B – is for Barclay James Harvest, then there were three, now there are two

Friday 18th July

Just like The Beatles, The Who, and Pink Floyd there will never be a complete reformation of the band.  Barclay James Harvest were incredibly successful in Europe, but back in the UK, after Punk and New Wave they seemed more and more irrelevant.  Not that that bothered me.  I simply loved them and their records.  Wooly Wolstenholme left the band, then about ten years later they called it a day.  Their last album River of Dreams wasn’t even released in the UK.  Their last few records had one or two very good songs on them but an awful lot of fillers too.  That didn’t stop completist me buying them, and all the reissues with bonus tracks and box sets too.

Actually the band didn’t so much end as split into two, with both John Lees and les Holroyd releasing albums using their name and the Barclay James Harvest name too.  Confusing, yes.  Then their drummer died, Mel Pritchard, whose bombastic drumming especially on the early records was so splendid.  Wooly came back to play occasionally with John Lees and to make his own records again under the name Maestoso.  Then Wooly committed suicide, just before a tour by John Lees version of the band.  You might have thought that this would be the end, but no.  John has pulled himself together and released an album of new material, North.  It is really quite good.  They also play occasionally, with the new band members (obvious fans of the original band) seeming to really enjoy playing live.  How long this incarnation of the band can continue is anyone’s guess.  The Floyd do not play anymore, the Who are embarking on a final farewell tour and Paul McCartney soldiers on solo.  The band may be no more, but they have left behind a wonderful catalogue of music.  Long may they be played.