– Roy Harper -Live at Golders Green Hippodrome – 1974 – BBC Radio 1 –
Although Roy Harper is widely recognized as one of the most unique and individual singer-songwriters to come along in many years, and his associations with everyone from Kate Bush to Led Zeppelin to Pink Floyd have earned him legend status – his name draws blanks with most of the mainstream audience here in the U.S. No surprise. And to be honest – thank god.
Roy Harper has always been operating outside the periphery of Pop Music for some time. His quality of lyrics has gained the admiration and respect of his peers who have gone on to dedicate songs to him (Led Zeppelin’s Hats Off To (Roy) Harper is one of them). The press have gone so far as to call him “One of Britain’s most complex and eloquent lyricists and genuinely original songwriters”.
With some 22 albums to his credit, Roy Harper continues to influence a whole new generation of musicians.
Harper’s influence has been acknowledged by Led Zeppelin, Pete Townshend, Kate Bush, Pink Floyd, and Ian Anderson, of Jethro Tull, who said Harper was his “primary influence as an acoustic guitarist and songwriter.” Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph described him as “one of Britain’s most complex and eloquent lyricists and genuinely original songwriters… much admired by his peers”. Across the Atlantic, his influence has been acknowledged by Seattle-based acoustic band Fleet Foxes, American musician and producer Jonathan Wilson, and Californian harpist Joanna Newsom, with whom he has also toured.
Tonight it’s a relatively early concert, given at Golders Green Hippodrome in 1974, and recorded as always by the venerable BBC for Radio 1’s In Concert series. Roy Harper at his best and most complex and satisfying.
If you don’t have at least one of his albums in your library, you really need to do something about that. You’ve been missing a lot.
Believe me.
