Various Artists: Banquet Underground Sounds Of 1969

Details Album

Tracks
Disc One:
1. Beyond And Before – Yes
2. In The Beginning – Genesis
3. Afterwards – Van Der Graaf Generator
4. Northern Hemisphere – East Of Eden
5. All Night Drinker – Fat Mattress
6. The Future Hides Its Face – Man
7. After The War – Eyes Of Blue
8. Mr. Armageddon (Single Version) – Locomotive
9. Poor Wages – Barclay James Harvest
10. Meet On The Ledge – Fairport Convention
11. Where Is This Dream Of Your Youth? – Strawbs
12. Shield – Deep Purple
13. Egyptian Tomb – Mighty Baby
14. The Week Looked Good On Paper – Pete Brown & His Battered Ornaments
15. Bad Scene – Ten Years After
16. Born On The Wrong Side Of Time – Taste
17. Billy The Monster – The Deviants
18. Magician In The Mountain – Sunforest

Disc Two:
1. Walking In The Park – Colosseum
2. Oh Well (Part One) – Fleetwood Mac
3. House Without Windows – Mighty Baby
4. Austin Osmanspare – Bulldog Breed
5. Better By You, Better Than Me – Spooky Tooth
6. Never Tell Your Mother She’s Out Of Tune – Jack Bruce
7. Trouble On Double Time – Free
8. A New Day Yesterday – Jethro Tull
9. Rice Pudding – The Jeff Beck Group
10. A Salty Dog – Procol Harum
11. Brother Thrush – Barclay James Harvest
12. A Sailor’s Life – Fairport Convention
13. Banquet – Audience
14. Gypsy – Moody Blues
15. Paint It Black – Jody Grind
16. Rainmaker – Michael Chapman
17. No Mule’s Fool – Family

Disc Three:
1. Evil – Edgar Broughton Band
2. The Lady Rachel – Kevin Ayers
3. Chasing Shadows – Deep Purple
4. Flight – The Climax Blues Band
5. Living Life Backwards – Pete Brown & Piblokto!
6. Kings And Queens – Renaissance
7. Stone Circle – Third Ear Band
8. Who Do You Love – Juicy Lucy
9. Theme For An Imaginary Western – Jack Bruce
10. Sing Me A Song That I Know– Blodwyn Pig
11. Something In The Air – Thunderclap Newman
12. One Way Glass – Manfred Mann Chapter Three
13. Walking Down Their Outlook – High Tide
14. The Kettle – Colosseum
15. Notting Hill Gate (Single Version) – Quintessence
16. Spunk Box– Man
17. Survival – Yes

Het valt niet te ontkennen dat 1969 een bijzonder popmuziekjaar is, al was het maar omdat de term ‘pop’ werd vervangen door ‘rock’. Een compleet nieuwe generatie trad aan, de single werd verdrongen door de langspeelplaat, compilaties waren geweldig in trek en de muzikanten trokken alle creatieve registers open, inclusief die van jazz en klassiek. Deze muziek behoorde tot een sociaal fenomeen dat “underground” werd genoemd. 
Cherry Red en Esoteric proberen op drie cd’s aan te geven wat die term nu eigenlijk betekent in het Verenigd Koninkrijk van 1969. Die poging bestaat uit een reeks van goed vijftig nummers die we maar ‘eclectisch’ zullen noemen: beginnend werk van een groep die wereldberoemd zal worden (Yes), gevestigde hitmakers (Fleetwood Mac), nobele onbekenden (Sunforest) en het zwaardere werk van Jeff Beck of Jody Grind, maar evengoed de blues van Taste, de niet-classificeerbare Michael Chapman en zelfs Fairport Convention. Alles bijeen genomen, staat hier veel bekend volk op het podium. Quintessence, Man, Audience en Bulldog Breed, trokken evengoed mijn aandacht.
Afijn, kijkt u zelfs maar eens het lijstje na. Naar mijn mening, wordt ‘underground’ hier wel heel breed opgevat.
Radio 68  speelt een selectie op zondag 8 en dinsdag 10 augustus
 
Eddy Bonte 

Cherry Red and Esoteric put together some fifty tracks on three CDs, showing what ‘underground ’music meant in Britain in the year 1969, when a new generation of musicians took over, soaking up completely unrelated influences such as jazz, classical and folk. Call it ‘eclectic’, but ‘underground’ covers anything that wasn’t (or wasn’t intended to be) commercial, cheap or middle of the road, often put out on independent labels and to be performed in underground venues. The music was part of a social movement – think the underground press - as had been the case since the onset of ‘beat’ music played by long-haired musicians who had dropped the stage uniform and spoke their mind about the state of the nation rather than praising the moon in June.
What’s on the play-list then? Early tunes by newcomers Yes, hit-makers (Fleetwood Mac, Thunderclap Newman), lovely bands that would remain unsuccessful (Sunforest, Audience), idiosyncratic figures like Michael Chapman, folk (Fairport), jazz (Third Ear Band), blues (Taste), harder rock (Jody Grind) …. Quite an assembly. The term ‘underground’ is a bit too broad to my taste here, as I seem to remember ‘underground’ first and foremost meant alternative, mind-expanding, experimental, non-commercial, questioning all common values.
Have a look at the track-listing and decide for yourself.
Radio 68  will play choice tracks on Sunday 08 and Tuesday 10 August.