THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,105) Richard Barnes — “High Flying Electric Bird”
Richard Barnes’ (see #7) album track/‘70 B-side (U.S. and Canada only) is a “magnificent cover of Pete Brown & Piblokto! song” (Abílio Nova, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jh-SnCXD-eE), an “awesome version” (psychelatte, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBH-vxCxM00), “awesome and unique”. (liner notes to the CD comp Fading Yellow Vol. 5)
Well, there is some debate about which version is best. Rapidkid28 says that Pete Brown’s “version will always be the best because it’s the original plus pete’s voice suits the song more because of his jazzy tone. Richard Barnes’s sounds too operatic”. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBH-vxCxM00). But MrDjango1953 says “Great song–have to say though that Richard Barnes version is way better than this one”. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBH-vxCxM00). I say they are both great in their own way. Prog or pop, this song gets under your skin.
As to Barnes, Mark Deming tells us:
Richard Barnes was a vocalist with the U.K. pop group the Quiet Five [see #676] before departing for a solo career in 1969, and over the next four years he cut a handful of supremely glossy pop records before launching a career in the musical theater in the London cast of Jesus Christ Superstar. . . . [I]t seems it was his destiny to be a West End star — while he doesn’t exactly go overboard on [his songs] there’s a strong sense of brio in his vocal style, and Barnes isn’t afraid to play to the last row of the balcony. Gerry Bron produced these sessions, and he clearly didn’t hesitate to pull out all the stops, ordering up elaborate orchestrations and top-shelf studio craft on the . . . the almost-psychedelic “High Flying Electric Bird,” . . . Barnes and were also shrewd judges of material . . . . [and] while Barnes was no rocker he was a gifted and intelligent interpretive singer, and [his singles] represent[] British pop at the peak of its form.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/take-to-the-mountains-mw0000750745
Pete Brown & Piblokto! was a “British progressive rock band formed in 1969 by Pete Brown, (probably best known as the lyricist with Cream) after being thrown out of his previous band Pete Brown & His Battered Ornaments.” (https://www.last.fm/music/Pete+Brown+&+Piblokto!/+wiki)
Here is Pete:
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Lovely little lilt for a warm winters day!
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