Alan Hull - Singing A Song In The Morning Light – The Legendary Demo Tapes 1967-1970

Before becoming one of the founding members and primary songwriters for the band Lindisfarne (originally Brethren), Alan Hull was in the band The Chosen Few.  During his time in that band he met David Wood, who wanted to get involved in the local music scene.  He started hanging out with the band, taking pictures, helping roadie and even providing financial assistance.  Hull wrote the songs for their two 1965 singles for Pye Records but left the band the following year after having a falling out with their producer.  While the rest of the band recruited a new singer and evolved into the psychedelic band Skip Bifferty, Hull had gotten married and got a job at the local mental hospital St Nicholas, so he would have a steady income.  Not only did he continue to write songs while working there, but his experiences at work greatly influenced his writing and he wrote even more than before.  At this same time, Wood decided to build a recording studio and was slowly piecing together what would become Impulse Sound.  Although they had lost touch after he left The Chosen Few, the two of them had a chance reunion and Alan started going to the studio to cut some lo-fi demos.  Many of these songs ended up becoming the main source for Lindisfarne albums in their early years and with very few of them seeing the light of day over the years on compilations or as bonus tracks, they have become the holy grail for fans.  Now with Singing A Song In The Morning Light – The Legendary Demo Tapes 1967-1970, Grapefruit has released four discs containing ninety of these demos, seventy-seven of which were previously unreleased.  

Lindisfarne got their start as The Downtown Faction in 1968 and then changed their name to Brethren, before changing it one last time when Hull joined the band.  After signing to Charisma Records in 1970 they released Nicely Out Of Tune, the first of three albums in three years, all of which hit the top ten in the UK, including the number one Fog On The Tyne.  The early demos of classic Lindisfarne tracks from that debut album, like “Winter Song”, “Lady Eleanor” (one of two tracks here, along with “We Can Swing Together”, recorded with Brethren), “Clear White - Part 2” and “Scarecrow Song” can be found here.  Demos of a couple more of his contributions to the next two releases are here as well, including the title track of Dingly Dell.  He also went back to these demos for later releases like “The River” and “You Put The Laff On Me”, which were reworked for Happy Daze, along with “Justanothersadsong” and “Somewhere Out There” on solo albums Pipedream and Phantoms, respectively.  In addition to the aforementioned cuts recorded with Brethren, there are a couple of tracks here, “Schizoid Revolution” and “This We Shall Explore”, that he recorded with Skip Bifferty backing him.  Amazingly, these songs are just the tip of the iceberg, and as you make your way through the four discs there are so many great cuts it’s a shame so many never realized their full potential.  Of course, not everything here is a gem and alongside fully formed songs there are others that are rough and more of a skeletal work in progress.  There are also missed notes and vocals that are at times a bit off key, but they still make for a fascinating listen.  It should also be noted that since these are demos, they of course sound like demos, but the sound quality is actually quite good, especially considering they were recorded over fifty years ago.  Rounded out by an extremely informative booklet, whether you are a long-time fan or new to Lindisfarne and Hull, this is a highly recommended box set. 

(Grapefruit)