Peter Bardens - Long Ago, Far Away

Throughout the Sixties keyboardist Peter Bardens participated in what’s become known as the “British Blues Boom”.  During that time he found himself working with the likes of Ray Davies, Mick Fleetwood, Van Morrison, Peter Green and Rod Stewart along with many others.  In 1969 Bardens headed into the studio and the following year released the first of two solo albums that were released prior to him joining Camel.  Long Ago, Far Away contains both of these albums, originally released on Transatlantic Records, along with five bonus tracks.   

With a band that included bassist Bruce Thomas, later of The Attractions, drummer Reg Isidore, who went on to play with Robin Trower, and guitarist Andy Gee, The Answer is often rooted in the bluesier sounds of his prior work, but expands in a variety of directions.  The disc starts off with the title track, a catchy tune with a bit of a mystical vibe, merging a laid-back, soulful blues jam with prog elements and some hints of psychedelia.  “Don’t Goof With A Spook” finds them slowing things down a little, and is a bluesy, psychedelic rocker that really showcases his keyboard work and has some Hendrix-like guitar playing.  The ten plus minute “I Can’t Remember” has a laid-back, soulful psychedelic groove that at times has a bit of a Sly and the Family Stone vibe and then evolves into a bluesy, psych jam with Bardens’ organ really taking charge.   The pace picks up a bit on the next two tunes, “I Don’t Want To Go Home”, a bouncy cut complemented by flute, playful percussion, guitar and some really nice backing vocals from Linda Lewis, and “Let’s Get It On”.  Interestingly, both of these songs featured an uncredited Peter Green on lead guitar (he also contributed some guitar to the title track).  Closing the album out is the thirteen plus minute psychedelic prog rock tour de force “Homage To The God Of Light”.  Driven by a propulsive beat and extended jams on guitar and keyboards, this tune had already been a staple in the live shows of his pre-solo band Village and was also a highlight of his solo shows as well as early Camel shows.  Speaking of Village, the first two of three bonus tracks here are the A and B side of the sole single released by that band.  “Man In The Moon” is an organ drenched psychedelic rocker with a bit of an early Pink Floyd vibe at times, while the flip “Long Time Coming” is another organ driven tune, this time a prog instrumental partially based on Mars from Holst’s The Planet Suite.  Closing out disc one is “Long Ago, Far Away” a nine minute instrumental recorded during the sessions for The Answer that has a nice laid-back jazz groove and really allows everyone in the band to show their stuff.  

With what for the most part was a new band, the self-titled follow-up, found here on disc two, is a solid release and contains what is possibly the best song of his solo career in “Write My Name In The Dust”.  Right out the gate things move in a bit of a different direction with “North End Road”, a jaunty instrumental with a ragtime vibe.  The aforementioned “Write My Name In Dust” is next and is a gorgeous, laid-back bluesy tune that is complemented by Bardens’ organ and is often reminiscent of the Small Faces.  “Down So Long” and “Simple Song” are a couple of tracks that find the band branching out a little.  The former is an unusually heavy track meshing doomy guitars and organ that at times brings to mind early Alice Cooper and even has a little “Schools Out” like riff at one point.  The latter strips things down to vocals and whistling with a little acoustic guitar, some bare bones percussion and keys and reminds me of some of the quirky, more novelty Beatles’ songs.  Amongst the other highlights are “My House”, a laid-back easygoing blues instrumental with some prog elements and “Feeling High”, a mellower, soulful psychedelic tune.  Closing out disc two are a couple of bonus tracks - "Homage To The God of Light" Part One and Two, which is basically an edited version of that song split in two for a French single.  Just a few months after the album's release, Bardens answered an ad in Melody Maker to join what became Camel, and as a member of that band recorded six albums over the next six years before leaving to play on one album with Van Morrison, his former Them bandmate, and then further pursue a solo career before passing away in 2002. Another highly recommended release from Esoteric once again giving a largely lesser known artist some deserved recognition.  

(Esoteric Recordings)