Heron - After the Dawn (1983-2005 Relaxx Records Years)

Heron - After the Dawn (1983-2005 Relaxx Records Years) - 2021

from wikipedia

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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