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Spirogyra - Bells, Boots And Shambles (1973)

Track listing:
  1. The Furthest Point 8:19
  2. Old Boot Wine 4:23
  3. Parallel Lines Never Separate 5:05
  4. Spiggly 1:15
  5. An Everyday Consumption Song 4:31
  6. The Sergeant Says 3:42
  7. In The Western World 13:02

Notes

Japan 24-Bit Remaster

This third album by Spirogyra is in many ways their most progressive -- flutes, trumpets, cellos, treated vocals, long instrumental sections -- and of course it features singer Barbara Gaskin, later of Hatfield and The North, National Health and the famed Dave Stewart/Barbara Gaskin juggernaut. All songs and male vocals are by Martin Cockerham, who writes very hummable tunes with biting lyrics.

Spirogyra were a British folk/prog band that recorded three albums between 1971 and 1973. Martin Cockerham (vocals/guitar) and Mark Francis originally formed Spirogyra as a duo in Bolton, Lancashire in the summer of 1967. When Martin went to University in Canterbury in 1969 he expanded the band to include fellow students Barbara Gaskin (vocals), Steve Borrill (bass), and Julian Cusack (violin). They were soon spotted by student union entertainments officer Max Hole, who offered to manage them and got them a deal with B&C Records. Their debut album, St. Radigunds , was named after the street that their student house was on.

It established them as a cult act on the underground club circuit, and sold respectably. Its follow-up, 1972's Old Boot Wine , appeared on Peg Records and showcased a harder-edged sound than their predominantly acoustic debut. After the release of Old Boot Wine , the band was pared back to the duo of Cockerham and Gaskin, who were by now romantically involved. Their final album, Bells, Boots and Shambles, appeared on Polydor in April 1973 and sold very poorly.

Widely regarded today as one of the great classics of British 'acid folk', it featured guest appearances from the band's former members, as well as contributions from Henry Lowther on trumpet. Copies of all three albums are rare and expensive today, with Bells, Boots and Shambles almost impossible to acquire. All three also appeared on Brain Records in Germany, with gatefold sleeves (unlike their UK counterparts).

Dave Mattacks of Fairport Convention played drums on all three albums as a guest.