V.A.
Spirit Of Joy - Tales From The Polydor Underground 1967 - 1974 (2008)
Label:   
Length:  3:53:22
    Track Listing:
      1:
      1.  
      		 Crazy World Of Arthur Brown - Prelude - Nightmare    3:29
      2.  
      		 Crazy World Of Arthur Brown - Fire Poem    1:51
      3.  
      		 Crazy World Of Arthur Brown - Fire    2:55
      4.  
      		 Creation - How Does It Feel To Feel    3:06
      5.  
      		 Soft Machine - Feelin' Reelin' Squealin'    2:52
      6.  
      		 Eric Burdon & The Animals - Good Times    3:01
      7.  
      		 Fairport Convention - It's Alright Ma, It's Only Witchcraft    3:14
      8.  
      		 Cream - We're Going Wrong    3:27
      9.  
      		 Julie Driscoll , Brian Auger & The Trinity - This Wheel's On Fire    3:33
      10.  
      		 Jethro Tull - Sunshine Day    2:25
      11.  
      		 Taste - Born On The Wrong Side Of Time    3:57
      12.  
      		 Van Der Graaf Generator - People You Were Going To    2:46
      13.  
      		 Who - Dogs    3:04
      14.  
      		 Caravan - Grandma's Lawn    3:24
      15.  
      		 Second Hand - Reality    8:42
      16.  
      		 Eric Burdon & The Animals - All Is One    7:48
      17.  
      		 Julie Driscoll , Brian Auger & The Trinity - Road To Cairo    5:16
      18.  
      		 Aphrodite's Child - Magic Mirror    2:53
      19.  
      		 Van Der Graaf Generator - Firebrand    4:08
      20.  
      		 Van Der Graaf Generator - Deserted Cities of the Heart    3:38
      2:
      1.  
      		 The Who - Amazing Journey    4:28
      2.  
      		 Jack Bruce - Weird Of Hermiston    2:21
      3.  
      		 Audience - Banquet    3:35
      4.  
      		 Julie Driscoll - Break Out    5:16
      5.  
      		 Thunderclap Newman - Something In The Air    3:56
      6.  
      		 John McLaughlin - Extrapolation    3:54
      7.  
      		 Supersister - She Was Naked    3:44
      8.  
      		 (Tony Williams') Lifetime - One Word    3:46
      9.  
      		 Taste - Sinner Boy    5:29
      10.  
      		 Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come - Gypsy Escape    7:35
      11.  
      		 Ginger Baker's Air Force - Let Me Ride    4:24
      12.  
      		 Rory Gallagher - Can't Believe It's True    7:16
      13.  
      		 Supersister - No Tree Will Grow (On Too High A Mountain)    7:39
      14.  
      		 Pink Fairies - War Girl    4:34
      15.  
      		 Pete Townshend - Time Is Passing    3:27
      16.  
      		 Tangerine Dream - Sunrise In The Third System    4:22
      17.  
      		 Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come - Spirit Of Joy    3:09
      3:
      1.  
      		 Pink Fairies - Prologue    1:22
      2.  
      		 Pink Fairies - Right On, Fight On    7:59
      3.  
      		 The Who - Naked Eye    5:28
      4.  
      		 Jack Bruce - There's A Forest    1:46
      5.  
      		 Jack Bruce - Morning Story    4:56
      6.  
      		 Brian Auger's Oblivion Express - A Better Land    5:32
      7.  
      		 The Web - I Spider    8:38
      8.  
      		 Faust - Meadow Meal    8:03
      9.  
      		 Rare Bird - Epic Forest    9:12
      10.  
      		 Medicine Head - Rising Sun    4:44
      11.  
      		 Golden Earring - Are You Receiving Me    9:32
      12.  
      		 Barclay James Harvest - The Great 1974 Mining Disaster    4:40
      13.  
      		 Focus - Hocus Pocus    6:41
    Additional info: | top
      Spirit Of Joy - Tales From The Polydor Underground 1967 - 1974 [Box set]
      Disc: 1
      1. Prelude - Nightmare Fire Poem Fire - Arthur Brown
      2. Fire Poem - Arthur Brown
      3. Fire - Various Artists
      4. How Does It Feel To Feel - The Creation
      5. Feelin', Reelin', Squealin' - The Soft Machine
      6. Good Times - Eric Burdon & The Animals
      7. It's Alright Ma, It's Only Witchcraft - Fairport Convention
      8. We're Going Wrong - Cream
      9. This Wheel's On Fire - Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & The Trinity
      10. Sunshine Day - Jethro Tull
      11. Born On The Wrong Side Of Time - Taste
      12. People You Were Going To - Van Der Graaf Generator
      13. Dogs - The Who
      14. Grandma's Lawn - Caravan
      15. Reality - Second Hand
      16. All Is One - Eric Burdon & The Animals
      17. Road To Cairo - Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & The Trinity
      18. Magic Mirror - Aphrodite's Child
      19. Firebrand - Van Der Graaf Generator
      20. Deserted Cities Of The Heart - Cream
      Disc: 2
      1. Amazing Journey - The Who
      2. Weird Of Hermiston - Jack Bruce
      3. Banquet - Audience
      4. Break-Out - Julie Driscoll
      5. Something In The Air - Thunderclap Newman
      6. Extrapolation - John McLaughlin
      7. She Was Naked - Supersister
      8. One Word - Tony Williams
      9. Sinner Boy - Taste
      10. Gypsy Escape - Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come
      11. Let Me Ride - Ginger Baker's Air Force
      12. Can't Believe Its True - Rory Gallagher
      13. No Tree Will Grow (On Too High A Mountain) - Supersister
      14. War Girl - The Pink Fairies
      15. Time Is Passing - Pete Townshend
      16. Sunrise In The Third System - Tangerine Dream
      17. Spirit Of Joy - Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come
      Disc: 3
      1. Prologue - The Pink Fairies
      2. Right On, Fight On - The Pink Fairies
      3. Naked Eye - The Who
      4. There's A Forest - Jack Bruce
      5. Morning Story - Jack Bruce
      6. A Better Land - Brian Auger's Oblivion Express
      7. Meadow Meal - Faust
      8. Meadow Meal - Faust
      9. Epic Forest - Rare Bird
      10. Rising Sun - Medicine Head
      11. Are You Receiving Me - Golden Earring
      12. The Great 1974 Mining Disaster - Barclay James Harvest
      13. Hocus Pocus - Focus

