Bright Phoebus, Lal and Mike Waterson's 1972 folk-noir masterpiece, has long been recognised as one of British music's legendary lost records. Following the parting of ways of The Watersons and freed from the strictures of folk orthodoxy, Lal and Mike Waterson's love of words allowed them to serve the needs of their songs in ways that weren't possible when singing already written songs. Featuring performances from Lal, Mike and Norma Waterson, Martin Carthy, Richard Thompson, Ashley Hutchings, Dave Mattacks, Tim Hart and Maddy Prior, amongst others, the album is now recognised as a forward-thinking benchmark for the genre. Fans include Arcade Fire, Stephen Malkmus, Billy Bragg, Jarvis Cocker, Richard Hawley - the latter two performed the record themselves in 2013 on the Bright Phoebus Revisited tour. This deluxe version contains 12 demos for the album, themselves tinged with their own mythology and previously unreleased
S**M
Phoebus shines bright at last. This is a review for the new authorised version, ignore all of those previous negative comments.
It is a great shame that so many of the reviews here are for the previous dodgy release by CM Distribution and not this wonderful authorised reissue by Domino. Those in the know will be aware that the original tapes have been 'sat on' for decades thus preventing the sort of reissue that this very fine album deserves. So please ignore all of the negative reviews published here, they have very little to do with this particular edition of Lal & Mike's masterpiece.Anyone (like me) stupid enough to have bought the previous version will be aware that the sound quality and overall presentation was very poor indeed. That is certainly not the case here, it sounds as good as, if not better than, the original album. There is also a whole discs worth of demo recordings which are absolutely glorious. Three of the tracks did not make it onto the album though it is hard to see why as they are, as you would expect, great songs. Considering these are demo recordings, the performances and recording quality are first class. It is fascinating to hear the songs in their embryonic form and I have to admit to preferring a couple of these earlier versions to the more familiar released ones. For instance, much as I love Norma's vocal on 'Red Wine Promises' on the released album, here we can hear it performed by Lal and it is nothing short of spellbinding. Another of the unreleased songs is called 'One Of Those Days', written by Christine Collins and beautifully sung by Mike (I always loved his voice). This has become a real favourite of mine and you should buy this if only to hear that one track for yourself.I should also mention the excellent sleeve notes by Pete Paphides, very informative and a real insight into the whole creative process that produced this great English classic.I hope that the one star reviews for the previous version do not put people off discovering the sheer delight of 'Bright Phoebus'. That would be a shame.
1**N
Ignore all the reviews before the 2017 remastered version re recording quality - a beautiful album, well recorded
Ignore a lot of the one star reviews - in fact anything before the reissuein 2017. All the issues complained about then - a copy taken off the LP - do not now apply to a remastered version.Anyway to the music. Absolutely beautiful and sucha tragedy that neither Mike or Lal are now around to bask in the adulation. This deserves the tag of a long lost classic and repeat listening
G**H
*****This Is A Review Of The 2 LP Edition*****
Masterpiece indeed. Lovely warm sound on this 2 LP Edition, Great Pressing & Booklet. All down to taste I know, but I prefer the second LP with the unadorned demo tracks, so get this 2 LP Edition while you can
E**L
... stark beauty of their voices and also contrasting how brilliantly Richard Thompson and Martin Carthy took on the guitar ...
This is one of a few albums I've been wishing would get a decent release and finally this is it and also well worth the extra few pounds for the second CD of demos which show off the stark beauty of their voices and also contrasting how brilliantly Richard Thompson and Martin Carthy took on the guitar arrangements for the original release. Great little package all round with faithful album art.Now if only Nic Jones first four albums could get the same treatment that they deserve and that he deserves. Ballads and Songs, Nic Jones, From the Devil to a Stranger and The Noah's Ark Trap.One other thing. 'Winifer Odd' is my favourite opening line of any song, ever.
J**K
Finally a big-label definitive version of this long out-of-print masterpiece
Like many other music fans I was very pleased when Lal and Mike Waterson's “Bright Phoebus” album finally got the release it deserved – even if it took about 45 years to achieve! I didn't hear any of this music at the time as the original LP release was rather limited and somewhat hampered by the record label going bust at around about the same time. The album built up it's deserved cult status over the years, aided by it's unavailability, and so I eventually bought the very dodgy CD-R release many years ago just to actually hear what all the fuss was about. There is a long story behind the album's fate during the period between the original LP release and this proper CD version – far beyond the scope of this review – but I would point out that this double CD Deluxe Edition was issued on the 4th of August 2017 by Domino Records and any poor review posted before that date will refer to an earlier CD-R version produced by Celtic Music.Domino Records must be given full credit for this more than definitive version of Bright Phoebus which includes a remastered version of the original album on disc one, taken from the 1/4” master tapes, with a second disc full of demos recorded in 1971. The audio quality of disc one is truly surprising considering the history, and the demos are all of studio quality and probably sound better than you may expect – they certainly add to the overall listening experience. The CDs are presented in a three-fold card sleeve with a disc inserted at each end plus a 24 page booklet in the centre – the booklet is well-researched, nicely illustrated and informative so should answer most of your questions about the music and the story of this new CD release.Bright Phoebus is a genuine lost masterpiece – but if you have never heard it before you probably won't realise it on your first hearing or maybe not even on the second. Like much of the best in music you need to let it grow on you with a few plays until you realise quite what is going on – it will then be with you forever. Sadly neither Lal or Mike Waterson lived long enough to hear this big label release of their classic album – but I hope it now generates the sales it should have done over the years. Something of a distant Northern cousin to Shirley Collins' “No Roses” released in 1971, the year before this was, it features some of the same well-known folk musicians in the background. One final point is if you purchase the CD from Amazon directly you will also get the MP3 version AutoRipped to your Amazon Music Library – but you will currently only get disc one, the original album, not the demos.
C**Y
‘Waterson’s masterpiece finally available
Often described as a sort of folk music ‘Sgt. Pepper’ ‘Bright Pheobus’ has rightly gained legendary status in spite (or perhaps because) of the fact that it has been so hard to actually get hold of. This is a quite wonderful album with the unique harmonies and original songs of the Waterson’s (Mike and Lal mainly). The demos / out-takes are actually as good and as worth having as the ‘Bright Pheobus’ Album itself.It borders on criminal that this album was not fully appreciated at the time and has been so hard to actually get hold of until just last year.
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