R.Van Spyk & Friends."Lady Death"1974 UK Folk Psych
John Dug
2013-08-07
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From album 1974 R.Van Spyk & Friends "Follow The Sun" UK Private {Stonefield Tramp}
Entirely acoustic, recorded in just four hours with Brian Balstar, Follow the Sun, therefore, was born in 1974 on the Acorn label, the same year as Dreaming Again. Curious irony, the album today the least known of Terry Friend - I think the best - is yet one who, following his successful Stonefield Tramp allowed to emerge so quickly. 100 copies had indeed been ordered, but before the craze for the album.
That Follow the Sun has also not benefited more successful Stonefield Tramp is an unsolved mystery, given the quality of the album (Dreaming Again some titles have even been included on Follow the Sun) close to the masterpiece and whose excellence seems to be the watchword. It is still surprising that Galactic Ramble has ignored such an essential album.
After going nowhere and before dreaming again, especially, follow the sun.
We first wrote Lady Death in 1974 and later recorded the song during the Easter of 1974 at the Acorn Studio in Stonesfield, Oxfordshire, England. The song was first released on the Acorn label on the album ‘R. van Spyk and Friends Follow the Sun’ and was arranged and produced by Rob Van Spyk (vocals & acoustic guitar), Brian Balster (backing vocals, 12 string acoustic guitar & harmonica) and Terry Friend (lyrics). Three months later we went on to form the band Stonefield Tramp. The song was re-released in CD format in 2010, by Terry Friend on his third Anthology album ‘Strange Journey‘.
The lyrics for Lady Death were inspired by a novel, about the first world war, that Terry had read by the author John Steinbeck, in which one of the soldiers swears he sees the figure of Jesus walking in no mans land, with tears in his eyes. Terry transformed that figure into a lady, for he was also very familiar with the Norse legend of the Valkyries. (Wagner’s ‘Ride of the Valkyries. being one of his all time favourite pieces of Classical music) Odin’s maidens that came down to the battlefield, in their chariots, from Valhalla to collect the slain warriors and bring them up to heaven. Terry had also read about the ‘Jesus’ legend from other sources too.
Entirely acoustic, recorded in just four hours with Brian Balstar, Follow the Sun, therefore, was born in 1974 on the Acorn label, the same year as Dreaming Again. Curious irony, the album today the least known of Terry Friend - I think the best - is yet one who, following his successful Stonefield Tramp allowed to emerge so quickly. 100 copies had indeed been ordered, but before the craze for the album.
That Follow the Sun has also not benefited more successful Stonefield Tramp is an unsolved mystery, given the quality of the album (Dreaming Again some titles have even been included on Follow the Sun) close to the masterpiece and whose excellence seems to be the watchword. It is still surprising that Galactic Ramble has ignored such an essential album.
After going nowhere and before dreaming again, especially, follow the sun.
We first wrote Lady Death in 1974 and later recorded the song during the Easter of 1974 at the Acorn Studio in Stonesfield, Oxfordshire, England. The song was first released on the Acorn label on the album ‘R. van Spyk and Friends Follow the Sun’ and was arranged and produced by Rob Van Spyk (vocals & acoustic guitar), Brian Balster (backing vocals, 12 string acoustic guitar & harmonica) and Terry Friend (lyrics). Three months later we went on to form the band Stonefield Tramp. The song was re-released in CD format in 2010, by Terry Friend on his third Anthology album ‘Strange Journey‘.
The lyrics for Lady Death were inspired by a novel, about the first world war, that Terry had read by the author John Steinbeck, in which one of the soldiers swears he sees the figure of Jesus walking in no mans land, with tears in his eyes. Terry transformed that figure into a lady, for he was also very familiar with the Norse legend of the Valkyries. (Wagner’s ‘Ride of the Valkyries. being one of his all time favourite pieces of Classical music) Odin’s maidens that came down to the battlefield, in their chariots, from Valhalla to collect the slain warriors and bring them up to heaven. Terry had also read about the ‘Jesus’ legend from other sources too.
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