Barclay James Harvest

Barclay James Harvest - A Concert For The People (Berlin) - 1982 - Polydor

Cut live at the Reichstag in the German city, Berlin is very different from The Live Tapes, with a rather leaner, harder-rocking sound, and more of a dance-rock feel as well, and is also miked much closer for a more intimate sound. "Mockingbird," "Child of the Universe," and "Hymn" are all performed rather more tightly than earlier live renditions, and with more... More flamboyant electronic effects. "Sip of Wine" represents the group's harder, post-progressive era sound, while "Nova Lepidoptera" is a pretty piece of space-rock, and "Life Is for Living" is so upbeat with its disco-dance sound that it could almost pass for an Abba cut. Except on the latter, where the keyboards rule, John Lees' and Colin Browne's guitars are the most prominent component of the group's sound, and it's easy to see why this album, covering so many bases so well, took British audiences by storm -- the Moody Blues in their post-psychedelic era have wanted to make a live record this tight and bracing for ages. And the CD is even better than the LP. © Bruce Eder, All Music Guide

RECORDING DETAILS

Recorded on August 30th, 1980 at a massive free open-air concert on the steps of the Reichstag, next to the Berlin Wall, using “Mobile One”. Re-recorded and mixed at Strawberry Studios, Stockport. Producer: Barclay James Harvest, Martin Lawrence and Ian Southerington. Live Engineer: Andy Rose. This concert was probably the single most important gig that BJH have ever done, so it was natural to want a live record to be made. Unfortunately, whilst the concert itself was a triumph, just about everything that could go wrong with the recording, did - there were loud buzzes and hums on the recording, John’s main guitar was damaged during the afternoon and was almost inaudible in the mix. The band reluctantly decided to record a lot of new overdubs at Strawberry, which is one reason that the LP didn’t appear until 1982. The album was first released in Germany in February 1982 as a limited edition 11-track version on the Polystar label, with “Love On The Line” and “Rock ‘N’ Roll Lady” as the extra tracks, and went straight to No.1. Subsequent releases in all formats have only the nine tracks listed above until the 2006 Eclectic remastered CD, which has the German 11-track version (a different mix all the way through) in the original running order.

TRACKS

Side 1

Berlin (Les Holroyd)
Loving Is Easy (John Lees)
Mockingbird (John Lees)
Sip Of Wine (Les Holroyd)

Side 2

Nova Lepidoptera (John Lees)
In Memory Of The Martyrs (John Lees)
Life Is For Living (Les Holroyd)
Child Of The Universe (John Lees)
Hymn (John Lees)

BAND

- Les Holroyd / vocals, bass, guitars
- John Lees / vocals, guitars
- Mel Pritchard / drums, percussion
- Colin Browne / keyboards
- Kevin McAlea / keyboards