      Between the years of 1967 and 1974 Polydor was one of the most "progressive" of labels along with Decca, Island Records and Vertigo. Spirit of Joy celebrates those heady days with 40 tracks from the cream of Polydor including songs by Audience, Arthur Brown, Jack Bruce, Cream, Pink Fairies, Soft Machine, The Who and many more. This 3CD set in a clamshell box also contains a 48 page booklet containing sleevenotes by Mark Powell, biogs and rare photographs.

      Hot on the heels of "Strange Pleasures" (the second 3 CD Decca/Deram box set of late 60's/early 70's underground sounds) Universal Music has again let Esoteric Records boss Mark Powell loose in its vaults. After issuing similar box sets of Vertigo material and the aforementioned Decca/Derams, Mark (teamed again with maestro Paschal Byrne at the mixing desk and the highly creative Phil Smee in the design room) has produced another excellent offering. As with the aforementioned releases,the packaging is first rate. The 3 cds come in their own mini fake aged LP sleeves accompanied by an informative 48 page booklet with a section per artiste and plenty of rare photos/original album covers. In his introduction, Powell also gives a history of the label and how it came to acquire the MGM Verve catalogue, Giorgio Gomelsky's Marmalade label and its links with Track and Reaction which allow this box set a far wider selection of material than would have applied to the main Polydor imprint alone.

      Polydor was not however a label I associated with the "underground". After all it was, at heart, a major German classical label and its pop/rock roster included mega selling bands such as Cream (on Robert Stigwood's Reaction imprint)and the Who (on the Who management's Track label) both of which feature strongly here. This set also boasts top 10 singles by Thunderclap Newman, Julie Driscoll and Arthur Brown - so hardly qualification as an underground label. However the inclusion of material by Ladbroke Grove's Pink Fairies, unknowns like the Web and Second Hand plus obscure singles by Van Der Graaf Generator (slightly manic) and Jethro Tull go a long way to establishing real underground credentials. As a German Label Polydor also had a fair sprinkling of European bands: Golden Earring, Focus, Tangerine Dream, Faust, Supersister and Aphrodite's Child. Although euro bands tended to enjoy limited credibility here in the UK back in the day, the selections here are all worthy inclusions showing highly skilled musicianship and being very light on dodgy english vocals.

      All in all, fewer unearthed obscure gems than its predecessors and whilst the selections will inevitably not please everybody (eg I could ask why no Blossom Toes or other Marmalade label bands which would have boosted the underground feel) this is another highly enjoyable, well conceived and executed package. Keep them coming Mark Powell!


      In recent years Universal has been releasing a series of progressive and/or psychedlic collections and this one is up there with the best. It has a great balance of hit songs such as Thunderclap Newman's 'Something In The Air', Focus 'Hocus Pocus', Julie Driscoll's 'This Wheel's On Fire' and Arthur Brown's 'Fire' and rarities which are either difficult to track down or you've ever heard of.

      It features a roster of great Polydor artists from 1967-1974 such as Cream, The Who, Taste, Jack Bruce and Fairport Convention and there is high quality of material throughout the 50 tracks, which starts of with The Crazy World of Arthur Brown's 'Fire' suite and closes Focus 'Hocus Pocus'.

      If you have the likes of Decca's 'Strange Pleasures - Further Sounds Of The Decca Underground', Harvest's 'Breath of Fresh Air' or 'Time Machine - A Vertigo Retrospective' then you will have an idea of what to expect from this collection of well known songs and obscurities from the late 60's/early 1970's. It really is a worthwhile investment if you are into the Prog/Psych music from the era.
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