Stackridge- Stackridge and Friendliness
Esoteric Recordings
CD/DL+ 2CD/DL
Released 30 June 2023
Expanded reissues of the first two albums by West Country Prog/Folk Rock band Stackridge, with Friendliness sporting a second disc of single sides plus an “In Concert” recording for the BBC. Ian Canty writes…
Bristol’s Stackridge may have been many things, but above all they were definitely a little strange. Ostensibly a Prog band with solid Folk leanings, they could also pull off perfect Pop/Rock which seemed to jump right away from either genre and even the time itself. It is possible for the more imaginative listener to hear some crossover with The Kinks going backwards and XTC going forwards even. Added to that, they displayed a keen sense of idiosyncratic fun that could appear bizarre to the casual observer, but also had the effect of helping to sidestep the stuffiness that Prog could on occasion be lumbered with.
The band formed at the end of the 1960s, with the trio of James Warren, Andy Davis and James “Crun” Walter quickly being joined by Billy Bent on drums, Mike Evans and Michael “Mutter” Slater. Coming together originally under the name Stackridge Lemon, the Lemon part was soon dropped and the fledgling outfit both opened and closed the first Glastonbury Festival in 1970. A year later and with Crun out of the line up temporarily, MCA signed up the band and not long afterwards their self-titled debut album was issued.
This initial Stackridge collection is a thoroughly endearing gem, if perhaps a confusing record for the people who were familiar with the band through their performances at this point in time. Stackridge took the decision to forgo some of the lengthy mainstays of their live shows and instead wrote some new shorter and pithier numbers on the hoof for this set. This is something that ironically endowed the LP with its durability, which makes it still an impressive listen in the present day.
Opening up with an upbeat and attractive James Warren tune in Grande Piano, from there Stackridge the album takes a lurch towards a more pastoral sound with airy and gentle acoustics on Percy The Penguin and the strum and strings half of The Three Legged Table. Midway through the latter a transformation takes place and a barrelling Rock Boogie barges its way right to the front, proving Stackridge could kick up a storm if conditions required one.
The bewitching, soaring Dora The Female Explorer appears to have nought to do with the popular kids cartoon of the same name, but it is a memorable swinging Folk Pop hoedown and from there we go to arguably the first genuinely Prog item, instrumental Essence Of Porphyry. This piece gathers pace, slows and changes emphasis to different instruments all the way along. A snappy pairing of Marigold Conjunction and 32 West Mall, an evocative if embroidered portrait of the Stackridge HQ, forerun Marzo Plod, which references the band’s favoured pastime of rhubarb thrashing.
Final track Slark is nearly a quarter of an hour of solid Prog Folk doodling with lyrics that addresses, among other things, a creosote car. But because of what accompanies it on the LP, this comes over with relatively fresh. The breezy stamp that Stackridge always brought to the table makes it an effective sign off for a very entertaining record and a radically cut down version was also release as a single later on (see below).
On this disc we also get Dora The Female Explorer’s Chamber Pop flipside Everyman and three songs from a John Peel Session recorded in 1971. Let There Be Lids, a frantic square dance thang, is topped with pre-Punk energy and bravado and before Three Legged Table Part Three Peel compares the band to The Faces in terms of approach to the stage. A rougher but full version of Slark ends this section and the CD.
A year later and with Crun back in the fold Stackridge were back with their 11 track second album Friendliness. Starting with Lummy Days, which has the feel of an Overture about it, we then come to the first part of the title track, where harmony vocals carefully plot a beautiful, honeyed atmosphere. Anyone For Tennis has a light, pre-Rock & Roll touch that renders it a little like Sparks and There Is No Refuge continues the low-key, chilled approach.
Syracuse The Elephant had been in Stackridge’s live set since the early days and the flowing treatment given here is gorgeous. There is definite Pop Reggae potential to Amazingly Agnes, which could have made a mark as a single given the chance and if the public could be seduced by a song about a cow and the band have a fairly convincing go at Hard Rock on Keep On Clucking. Piano meditation Story Of My Heart leads to the concluding portion of the Friendliness tune. The LP itself closes with another long standing live favourite Teatime, which builds up smartly into something of an epic. This is good album – perhaps it doesn’t quite have the impact and energy of their debut, but makes up for it with craft, wit and flair.
Friendliness comes with a bonus disc that begins with the Slark/Purple Spaceships Over Yatton single. Slark was a rum choice for single release albeit in an edited down version, but the mix achieved is attractive enough to warrant being put on 45. When it comes to the eerie instrumental flipside Purple Spaceships Over Yatton, we’re talking about classic West Country Sci Fi Pop daftness.
Next comes an eight track selection taken from a Radio One In Concert appearance. A mix of material from both albums comes with a starter in the theme music from Juke Box Jury and also a jokey take of Frank Ifield’s She Taught Me How To Yodel plus Four Poster Bed (actually Let There Be Lids) appear. An underwhelming spoken word intro gives way to Grande Piano’s busy rhythmic pattern. This is followed by Teatime, where Slater’s flute and Evan’s violin are really allowed to fly. 32 West Mail sounds really good in this form and Stackridge are obviously right at home on stage. Finally we have the coupling of C’est La Vie and Do The Stanley, which saw single issue in early 1973. The top side is a typically delicate and sunny Stackridge offering, with the B side more of a modern Music Hall style ditty.
Stackridge picked out their own route through the early 1970s and on the way made some fine records. Arguably Stackridge and Friendliness find them at the peak of their powers, bringing with them a sense of enchanting playfulness, a way with a winning melody and an imagination that makes their work hold up as highly palatable in the modern day. This is music of quality and distinction…to thrash rhubarb to.
slicing through the static 