Recordings by David Harley |
This is a strictly warts-and-all collection of my ancient recordings (around 1980-85). Actually, not quite so warty as when originally posted, and now in living stereo. Don't expect too much, though. None of them are direct from master tape. And both my voice and repertoire have changed beyond all recognition since then, which may or may not be a good thing. :-) They're MP3s, and usually play quite happily in Windows Media Player: I haven't got round to making them iTunes-friendly or whatever, yet. All songs are copyright and all rights are reserved: in other words, in the unlikely event of your wanting to use the recordings or songs for any commercial purpose, you need to contact me. (And if anyone knows where Don MacLeod is, please let me know: some of these songs are his!) Here are a few links to people whose whereabouts I do know. Bob Theil (see the Diverse Brew Sessions section) has a web site at http://www.bobtheil.be/index.html.I still have (and still play) his "So Far" album from 1982. I'm no longer in touch with Bob Cairns, but I believe this is him here. Sally Goddard, probably the best singer I ever worked with, now lives in Newfoundland and sings with Atlantic Union, who have a web site at http://www.atlanticunion.net/. They have two albums currently available, and I like the one I have a lot. Looks like I need to buy some more albums. Unfortunately, I don't have any recordings of Sally and myself together. Vic Cracknell possibly has even more eclectic tastes in music than I do. He also runs some excellent open mic events around Hampshire and Surrey, where I live, as well as being a prolific and versatile musician in his own right.. Diverse Brew SessionsThe first three are from an unreleased album provisionally titled Diverse Brew, recorded around 1985 at Hallmark and featuring Bob Theil, Don MacLeod and myself, Pat Orchard, and Bob Cairns. The project foundered because one of the guys joined a band whose management company proved uncooperative, as I recall. As the master tapes are now somewhere in Antwerp, where Bob now lives and is still musically active (the web site include links to his albums, too), these were snarfed from a fairly naff cassette tape, so the recording quality isn't exactly hi-fi. I may try again in the near future. One Step Away (David Harley): There's a song by J.J. Cale with a very similar title. This came first and sounds nothing like it. :-) David Harley: vocal, acoustic guitar, electric slide guitar Lyric [NEW]
True Confessions (David Harley – Don MacLeod) [New - stereo MP3] Don wrote the tune for this. Very soft rock production. David Harley: lead and harmony vocals, acoustic lead guitar, electric lead guitars Lyric [NEW]
Heatwave (David Harley) The song wasn’t based on any particular incident, just a feeling about living in London at that time. I guess those feelings were justified, since the rioting at Broadwater Farm took place a few weeks after I wrote it. The banjo belonged to the studio (Hallmark, London): it was a five-string, but I played it with a flat pick to suggest a folkie/Irish tenor banjo sound. David Harley: Vocal, acoustic guitar, banjo, electric lead guitar, 5-string banjo Lyrics [NEW] As far as I remember, all those were done using a cheap but very cheerful Kimbara acoustic and a Les Paul copy which was a bit inaccurate around the octave but had a very nice chunky humbucker sound.Don was using a Sigma acoustic, I think, and Bob was probably using a Takamine 12-string. No idea what the banjo was: I didn't have my own John Grey by then, and I think I bought my Ovation solid later. Sheer Bravado SessionsNext group (of songs, not a band) is stuff recorded solo and with Don MacLeod at (IIRC) Centresound. I have the masters for these, but haven't been able to find anywhere that can transfer them to digital media, so the quality isn't great, and some of the mixing is a little off, but as there isn't much in the way of multi-tracking, that may not matter too much. Long Stand (David Harley) From "Sheer Bravado" Back in the days when Britain had industries, it was customary for the older blokes to send apprentices to fetch curious items such as a can of striped paint or some rubber nails. The lucky lad who was sent for a long stand was liable to be left standing at the counter for a half an hour or longer while the storeman went off for a cup of tea and a chuckle. This song was written for a revue called “Nice if you can get it” directed by the actress Margaret Ford in the early 1980s. The guitar was tuned to D-modal, to give it a folksy Martin Carthy/Nic Jones feel. David Harley: Vocal, acoustic guitar Lyrics are here.
