ROY HARPER
Hats Off (Right Stuff)
Reviewed by John Sekerka

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Will these people never leave? Hats off go to Roy Harper for he is the missing link to the bewildering and swinging (as in Daltrey's mike) seventies London. There must be some soul selling going on here for though not much more than an interesting folk artist with a bent for unusual and rather lengthy, mind exploring pieces, Harper managed to hang and play with the likes of Pink Floyd and Led Zep. I know what yer saying, but that was no small feat in those days. So here we are, a millennium later, and Harper proves he still walks and plays among us with a compilation spanning his time chumming with the stars. Kate Bush, Chris Spedding, Ronnie Lane, Ian Anderson, Keith Moon, and don't forget the Pink Zep connection. It sets the head spinning, really it does. And when you get down to it, old Harper can finagle a pretty good tune here and there, especially when they are edited down to a reasonable listen (as is the case with most of the tracks squeezed on here). There's enough minstrel type goobledigop here to satiate the "why-in-my-day" crowd, and there is a certain charm in the flighty "One of These Days in England," with the ever so flighty Paul and Linda McCartney backing vocally. I just may have to revisit those dusty vinyl slabs I bought eons ago cuz some hack wrote they were "it."

© 2001 - John Sekerka