Heron - After the Dawn (1983-2005 Relaxx Records Years) - 2021
Heron are an English folk-rock band who released two albums in the early 1970s and have continued to perform since reforming in the 1990s.
The band had its origins in 1967 at the Dolphin Folk Club in Maidenhead, Berkshire, where Tony Pook (vocals), Roy Apps (guitar, vocals), and Robert Collins (guitar) played together, inspired by Bob Dylan and The Incredible String Band. When Collins left, Pook and Apps were joined by Gerald T. Moore (guitar, mandolin, vocals), who had previously played in R&B bands in Reading, and Martin Hayward (guitar), to form Heron. As student entertainments secretary at Reading College of Technology, Apps was able to book his own band as support act to performers such as Ralph McTell. Gus Dudgeon signed them as songwriters to Essex Music and the group won the support of A&R man and record producer Peter Eden, who had worked with Donovan, Mick Softley and others. After Hayward left the band, to be replaced by Steve Jones (keyboards), the group won a recording contract with the Dawn label, a subsidiary of Pye Records.
Peter Eden became their producer, but the band quickly realised that they disliked recording in a studio environment. In 1970, they stayed at Pook's family farmhouse at Appleford-on-Thames in Berkshire, and recorded an album with a mobile studio in a field behind the house, picking up ambient noises such as bird song. The songwriting was shared between Apps, Pook and Moore. Released in November 1970, the self-titled album achieved only moderate success. The band toured with Comus, Titus Groan and Demon Fuzz on Dawn's loss-making Penny Concert tour, and appeared on John Peel's Top Gear radio show. They released a single, Moore's song "Bye and Bye", which received considerable airplay but failed to sell in large quantities because of problems of vinyl supply followed by a strike of delivery drivers. They continued to perform, on one occasion supporting David Bowie at a BBC Radio 1 concert.
Heron recorded their second album in a cottage garden at Black Dog, a small village near Crediton in Devon. As well as Pook, Apps, Moore and Jones, musicians on the album included Bill Boazman (electric guitar), Mike Cooper (slide guitar), Mike Finesilver (bass), and Terry Gittings (drums). The recordings were issued as a double LP, Twice As Nice & Half the Price, and included unexpected cover versions of songs including "This Old Heart of Mine" which Moore had played in his previous bands. Pook later commented: "I think that there was enough material there for one very good album, but one quite mediocre double album. But we wanted two records for the price of one. That was the hippie ethos behind it, for people to get value for money – which I think they did." Disagreements within the band led to Moore leaving – he later backed singer Shusha and then formed G. T. Moore and His Reggae Guitars – and the record company reduced its support. The band disbanded in 1972.
CD 1
01. Traveller's Song
02. Dance Of Time
03. Barbara Allen
04. Serpentine
05. Open Up The Road
06. Louise
07. The Water Is Wide
08. Stolen Time
09. Lakes Of The Pontchartrain
10. Lady In May
11. Lakes Of The Pontchartrain
12. Please Go
13. You Ain't Going Nowhere
14. Last Train
15. Do You Believe It's Easy?
16. Broken Arrow
17. Only A Hobo
CD 2
18. Walking With The One I Love
19. Yellow Roses
20. Gypsy Roads
21. Ramblin' Gamblers
22. Wild Mountain Thyme
23. Summer In The City
24. Car Crash
25. Lord & Master
26. River Of Fortune
27. Wanderer
28. Yellow Roses
29. Stars
30. Friend
31. I Wouldn't Mind
32. Harlequin 5
33. Adagio
CD 3
34. Carnival & Penitence
35. Summer In The City
36. Harlequin 2
37. Upon Reflection
38. Smiling Ladies
39. Gypsy Roads
40. The Devil
41. Thick And Thin
42. Another Goodbye
43. Working For The Company
44. Please Go
45. Louise
46. 2000 Miles
47. So Long
48. Pearl
49. Do You Believe It's Easy?
CD 4
50. Field Of Eden
51. In The End
52. Last Train
53. Tomorrow's Child
54. From The Land To The Sea
55. I Wouldn't Mind
56. Gypsy Roads
57. Harlequin 2
58. Last Train
59. Lord & Master
60. River Of Fortune
61. Yellow Roses
62. Tomorrow's Child
63. The Devil
64. Another Goodbye
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