Hands of the Craftsman (David Harley) [NEW] Also from the "Nice if you can get it" revue. A look back at the days when people actually made a living making real things instead of recycling information... David Harley: Vocal, backing vocal, acoustic guitars Lyric will be here shortly. She’s Gone (Don MacLeod-David Harley) A song written by Don MacLeod, though I did some tinkering with the lyrics: Don’s guitar has a nice ragtime feel. My Les Paul copy sounds more than usually out-of-tune with the acoustic guitars. Maybe I was trying for a Carlos Santana feel. ;-) I don't think I'd do that change of vocal track for the middle eight now, either. David Harley: Vocal, acoustic lead guitar, electric lead guitar.
The Weekends are the Worst (Traditional-Harley) from “Sheer Bravado” David Harley: vocal, acoustic guitars This is not one of the better recordings here: in the process of transfer from cassette, it's picked up some pre-echo and noise pollution, and the levels on the double-tracked guitar are too high. I'll come back to it shortly and try again. The tune is the well-used traditional tune associated with the ballad “Dives and Lazarus”, among many others. The story is vaguely based on a composite of a number of people I met in the late 70s. In a way, it could be a companion piece to Ian Campbell’s “Old Man’s Song” but I never got around to learning that. I sang this the first time I went to the Enterprise in Chalk Farm, and someone asked me if it was a song by Eric Bogle, writer of “The Band Played Waltzing Matilda” and “No Man’s Land”: one of the nicer compliments I’ve received. When I used to work with a fiddle player called Pete Wilkes (yes, Pete, I finally remembered your surname!) we used to follow the song by playing the tune, then going into a slip jig called “The Butterfly”. Unfortunately, there was a problem with the recording, so I went back to the studio and played Dives and Lazarus on guitar, but couldn’t remember the slip jig well enough to play it solo. However, you'll now find "The Butterfly" a little further on, with Pete and Gail. Lyric here. [Update: found a recording of "the Butterfly" Pete and I must have done at around the same time which isn't a great mix, but sounds pretty good nonetheless: I'll upload it with the next batch of MP3s, and look at re-stitching it together with a better vocal track. Also found a version of "The Weekends" sung by Gail Williams: unfortunately, the quality is even worse, so I'll have to think about re-recording it myself. (Is that a threat or a promise?) A shame: Gail had (and no doubt still has) a really nice voice.]
Dives and Lazarus/The Butterfly (Trad.) [NEW] As promised. "Dives & Lazarus" is double tracked guitar, going straight into the slip jig. "The Butterfly" is played by Pete Wilkes, an excellent fiddle player, with me on guitar. In there somewhere but almost inaudible is, I think, Gail Williams on boddhran. I've since captured a better stereo version of Dives and Lazarus here [NEW] and of The Butterfly here [NEW]: same base recordings though. Death of a Marriage (David Harley) [NEW] A story song. Not pure autobiography (I never did those), but not pure fiction either. David Harley: vocal, acoustic and electric guitars
Diane (David Harley) A story I might come back to some day. Recorded live, not in the studio. I believe that was my beloved '60s vintage Ovation solid electric. I really should play that more. David Harley, vocal and electric guitar. Lyric to be added.
Sheer Bravado (David Harley) Oops. That slide isn't quite in tune with the other guitar either. I quite like the vocal, though, and I can't bear the sound of my own singing, in general. David Harley: Vocal, acoustic guitar, acoustic slide guitar More to come. May re-do some of the stuff already here, when I'm more used to the transfer mechanism. I think I was using the Kimbara acoustic, the Les Paul copy, a nondescript Casio keyboard, a Yamaha monophonic synth, and my Ovation solid for most of these sessions, but I didn't note which I used on which session. I may have used a Hondo semi-acoustic with very high output pickups for some slide, and I had an unnamed SG body to which I attached a new neck: not sure if I ever used that in a studio though. Stuff I'm doing nowThat may take a little longer. I do have some recording gear and some newer instruments that need some exercise, though. And I'm determined to spend more time away from work, if not from the computer.
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