“Jugula” (Roy Harper & Jimmy Page)
I did not realize that Roy Harper sang vocals on “Have a Cigar”.
Led Zeppelin wrote a song about him. He delivered lead vocals on Pink Floyd’s classic “Have a Cigar.” This Mortal Coil has covered him, Joanna Newsom and Kate Bush have collaborated with him, and his reach has touched uncounted bands since he emerged from London in the mid-’60s.
So it’s a wonder that it has taken this long for Roy Harper to land his moment in the reissue spotlight. But that moment is here nevertheless.
Koch Entertainment has teamed up with Harper’s own label Science Fiction to distribute the folk singer’s albums. The slate includes Stormcock, Harper’s 1971 four-song epic team-up with Jimmy Page, as well as Jugula, Flat Baroque and Berserk, The Green Man, The Dream Society, The Unknown Soldier, Death or Glory, the double-disc best-of Counter Culture and more. Fans of all of the aforementioned bands, as well as Nick Drake, freak folk, Devendra Banhart and onward, will find a kindred spirit with a rap sheet decades wide.
[From UK Legend Roy Harper Finally Crosses the Pond | Listening Post from Wired.com]
I have an import version of Counter Culture, and there is some good stuff contained therein. I’ll have to look for these reissues.
“Counter Culture” (Roy Harper)
“Stormcock” (Roy Harper)