While Keith Christmas' second album was an improvement over his debut, there was still the sense that it was a stretch of his talents to fill an entire record with decent material. In its favor, it had some nicely integrated, varied arrangements that show more imagination than many other British folk-rock recordings of the early '70s: the jazzy piano-dominated vamp of "Waiting for the Wind to Rise," the lovely female backup harmonies on "The Fawn," the languid tempo of "Lorri," the gothic organ of "Kent Lullaby," the Mellotron-acoustic guitar-piano combination of "Hamlin," the rapid whirl of acoustic guitar picking on "Fable of the Wings." About half of the songs were mighty pretty, particularly "Hamlin" and the delicate "The Fawn." Christmas was good at establishing an attractively melancholy musical setting, but his rambling lyrics just couldn't hold up their part of the weight, and he was given to tracks that went on and on for way too long before fading, particularly on "Waiting for the Wind to Rise."
by Richie Unterberger
1. Waiting For The Wind To Rise - 6:16
2. The Fawn - 4:57
3. Lorri - 8:26
4. Kent Lullaby - 3:48
5. Hamlin - 6:17
6. Fable Of The Wings - 4:30
7. Bednotch - 3:22
Music and Lyrics by Keith Christmas
Musicians
*Keith Christmas - Guitar, Vocals
*Keith Tippett - Piano
*Mike Evans - Bass
*Pat Donaldson - Bass
*Gerry Conway - Drums
*Ian Whiteman - Electric Piano, Organ, Piano, Mellotron
*Roger Powell - Drums
*Bob Stewart - Autoharp
*Shelagh McDonald - Vocals
1969 Keith Christmas - Stimulus (2012 remaster)
Related Act
1970 Mighty Baby - Live In The Attic
1971 Mighty Baby - A Jug Of Love
1971 Mighty Baby - Tasting the Life (2009 Sunbeam issue)
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Thanks, Marios, what a great musician and excellent backing! That was the only LP I only had in mp3 - so, thanks for the (CD) upgrade! Keith Christmas often sounds like a mixture of Tir Na Nog, Amazing Blondel and Bronco to me.
ReplyDeleteI recently had the pleasure of engineering one of Keith's live shows - a charming raconteur and a charismatic, dynamic stage presence. Strongly recommended if you get the chance to catch him live. His new album is really good too.
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