloads

2005 – The Passions of Great Fortune, Vol. 1 (iTunes Download)

Bootlegs

1992 – Heavy Crazy (Live in London 1974) (incomplete bootleg CD of The BBC Tapes — Volume II)

Videography

1984 – Stonehenge 84

1986 – Live in Your Living Room

1990 – Once

2005 – Beyond the Door (DVD)

Filmography

1972 – Made

1976 – The Song Remains the Same

2009 – Brokeback Cowboy

2011 - Rebel City Rumble (in pre-production)

Bibliography

2003 – The Passions of Great Fortune — The Songs Explored (ISBN 0-9545264-0-6)

References

External links

Roy Harper Website

The Stormcock Community fan site

Category:1941 births Category:Living people Category:English songwriters Category:English male singers Category:English rock guitarists Category:Musicians from Manchester Category:People from Rusholme